Al'Aqali

The Al'Aqali are Illahic faithful who do not follow one of the main three Illahic sects, with the title of "Al'Aqali" itself roughly translating to "of lesser faith". It is estimated that around 2-5% of the Illahi belong to one of these sects, though hardliners assert the number is closer to 10 or even 20% if one includes those who fail to be devout enough. They are looked down upon by the major sects for a number of reason, generally persecuted with extreme prejudice, and often resent being called Al'Aqali. The faiths may differ for a number of reasons, but most commonly they stem from two major sources: The chaotic fall of the Jafarids or folk practices.

During the fall of the Jafarids, there were many Illahic sects which rejected the Al'shahri doctrine, but not all of these sects were coordinated and therefore a number of diverging viewpoints emerged. During much of the 13th and 14th centuries, these sects waged petty wars against one another while under the shadow of the Al'Shahri, and they failed to consolidate their beliefs into a cohesive belief system. This, of course, ignores the various minor faiths which sat isolated within or around the Al'Shahri core lands, adding further complexity. It took until the reign of Hamidhal Jafarid Shorkot y Fatim II, founder of the Fatimi Empire of the Holy Successor before most of the sects came together and codified their beliefs into the Al'fatimi sect, but just as many refused to join or were unaware of this event. While many of these converted away during the purview of the Fatimi, there remain pockets of Al'Aqali which date their schism back to this time.

In contrast, the folk practitioners have arisen over a broad period of time for a number of different reasons. They sects are typically very small, and often center around the worship of a local deity which was once beloved by the locals, incorporated into their new faith as syncretic worship. Such things are considered heretical, so such believers are also considered Al'Aqali. Most folk sects are not even aware of their differences, typically being uneducated and living in the fringes of the Al'salaanic world, but if they knowingly reject the tenants of their claimed faith they are considered Al'Aqali, even if they assert otherwise. Such sects may also be found near exclaves of the faith, where Illahic stories may have penetrated but which have not been visited by priests.

Although the amount of theological differences required to cause a schism and form a new Illahic sect may be quite minor and this makes it difficult to classify most of the more obscure sects, some of the most famous or obviously distinct Al'Aqali sects are detailed at length in historical documents. These sects vary wildly, with some having only minor distinctions from more popular sects and others being very clearly heretical and contradictory to the Illahic teachings.

