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{{short description|Syncretic religion propounded by Mughal emperor Akbar in 1582}}
{{redirect|Divine faith|the Catholic doctrine|Faith in Christianity#Catholic Church}}
{{Infobox religion
| name               = Din-i Ilahi
| native_name        = {{lang|fa|{{unq|دینِ الٰهی}}}}
| type               = [[Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic]] and [[Indian religions|Dhārmic]]
| founder            = [[Akbar]]
| founded_date       = 1582
| founded_place      = [[Fatehpur Sikri]], [[Agra]], [[Mughal Empire]]
| image              = Emperor Akbar.png
| defunct            = Likely 1606
| leader_title       = Leader
| leader_name        = [[Akbar]]
| leader_title1      = Type
| leader_name1       = [[Syncretism|Syncretic religion]]
| separated_from     = [[Islam]]
| members            = 21, although many more individuals were influenced by the religion's teachings
| area               = [[Indian subcontinent]]
| caption            = Akbar
}}
The '''Dīn-i Ilāhī''' ({{langx|fa|{{Unq|دین الهی}}}}, {{Literal translation|Religion of God}}),<ref name="Britannica">{{Cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9030480/Din-i-Ilahi |title=Din-i Ilahi |website=Britannica Online Encyclopedia |access-date=2007-06-14 |archive-date=2008-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514090902/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9030480/Din-i-Ilahi |url-status=live }}</ref> known during its time as '''Tawḥīd-i-Ilāhī''' ("Divine Monotheism", {{Literal translation|Oneness of God}}) or '''Divine Faith''',<ref>{{Cite book |page=44|last=Jackson |first=A. V. Williams|url=http://archive.org/details/historyofindia04jackuoft |title=History of India
|quote=The truth is that Akbar was singularly sensitive to religious impressions of every kind, and that his new religion, the Din-i-Ilahi, or 'divine faith' an eclectic pantheism, contained elements taken from very diverse creeds. |publisher=London, Grolier society |others=Robarts - University of Toronto}}</ref> was a new [[Syncretism|syncretic religion]] or spiritual program propounded by the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperor [[Akbar]] in 1582.
According to Iqtidar Alam Khan, it was based on the [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] concept of Yasa-e Changezi (Code of [[Genghis Khan]]), to consider all sects as one.<ref>{{cite book |url= {{google books URL|AaFKAQAAIAAJ|q=yasa-i chingezi}} |page= 74 |title= Frontline: Volume 14, Issues 20-26 |publisher= S. Rangarajan for Kasturi & Sons |date= 1997 }}</ref> The elements were drawn from different religions.
==Name==
The name ''Dīn-i Ilāhī'' literally translates to "God's Religion", "Religion of God", or "divine religion". According to the renowned historian [[Mubarak Ali]], ''Dīn-i Ilāhī'' is a name that was not used in Akbar's period. At the time, it was called ''Tawhid-i-Ilāhī'' ("Divine Monotheism"), as it is written by [[Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak|Abu'l-Fazl]], a court historian during the reign of Akbar.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Akbarnama of Abu'l-Fazl|author=Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak|publisher=Low Price Publications|orig-year=1902–39|date=2010|isbn=978-81-7536-481-3|location=Delhi}}</ref> This name suggests a particularly [[monotheistic]] focus for Akbar's faith. The anonymous ''[[Dabestan-e Mazaheb]]'' uses the name ''Ilahiyya'' to refer to the faith.<ref name="persian.packhum.org">{{Cite web |url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Fauth%3D155%26work%3D001 |title=THE DABISTÁN, OR SCHOOL OF MANNERS, Trans. DAVID SHEA and ANTHONY TROYER, 1843, Persian Literature in Translation, The Packard Humanities Institute |access-date=2017-01-31 |archive-date=2018-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317102149/https://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Fauth%3D155&work=001 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==History==
[[File:AbulFazlPresentingAkbarnama.jpg|thumb|left|[[Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak|Abu'l-Fazl]], one of the disciples of Din-i Ilahi, presenting ''[[Akbarnama]]'' to [[Akbar]], Mughal miniature]]
Akbar promoted [[religious tolerance|tolerance]] of other faiths and even encouraged debate on philosophical and religious issues. This led to the creation of the [[Ibadat Khana|''Ibādat Khāna'']] ("House of Worship") at [[Fatehpur Sikri]] in 1575, which invited theologians, poets, scholars, and philosophers from all religious denominations, including Christians, Hindus, Jains, and Zoroastrians.
