The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c16.36

v4.c16.36

Shaikh Mubārak, the father of Faizī and Abu-’l-Fazl, had revelled in spiritual experiences. He had been in turn a Sunnī, a Shiah, a Sufī, a Mahdīist, and probably many other things besides. He had even professed to be the Mahdī, and for this offence had shortly before this time been obliged to go into hiding to save his life, for the jurists had decided to have him put to death for heresy. His position in the discussions was that of a free-lance. He had at first no system to offer as a substitute for orthodox Islām, and his object was purely destructive, the complete discomfiture of his enemies. His great learning fitted him for the task. He was versed in all contentious questions, and well knew how to set his persecutors by the ears, for even the orthodox had their differences. He soon had the doctors of the law cursing and reviling one another, and their vituperation and vulgar abuse at first diverted and afterwards disgusted Akbar. The introduction of Shiah disputants poured oil on the flames of strife, and the wrangles between the various sects and the intolerant violence of the orthodox gradually alienated Akbar from Islām, but he was still a professing Muslim, and in this year a party from his court, including his wife Salīma and his aunt Gulbadan, set out on the pilgrimage to Mecca.