• Al'Asmalar is a minor sect which is practiced primarily within lands inhabited by the Sholi, in which their original sky god, Asmalar, and the One True God are one and the same. They believe that Asmalar himself was the progenitor of the world and that his so-called consort the Earth Mother is in fact a demon. In this, they rejoice the arrival of the Illahic faith which revealed His truth, but reject the concept that Asmalar is merely another false deity. The Asmalar sect was once much more prominent, during the early years of the faith's spread to Sholi lands, but during the Uthmarid period most doctrine was standardized and it fell out of favor. Although it would begin a small rise again after the fall of the Uthmarids, the sect was devastated by the arrival of orcs who began propagating the Al'fatimi sect.
• Al'biyadyy is a sect which is prominent on Ifyrial, where it developed as a syncretic practice with the old religions it overtook. Although the Al'biyadyy claim to be orthodox Al'Shahri, in reality they still venerate [tbd] alongside the One True God .[as Ifyrial doesn't have developed religions yet this information is a placeholder]
• Al'Kebanan is a sect which incorporates beliefs from both the Jayu Sular religion as well as from Adhavāda into the Illahic teachings. They believe in a more theoretical version of the One True God who is not a single entity but rather the personification of the universe, and hence believe that Jafar himself was channeling the world itself when he spread his word.
• Al'Dawar is a sect which has some popularity among the outskirts of the Ægyian lands which have converted to Illahism, primarily among the nomads of the western coast and in the border regions in the south. The faith believes that the One True God is merely the ruler of the Ægyian pantheon (Hōsuyan), which focuses on the cycles of the world. The Dawari have come to believe that the One True God is the God of cycles, and henceforth is the principal leader of their pantheon.
• The Al'inkarinkar are several minor sects which, despite following very similar teachings to the Al'fatimi, reject the Fatim family as having been the Divine Successors. This, of course, made them just as persecuted by the Fatim during their time as leaders of the Illahic community as the Al'Shahri, which accounts for their minor presence. Although most Al'inkarinkar sects originated in the south, where the Denialist sects originally had their strongholds, their modern following is limited to the north as their followers fled Fatmi reprisals.
• The most distinct of these sects are the Al'awabin, a paternalistic sect that which follows most of the Denialist teaching except that they believe that only the male Jafarid line is holy and that with the extinction of the line the title of Holy Successor was lost. Because of their radical paternalism and rejection of all Holy Successor claims, not just those that follow the Fatim dynasty, they are often grouped as a separate sect from the Al'inkarinkar; however, outsiders often confuse the two because they are technically Al'inkarinkar.
• The Al'nar is a sect which was formed by followers of the Al'fatim who were disgusted by the Al'fatim acceptance that the urukai who were born into royal lines were legitimate and which declared the line of the Holy Successor could only pass through humans. Although a fringe group, the movement is popular with anti-orcish radicals in most of the Al'fatim heartland, and has a small following in the Ægyian lands as well.
• The Al'awnilar is a sect that believes the end of the world is rapidly approaching. Although it sounds very similar to the Alma'haylin Al'Ukhan cult, the Al'awnilar priests toe the Al'shahri line except for their belief in an imminent doom. It first arose during the orcish invasions, which the Al'awnilar believed to be the first sign of the world's end, but after the dust cleared the movement collapsed into irrelevancy, only maintained over the past few hundred years by fanatics.
• The Al'lamuqar sect believes that nobody is worth of the One True God, making everyone equal under him. They also believe that Jafar was never meant to establish the Holy Successorship and that by doing so he showed he had been corrupted by his humanity, thus reinforcing their idea that nobody is worthy. Although the sect is heavily self-denigrating and associated with flagellating, because they believe that nobody is worthy they are ironically one of the most friendly sects towards nonhumans.
• The Al'aqala sect is a radical sect that believes that the planet itself is the One True God, and that heaven is contained within. They believe that by digging far enough and passing through the circles of hell (which they believe accounts for the earth getting very hot as one digs very deep) one can actually enter heaven as a physical being. They are a sect that believes that currently one must be righteous to reach heaven as a spirit but that in the future technology will advance far enough to allow transit between the outer planet and heaven at will. This is considered deeply heretical by even the most moderate and accepting sects, and the Al'aqala are heavily persecuted, only spreading via a few banned books and therefore restricted to the upper classes, who can get away with heresy, sometimes.
• The Al'jidna are a sect which believe Ali Shahr did make the faith electoral illegitimately but that he was morally correct to do so and the One True God blessed his act. They believe the Jafarids had lost their blessing and needed to be removed from power. This means the Al'jidna are technically Denialists, but all other Denialists naturally despise this sect because in their mind acknowledging the theft but still thinking it was righteous is worse than not realizing it at all.
• The Al'kharssa believe essentially the exact opposite as the Al'jidna; that Ali Shahr did not trick Abdulhamid II into making the Holy Successorship electoral, and that he did it willingly. However, they believe it doesn't matter that he did it willingly because the Holy Successorship was not his to give. They claim that by giving away the Holy Successorship the Jafarids lost divine favor and that there is now no Holy Successor. They are very similar to the Al'lamuqar in practice but because they dispute the history of the Holy Successorship they two are opposed.
• The Al'tawza believe that both Shahr and the Jafarids were illegitimate and that the true Holy Successor should have been a completely different person. They believe the line of the Holy Successor was lost and later revealed to their founders, who have since then maintained their own version of the Holy Successorship which is bestowed by divine will and not through elections or blood. Most people from other sects who know of their existence view them as an idiotic localist cult- and it is true that the Al'tawza live in a small cluster of isolated towns because their supposed holy word has not spread outwards.
• The Al'Alhanaa are a sect that believes the One True God knows what is in every person's heart and that therefore, worship is pointless. They are fairly minor and their followers are generally restricted to academics. Even though they believe the majority of the duties of the preisthood are pointless they recognize the Al'Shahri holy successors as a sort of moral head of the faith.