Since Akbar had severe [[dyslexia]], rendering him totally unable to read or write, such dialogues in the House of Worship became his primary means of exploring questions of faith.{{cn|date=July 2022}} Despite his aforementioned illiteracy, Akbar would eventually amass a library full of more than 24,000 volumes of texts in [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Latin language|Latin]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]]. The later [[Mughal Emperor]] and son of Akbar, [[Jahangir]], stated that his father was "always associated with the learned of every creed and religion." In a letter to [[King Philip II of Spain]], Akbar laments that so many people do not investigate their religious arguments, stating that most people will instead blindly "follow the religion in which [they] were born and educated, thus excluding [themselves] from the possibility of ascertaining the truth, which is the noblest aim of the human intellect."<ref name="huffingtonpost.in">{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/finding-tolerance-in-akba_b_3031746|title=Finding Tolerance in Akbar, the Philosopher-King|date=10 April 2013|access-date=12 October 2016|archive-date=23 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223212138/http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/finding-tolerance-in-akba_b_3031746|url-status=live}}</ref>
By the time Akbar established the Dīn-i Ilāhī, he had already repealed the ''[[jizya]]'' (tax on non-Muslims) over a decade earlier in 1568. A religious experience while he was hunting in 1578 further increased his interest in the religious traditions of his empire.<ref>Schimmel, Annemarie (2006) ''The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture'', Reaktion Books, {{ISBN|1-86189-251-9}}</ref> From the discussions held at the Ibādat Khāna, Akbar concluded that no single religion could claim the monopoly of truth. This revelation inspired him to leave Islam and create a new religion Dīn-i Ilāhī in 1582 and Akbar along with his loyal officials converted to this new religion Dīn-i Ilāhī in 1582.
This conversion of Akbar to Dīn-i Ilāhī  angered various Muslims, among them the [[Qadi]] of [[Bengal Subah]] and Shaykh [[Ahmad Sirhindi]], responded by declaring it to be [[blasphemy]] to Islam.
Some modern scholars have argued that the Din-i Ilahi was a spiritual discipleship of Akbar of his own belief which he propounded in his new religion.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lefèvre|first=Corinne|date=2015-04-01|title=Dīn-i ilāhī|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/din-i-ilahi-COM_26038|journal=Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE|language=en|access-date=2021-07-11|archive-date=2021-07-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711231425/https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/din-i-ilahi-COM_26038|url-status=live}}</ref>
===After Akbar===
Dīn-i Ilāhī appears to have survived Akbar according to the ''[[Dabestan-e Mazaheb|Dabestān-e Mazāheb]]'' of [[Mohsin Fani]]. However, the movement was suppressed by penalty and force after his death and was totally eradicated by [[Aurangzeb]], a task made easier by the fact that the religion never had more than 19 adherents.<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="persian.packhum.org"/>
In the 17th century, an attempt to re-establish the Dīn-i Ilāhī was made by [[Shah Jahan]]'s eldest son, [[Dara Shikoh]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Sajjad H. |last=Rizvi |chapter=Dara Shikoh |title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia |editor-first=Josef W. |editor-last=Meri |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |isbn=0-415-96690-6 |pages=195-196 |chapter-url={{google books URL|H-k9oc9xsuAC|p=194}} |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720124940/https://books.google.com/books?id=H-k9oc9xsuAC&pg=PA194#PPA195,M1 |archive-date=2022-07-20}}</ref> but any prospects of an official revival