Islam – The Relationship With Vedic Religion/ Advaitham

Brief Introduction

There are various religions off shooting. One might wonder, why is that there are so many religions while the Ultimate Reality is one? The answer is that, God extends his divine experience & shows the path of divinity to this world form time to time to make sure that, the whole world is into the path of spirituality. There’s no doubt that, the same God, who had sent Mohammed (Peace be upon him) had also sent Sri Ramanuja or Jesus Christ to reveal his message to this world.

Universal Spirituality

Having understood the Universal family of Spirituality, the next immediate question that arises in our mind is, “If the same God has sent both Prophet (let peace be upon him) and Sri Ramanuja, then why are their philosophies totally contradictory?” To reach the same destination there are innumerable number of paths. Depending upon our previous karma, we would take the birth(s) according. No path or religion is inferior or superior to another.

Islam – The Path of Surrender

Now coming to the path (dharma) of Islam, Islam actually means total surrender to the God, the Almighty. Prophet Mohammed had experienced God’s divinity fully and explained his divine experience in the Holy Quran. In addition to his divine experiences, Prophet Mohammed had also explained the idealistic way of living for any common humans & also explained the principle of Universal Brotherhood.

Different Religious Sects

As in any religion, there are three different of followers in Islam too.

• Sunni – (Karma margam )(They follow the religious teachings strictly)
• Shiah – (Bakthi margam) They follow the path of devotion.
• Sufi – Gnana margam – Sufis are enlightened and they really ‘experience “ God.

Greatness of Sufism

With the path of wisdom, ranking high in any religion Sufis are the nearest to God for they are not away from the God, the Almighty even for a second. Great Sufi saints like Rumi, KabirDas etc.. have been sent by Allah to this world to show the divine path of eternal love.

Bakthi margis, see Lord as their “Boss” and they have the three differences.

Karma margis follow the religious practices precisely as stated by the texts & they have five differences. (pancha bhedas).

Greatness of Rumi (Molana Jalal-e-Din Mohammad Molavi Rumi)

Rumi, states that, Mohammed was in the highest state of consciousness as he had been “experiencing” Allah, the Almighty and praying to him. Mohammed would pray to God & regret for his spiritual immaturity when he keeps attaining higher levels of spirituality.

Rumi was also a great philosopher, devotee and a religious follower. In one of his songs, Rumi states that, “Die before you Die”. The inner meaning is that, one’s small ego needs to die before the death of this physical body. This leads to the state of eternal bliss, which is called as Bodamrutham in the vedanthic terms. So, all the religious teachings could be related to each others, if one is really enlightened.

• Love is from the infinite and will remain until eternity.
• The seeker of love escapes the chains of birth and death.
• Tomorrow when resurrection comes, any heart that is not in love will fail the test.

Explanation: In this poem, Rumi explains the divine love. One should love God, the Almighty like how a lover loves his partner. The purest form of love is the one, which does on his friend or lover without any expectations. This called as Prema Bakthy in Sanskrit. When one does such a kind of end-less deep love or devotion to Almighty, then that person escapes the cycles of birth and death. Only the ones, who have such kind of love for God, will escape the resurrection as all others, will enjoy the pleasures of Heaven for a short period ( for the good deeds they did) and will be born back in this world as per their deeds.

• You called Him a moon - you are mistaken. How can the moon compare?
• You called Him a king - you are wrong. How can a king compare?
• How often do you say, "You get up late?"
• When the Sun is with me, does time have any meaning?

Explanation: For sure God, the Almighty could not be called as Moon or as King as their scope(s) are limited. When a person is Self-Relaized, then the actual bright light of divinity is within himself & he is ahead of time and sub-merges in the end-less ocean of eternal bliss.

• Your love lifts my soul from the body to the sky.
• You lift me up out of the two worlds.
• I want your sun to reach my raindrops,
• So your heat can raise my soul upward like a cloud.

Explanation: In this poem, Rumi directly converses with God, the Almighty. He states that, the divine love makes him enter into the traumatic or blissful state, that would raise him above the two worlds & the tears that, he sheds out of divine ecstasy needs to be reached to God’s Sun, so that his Souls could fly upwards in eternal bliss upwards like a cloud!!

Omni-Potency of Almighty and Illusive Nature of this World

• We are as the flute, and the music in us is from thee; we are as the mountain and the echo in us is from thee.
• We are as pieces of chess engaged in victory and defeat: our victory and defeat is from thee, O thou whose qualities are comely!
• Who are we, O Thou soul of our souls, that we should remain in being beside thee?
• We and our existences are really non-existence; thou art the absolute Being which manifests the perishable.
• We all are lions, but lions on a banner: because of the wind they are rushing onward from moment to moment.
• Their onward rush is visible, and the wind is unseen: may that which is unseen not fail from us!
• Our wind whereby we are moved and our being are of thy gift; our whole existence is from thy bringing into being.

Explanation: This is an excellent poem of Realization by Rumi. Here Rumi explains about the helplessness of the mortals without God, the Almighty’s graces. Finally he declares that, this whole world is an illusion and only the God, Almighty is the Reality. Everything in this Universe is an illusion as, God; the Almighty is the only Truth. !!!

