The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c16.101

v4.c16.101

Islām was the one faith excluded from the benefits of *sulh-i-kull*, or “universal toleration”, on which Akbar continually descanted. The names “Muhammad” and “Ahmad” were disused, and one foolish ordinance required that all words containing letters peculiar to Arabic, the sacred language of Islām, should be misspelt, the nearest equivalents of such letters being substituted. For the ordinary Muslim salutation, “Peace be on you”, and the reply “And on you be peace”, the disciples of the new faith were required to substitute *Allahu Akbar* (“God is most great”) and *jalla jalāluhu* (“May His glory be extolled”), and cavillers were not slow to note that each formula embodied one of Akbar’s names. It is but just to add that the new faith condemned the Hindu practices of *satī*, the burning of widows, and child marriage.