After the new religion had been in existence perhaps five years the
number of converts began to grow by the thousands but we can say with
certainty that the greater portion of these changed sides not from
conviction but on account of worldly advantage, since they saw that
membership in the new religion was very advantageous to a career in
the service of the state.[45] By far the greatest number of those who
professed the Din i Ilahi observed only the external forms, privately
remaining alien to it.
[Footnote 45: Noer, I, 503.]
[Illustration: MAUSOLEUM OF AKBAR AT SIKANDRA.]
In reality the new religion did not extend outside of Akbar's court
and died out at his death. Hence if failure here can be charged to the
account of the great Emperor, yet this very failure redounds to his
honor. Must it not be counted as a great honor to Akbar that he
considered it possible to win over his people to a spiritual
imageless worship of God? Had he known that the religious requirements
of the masses can only be satisfied by concrete objects of worship and
by miracles (the more startling the better), that a spiritualized
faith can never be the possession of any but a few chosen souls, he
would not have proceeded with the founding of the Din i Ilahi.
Pages:
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70