Eternal Marriage

• May these vows and this marriage be blessed
• May it be sweet milk, this marriage, like wine and halvah.
• May this marriage offer fruit and shade like the date palm
• May this marriage be full of laughter, our every day a day in paradise.
• May this marriage be a sign of compassion, a seal of happiness here and hereafter.
• May this marriage have a fair face and a good name an omen as welcomes the moon in a clear blue sky.
• I am out of words to describe how spirit mingles in this marriage.

Explanation: This is an excellent poem, where Rumi explains of the divine marriage of the Soul with the Almighty. For ordinary mortals, marriages are the union of two bodies, where as for the Relaized ones, marriage is the Union of one’s own Self with the God, the Almighty after which, the Self becomes inseparable from the Almighty!! Eternal love is the best possible way to attain that.

Gradual Upliftment of Soul

• I died from minerality and became vegetable;.
• And From vegetativeness I died and became animal.
• I died from animality and became man.
• Then why fear disappearance through death?
• Next time I shall die Bringing forth wings and feathers like angels;
• After that, soaring higher than angels - What you cannot imagine, I shall be that.

Explanation: This is an excellent poem, which explains the gradual upliftment of one’s Soul. Starting from the nature of a mineral (dead mater), it reaches the stage of a plant and then the animal and then the man . Thus after undergoing this metamorphosis, Rumi says that, there is no fear about death as, in the next step he would become an Angel and finally become one with Almighty, which is above that. Here he is clearly explaining the different stages of the Souls and he states that, finally becomes blissful or Anada Maya, after having done end-less love to God, the Almighty!!

Thus Rumi was a great philosopher, poet and a devotee. The divine works of Rumi are death-less and show a clear way for easy salvation to all the human beings!!.

Prophet Mohammed’s Principles

Prophet Mohammed preached the worship of God, by chanting his names five times a day in a sweet, melodious way. He also preached against idol worship – as in his times, the tribes of Arabia had a superstitious way of idol worship. He also laid down lots of rules and regulations to make sure that, people don’t go out of the religious discipline and are in the right religious track.

Idol Worship

Now coming to Idol worship, even in Hinduism in the Vedic times, there was no Idol worship. So, ideally one is not supposed to worship the idols as God for God cannot be recognized in the idols as he is omni-present and omni-potential. But, the only way one can worship God though idols is if he could recognize the idols or anything, he considers as divine as a manifestation of his own self, after he realizes the fact that, his own Self is a reflection of god, the Almighty. Sri Ramanuja identifies the divine idols with Suddha Sathva & Sri Shankara with Shuddha Chaitanya or Bodha Amritha.

Another one main reason for idol worship among the Hindus is the environment prevalent. The Buddhists & Jains were in great favor of Idol worship, following which, the Hindu philosophers are encouraged the same. Again worshipping idols is a feature of Hinduism & not worshipping the idols is a good feature of Islam. There is nothing to be looked down upon either of the sects for both of these ways have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Rumi’s View of Death as Wedding Night

Death is called as swarga arohana in the Vedantic terms or Maha Samadhi – where once becomes inseparable with the God himself. This happens only if one is highly enlightened and is able to realize God & experience God in his own Self. The same way Rumi calls his night of death as the Wedding Night, for he gets amalgamated with Divinity. Rumi gave strict orders to his disciples not to cry or mourn after his death as it was a happy event for him, - for he was becoming one with God, the Almighty.

Glories of the Holy Quran

In this Kali Yuga, the best way to attain salvation is said to the path of keertan or singing the glories of God. Ignorant people would consider, Islam as an external religion. But, Islam strictly adheres to the Vedic principles, as The Holy Quran itself is nothing but the praises and glories of God, the Almighty. So, the recital of Quran in the Mosques is equivalent to the nama Sankeertan or Bhajans. But the followers of Islam chant the Quran with full devotion and respect after washing their feet & hands. It is a great tradition setup by Prophet Mohammed.

Islam as Seventh Religion in Shankara’s Teachings

Considering Sri Shankara’s six fold religion, we could also add Islam as the seventh religion. The only difference is that, the first six religions have direct references in Sruti or the Vedas, where as Islam was originated in totally different context and has a different cultural background. The nature of Divinity explained in Holy Quran is with attributes. Prophet Mohammed explains Lord Allah, as a “Man” with all divine attributes. Although Prophet Mohammed preached against idol worship, he has personified God Hood into a Man, with all divine Qualities.

Greatness of Saint Kabirdas

Same was the case with KabirDas. KabirDas was a great Sufi Saint, who also was a great Ramah Baktha. It was by the graces of both Lord Rama and Lord Allah that, kabir Das sang in praise of both Allah & Rama. Kabir equally criticized the superstitions in both the religions. He was a great enlightened soul, whom we should be very proud of.

Attributes of Allah

For sure, the greatest part of the Holy Quran (any religion) is the way our Prophet Mohammed had explained the divine qualities of Allah, the Almighty. This is called as a Bagavath Gunas or the characteristics of God in Sanskrit. The specific sect in Hindusim that specializes in this is the Bagavatha Dharmam, which empathizes in singing the glories of God. Uttering the divine characteristics of Divinity and singing the glories of God are the best and easiest possible ways to attain salvation and Divinity. Rumi & our Kabir Das are best “examples” in the Islamic religion for this concept of Nama Sankeertnaam or Divine Praise of God.