were halted by his brother, [[Aurangzeb]], who executed him<ref>{{cite book |title=The Mughal Throne : The Saga of India's Great Emperors |last=Eraly |first=Abraham |year=2004 |publisher=Phoenix |location=London |isbn=0-7538-1758-6 |page=336|quote=India was at a crossroads in the mid-seventeenth century; it had the potential of moving forward with Dara Shikoh, or of turning back to medievalism with Aurangzeb}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=William |last=Sleeman |year=1844 |title=Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official |url=https://archive.org/stream/ramblesrecollect02sleeuoft/ramblesrecollect02sleeuoft_djvu.txt |page=272 |quote=Poor Dara Shikoh!....thy generous heart and enlightened mind had reigned over this vast empire, and made it, perchance, the garden it deserves to be made}}</ref> on grounds of [[apostasy]]. Aurangzeb later compiled the [[Fatawa-e-Alamgiri]], reimposed the ''jizya'', and established Islamic [[Sharia]] law across the [[Indian Subcontinent]], spreading Islamic orthodoxy and extinguishing any chance of religious reform for generations.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Roy |title=Mawlana Mawdudi and Political Islam: Authority and the Islamic State |date=2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136950360}}</ref>
==Beliefs and practices==
Although the spirit and central principles of Dīn-i Ilāhī were adapted from [[Sufism]]{{sfnp|Roychoudhury|1941|page=306}} (including ideas from the [[Al-Andalus|Andalusi]] Sufi mystic, [[Ibn Arabi|Ibn al-'Arabi]]), Akbar endeavored to create a synthesis of other beliefs and so his personal religion borrowed concepts and tenets from many other faiths. Aligned with [[Sufi]] practices, one's soul is encouraged to [[Tazkiah|purify itself]] through yearning of God.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Virtues included generosity, forgiveness, abstinence, prudence, wisdom, kindness, and piety.{{sfnp|Roychoudhury|1941|page=279}} The following details illustrate the personal religious observances of Akbar:
{{blockquote|As an inquisitive inquirer endowed with the spirit of reason, he learnt the Hindu alchemy and medicine and cultivated their [[Yoga]] system; like his Central Asian [[Timur|ancestor]], he believed in astronomy and astrology; and after his association with the Zoroastrian [[Mobad|Mobed]], he believed that life might be lengthened by lightning fire or by the repetition of a thousand names of Sun. Following the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] custom, he used to [[Tonsure#Buddhism|shave the crown of his head]] thinking that the soul passed through the brain. He turned into a vegetarian later in life.{{sfnp|Roychoudhury|1941|page=303}}
}}
The visitation of [[Jesuit]] missionaries such as [[Rodolfo Acquaviva]] brought the virtue of celibacy into the House of Worship, where it consequently became a virtue of Akbar's faith that was not mandatory (as it is for the priests of [[Roman Catholicism]]) but respected. The faith also adopted the principle of [[ahimsa]], an ancient virtue of almost all [[Indian religions]], including [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]]. The nonviolence extended from humans to animals, encouraging vegetarianism and prohibiting the slaughter of animals for any reason at all. The Dīn-i Ilāhī had no sacred scriptures and, similar to both Islam and [[Sikhism]], there was no priestly hierarchy.<ref>{{cite book |first=Sunita |last=Gupta |year=2004 |title=Children's Knowledge Bank |url={{google books URL|0ti8clvedTAC}} |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216013534/https://books.google.com/books?id=0ti8clvedTAC |archive-date=2017-02-16}}</ref>
Light was a focus of divine worship, with a light-fire ritual based on the [[yasna]] (the primary form of worship in [[Zoroastrianism]]) and an adoption of the hymn of the 1,000 Sanskrit names for the [[Surya|sun]]. Followers were referred to as ''chelah'' (meaning "disciples").
