THE DEMISE OF VIVEKANANDAFaisal Rahman

Vivekananda conquered the world by his lectures delivered in the parliaments of the world religions in Chicago in1893.

He was a man of robust health.

Why he died at the age of 39 ?!?

At the time of his death he was suffering from asthma , diabetes and insomnia.(7)

Why a man with such jovial mood acquired such sickness ? And these diseases are of anatomical kind.

the rupture of a blood vessel in his brain was reported as a possible cause of death, (Wikipedia)

Why, a healthy man like him , got hemorrhage at the age of 39 ?

I will investigate the phenomenon of his death from an Islamic perspective.

First of all, where Vivekananda got his power from ?

….began his speech with "Sisters and brothers of America!". At these words, Vivekananda received a 2 minute standing ovation from the crowd of 7 thousand….(Wikipedia)

Where does such a field of spiritual force comes from?

Vivekananda was a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and Ramakrishna was disciple of Govinda Roy.

Govinda Roy used to perform namaz 5 times a day.

Ramakrishna said that he "devoutly repeated the name of Allah, wore a cloth like the Arab Muslims, said their prayer five times daily, and felt disinclined even to see images of the Hindu gods and goddesses, much less worship them—for the Hindu way of thinking had disappeared altogether from my mind.“ (Wikipedia)

The Gurus of Vivekananda used to perform namaz.

Vivekanada’s father Vishwanath Datta was a learned person. He was well-versed in Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali, Persian, Arabic and Urdu .He was free from religious superstition and used to mix freely with people of other religions. He had great admiration for Islamic culture and Urdu literature. (5)

So Islam and it’s ways were not any thing strange to young Vivekananda.

You ... people have very hard ideas and are so superstitious and prejudiced! These messengers must have come from God, else how could they have been so great? ……………

................  We must not judge them. Christ may judge Mohammed. Who are you and I? Little babies. What do we understand of these great souls? ...(Vivekananda)(10)

What Vivekananda is saying? He is

saying “Jesus and Mohammed are the messengers from God.”

That is, he saying the Kalma!

So it is logical to assume that Vivekananda used to perform namaz.

I am firmly persuaded that without the help of practical Islam, theories of Vedantism, however fine and wonderful they may be, are entirely valueless to the vast mass of mankind (Vivekananda)(1)

I called on all the holy namesOf every clime and creed.'Show me the way, in mercy, yeGreat ones who have reached the goal.

’(Vivekananda)(8) Compare this with sura Fatiha: “We worship You alone, and beg You

alone for help.Guide us in the straight path.The path of those whom You have favored. Not of those who have earned Your anger and nor of those who have gone astray.”

So his prayer was similar to Sura Fatiha and Fatiha is a compulsory sura of namaz.

Rabindranath Tagore was a monotheist and an anti-- idolater . Probably he was a Namazi- that’s why he looks like a Muslim dervish.

Vivekananda , we can assume safely , was a namazi person .

And that is the source of the field of spiritual power that he displayed in the west.

We can assume, both Vivekananda and Tagore had Mohammedan faith. Because they were seekers of the God and they were familiar with Islam.

That is, basically they believed in one formless God.

Their faith was “la ilaha illa Allah”

Or in Latin “Jeova Sanctus unus”

But while Tagore was sober to admit that God is without forms. Vivekananda was arrogant , he refused to abandon his Hindu pride.

He maintained that idol worship is the correct form of divine worship.

Let’s see what Vivekananda said:

Hindus do not worship dolls made of rocks and woods/We lose our selves when we see God in eidolon.

Now let’s see what Quran says:

And they worship besides Allah things that hurt them not, nor profit them, and they say: "These are our intercessors with Allah." Say: "Do you inform Allah of that which He knows not in the heavens and on the earth?" Glorified and Exalted be He above all that which they associate as partners with Him!

(yunus:18)

Surely, the religion (i.e. the worship and the obedience) is for Allah only. And those who take Auliya' (protectors and helpers) besides Him (say): "We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah." Verily, Allah will judge between them concerning that wherein they differ. Truly, Allah guides not him who is a liar, and a disbeliever.

(sura zumar:3)

So Vivekananda is not right when he said Hindus can reach Allah through idol worship.

Eidolons are not intercessors that reaches Allah.

