Zakir Naik Supports Taliban's Decision To Destroy Buddha Statues, Calls Buddhists 'Drug Addicts'!
Kunal Anand July 17, 2016 Indiatimes
At a Chennai event in 2002, controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik was asked a question by about the Taliban's fatwa to destroy Bamiyan Buddhas after they termed the status "un-Islamic".
The Taliban dynamited and destroyed these iconic 6th century statues in March 2001 as part of a campaign to remove all non-Islamic art from Afghanistan.
Zakir Naik began his explanation by stating that this act by the Taliban was "educating the Buddhists". Claiming to have read Buddhist scriptures, Naik said that Buddha had never asked for statues of himself.
Naik did admit that this act, of the Taliban did cause grief among million of Buddhists around the world.
However, it was what he said next that was disturbing - he compared statues, a manifestation of Buddhist faith to expensive drugs.
"For millions of human beings in the world, drug is god for them". He also called Afghanistan, and its Buddhist statues the "property" of the Taliban. "Who are we to object?"
The statues were among the most famous cultural landmarks of the region, and the site was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with the surrounding cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamiyan Valley.
Well, it might upset Naik to know that 15 years after Taliban dynamited the world-famous Buddhas of Bamiyan, the giant statues were resurrected with 3D light projection technology in the empty cavities where they once stood in Afghanistan!
Japan and Switzerland, among others, have pledged support for the rebuilding of the statues. Both Standing Buddhas - 115 ft and 174 ft tall - were carved out of sandstone cliffs and stood at one point painted and gilded. They managed to survive for more than 1500 years, before the Taliban's 1996-2001 reign, in which they committed this act of "cultural terrorism".
Earth will one day call it a day and suffered Armageddon as sun will die. In ancient China, Buddhism skilful education on the nature essence of sentience through various forms of art such as Buddha statues had experienced complete destruction by various emperors and China cultural revolution in early 90s. Buddhism is the education of a complete untainted open mind liken to cosmos space that consistently existed but can't be felt by beings' six senses. Destroying Buddha statue in that mannerism is tantamount in destroying their own essence nature and the potential of future living beings who aspired to recover their true nature. Buddhists who lack of genuine Buddhism teaching will condemn this act, there is no concrete forms truly existed in Buddhism and science. Moreover, the Buddha statues had spread across many countries, the village houses of the old days had made way for concrete building. The essence of it can never be destroyed. In the dharma ending age that just started, Buddha dharma will experience favourable and unfavourable periods. Muslims have Buddha nature same as Buddha, thus no matter how they detest Buddhism, Buddhists have no hate against them :)