The Satguru Kabir Panth (Hindi: कबीर-पंथ, Path of Kabir) is a philosophy and religious community of India encompassing a wide spectrum of beliefs, traditions and practices based on the teachings of Kabir. Its adherents are of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain ancestry (with majority being Hindu). Kabir Panthis or "followers of the path of Kabir" are numerous throughout all parts of India and are also found in Indian communities in large numbers in Africa, particularly Eastern Africa in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda and the island of Mauritius as well as in Nepal, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Guyana, Fiji, Suriname, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.
Kabir is said to have appeared on a lotus in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, also known as Kashi, he was born in the year 1398 or 1440 AD and died in 1518 AD. According to some people he was initiated by Ramananda, a famous Hindu guru and community leader at that time. Using poignant language, Kabir criticized caste ideology and declared the equality of all human beings. He employed a Socratic method of teaching, pleading with all human beings regardless of their gender, status, caste, color, race, religion or occupation to think critically about their lives and pursuits and the salvation of their soul.
Kabir (IAST: Kabīr) was a 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint, whose writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement and his verses are found in Sikh's scripture Adi Granth. His early life was in a Muslim family, but he was strongly influenced by his teacher, the Hindu bhakti leader Ramananda.
Kabir is known for being critical of both Hinduism and Islam, stating that the former were misguided by the Vedas and the latter by the Quran, and questioning their meaningless rites of initiation such as the sacred thread and circumcision respectively. During his lifetime, he was threatened by both Hindus and Muslims for his views. When he died, both Hindus and Muslims he had inspired claimed him as theirs.
Kabir suggested that True God is with the person who is on the path of righteousness, considered all creatures on earth as his own self, and who is passively detached from the affairs of the world. To know God, suggested Kabir, meditate with the mantra Rāma, Rāma.
Kabir's legacy survives and continued through the Kabir panth ("Path of Kabir"), a religious community that recognises him as its founder and is one of the Sant Mat sects. Its members, known as Kabir panthis.
Kabir (c. 1440–c. 1518) was a mystic poet and saint of India.
Kabir may also refer to:
Maulavi Mohammed Abdul Kabir is a senior member of the Taliban leadership. The United Nations reports that he was Second Deputy of the Taliban's Council of Ministers; Governor of Nangarhar Province; and Head of the Eastern Zone. The U.N. reports that Kabir was born between 1958 and 1963, in Paktia, Afghanistan, and is from the Zadran tribe. The U.N. reports that Kabir is active in terrorist operations in Eastern Afghanistan.
In April 2002 Abdul Razzak told the Associated Press Kabir was believed to have fled Nangarhar to Paktia, along with Ahmed Khadr
The Chinese News Agency Xinhua reported that Abdul Kabir was captured in Nowshera, Pakistan, on July 16, 2005. Captured with Abdul Kabir were his brother Abdul Aziz, Mullah Abdul Qadeer, Mullah Abdul Haq, and a fifth unnamed member of the Taliban leadership.
On July 19, 2006, United States Congressman Roscoe G. Bartlett listed Abdul Kabir as a former suspected terrorist who the US government no longer considers a threat.
In spite of these reports, intelligence officials quoted in Asia Times indicated Kabir and other senior Taliban leaders may have been in North Waziristan, Pakistan during Ramadan 2007, planning an offensive in southeastern Afghanistan.