Religious Faith in Bangladesh

Introduction
Constitutionally, Bangladesh is a secular state and secularism is one of the
four basic principles of the Bangladeshi Constitution. Although Islam is the
religion of the state, The constitution also states that "in the practice of Hindu,
Buddhist, Christian and other religions the State shall ensure equal status and
equal right."Basically, Bangladesh has four major religion from the beginning.
Those are… Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism.

A 2003 survey confirmed that a citizen's first choice of self-identification is religion. Islam,
Hinduism, Christianity, and Buddhism are called in the Constitution.

Islam
Islam is an Arabic word that means "peace." However,
specialists call the meaning of the word as "submission",
which indicates towards the eternal submission in Allah's
holy feet. In 2011, Bangladesh's Muslim population stood in
excess of 146 million, showing 90% of the country's
population. Bangladeshi Muslim - majority 88 per cent of
the overwhelming majority but about 2 per cent are Bihari
Muslims in a small segment. In Bangladesh, the majority of
the Muslims are Sunnis, but a small Shia community exists.

The dissemination of Islam teachings was initiated by Prophet Muhammad. Muslims believe that
Muhammad is the final prophet  of all religions and that God has revealed the Qur'an that is the
Islamic scripture.

Sunni and Shia, who divide each other in a religio-political dispute over the rightful successory
of Muhammad, are the two main branches of Islam. Shia Muslims wanted a Muhammad man,
while the sunni Muslims wanted the first Caliph as their mentor. Ali was made the leader of the
Shia group called 'Imam,' the son-in-law of Mohammed. Both groups have the same fundamental
beliefs, yet there is a huge and profound difference.

Muslims believe that God is one , and the goal of life is to adore God. As the last Muslim
prophet said: "Islam must bear witness that Allah and Muhammad are not god except Allah's
messenger and pray for him, pay the zakaah, fast in Ramadan and make a pilgrimage to the
House if possible." We can therefore call Islam monotheistic. They believe that Allah has the
same privilege for everyone on this earth, and that no one is better than others. Therefore, in their
religion, they do not have a caste system. There are five pillars in Islamic religion, which define
the rules of religion. These are the following pillars: 'Prayers,' 'Pilgrimage,' 'Faith,' 'The Fasten,'
and 'The Zakath.'

There are six fundamental beliefs in Islam as described below:

1. Allah is One,

2. God's angels.

3. God's messenger, who brings the teachings of the Almighty.

4. Supreme among all is religious scriptures and the Quran.

5. All of them have a day to be judged by their actions.

6. The will of God is supreme to everything.

Hinduism
Hinduism is the second-most large religious membership in
Bangladesh and, according to the 2011 census,
approximately 12.73 million people are Hindus,
representing approximately 8.54% of the general
population, down from 9.3% at census 2001. Bangladesh,
after India and Nepal, is the third most populous Hindu
country on the earth.

Hinduism is the prevailing and indigenous Indian subcontinent religious tradition. Hinduism is
known among many others as the eternal law that sustains/preserserves/preserves, Sanātana
Dharma . There are different traditions in Hinduism and there is no single founder.

Hinduism has many scriptures; some of the most important are the Vedas, the Upanishads and
the Bhagavad-Gita. The gods of Vishnu, Shiva, and Devi are the most common figures in
devotion. The soul or atman most Hindus thinks eternal and undergoes a cycling of birth, death,
and rebirth determined by positive or negative karma, or by the consequences of their actions.
The Hindus believe eternal. religious life aims to learn to act so that the release (moksha) of the
soul can be achieved finally, by escaping the cycle of re-birth.

Buddhism
In Bangladesh, about 1,000,000 people join Theravada Buddhist School. About 0.6% of the
Bangladeshi population is made up of Buddhists. Siddhartha
Gautama teaching of religion or philosophy inspired by the 5th
century B.C. (also known as Gautama Buddha "the enlightened
one"). Buddhism focuses on spiritual enlightenment, which
aims at understanding the nature of suffering by Gautama
Buddha's 4 Noble Truths and the 8-fold path to spiritual and
moral practice to break the cycle of suffering that is a part of. A
karmic rebirth system is attributed to the Buddhism. There are
several schools and sects of Buddhism, which often differ on Buddha's nature and to what extent
the enlightenment - for one or for everyone and by whom - can be achieved by religious orders
or laity.

Christianity
In what is now Bangladesh came Christianity through
Portuguese traders and missionaries in the late sixteenth to
early seventeenth centuries AD. Jesus of Nazareth, a
descendering from the Jewish faith, maintains that his life,
death, and resurrection are salvific to the world; that is, the
Messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures. Christianity, along with
Islam and Judaism is one of the three Abrahamic monotheistic
faiths, which follows its spiritual lines from the Hebrew
Scriptures to Abraham. The Hebrew Bible and New Testament
are part of its sacred texts (or the Christian Gospels).

While the interpretation and the opinion of the Bible on which Christianity is based are many
important differences, Christians share a set of beliefs that they hold to their faith as essential.

Other Religions
There's a small Bahá Faith community in Bangladesh. In Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi,
Sylhet, Barisal, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Jessore, Rangamati and in other places, Bahá Taris hold
spiritual centres.

Bangladesh also has a small community of Brahmo Samaj.

Reference
1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Bangladesh
2. www.indexmundi.com/bangladesh/religions.html