The major practices and beliefs of Dīn-i Ilāhī were as follows:
# [[Tawhid|The unity of God]]
# Followers salute one-another with {{lang|ar|[[Takbir|Allah-u-Akbar]]}} or {{lang|ar|[[Jalla Jalaluhu]]}} (meaning: "may His glory be glorified")
# [[vegetarianism|Absence of meat of all kinds]]
# One's "[[Birthday|on-birth-by-anniversary]]" party was a must for every member
# [[Ahimsa]] (non-violence); followers were prohibited from dining with fishers, butchers, hunters, etc.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Ghaznavi |first=A Waheed |date=1 October 1988 |title=A Note on "Din-i Ilahi" |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=377–380 |journal=Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/0f9f9d9d8a153c8f8f42f14ed3a6323e/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1819375 |access-date=10 September 2022 |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002102127/https://www.proquest.com/openview/0f9f9d9d8a153c8f8f42f14ed3a6323e/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1819375 |url-status=live}}</ref>
===''Ṣulḥ-i-kul''===
It has been argued that the theory of Dīn-i Ilāhī being a new religion was a misconception which arose because of erroneous translations of [[Abu'l-Fazl]]'s work by later British historians.<ref>{{cite book |title=Mughal India: Studies in Polity, Ideas, Society and Culture |first=M. Athar |last=Ali |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-569661-5 |pages=163–164}}</ref> However, it is also accepted that the policy of ''sulh-i-kul'', which formed the essence of ''Dīn-i Ilāhī'', was adopted by Akbar as a part of general imperial administrative policy. ''Sulh-i-Kul'' means "[[World peace|universal peace]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scroll.in/article/804548/why-putting-less-mughal-history-in-school-textbooks-might-not-be-a-bad-idea|title=Why putting less Mughal history in school textbooks may be a good idea|access-date=2016-10-12|archive-date=2018-01-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124141107/http://scroll.in/article/804548/why-putting-less-mughal-history-in-school-textbooks-might-not-be-a-bad-idea|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="huffingtonpost.in"/> According to Abu'l-Fazl, the emperor was a [[Divine right of kings|universal agent of god]], and so his sovereignty was not bound to any single faith. In this, [[Akbar]] appointed officials based on their ability and merit, regardless of their religion or background. This helped to create a more efficient government and contributed to the prosperity and cultural achievements of the Mughal period.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-22 |title=Sulh-i-Kul: Features of Akbar's Policy {{!}} UPSC » Newscoop |url=https://www.newscoop.co.in/sulh-i-kul/ |access-date=2023-01-22 |language=en-US}}</ref> The emperor is further prohibited from discriminating between the [[Dabestan-e Mazaheb#Outline|different religions of the realm]] and if the ruler did discriminate, then they were not fit for the role as an agent of god.{{sfnp|Roy|2020|page=130}} Abu'l-Fazl saw the religious views of Akbar as a rational decision toward maintaining harmony between the various faiths of the empire.{{sfnp|Roy|2020|page=131}}
==Disciples==
The initiated disciples of Dīn-i Ilāhī during emperor Akbar's time included:{{sfnp|Roychoudhury|1941|pages=292–293}}
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* Shaikh Mubarak
* [[Faizi|Shaikh Faizi]]
* Jafar Beig
* Qasim Khan
* [[Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak]]
* Azam Khan
* [[Abd al-Samad|Abdus Samad]]
* Mulla Shah Muhammad Shahadad
* Sufi Ahmad
* Mir Sharif Amal
* Sultan Khwaja
* Mirza Jani Thatta
* Taki Shustar
* Shaikhzada Gosala Benarasi
* Sadar Jahan
* Sadar Jahan's first son
* Sadar Jahan's second son
* [[Birbal]]
* [[Murad Mirza (son of Akbar)|Prince Murad]]
{{div col end}}
==See also==
* [[Allopanishad]]
* [[Sirr-i-Akbar]]
* [[Majma-ul-Bahrain]]
* [[Dabestan-e Mazaheb]]
* [[Dara Shikoh]]
* [[Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb]]
* [[Religious policy of the Mughals after Akbar]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book
|last=Roychoudhury |first=Makhanlal
|year=1941
|title=The Din-i Ilahi, or, The Religion of Akbar
|publisher=University of Calcutta
|oclc=3312929
|url=https://archive.org/details/diniilahiorthere031361mbp
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Roy |first=Himanshu
|year=2020
|title=Indian Political Thought themes and thinkers
|publisher=Pearson
|isbn=978-93-325-8733-5
}}
{{refend}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Din-I Ilahi}}
[[Category:Akbar]]
[[Category:1580s establishments in India]]
[[Category:Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:Religious pluralism]]
[[Category:Religious syncretism in Asia]]
[[Category:Universalism]]
[[Category:Culture of India]]
[[Category:History of Islam in India]]
[[Category:History of religion in India]]
[[Category:Religions derived from Islam]]
[[Category:1582 establishments in Asia]]