Chapter 17
Major Religions in Class - Vl, we have learnt about the
major religions which prevailed during the ancient period. started in India during seventh to fifteenth
century. In this chapter, we shall learn
about Islam and Sikhism and different religious movements which ISLAM Islam was
founded by Prophet Mohammad. He was born
in Mecca in 570 CE and was brought up by his uncle who took him over to
Arabia. Later on, he married a widow
under whom he was employed. At the age
of forty, he got the light of wisdom (revelation) while meditating in a cave
near Mecca and declared himself the Prophet of Allah. It is believed that Quran was revealed to him
by the God's angel, Gabriel. Mohammad
was opposed to idol worship. Mohammad
was not liked by the orthodox and rich people of Mecca. He moved to Madina, where he was Do You
Know? warmly welcomed by the
people. After the death of Prophet
Mohammad (632 CE), Abu Bakr, Prophet's friend, Mecca and Madina are the two
holy was the first adult to embrace Islam.
He became a Khalifa. cities of
pilgrimage for the Muslims. The Khalifas
enjoyed full political and religious powers.
Islam propagated faith in Allah and the prophethood of Mohammad. Prophet Mohammad preached that Allah punishes
us for the bad deeds and rewards us for good deeds. He also propogated the concept of
equality. The Quran says that to
regulate one's life as a true Muslim, a person has to observe the following
five principles in his life 1. He should always proclaim oneness of God,
i.e. Do you know? Allah and Mohammad as his prophet on this
earth. Quran, written in Arabic. provides the 2. Every Muslim should offer
prayers five times daily, Muslim believers with everything that and on Friday
afternoon in a mosque, with others. they
need to lead a good and pious life. 3.
One should give alms to the poor. 4.
Every muslim should keep fast (roza) during the holy month of Ramzan from dawn
to dusk. 5. One should, if possible, go
on a 'Hai' to Mecca at least once in his lifetime. 141
The greatest contribution of Mohammad was that he united the
scattered Arab empire undet one faith.
The conflict among the successors led to the creation of two main sects
within Islam These were the Sunni and the Shia sects. SIKHISM The origin of Sikhism can be traced
back to the time of Guru Nanak, the first Guru of Sikhs. He was born in 1469. Since childhood, he was
very happy in the company of saints and sufis.
He propagated that to be one with God, one has to be egoless and
denounce lust for worldly pleasures. He
believed in Nirankar Brahma or God. For
him, Rama and Rahim were the same. He
believed in selfless and honest service to humanity. Do you know?
Guru Nanak established Sangat and Pangat. • Sangat is the religious gathering where
everyone recites the name of God without any distinction of caste, creed, color
or race. Pangat is eating langar by
sitting together in a row without any distinction of rich or poor, caste or
creed, race or color. Guru Nanak
preached through Kirtans, self - composed Bani 'and songs of other saints. Sikhismis based on Guru - Shishya
tradition. The sacred scripture of Sikhs
is the Adi Granth. This holy scripture s
their 'Guru'. The hymns are known as
Gurabani or Shabad. Shri Guru Granth
Sahib is the source of Divine kirtan for the Sikhs. Guru Nanak passed away in 1539 CE at
Kartarpur. According to Sikhism, a true
Sikh (shishya) is one who believes in one God, has complete faith in ten Gurus,
who follows Shri Guru Granth Sahib and acts in accordance with the message of
Gurbani. Every Sikh should be baptized
by taking 'Amrit' The second Guru, Guru Angad collected the hymns of Guru Nanak
in Gurumukhi script. Guru Ram Das dug
the holy tank known as Amritsar. The
city of Amritsar takes its name from it.
Guru Arjun Dev constructed Gurudwara Harminder Sahib in the center of
the tank. It is also known as the Golden
Temple Guru Har Gobind constructed the Akal Takht or the Throne of God near the
Golden Temple. Guru Teg Bahadur was
involved in fighting against the oppression by the Mughals. He inculcated Guru Teg Bahadur courage among
the Sikhs to fight against the atrocities of the Mughal rulers. 142
The last Guru, Gobind Singh created the Khalsa Panth at
Anandpur popularly known as Takhat Sri Keshgarh Sahib, on the day of Baisakhi
in 1699 CE. Do you know? Every Amritdhari sikh has to have all the
five K's (Kakars) on his body all the time.
