its a presentation describing 4 religions

1. MAJOR
RELIGIONS
 ISLAM
 SIKHISM
 BHAKTI
MOVEMENT
 SUFISM

3. Islam was founded by Prophet Mohammad .He was born in
Mecca 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.

4. 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).

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. DO YOU KNOW !
1.GuruNanak established Sangat and Pangat.
2. Five K’s are : Kesh , Kangha , Kara , Kaccha and
Kirpan (Sword/ dagger).

9. BHAKTI
MOVEMENT

10. 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.

11. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.