Akbar the Great

[Sebastiaan]

Het volgende tekst komt uit het Boek "Why I'am not a muslim" by Ibn Warraq,

Akbar the Great (1542-1605)
by Ibn Warraq (p222-224)

It is significant and ironic that the most tolerant of all the Muslim rulers in the history of India, was also the one who moved farthest away from orthodox Islam and, in the end, rejected it for an eclectic religion of his own devising. Akbar abolished the taxes on Hindu pilgrims at Muttra and remitted the jizya or poll-tax on non-Muslims.

Akbar had shown an early interest in religions other than the rigid Islam he had grown up. Under the influence of freethinkers at his court like Abul Fazl and Muslim and Hindu mysticism, Akbar developed his interest in comparative religion to the extent of building a special “house of worship” in which to hold religious discussions. At first, the discussions were restricted to Muslim divines, who thoroughly disgraced themselves by their childish behavior. Akbar was profoundly disgusted, for their comportment seemed to cast doubt on Islam itself. Now Akbar decided to include Hindus, Jains, Zoroastriaans, Jews, and eventually three Jesuit fathers from the Portuguese colony of Goa. The Jesuit fathers were treaded with utmost respect; Akbar even kissed the Bible and other Christian holy images, something totally revolting to an orthodox Muslim. One of the Jesuits became a tutor to Akbar’s son.

There were further acts that alarmed and angered the Muslims. First, Akbar proclaimed the Infallibility Decree, which authorized the emperor to decide with binding authority any question concerning the Muslim religion, provided the ruling should be in accordance with some verse of the Koran. Second, Akbar again scandalized the Muslims by displacing the regular preacher at the mosque and mounting the pulpit himself, reciting verses composed by Faizi, the brother of the Freethinking Abul Fazl.

The Muslim chiefs in the Bengal now considered Akbar an apostate and rose up in revolt against him. When he had crushed the rebellion, Akbar felt totally free to do what he wanted. And, in the words of V.Smith (448) “He promptly took advantage of his freedom by publically showed his contempt and dislike for the Muslim religion, and by formally promulgating a new political creed of his own, adherence to which involved the solemn renunciation of Islam.” Akbar rejected the Muslim chronology, establishing a new one that started from his accession. He further outraged the Muslims by issuing coins with the ambiguous phrase “Allahu Akbar”, a frequent religious invocation known as the Takbir which normally means “God is great” (akbar = great). However, since Akbar was also the emperor’s name, “Allahu Akbar” could also mean “Akbar is God.”

Throughout his reign Akbar aimed at abating hostility toward Hindus, and his own vague religion was “a conscious efford to seem to represent all his people.” He adopted Hindu and Parsee (Zoroastrian) festivals and practices. Thus it is not surprising that “his conduct at different times justified Christains, Hindus, Jains, and Parsees in severally claiming him as one of themselves.” Akbar’s driving principle was universal toleration, and all the Hindus, Christians, Jains, and Parsees enjoyed full liberty of conscience and of public worship. He married Hindu princesses, abolished pilgrim dues, and employed Hindus in high office. The Hindu princesses were even allowed to practice their own religious rites inside the palace. “No pressure was put on the princes of Amber, Marwar, or Bikaner to adopt Islam, and they were freely entrusted with the highest military commands and the most responsible administrative offices. That was an entirely new departure, due to Akbar himself.”

Akbar’s great-grandson, Aurangzeb (1618-1707), was in total contrast, as Muslim puritan, who wished to turn his empire into a land of orthodox Sunni Islam. Aurangzeb ruled in accordance with the principles laid down by the early caliphs. Once again, we enter the world of Islamic intolerance: temples are destroyed (during the campaigns of 1679-80, at Udaipur 123 were destroyed, at Chitor 63, at Jaipur 66), and non-Muslims become second-class citizens in their own country. The imperial bigot reimposed the “hated jizya, or polltax on non-Muslims, which Akbar had wisely abolished early in his reign.” Aurangzeb’s aim was to curb the infidels and demonstrate the “distinction between a land of Islam and a land of unbelievers.”

“To most Hindus Akbar is one of thegreatest of the Muslim emperors of India and Aurangzeb one of the worst; to many Muslims the opposite is the case. To an outsider there can be little doubt that Akbar’s ways was the right one. Akbar disrupted the Muslim community by recognizing that India is not an Islamic country: Aurangzeb disputed India by behaving as though it were.

Jammer dat zijn nazaten zijn voorbeeld van religeuze tolerantie niet hebben voortgezet. Humor had Akbar blijkbaar wel met zijn munt slogan,

Allahu Akbar :D

[Ariel]

Dag Sabastiaan.
Welkom op FFI.
Kan jij je misschien voorstellen, zodat wij weten hoe jij tegenover Islam staat?

Vriendelijke groet.

Ariel

[BFA]

AKbar The Great is niet anders dan de wijze Muslmheerser die beseft dat je dhimmis ook eens enkele decennia adem moet geven om nieuwe welstand op te bouwen. ANders valt er later niets meer te plunderen.

Meer dan het kalf vetmesten, voor slachting heeft hij niet uitgevoerd.

[Sebastiaan]

Kan jij je misschien voorstellen, zodat wij weten hoe jij tegenover Islam staat?

Dat heb ik reeds gedaan, zie: http://www.dutch.faithfreedom.org/forum ... highlight=

[Ariel]

Je hebt weer een PM Sebastiaan.
En nogmaals welkom.

[Sebastiaan]

AKbar The Great is niet anders dan de wijze Muslmheerser die beseft dat je dhimmis ook eens enkele decennia adem moet geven om nieuwe welstand op te bouwen. ANders valt er later niets meer te plunderen.

Ik denk niet dat het geval was bij AKbar The Great. Ik denk eerder dat hij een van de weinige moslim leiders was die geloofde in de vredelievende verspreiding van de Islam en dat hij slechts in naam en plichtsgevoel een moslim was en veel meer respect had voor niet moslim dan moslims (die toen ook zeer star waren) en hoopte dat de Islam cultuur iets kon leren van andere godsdienst culturen.

Meer dan het kalf vetmesten, voor slachting heeft hij niet uitgevoerd.

Het is bekend dat men soms dhemmis verbood om zich te bekeren tot de Islam anders omdat men anders te weinig belastingen zou kunnen heffen, maar in dat geval was dat duidelijk niet het geval want hief tegen de wil van Orthodoxe Moslims, deze gehate belastingen op.