IDOLATROUS CRITICS OF IDOLATRY? ... 1

IDOLATROUS CRITICS OF IDOLATRY? ... 1

Monotheistic religions like Islam ☪️ denigrate idol worship without realising that it is ingrained within its very fold in the form of hypersensitivity to criticism of its doctrine, Prophet or God, all of which being personality-centric would lend credence to Islam ☪️ being not impersonal and, hence, idolatrous in a vaster and deeper connotation of the term, non-idolatry implying impersonality in its absolute sense. Islam, being a 'Deen' or a way of life, deals with manifested material in its everyday practicality, be they human adherents of the faith or their associated objects and practices, and as such cannot be called strictly monotheistic in the sense attempted to be made clear above, for Islam lays undue emphasis on such material observances instead of merely concentrating on its singular God.

According to Swami Vivekananda, all claimants to monotheism, who are vociferous critics of Hindu 🕉 idol worship, are unknowingly idolatrous themselves, their attention being primarily focussed on non-spiritual material culture which by definition is pluralistic and, hence, not monotheistic whose primary concern ought to be singularly spiritual, a shifting attention on material things to be deemed blasphemous in that sense. Moreover, Islam ☪️, being inspired and impelled by exalted sensory gratification as highest reward offered in its post-judgment deliverance of Muslims unto heaven (Jannat), necessarily is a material creed and not spiritual in the strictest sense of the term which makes it not only dualistic despite devotion to a single God but idolatrous in its material cravings and impulsions as well. Thus, the entire thesis of being non-idolatrous in essence falls, lending inconsistency in Islamic criticism of apparently -- but not really -- idolatrous Hinduism. 

Written by Sugata Bose