Dawra

Dawra
ضورة
Artist's rendition of a simple Dawrani altar
Type	Ethnic Religion
Orientation	Quest
Mutadiit	Yufraan Abd'ildarra
Headquarters	Mukarras
Founder	Suleiman Abd'ildarra
Origin	1610 Hasa

Dawra (Asahri: ضورة, transl. "The Cycle") is a Monolatrist religion founded by Suleiman Abd'ildarra. It centers around the philosophy of peaceful change and the teachings of Suleiman and future Mutadiits, or "Speakers of God." Dawra has about 8.3 million practitioners, mostly located in the nation of Aldaar. The current religious head of Dawra is Mutadiit Yufraan Abd'ildarra.

Dawranis believe that the universe was not created, but simply came into being one day. Along with the universe, three deities were created: Ildarra (إلضرة), who was the deity of positive change and forward movement, Arzaal (أرزال), the deity governing stagnancy, contentedness, and remaining at a standstill, and Salahayr (سلحاير), the deity of chaos, harmful change, and moving backwards. These deities together created various parts of the cosmos, including Urth. The Dawrani hold that life was an unintentional consequence of the creation of Urth, and that the evolution of sentient species is a result of natural scientific processes coexistent with Dawran beliefs. In Dawran mythology, each of the three major deities (or "overspirits") oversee and encompass many Maniitou (منيطو), or spirits, which Dawranis believe are the remnants of those on Urth who have died. Spirits are believed to have the power to influence the natural realm through methods that connect to things the people were associated with in real life. Dawranis believe that this ability goes beyond the physical world, and can influence emotions and behavior.

Regarding Urth's other religions, Dawra teaches that all spiritual beliefs, including atheism, are merely different ways of perceiving the same fundamental and universal concepts, and that other deities are simply other faces of the three Dawrani deities, or powerful and wise Dawrani spirits that have made themselves known to sentient life. Dawranis accept anybody who shows themselves to believe in the fundamental values of peace, love, and change. Dawra is considered an Ethnic Religion, as it is mainly practiced by the Aldaari people and doesn't seek converts, however, it allows anyone to convert if they wish to. Dawra is a religion strongly predisposed to the Quest Orientation, as it actively preaches universal compassion and utilizing the religion as a search for truth about the nature of the world. Dawra is mostly practiced on an individual level, with Dawranis having small, personal shrines inside their home; while unique to each person, many shrines include incense, tea (and instruments for making it), peyote, religious books, and pictures of passed loved ones. In addition, most cities have at least one Maktaba (pl. Maktabat), a place of worship which functions as both a library and a church. Lay members at Maktabat are called Sahiikmas, and are generally trained from the time of choosing their caste at 16. Sahiikmas lead prayer on Dawrani holidays and on the Dawrani holy day of Thursday, and staff their Maktaba's libraries on all other days; they also share wisdom and news with those who wish, and are expected to host and help those in need such as the homeless or sick.

Dawra originated in the 17th century C.E. in Hasa, a city in the Mukarras region of Aldaar. Dawrani rule would expand to the rest of the Aldaari homeland by the end of the century, and would stay undisturbed until 1844, when the empire built by Suleiman Abd'ildarra would collapse due to a succession crisis. While some sects of Dawra split off around this time, relations between them and the main sect remained good. In the 1930s, when the seven Aldaari republics were taken over to various degrees by foreign multi-national corporations, they would suppress Dawra throughout the republics, viewing cultural unity to be a threat to their power; all Maktabat were closed, home altars were banned, and the usage of incense and peyote was criminalized. However, given the extremely decentralized nature of Dawra, it was extremely difficult to fully destroy, and many groups of worshippers made homes for themselves in the deserts where the corporations rarely checked. After almost a century of persecution, a new Mutadiit, Yufraan Abd'ildarra, retook the original journey of Suleiman and reignited the Dawranis, leading to a revolution against the corporatist government in the Republic of Mukarras which would succeed in September 2022, and the ascension of Yufraan to the post of Mutadiit, the head of both the Dawrani religion and of the nation of Aldaar.