We are all born idolaters, and idolatry is good, because it is in the nature of man. Who can get beyond it? Only the perfect man, the God-man. The rest are all idolaters. So long as we see this universe before us, with its forms and shapes, we are all idolaters. This is a gigantic symbol we are worshipping. He who says he is the body is a born idolater.

(Vivekananda )(4)

Al Quran says [12:106] The majority of those

who believe in GOD do not do so without committing idol worship

Do they then feel secure from the coming against them of the covering veil of the Torment of Allah, or of the coming against them of the (Final) Hour, all of a sudden while they perceive not?(12:107)

Allah says, he agrees with Vivekananda that the most of them who worship Allah do it through idolatry , but that does not mean it is approved by Allah ! Man is a born idolater because devil lives inside them. If Man do not reject idolatry , he will be punished by Allah.

"As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take, through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee!" and "Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths that in the end lead to Me “ (wikipedia)(6)

According to Sailendra Nath Dhar, "[i]t was only a short speech, but it voiced the spirit of the Parliament.

Vivekananda speeches at the Parliament had the common theme of universality, emphasizing religious tolerance

Al Quran says : And, [moreover], this is My

path, which is straight, so follow it; and do not follow [other] ways, for you will be separated from His way. This has He instructed you that you may become righteous.(6:153)

So Vivekananda’s doctrine that all the paths crooked or straight lead to Allah, is not supported by the Quran.

Al Quran says: [9:107] There are those

who abuse the masjid by practicing idol worship, dividing the believers, and providing comfort to those who oppose GOD and His messenger. They solemnly swear: "Our intentions are honorable!" GOD bears witness that they are liars.

So swami Vivekananda’s attempt to unify idolatry with monotheism , in order to establish religious tolerance in the world, is condemned by Allah.

Who says “I am doing it for the good of mankind ,” Allah says “he is a liar.”

According to Islam , Nimrod who opposed Allah , was punished by Allah. Allah send a mosquito that entered into his brain and caused him severe headache and insomnia.

Now compare Nimrod’s symptoms with Vivekananda’s symptoms .

He had headache and insomnia and a blood vessel in the brain was ruptured,

Alllah says [4:116] GOD does not forgive idol

worship (if maintained until death),* and He forgives lesser offenses for whomever He wills. Anyone who idolizes any idol beside GOD has strayed far astray.

 

Vivekananda said : Like a child in the wildest forest lost

I have cried and cried alone, 'Where art Thou gone, my God, my love? The echo answered, 'gone.'

And days and nights and years then passedA fire was in the brain, I knew not when day changed in nightThe heart seemed rent in twain.I laid me down on Ganges's shore, Exposed to sun and rain; With burning tears I laid the dustAnd wailed with waters' roar.

I called on all the holy namesOf every clime and creed.'Show me the way, in mercy, yeGreat ones who have reached the goal.‘

(Quest for God)

Years then passed in bitter cry, Each moment seemed an age, Till one day midst my cries and groansSome one seemed calling me.

A gentle soft and soothing voiceThat said 'my son' 'my son', That seemed to thrill in unisonWith all the chords of my soul.

I stood on my feet and tried to findThe place the voice came from; I searched and searched and turned to seeRound me, before, behind, Again, again it seemed to speakThe voice divine to me.In rapture all my soul was hushed, Entranced, enthralled in bliss.

(the quest for God)

And when some hurt touches man, he cries to his Lord (Allah Alone), turning to Him in repentance, but when He bestows a favor upon him from Himself, he forgets that for which he cried for before, and he sets up rivals to Allah, in order to mislead others from His Path. Say: "Take pleasure in your disbelief for a while: surely, you are (one) of the dwellers of the Fire!“(Az-zumar:8)

This is exactly what Vivekananda is , as mentioned in Quran. When he was 0 , he cried to Allah for help day and night. When Allah answered his prayers , made him a hero and gave him fame , he forgot Allah’s favor and established idolatry to mislead other people.

 and they turn their faces towards the Caaba when they pray. These things show that men at the first stage of religious development have to make use of something external, and when the inner self becomes purified they turn to more abstract conceptions

(Vivekananda)(1) Vivekananda tried to show that

Muslims are also idolaters. But he is wrong.

There is a basic difference between Hindu worship of idols and Muslim performing namaz at the direction of Caaba. Hindus see God in their female idols while worshipping. But Muslims do not see Allah in Caaba , to them Caaba is an instrument, like a compass, which shows the direction. A boy scout who finds his direction with help of a compass, does he see the God in it ? To him it is just an instrument. Similarly to the Muslims the Caaba is only an instrument.

