Bhodislam
Bhodislam (pronounced "body-slam") is a religion based around The Merciful God, a being referred to as the Bodalla in Bhodislamh theology. This deity is pictured as being omniscient and omnipotent, infinitely forgiving, compassionate and merciful, with a direct and personal relationship with each intelligent being. Bhodislamh teaches submission to the will of the Bodalla, charity, mercy and an attitude to material things which is simultaneously slightly contemptuous and rejecting. All souls must pass through material existence, in order to be purified and to be cut off from the Wheel of Existence. In order to accomplish this, each soul is given 33 chances to live. If at the end of that time they are still unworthy of Paradise, the Bodalla casts them into the Outer Chaos, called Iblis, where they are remade into new souls.
The teachings of Bhodislamh are encoded in a book called the Recitation. This book contains a number of precepts called the Five Pillars. These precepts are: Submission to the Bodalla, which consists of reciting each day the phrase There is no god but the Bodalla and Bod and Mod are the prophets of the Bodalla, Charity, which involves giving one twentieth part of all earnings to the poor, Prayer, which consists of making a set of ritual movements each day, whilst reciting the set prayers, Observance of Festival, which involves fasting for half of each day for a period consisting of around four Standard Weeks and Pilgrimage, which involves traveling to one of the ninety nine Sacred Seats of the Bodalla. These Sacred Seats are scattered widely across the Imperium and are visited at set times each year in a ritually meaningful fashion. This fifth Pillar, called the Haj, may be omitted if financial circumstances make this visit impossible. There is also a non-canonical sixth Pillar, the Pillar of Jihad, which involves going to war against the enemies of the Bodalla. This is often taken to mean metaphorical war against metaphorical enemies, however certain sects within Bhodislamh have in history taken this precept literally and gone to war with other religious groups.
According to the group's foundation myth, Bhodislamh was founded on ancient Terra, by two prophets, named Bod and Mod. Bod was a prince who despaired of his debauched life and set out to discover a holy sage who could teach him how to come into contact with the Divine. In a far city named Mach, he met Mod, who was a carrier. Mod had been afflicted with visions since childhood, in which the voice of the Bodalla came upon him and recited verses of a holy book, the original of which was kept in Paradise. Bod and Mod joined forces and soon began preaching the message of the Bodalla, which consisted of exhortations to people to give up polytheism, turn away from materialism and ascetism both, seek the 'Middle Way' and join with Bod and Mod in cleansing the planet of error. This angered the people against them and they were driven into the desert, where they took refuge in a settlement called Madine. Here they stayed for seven years, performing miracles and gathering a following. It was at this time that Mod began visiting a nearby cavern and transcribing the book which became the Recitation from an angelic being who made contact with him there. From this beginning, Bod and Mod were able to recapture the city of Mach, set up a religious state and spread out across the galaxy.
- Morandir Armson