Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

is the third largest religion in

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

, after the majority state religion of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, and the slightly larger minority religion

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Estimates vary, but some reports place the number of Buddhists in Brunei around 30,000, and the estimated percentage of Buddhists in Brunei around 7-8% of the total population. According to Brunei's official 2016 data, 7% (29,495) of the population practices Buddhism.

History

Buddhism is thought to have had some presence in Brunei beginning in the 6th Century CE, with Brunei and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

have a known trading relationship since this time period. This continued alongside the influence of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

with the

Majapahit Empire Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was based on the island of Java (in modern-day Indonesia ...

, between the 13th to 16th Century CE, with this influence decreasing drastically with the spread of Islam into Brunei and into the region. The modern Buddhist population of Brunei is mainly derived from Chinese migrants arriving between the 19th and 20th century, especially following a 1929 Chinese law allowing for dual nationality.

Statistics on Buddhist Population

A large percentage of the Buddhist population is from the ethnically Chinese population of Brunei, which comprise 10.2% of the total population, and which are about 65% Buddhist. The percentage of Buddhists has fallen over time since the 1990s, in conjunction with the falling percentage of the ethnically Chinese population. Around one-third of Buddhists in Brunei are citizens, with the rest being permanent or temporary residents.

Mahayana Buddhism ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

is the most common subsect of Buddhism practiced, as this is the most common form of Buddhism practiced in China and surrounding states. Buddhism is commonly practiced alongside other religions or philosophical practices, particularly

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...

and

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

Religious Freedom for Buddhists

Brunei is a

sultanate This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula, and continui ...

, and has Islam as the official state religion. All other religions in Brunei have limited but guaranteed religious freedom, including Buddhists. Restrictions include limitations in building new places of worship, due to a

fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...

discouraging support for the expansion of non-Islamic religions preventing permits from being granted, importation or distribution of non-Islamic religious literature, and strict laws against

proselytizing Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between ''evangelism'' or '' Da‘wah'' and proselytism regarding proselytism as invol ...

to Muslim or religiously unaffiliated people. One particular case of restriction in relation to Buddhism is the continual limiting of festivities for the

Chinese Lunar New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly referred to as the Spring Festival () as ...

, which placed a three-day time frame on all related revents, and limited events to venues such as Brunei's sole Chinese Buddhist temple. Beyond limitations on religious freedom, non-Muslim groups including Buddhists also must adhere to many aspects of Brunei's

sharia law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the Five Pillars of Islam, religious precepts of Islam and is based on the Islamic holy books, sacred scriptures o ...

, including the Sharia Penal Code introduced in 2013, and expanded upon in 2019. However, following the recent implementation of these laws, Buddhist and other minority religion populations have reported no difference in legal treatment from the state, and the state has put a moratorium on use of the death penalty intended to be implemented under this law.

References

Buddhism by country Religion in Brunei {{Brunei-stub