Now Dr.Zakir Naik continues with his substantiation:

(i)The Sanskrit word ‘Maitreya’ or its equivalent in Pali ‘Metteyya’ means loving, compassionate, merciful and benevolent. It also means kindness and friendliness, sympathy, etc. One Arabic word which is equivalent to all these words is ‘Rahmat’. In Surah Al-Anbiya:

"We sent thee not, but as a mercy for all creatures."
[Al-Qur’an 21:107]

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was called the merciful, which is ‘Maitri’.

(ii)The words Mercy and Merciful are mentioned in the Holy Qur’an no less than 409 times.

(iii) Every chapter of the Glorious Qur’an, except Chapter 9, i.e. Surah Taubah begins with the beautiful formula, 'Bismillah Hir-Rahman Nir-Rahim', which means 'In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful'.

(iv)The Word Muhammad is also spelt as ‘Mahamet’ or ‘Mahomet’ and in various other ways in different languages. The word ‘Maho’ or ‘Maha’ in Pali and Sanskrit mean Great and Illustrious and ‘Metta’ means mercy. Therefore ‘Mahomet’ means ‘Great Mercy’.

This is sophism at its worst:

The Qur’an 21:107 does not mean that Muhammad is a compassionate man. Read the tafsir for this verse by Ibn Kathir:

 “Here Allah tells us that He has made Muhammad a mercy to the `Alamin, i.e., He sent him as a mercy for all of them [peoples], so whoever accepts this mercy and gives thanks for this blessing, will be happy in this world and in the Hereafter. But whoever rejects it and denies it, will lose out in this world and in the Hereafter, “

When I give a bread loaf to a poor man and say, “this has been given to you by me as a mercy for the poor”. This means, out of my mercy I gave the poor the loaf for them to eat. It does not mean the loaf of bread is merciful. Furthermore if you reject what I give you and then I decide to punish you, that is the sign that I am vengeful psychopath and not a merciful person.

Dr.Zakir wrote that merciful is “Maitri” in pali /Sanskrit. Actually the so-called scholar is wrong. In Sanskrit the word for MERCIFUL = kRpAnvita, paropakArin, sAnukroza, sadaya, AnRzaMsya, adhimAtrakAruNika. In Pali, the word MERCIFUL =  sānukampa, dayālū, kāruṇikaActually, Maitreya apart from meaning benevolent has an important scriptural meaning - Bodhi-sattva and future Buddha  

Dr.Naik say that the word “merciful” appears no less than 409 times. Actually it appears 307 times in the Qur’an excluding the hogwash line “Bismillah Ir-Rahman Ir-Raheem” before every Surah. This is meant for Allah/God and not for Muhammed. So what’s your point Dr.Naik? Allah is Maitreya?  

But what has it got to do with Maitreya? Is he trying to mislead the reader with such irrelevant data? Did you know Mr.Naik that:  

The word Disbeliever/Disbelievers occurs 153 times in Qur’an?  

The word war/fight occurs 67 times approximately?  

That there are around 164 verses in the Qur’an that speaks of Jihad?  

First of all in Pali, the word for GREAT is not “maho” but the words are mahanta, parama, seṭṭha, tumula, uru, uttama, vipula, visāla.The Pali word for mercy is not “metta” but the words are dayā, anukampā, karuṇā. Metta means love and not mercy. Mercy is forgiveness and sympathy, not love! What a lie this so-called scholar is spreading?!!?  

Dr.Zakir Naik writes:  

Buddha’s doctrine was Esoteric and Exoteric:  

According to the Sacred Books of the East, volume 11, pg. 36 Maha-Parinibbana Sutta chapter 2 verse 32:

"I have preached the truth without making any distinction between exoteric and esoteric doctrine, for in respect of truths, Ananda, the Tathagata has no such thing as the closed fist of a teacher, who keeps something back".

Muhammad (pbuh) on the commandment of Almighty God delivered the message and doctrine without making any distinction between esoteric and exoteric. The Qur'an was recited in public in the days of the Prophet and is being done so till date. The Prophet had strictly forbidden the Muslims from hiding the doctrine.  

The actual translation of Maha-Parinibbana Sutta chapter2 verse 32 is:  

Thus spoke the Venerable Ananda, but the Blessed One answered him, saying: "What more does the community of bhikkhus expects from me, Ananda? I have set forth the Dharma without making any distinction of esoteric and exoteric doctrine; there is nothing, Ananda, with regard to the teachings that the Tathagata holds to the last with the closed fist of a teacher who keeps some things back. Whosoever may think that it is he who should lead the community of bhikkhus, or that the community depends upon him, it is such a one that would have to give last instructions respecting them. But, Ananda, the Tathagata has no such idea as that it is he who should lead the community of bhikkhus, or that the community depends upon him. So what instructions should he have to give respecting the community of bhikkhus?

"Now I am frail, Ananda, old, aged, far gone in years. This is my eightieth year, and my life is spent. Even as an old cart, Ananda, is held together with much difficulty, so the body of the Tathagata is kept going only with supports. It is, Ananda, only when the Tathagata, disregarding external objects, with the cessation of certain feelings, attains to and abides in the signless concentration of mind, that his body is more comfortable.  

Now Buddha calls himself as THATHAGATA( a title given to himself which means self-realized and enlightened one). For practicing Buddhists, references to "dharma" or dhamma in the singular, particularly as "the" Dharma, is used to mean the teachings of the Buddha, and is sometimes referred to as the Buddha-Dharma. Dharma is the universal law of nature and to call it Buddha-Dhamma suggests that other kinds of Dharma may exist. But this is not so, there is only one Dharma. The term Buddha-Dharma merely refers to the fact that it was discovered by the Buddha, not created by him. So Dhamma literally means the TRUTH DISCOVERED BY A BUDDHA and not a doctrine or any kind of doctrine involving God or Allah or angels or whatsoever superstition. The truth of Buddha was precisely self-realisation to escape suffering in life. He never spoke of God. So, the dharma does not include God in it. Buddha tells to Ananda, that the bikkhus (the Buddhist monks) should be lead by Buddha and after him the next Buddha would lead them .Bikkhus has no analogy to imams of Muslims. Bikkhus are monks who adopt the eight fold path and practice and preach the teachings of Gautama Buddha.  

So, the hiding or not hiding factor does not hold good for Muhammad, because he intentionally wanted to pose himself as a messenger of God and so he did not hide. Whereas Buddha never claimed to be a messenger of God. He wanted his Dharma to be visible so that people who wanted to escape misery can adopt his teachings.  

Muhammad told his followers to essentially SUBMIT to Allah and Love Muhammad more than any body else including their family. But Buddha never ordered anything as such. So, the Dharma which is open is totally different from the doctrine of Allah or Muhammad.

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To be continued