(4:51) Hast thou not seen those to whom a portion of the Book was given? They believe in sorcery and diviners and say of those who disbelieve: These are better guided in the path than those who believe.

Vedic Rishis were given a part of the Quran and that is why, because of incomplete knowledge.,they became sorcerer and demon worshipers.

Vivekananda made a mistake by thinking that the Vedic Rishis were all-knower.

They wanted to unify Namaz with idolatry.

But can light be unified with darkness?

Can truth be unified with lie ?

One died from cancer and other one died from stroke.

According to Islamic perspective the early death of Vivekananda was caused by adverse effect of idolatry .

PRINICIPLES OF VIVEKANANDISM Well as far as I can understand, he

wanted to apply Dialectic method or unity of opposites (9) to unify monotheism with polytheism.

Thesis + Antithesis = synthesis . Applying principle of lever in an

arbitrary fashion. E.g. The weight of 33 Crore gods can be balanced with the weight of 1 God at some point on the lever ! I guess .

The dialectic principle is also found in Quran. Quran says :

Nay, but We hurl the true against the false, and it doth break its head and lo! it vanishes. And yours will be woe for that which ye ascribe (unto Him).(Sura Anbya :18)

That is if any one wants to unify God with idolatry he will be destroyed according to dialectic method itself.

Vivekananda wanted to give new dispensation , but he wasn’t a prophet , he had no authority to give new dispensation .

This is why Allah got angry and he was destroyed

Vivekananda wanted to give new dispensation , but he wasn’t a prophet , he had no authority

And who can be more unjust than he who invents a lie against Allah, or says: "I have received inspiration," whereas he is not inspired in anything; and who says, "I will reveal the like of what Allah has revealed." And if you could but see when the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.) are in the agonies of death, while the angels are stretching forth their hands (saying): "Deliver your souls! This day you shall be recompensed with the torment of degradation because of what you used to utter against Allah other than the truth. And you used to reject His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) with disrespect! “( Quran:6:93)

THE “HARD WORK “ THEORY Some say Vivekananda’s

health broke down due to hard work he did.

I ask, did he work harder than Gandhi or Guevara? He did not go to jail or fought guerilla wars.

I don think “hard work “is the logical explanation for his adverse health conditions.

According to a Hadith the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) is reported to have said, inna fissalati shifa'a " verily there is cure in salat ". (2)

It is like the Qi force in Eastern philosophy . When a person performs namaz his Qi force increases that is why his health improves.

Now idolatry is the anti-thesis of namaz . If namaz increases Qi force, idolatry decreases Qi force . In the first stage of his life when he only worshipped Allah his health improved but in latter part of his life when he practiced idolatry his Qi decreased resulting in bad health conditions.

The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism. (Albert Einstein)(3)

Einstein liked Buddhist concept of atheism . God is 0.

Indian philosophy has several sects that are atheist or nihilist , E.g. Sankhya and Buddhism

Vivekananda could have easily adopted those ideas and say Hinduism is atheism .

God is 0 and idolatry is false . This way he could have saved

himself from Allah’s wrath and enjoyed a longevity equal to that of Einstein’s.

REFERENCES: 1. Swami Vivekananda On Hazrat Muhammad, Islam And Quran www.swamivivekanandaquotes.org/.../swami-vivekanandas

-quotes-and-c... 2. Physical Benefits of Salat (Prayer) https://www.alislam.org/library/.../salat.h.. 3. Albert Einstein: Quotes on God, Religion, Theology www.spaceandmotion.com/albert-einstein-god-religion-

theology.htm 4. Swami Vivekananda's Quotes On Idol Worship Or Idolatry ... www.swamivivekanandaquotes.org/.../swami-vivekananda-idol

atry-ima 5. Biography of Vishwanath Datta — Vivekananda's Father ... www.swamivivekananda

quotes.org/.../biography-of-vishwanath-datta.ht

6. Swami Vivekananda - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda Wikipedia 7Swami Vivekananda suffered from 31 ailments | kolkata ... www.hindustantimes.com/...vivekananda...31.../story-A... 8. Quest For God  O'ver hill and dale and mountain range, In .. 9.Unity of opposites - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_of_opposites Wikipedi 10. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1 ... https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The...Vivekananda/.../Mohammed