Make up your own religion? Sure!
06 Dec '08 03:591 editThe chance to make up your own religion doesn't come around every day. Well, it might, but chances are it won't stick around very long. We've had Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Joseph Smith, L. Ron Hubbard and Bobby Henderson (Flying Spaghetti Monster) who have started religions that have managed to stick around for the time being. Then there have been others like Akhenaton (Amenhotep IV) whose made-up religion didn't stick around for long. But most of those whose made up religions don't last end up being forgotten themselves. Or at least their religion is.
So this thread is in honor of Akbar the Great, who ruled the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1605. Some of you may have heard of Akbar (after all, he was GREAT), but what most people don't know is that he, too, started his own religion.
The Mughals were an Islamic ruling class who presided over a predominantly Hindu empire, with many other religious minorities mixed in. Akbar took a great interest in the various religions of his realm and for the most part was tolerant of them. He repealed the jizya (tax on non-Muslims) in 1562. In 1575 he built the Ibadat Khana (House of Worship) where debates on philosophical and religious matters were held. Participants from all faiths (and even atheists *gasp*) were allowed to participate and debate against one another.
From these debates, Akbar concluded that no religion had a monopoly on the truth. He therefore set out to create his own religion which would include what he saw as containing the best elements from each other religion. This faith, which he named Din-i-Ilahi (Faith of the Divine), he hoped would act as a unifying force for his polyglot empire.
(It) incorporated both 'pantheistic' versions of Islamic Sufism (most notably the Ibn Arabi's doctrine of 'Wahdat al Wajood' or Unity of existence) and 'bhakti' or devotional cults of Hinduism. Even some elements of Christianity (like crosses), Zoroastrianism (fire ceremonies) and Jainism were amalgamated in the new religion. Akbar was greatly influenced by the teachings of Jain Acharyas Hir Vijay Suri and Jin Chandra Suri and gave up non-vegetarian food by their influence. He declared "Amari" or non-killing of animals on the holy days of Jains like Paryushan and Mahavir Jayanti. He rolled back Jizya Tax from Jain Pilgrim places like Palitana. (source: Wikipedia)
Din-i-Ilahi appears to have combined mysticism, philosophy and nature worship. But perhaps the most interesting feature is that it recognized no gods or prophets.
The great Mughal manuscript 'Dabestan-e Mazaheb' records the type of debates that went on in the Ibadat Khana which led to the creation of Akbar's new religion. Another manuscript, the 'Akbarnama' contains an illustration of it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Jesuits_at_Akbar%27s_court.jpg
(That's Akbar on the throne and the figures in blue, to the left (his right), are the Jesuits.)
Sadly, Akbar's religion did not survive his demise. His fellow Muslims almost universally declared it to be blasphemy and his offspring appeared to have taken no interest in it.
Tennyson's poem 'Akbar’s Dream' lauds the Ibadat Khana, ascribing tolerance and humanity to his "Divine Faith", while implicitly criticising the intolerance of 19th century British Christianity.
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/tennyson/akbarsdream.html
So this thread is in honor of Akbar the Great, who ruled the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1605. Some of you may have heard of Akbar (after all, he was GREAT), but what most people don't know is that he, too, started his own religion.
The Mughals were an Islamic ruling class who presided over a predominantly Hindu empire, with many other religious minorities mixed in. Akbar took a great interest in the various religions of his realm and for the most part was tolerant of them. He repealed the jizya (tax on non-Muslims) in 1562. In 1575 he built the Ibadat Khana (House of Worship) where debates on philosophical and religious matters were held. Participants from all faiths (and even atheists *gasp*) were allowed to participate and debate against one another.
From these debates, Akbar concluded that no religion had a monopoly on the truth. He therefore set out to create his own religion which would include what he saw as containing the best elements from each other religion. This faith, which he named Din-i-Ilahi (Faith of the Divine), he hoped would act as a unifying force for his polyglot empire.
(It) incorporated both 'pantheistic' versions of Islamic Sufism (most notably the Ibn Arabi's doctrine of 'Wahdat al Wajood' or Unity of existence) and 'bhakti' or devotional cults of Hinduism. Even some elements of Christianity (like crosses), Zoroastrianism (fire ceremonies) and Jainism were amalgamated in the new religion. Akbar was greatly influenced by the teachings of Jain Acharyas Hir Vijay Suri and Jin Chandra Suri and gave up non-vegetarian food by their influence. He declared "Amari" or non-killing of animals on the holy days of Jains like Paryushan and Mahavir Jayanti. He rolled back Jizya Tax from Jain Pilgrim places like Palitana. (source: Wikipedia)
Din-i-Ilahi appears to have combined mysticism, philosophy and nature worship. But perhaps the most interesting feature is that it recognized no gods or prophets.
The great Mughal manuscript 'Dabestan-e Mazaheb' records the type of debates that went on in the Ibadat Khana which led to the creation of Akbar's new religion. Another manuscript, the 'Akbarnama' contains an illustration of it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Jesuits_at_Akbar%27s_court.jpg
(That's Akbar on the throne and the figures in blue, to the left (his right), are the Jesuits.)
Sadly, Akbar's religion did not survive his demise. His fellow Muslims almost universally declared it to be blasphemy and his offspring appeared to have taken no interest in it.
Tennyson's poem 'Akbar’s Dream' lauds the Ibadat Khana, ascribing tolerance and humanity to his "Divine Faith", while implicitly criticising the intolerance of 19th century British Christianity.
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/tennyson/akbarsdream.html
Back to Top