They are the symbols of Sikhism.
They are: Kesh, Kangha, Kara, Kaccha and Kirpan (sword / dagger). Guru Gobind Singh BHAKTI MOVEMENT Bhakti
means complete submission and devotion to God.
Bhakti movement started during medieval period but its roots can be
traced back to the Vedic period.
Initially, Bhakti saints believed in the worship of God, that is,
formless (Nirakar), omnipotent and omnipresent.
They also denounced idol worship Bhakti movement started in the south
(Tamil region) during seventh and eighth century. It preached devotion and loving relationship
between devotee and the God to attain Moksha.
The Alvars (Vaishnavities) and Nayanars (Shaivities) condemned
rigidities of casteism and taught the lessons of love, devotion and
equality. All over India, the Bhakti
saints used local languages to preach their message. They discarded rituals and sacrifices to
create oneness with God. Ramananda took
the ideas of Bhakti to north. He
worshiped Shri Ram with complete devotion and love. Kabir and Ravidas, belonging to different
castes, were his disciples. Bhakti
saints opposed the caste system, superstitions and narrow mindedness. Kabir and Nanak strongly preached Hindu -
Muslim unity. Kabir Do You Know? Kabir composed Padas and Dohas in the praise
of the Supreme God. It is said that when
he died, covering his body, they only found flowers. his Hindu and Muslim followers started
fighting about the last rites. When they
lifted the cloth 143
Many legends are prevalent about the birth, life and death
of Kabir, one of India's most quoted poet and mystic. It is believed that he was actually the son
of a Brahmin widow who abandoned him and that lie was found by a Muslim weaver
named Niru, who adopted the boy and taught him the skill of weaving. He was never formally educated. According to a legend, the only word that he
ever learned to write was 'Rama'. The
worship of Rama was made popular by Tulsidas in north. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Bengal, Odisha), Meera
(Rajasthan), Narsimha Mehta (Gujarat) and Surdas (Uttar Pradesh) were the
ardent devotees of Krishna. They
worshipped Krishna with love, devotional songs and dance. Caste or creed was totally set aside. Chaitanya SUFISM Sufism was inspired by Quran
and belief in one God only. The word
'Sufi' is derived from 'Suf (wool) as these mystics wore a long woollen
coat. Sufis believe that all human
beings are children of one God. Love for
humanity is the love for God. They
believed in Guru - Shishya relationship.
Guru was known as Pir (teacher) and Shishya (disciple) as Murid. The Pirs lived in Kangahs (hermitage -
Ashram) along with their disciples. Some
of the practices among the Sufis were similar to Hinduism or Buddhism,
e.g. penance, fasting, pranayam good
deeds and belief in equality among all, without any distinction of color, caste
or creed. Tomb of Khwaja Muinnudin
Chisti Do You Know? Sufism believed that
to achieve union with the Supreme, one has to pass through ten states: 1. Tauba
(repentance) Vara (abstinence) 3. Judah (piety) 4. Zakva (property) 5. Sabra
(patience) 6. Shabra ( gratitude) 7.
Khauf (fear) 8. Raza (hope) 9. Tawakkul (contentment) 10. Riza (submission to
God) 144
except God. Sufism
propagated that God is hag and universe is khalaq. There is no existence of anyone. There were five orders (Silsilas) of
Sufism. The three famous were: Chisti
Order was established by Khwaja Muinnuddin Chisti. Suhrawardi Order was established by Shaikh
Bahauddin Zakaria. Naqsh Bandi Order was
established by Khwaja Baqi Bittah. Some
famous sufi saints were Baba Farid, Bakhtiar Kaki, Nizamuddin Aulia, Sheikh
Salim Chisti, Amir Khusro, etc. Dargah
Nizamuddin Aulia Dargah Sheikh Bahauddin Zakaria Keywords dargah: grave of a
Muslim saint. khalifa: head of the
Muslim world. mystics: those who believe
in abstract spiritual truths. nirankar
brahmat: god is formless. omnipotent
having absolute power omnipresent present everywhere at the same time. . 145
Comments
Post a Comment