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, after the majority state religion of
Islam, and the slightly larger minority religion
Christianity.
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 have a known trading relationship since this time period. This continued alongside the influence of
Hinduism with the
Majapahit Empire, 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 br ...
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 and
Confucianism.
Religious Freedom for Buddhists
Brunei is a
sultanate, 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 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 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 t ...
, 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, 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
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