♦ Is Swami Vivekananda indirectly insulting the Islamic point of view???

(Refutation to the topic of love to God)
.
"...Those that love God through fear are the lowest of human beings, quite undeveloped as men. They worship God from fear of punishment. He is a great Being to them, with a whip in one hand and the sceptre in the other; if they do not obey Him, they are afraid they will be whipped. It is a degradation to worship God through fear of punishment; such worship is, if worship at all, the crudest form of the worship of love. So long as there is any fear in the heart, how can there be love also?"
.
[Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 3/Para-Bhakti or Supreme Devotion/The Triangle of Love]
.
.
So, according to Swami Vivekananda, if anyone loves and worships Almighty God being afraid of His punishment, he is the undeveloped lowest human being!
.
Swamiji did not mention any religious group, but cleverly insulted the point of view of Christians and Muslims.
.
Here, one point should be made clear first. Swamiji in his speech clearly said about the bible and its teaching in the angle of Christianity's Trinity's point of view. But he hardly said about Islam directly.
.
In the above portion, we can see that Swamiji is calling the worshippers of Almighty God as the undeveloped lowest human being who worship God with fear of punishment!
.
From Islamic point of view, we can say that his vedanta is not our standard. If he wants to take such thinking as a lower type of worship, then we are not bound to accept that. Because, in the light of vedanta, worship is not the motto of life, rather "self-realisation" is the ultimate goal. In the way of islam, self-realisation with the thinking that "I am the eternal part of God and there is no difference between God and me" - is a lie and therefore a great insult to Almighty God.
.
In the angle of Vedanta, worship is just a step for salvation. But Islam declares, such type of worship is falsehood and therefore an insult to Almighty God. Because, while worship is due to get "Mukti"(Salvation), it means that I am conquering my senses to realise that I am actually the part and parcel of God. But Islam declares, God and creation are seperate and therefore there is no existence of "Maya"(the ignorance that we are separated creation than God).
Quran declares,
.
"But does not man call to mind that We created him before out of nothing?"
(The Noble Quran, 19:67)
.
So, the target of worship in the angle of Vedanta and Islam is completely opposite. Therefore, the standard of judgement to be higher or lower is not also same in the light of islam and vedanta.
.
But Swamiji's question is yet not answered. How one can love God if there is fear of punishment in mind?
.
Before giving the refutation, I want to first add a point.
.
See it too, mr Vivekananda is comparing the love of a prostitute or harlot to her master with Bhakti or Divine love to God!!!
.
"According to **the doctrine of Bhakti**, God is held to be "All-Love". One cannot even say, "I love Him", for the reason that He is All-Love. There is no love outside of Himself; the love that is in the heart with which you love Him is even He Himself. In a similar way, whatever attractions or inclinations one feels drawn by, are all He Himself.
The thief steals, ***the harlot sells her body to prostitution***, the mother loves her child—in each of these too is He! One world system attracts another—therealso is He. Everywhere is He."
.
(The Complete Works of SwamiVivekananda/Volume 5/Conversations and Dialogues/II - V Shri Surendra Nath Sen)
.
.
Now in Islamic point of view, our love is not such type of love, which can be compared to prostitute's works.
.
In Vedanta, one thinks himself as equal with God, so the ultimate goal is salvation.
.
But Islam declares it as a lie and refutes that Creation and Creator is separate in the real sense and so the ultimate goal is "SUBMISSION", not salvation.
.
Now, once you are talking about love, who will decide that you are in the correct way when you are loving God?
.
Suppose, you love God very much. But you can not control yourself from evil deeds. You can do everything for your God, but your God has not set neither reward, nor punishment for your good or bad deeds. Now, you want to do smoking and taking drugs. Note that Mr Vivekananda and his Guru Ramakrishna both were drug addicted! You can check it yourself.
Now, once you are engaged in love of God, your mind also wants to have sex with the people who are not married to you. We can get this example from the very yogi krishna. The unmarried gopis were virgin girls and they were in love to Krishna and the love is so intense that the girls engaged in illicit sexual relationship with krishna.
.
Now, come to the point again. Our question is, if you are in great love of God, yet your God does not set any punishment for your evil deeds, then you can do whatever you want. Because at that time, all the ways will be same to you and there will be no fixed standard of good and bad. Such we can see, Vivekananda is comparing their bhakti with prostitution!!!
.
So, first, one should be taught perfectly what is the fixed standard of good and bad. And therefore, one should moderate oneself perfectly in the theme of that good way.
.
But, when you are not fixed in the standard of that good way, you are not bound to avoid alcohol, having illicit sexual relationship, taking drug and so on. Human mind can not find solution only from philosophy, he also needs practical force to be fixed on true way.
Besides, vedanta can not show any way by which such force for staying at any fixed standard of good way can be achieved. Because, in vedanta, the concept of Creator God is just imaginary and so, the concept of rewards and punishment in the hereafter is also like a dream.
We have already said that vedanta is not our standard, so meditation in their way is a misguidance to us. Therefore, we reject their corrupted imaginary concept.
.
From Islamic point of view, we can say, Almighty Allah knows our psychology very well. So He has set punishment for our wrong-doing. When we think about it, we will become afraid and go away from evil deeds. Again when we think about the prizes for the good works of our worldly life in hereafter, we will start to do good works abstaining from bad actions.
.
But it is not an obstacle in the path of loving God, rather it helps to love God more and be closer to Him. Because when a person's mind can not think deeply about his Creator, generally at that moment he can not think about the depth of worship of Almighty God. At that moment, the person can only think about the rewards and punishment for his works in hereafter.
Then when he is going to do any bad work, the thinking of the bitter punishment of hell will prevent him from doing such deeds. Thus, he can be moderated and fixed at the perfect standard of good way.
.
"Our Lord! Surely, whom You admit to the Fire, indeed You have disgraced him, and never will the wrongdoers find any helpers." (Al-Quran 3:192)
.
Again when anyone doesn't feel necessity to do worship or any good deed, the reward in paradise will inspire him to do more positive works. Thus, he can moderate him in the second way too.
.
"Allah does not inflict an atom's weight of injustice. On the contrary, He multiplies the reward manifold for the righteous work, and grants from Him a great recompense."
(Al-Quran, 4:40)
.
Thus while one is obeying the commandments of Allah, gradually he is going away from misguidance and his mind becomes more and more matured day by day in the thinking of Almighty God. Then that person's main motto is not to get reward in paradise, but to love Almighty God and to do works for His satisfaction.
.
"(O Messenger!) Tell people: 'If you indeed love Allah, follow me, and Allah will love you and will forgive you your sins. Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate.'" (Al-Quran, 3:31)
.
"And they feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive,-
[Saying],"We feed you for the sake of Allah alone: no reward do we desire from you, nor thanks."
(Al-Quran, 76:08-09)
.
"Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah: for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction." (Al-Quran, 13:28)
.
"Say: "Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are [all] for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds""
(Al-Quran, 6:162)