Definition Of Deen-e-ilahi

[Bad Girl]

can anybody clear this ?? :D

[$ingh $oorma]

Its was used in Akbars rule and he was addresed as:-

Deen-E-Ilahi Akbar

Allah is the Supreme Ruler and Akbar is his Khalifa on Earth

(Persian: "Divine Faith"), an elite eclectic religious movement, which never numbered

more than 19 adherents, formulated by the Mughal emperor Akbar in the late 16th

century AD.

The Din-i Ilahi was essentially an ethical system, prohibiting such sins as lust,

sensuality, slander, and pride and enjoining the virtues of piety, prudence, abstinence,

and kindness. The soul was encouraged to purify itself through yearning for God (a

tenet of Sufism, Islamic mysticism), celibacy was condoned (as in Catholicism), and the

slaughter of animals was forbidden (as in Jainism). There were no sacred scriptures or

a priestly hierarchy in the Din-i Ilahi. In its ritual, it borrowed heavily from

Zoroastrianism, making light (Sun and fire) an object of divine worship and reciting, as

in Hinduism, the 1,000 Sanskrit names of the Sun.

In practice, however, the Din-i Ilahi functioned as a personality cult contrived by Akbar

around his own person. Members of the religion were handpicked by Akbar according

to their devotion to him. Because the emperor styled himself a reformer of Islam,

arriving on Earth almost 1,000 years after the Prophet Muhammad, there was some

suggestion that he wished to be acknowledged as a prophet also. The ambiguous use

of formula prayers (common among the Sufis) such as Allahu akbar, "God is most

great," or perhaps "God is Akbar," hinted at a divine association as well.

Akbar is recorded by various conflicting sources as having affirmed allegiance to Islam

and as having broken with Islam. His religion was generally regarded by his

contemporaries as a Muslim innovation or a heretical doctrine; only two sources from

his own time--both hostile--accuse him of trying to found a new religion. The influence

and appeal of the Din-i Ilahi were limited and did not survive Akbar, but they did trigger

a strong orthodox reaction in Indian Islam.

Akbar removed the tax on Hindus, despite the traditional

mandate in Islam to tithe non-believers, and invited scores of religious scholars, including Hindus, Jews,

and Christians, to debate him personally in his private chambers, often late into the night. Akbar's wives

were also of different religious backgrounds - each marriage was thus a strategic union that would allow

the adherents of India's many faiths to feel that they too were apart of the royal household.

Over time, Akbar's fascination with religion grew to almost an obsession when he fashioned his own faith,

called Din Ilahi. Din Ilahi was an eclectic mix of the other religions Akbar had studied during those

late-night theological debates. He borrowed what he saw as the best components of each and blended them

into the melange that became Din Ilahi. The new faith, however, never caught on among the Hindus and

Muslims outside of his court, but despite this failure, Akbar continued to support religious tolerance

among his people.

[Bad Girl]

thx for the info :D

[Guest Papi]

oh snapppppp

edit: that was for pritam's post, which got deleted. poor pritam