Lec 02 Renowned Muslim School of Thought

Renowned Muslim School
of Thoughts and Their Role

DIN-E-ILAHI
MUJADID ALF-SANI
Din-e-Ilahi
The Din-e Ilahi was a religion propounded by
the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1582 CE, intending to
merge some of the elements of the religions of his
empire, and thereby reconcile the differences that
divided his subjects. The elements were primarily
drawn from Islam and Hinduism, but some others
were also taken from Christianity, Jainisam.
Ibadat Khana ("House of Worship")
Akbar promoted tolerance of other faiths. In fact, not
only did he tolerate them, he encouraged debate on
philosophical and religious issues. This led to the
creation of the Ibādat Khāna ("House of Worship")
at Fatehpur Sikri in 1575.
From the discussions held at the Ibādat Khāna, Akbar
concluded that no single religion could claim the
monopoly of truth. This inspired him to create
the Dīn-i Ilāhī in 1582.
Taw hid I Ilahi
According to a renowned historian Mubarak Ali, Dīn-i
Ilāhī is a name not present in Akbar's period. At that time it
was called Taw hid-i-Ilāhī ("divine monotheism"), as it is
written by Abu Al Fazal, a court historian during the reign
of Akbar.
 So it can be said that it was not a religion in the proper
sense or in comparison with the mainstream religions, as
there was no compulsion in its acceptance, no reward, no
punishment and no establishment of religious institutions.
Furthermore, it can be said that it was a political system to
bring unity in plurality rather than a religion.
Sulh-i-kul(universal peace)
 However, it is also accepted that the policy of Sulh-i-kul,
which formed the essence of Dīn-i Ilah, was adopted by
Akbar as a part of general imperial administrative
policy. Sulh-i-kul means "universal peace".
In practice, however, the Dīn-i Ilāhī 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.
Ahmad al-Fārūqī al-Sirhindī (1564–1624)
Sheikh Ahmed Sirhindī, commonly known as Mujaddid-e-
Alf-Sani (the reformer of the second millennium), was
born on 26 June, 1564, in Sirhind, a city of East Punjab. He
was educated at home and was inducted into mysticism by
his father, Sheikh Abdul-al-Ahad, who was himself an
eminent Sufi. At the age of 36 he went to Delhi and there
he met Khawaja Baqi Billah who introduced him to the
Naqshbandī Silsilah. Sheikh Ahmed was not new to Sufi
discipline as he had made remarkable progress and soon
reached the sublime heights of experience and beatific
vision. He died on 15 December, 1624, at the age of 60 years
Mujadid
He has been described as a Mujaddid, meaning "the
reviver" for his work in renewing Islam and opposing
the dissident opinions prevalent in the time
of Mughal emperor Akbar. Sheikh Ahmed set upon
himself the task of purifying the Muslim society. His
aim was to rid Islam of the accretions of Hindu
Pantheism. However the Mujaddid succeeded in his
efforts at last and Jahangir cancelled all those orders of
his father which were against the spirit of Islam and
thus Deen-e-Elahi came to an ignoble end
Continued….
As soon as Akbar died and Jahangir ascended the
throne, Sheikh Ahmed Sarhindi came out to reform
and to do away with all Un-Islamic practices and
beliefs initiated by Akbar among the Muslims. Sheikh
Ahmed Sarhindi never entered into any political
conflict directly. He wrote letters to all the nobles’ of
Jahangir’s court. Most of them were the same who
were present in Akbar’s court. The opponents of
Sheikh also came out and he was dubbed as an atheist
by them.
Continued…..
So Sheikh was summoned to the court of Jahangir and
asked to bend down. He was so rigid in his approach
towards Islam that he did not bend before the emperor
as per the prevalent custom. His plea that bending
down before anyone except Allah was un-Islamic
annoyed Jahangir, who ordered for his imprisonment
in the Fort of Gawaliar for two years due to his
discourteous behaviour.
Continued……
Hazrat Mujaddid continued preaching of Islam during
the imprisonment in the Fort of Gawaliar. Due to his
efforts thousands Non-Muslims accepted Islam. After
a year however, Jahangir under the influence of his
Islamic writings released him from jail and offered
huge gifts to him. The king befriended and respected
the Sheikh.
continued
 Wahdatul-Wujood
 Wahdatul Shaood
 Maktoobat-e-Imam Rabbani
 Risala
 Two-Nation Theory

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Renowned Muslim School

of Thoughts and Their Role

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