Prophet Mohammed has enlisted 99 names of Allah, the Almighty to make everyone understand or realize the omni-present Allah’s gunas or attributes to this world. This gives end-less happiness to everyone and there is no doubt that, uttering these names , would bring enlightenment to everyone.

The Sanskrit equivalent to this is Vishnu Sahasranamam (1000 names of Lord Vishnu). The attributes of God, are sweet irrespective of the language it is said & the religion it’s packaged in.

Superiority of Prophet Mohammed’s faith

Note: This is a small effort, to see the identical attributes of God that is stated in Arabic by Prophet Mohammed and the ones state din Sanskrit. There is no doubt that Prophet Mohammed has explained these names to this world, with full of devotion. The divine, names of Allah, which Mohammed had stated are very divine, as he had experienced those attributes of Allah completely, even before he stated the same. Such is his greatness. In all the places below, God, is to be substituted with Allah, as there is only one God for the whole Universe he is called as Allah in the Momammadiya Path of Divine Worship.!!!

Below mentioned are the 21 names of Allah, out of his 99 names, which Prophet Mohammed had enlisted.

• AL-QUDDUS – The Holy One!! (Punyathma)
• AL-MALIK – The Sovereign Lord. (Jagannatha)
• AR-RAHIM – Merciful (Karunakara or Karunamaya)
• AR-RAHMAN – The Benificent One (Deena Sharanya)
• AL-JABBAR – The Compeller (Dhanda NeethiS hasana)

Explanation: Taking the above five names, let’s see the divine qualities of God, the Almighty. He is a holy one, for only the people, who are spiritually rich, can approach him & get purified. He is the Boss for the entire world, for one has to bow his head only to God, the Almighty. God is all merciful for he forgives the sins of his devotees & gives his several chances, before his devotee gets in into the right spiritual path. God, is very beneficent in helping the poor people or the helpless people, who take surrender in him. God, the Almighty is also the compeller of his principles – for God’s principles are the ideal one. God enforces the righteous rules (of Islam) on everyone to make sure his devotees are in the right path.

• AL-AKIR – The Mighty one (Adi)
• AL-AWAR- The last one (Anthaha)
• AL-MUHAYMIN – The Protector (JagathRakshakah)
• AL-MUMIN – The Protector of Faith (DharmaRakshaka)
• AS-SALAM – The Source of Peace (Shanthi Nilayaha)

Explanation: God, the Almighty is the first and the last. He is first , as he is the origin of everything in this world and he’s last as we realize him finally after doing lots of austerities. God is the only protector of this whole Universe. He is the protector of the religion and faith- for he protects the people who are true followers of his doctrine and the path of Mohammed. God, is the only source of peace as the happiness or peace attained by all worldly things is temporary.

• AL-KHALIQ – the creator (Jagath karthah)
• AL-ALIM – The All Knower (Thrikala Gnani)
• AL-MUTAKABBIR – The Majestic One (Gambeera)
• AS-SAMI – The All hearer (Sarva Anthar Srava:)
• AL-KHABIR – The aware ( Sarva Gnani)

Explanation: God, is the creator of this whole Universe and he is the omni-present one. He is the all knower as there is no place, that he’s not present. God is a majestic one as he doesn’t have any narrow view like all the worldly mortals. He is the all-hearer as he is omni-present. He is all aware as he knows all the three tenses – Past, Present and Future.

• AL-HAFIZ – The preserver (Stithi kartha)
• AL-KARIM – The generous one (Oudharya:)
• AL-MAJEED – The most glorious one (Stuthi Mayaha,Mangalamaya)
• ASH-SAHEED – The All Seer (Sarva Sakshi)
• AL-HAMEED – Praise Worthy (Stuthi Yogyaha)

Explanation: God is the preserver of the Faith & he is the protector of the whole world. God is the most generous one. He takes very little and gives back a lot !! He just takes the sincere prayers and gives back all the worldly pleasure and also the pleasure of heaven to the mortals. God is the Universal witness as he is present in all the things- both living and non-living. God, is the only praise worthy one, a s he is flaw-less and full of Glories.

• AL-QAYYUM – The self-substituting (Nirupamanaha)

Explanation: God, has no one else equivalent to him than him self!! For there would be atleast a single flaw in all other beings. Only Allah, God the Almighty is flawless.

Conclusion:

Without having a complete insight and fully enlightenment, people use the religion(s) or even doctrinal differences as a subject of fight & cause social calamities. I prostrate to the feet of Prophet Mohammed, Rumi & Sri kabir Das to grant the Universal Unity and peace among all the prevalent religions and a harmonious life in the society. There is no doubt that, Islam is a Great religion and talk of Lord Allah, The Almighty, which is also described in the Vedas. Let Lord, the Almighty remove the ignorance in the people’s minds and grant the divine knowledge to everyone as Sri Rumi says.