Akbar had respect and reverence for religion. But he did not entertain blind faiths. Some historians said he was a non believer, an athiest. In this respect Du Jerik wrote—”He could not be called an athiest. He believed in the creator of the earth, sky and the celestial bodies. He offered Namaz four times a day.”
Jahangir write in his autobiography, “Inspite of his own power and splendour emperor believed in the existence of Divine power. And never for a moment he forgot God. He used to say that there was a relationship between the creator and the created that can not be defined in words. God was formless and unmanifest that could be understood with power of imagination only. There was no vacuum in nature’s space because God was everywhere in his omnipresence. No one could defy the will of the creator.”
Badayuni writes—”He used to incant ‘Ya Hoo’ or ‘Ya Hadi’ as per Muslim tradition in the corner of the palace. At the young age of 20 years he had experienced spiritual emptiness. In the later years he used to talk of renunciation some times but soon he realised the truth that there was better sense in carrying out the duties of the mundane world. The best way to pray to God. was through serving the mankind.”
Thought on justice
The philosophy of justice of Akbar is reflected in the following statement made by him, “If I am the guilty of some wrong doing I will give severe verdict against myself, what to talk of my sons, members of family and clan.”
To keep the justice system in place he had made a good arrangement. He himself dispensed justice.
In this context Du Jerik writes, “The emperor used care in every matter to see to it that justice was delivered. He was very ponderous on the capital punishment. The place wherever Akbar use to be there no one could punish anyone for any crime without his consent. On the subject he was very clear that tyranny against anyone was wrong, especially the ruler must not be a tyrant because in principle he was the protector.”
Although Akbar was not cruel but he would not hesitate dealing out severe punishment who tried to become hurdle in his way.
That was medieval period when even having pious thoughts mattered. At practical level selective justice was the order of the day. One example is that of Saleem who was allowed to go free with murder of Abul Fazal.
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