Aqlanism

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Aqlanism
الاَقْلانيّ al-aqlaniyy
Al-Aqlaniyy in the Qayami script.
Type	Universal religion
Classification	TBD
Scripture	Haqiqah
Language	Qadami and Qayami
Territory	Mostly areas historically under Qayami control
Founder	Nura and Badr
Origin	c. 140 BCE Qaryah, Qayam
Followers	TBD Aqlani

Aqlanism (Qayami: Al-Aqlaniyyah) is a monotheistic religion based on the teachings of the Orphan Prophets and the Haqiqah.

The Aqlani believe that two orphan twins, Nura and Badr (born c. 140 BCE), were prophets of the deity Qa. They are believed to have received revelations about the nature of the universe, the divine, and sapient morality, all of which was later collated in the Haqiqah. While Badr died as a young adult, Nura continued to have visions after his passing. She would give birth to 11 daughters during her lifetime. Her eldest, Ayah, took the title of Khalifah upon her passing in 63 BCE, assuming religious leadership of the Aqlani. The Khalifah has been a direct descendant of Nura since the role's inception.

Qa is generally depicted as a corvid, though Aqlani do not believe this is Qa's actual form. Religious scholars generally interpret Qa's form as unknowable, nonexistent, or spanning the universe. Nonetheless, corvids and other birds have come to occupy an important place in the faith. Customarily, places of worship will place bird feeders on their grounds, and some adherents abstain from eating winged creatures, though there is no such requirement in scripture.

The religion is majoritarily practiced in Qayam and Muštamarah, although there are significant populations in Axdel and Kinyonga. A plurality of Aqlani in the present day consider themselves mumin (believers) as opposed to mumarasah (practicing), meaning they seek to follow the Haqiqah and believe in Qa, but do not engage in active religious practices outside of major holidays and events. There are still substantial amounts of mumin in the world, even constituting a majority of Aqlani in Muštamarah. A growing number of adherents identify as "Agnostic Aqlani". These individuals generally focus on the teachings in scripture, and claim that the divine or mystical aspects of the religion are unknowable, thus being mostly irrelevant to their lives.

Beliefs

Death

The Haqiqah teaches that those who live their life according its principles will achieve wahda (unity), meaning their soul will be liberated into the cosmos. Those who do not may face tams (obliteration, banishment), meaning their soul will be banished from the universe and obliterated. The Aqlani believe in a form of soft predeterminism where Qa has already determined the future, but done so for every possible path, hence leaving it to the individual to choose one.

Practices

Funerary and interment practices

(Funeral practices)

The deceased are most commonly cremated under Aqlani practices. It is believed that this releases the soul from the body, allowing it to receive judgement. The remains are then placed into an urn and interred in a columbarium. Older columbariums are generally near or part of a temple, while newer ones are generally outdoors and are for-profit businesses.

In northern Qayam, some communities have maintained older burial practices. These groups place the deceased in some form of coffin and bury them in graveyards. For a few centuries, Aqlani authorities banned this practice, even exhuming some corpses for cremation. Burial was officially deemed an acceptable method of interment in 1701 by decree from the Khalifah.