MAJORRELIGIONS

ISLAM

SIKHISM

BHAKTI MOVEMENT

SUFISM

Islam was founded by Prophet Mohammad .He was born inMecca in 570 A.D. and was brought up by his uncle who took him over 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 Koran was revealed to him by the God’s angel Gabriel . Mohammad was opposed to idol worship.Mohammad was not liked by the people of orthodox and rich people of Mecca .He moved to Madina, where he was warmly welcomed by the people. After the death of Prophet Mohammad (632 A.D.) ,Abu Bakr ,Prophet’s friend ,was the first adult to embrace Islam. He became a Khalifa. 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 bad deeds and rewards us for good

deeds .He also propagated the concept of

equality . The Koran says that to regulate

one’s life as a true Muslim, a person has to

observe the following five principles:-

1.He should always proclaim oneness of god

i.e. Allah and Mohammad as his prophet on

this earth.

2.Every Muslim should offer prayers five times

daily ,and on Friday afternoon in a mosque,

with others.

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 hajj to

Mecca at least once in his lifetime.

The greatest contribution of Mohammad

was that he united the scattered empire

under one faith .The conflict among the

successors led to the creation of the main

sects within Islam (Sunni and Shia).

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 of humanity .Guru Nanak preached through kirtans, self – composed Bani and songs of other saints. Sikhism is based on Guru-Shishya tradition. The sacred scripture of Sikhs is the Adi Granth. This holy scripture is their Guru . The hymns as Gurabani or Shabad. Shri Guru Granth Sahib is the source of divine kirtan for the Sikhs. Guru Nanak passed away in 1539A.D. at Kartarpur. According to him, a true Sikh (shishya) is one who believes in one God, has completed faith in ten Gurus, who follows Shri Guru Granth Sahib and acts in accordance with the message of Gurbani. Every Sikh should be baptised 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 Arjan Dev constructed Gurdwara Harminder Sahib in the

centre of the tank. It is also known as Golden Temple. Guru Har

Gobind constructed the Akal Takht or the Throne of God near

the Golden Temple. GURU Tej Bahadur was involved in fighting

against the oppression by the Mughals. He inculcated courage

among the Sikhs to fight against the atrocities of the Mughal

rulers. The last Guru, Gobind Singh created the Khalsa Panth at

Anandpur popularly known as Takhat Sri Keshgarg Sahib, on the

day of Baisakhi in 1699 A.D.

DO YOU KNOW !

1.Guru Nanak established Sangat and Pangat.

2. Five K’s are : Kesh , Kangha , Kara , Kaccha and

Kirpan (Sword/ dagger).

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, they also denounced idol

worship.

Bhakti movement started in the south

(Tamil region) during 7th and 8th century.

It preached devotion and learning

relationship between devotee and the

God to attain Moksha. The Alvars

(Vaishnavities) and Nayanars (Shaivities)

condemned rigidities of casteism and

taught the lesson 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 worshipped Shri ram with

complete devotion and love. Kabir and

Ravidas , belonging to different castes ,

were his disciples. Bhakti saint opposed

the caste system, superstitions and

narrow mindedness. Kabir and Nanak

strongly preached Hindu –Muslim unity.

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 the

Brahmin widow who abandoned him and that he 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

he learned to write was Rama.

The worship of Rama was made popular by Tulsidas in

north. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Bengal, Orissa), Meera

(Rajasthan), Narsimha Mehta (Gujarat) and Surdas (Uttar

Pradesh) were the ardent devotees of Krishna.

DO YOU KNOW!Kabir composed Padas and Dohas in the praise of the

supreme god.

Sufism was inspired by Koran and belief in one god only. The word Sufi is derived from Suf (wool) as these mystics wore a long woolen coat.Sufis believe that human beings are children of God. Love for humanity is love for God. They believed in Guru – Shishya relationship. Guru was known as Pir (teacher) and Shishya (disciple) as Murid. The Pirs lived in Kanqahs (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 colour, caste or creed.

There were the five orders

(Silsilas) of Sufism. The three

famous were :

1. Christi Order was

established by Khwaja

Muinnuddin Christi .

2.Suhrawardi Order was

established by Shaikh

Bahauddin Zakaria.

3.Naqsh Bandi Order was

established by Khwaja Baqi

Bittah.

Some famous Sufi saints

were Baba Farid, Bakhtiar

Kaki, Nizamuddin Aulia,

Sheikh Salim Christi, Amir

Khusro, etc.