Editing Saint (section)

== Other religions ==
In some theological literature, the use of the term ''saint'' tends to be used in non-Christian contexts as well. In many religions, there are people who have been recognized within their tradition as having fulfilled the highest aspirations of religious teaching. In English, the term ''saint'' is often used to translate this idea from many [[world religions]]. The Jewish ''ḥasīd'' or ''tsaddiq'', the Islamic ''qidees'', the Zoroastrian ''Fravashi'', the Hindu ''Shadhus'', the Buddhist ''Arahant'' or ''Bodhisattva,'' the Daoist ''Shengren,'' the Shinto ''Kami,'' and others have all been referred to as saints.<ref>{{cite book|title=Thomson Gale Encyclopedia of Religion|editor=Lindsay Jones|publisher=Macmillan Reference USA|date=2005|edition=Second|volume=Sainthood|page=8033|language=TG}}</ref>

=== African diaspora ===
{{See also|African diaspora religions}}

Cuban [[Santería]], [[Haitian Vodou]], [[Trinidad Orisha|Trinidad Orisha-Shango]], Brazilian [[Umbanda]], [[Candomblé]], and other similar [[syncretism|syncretist]] religions adopted the Catholic saints, or at least the images of the saints, and applied their own spirits/deities to them. They are worshipped in churches (where they appear as saints) and in religious festivals, where they appear as the [[deity|deities]]. The name ''santería'' was originally a pejorative term for those whose worship of saints deviated from Catholic norms.

=== Baptist ===
"Saints" in Baptist theology refers to the body of 'born-again believers'. The reference 'saints' is a derivative of the word 'sanctified', which means 'set apart for a holy purpose'. In the Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he addresses the recipients as saints: "To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours". (1 Corinthians 1:2, ESV)

=== Buddhism ===
{{See also|Bodhisattva|Arhat}}

Buddhists in both the [[Theravada]] and [[Mahayana]] traditions hold the ''[[Arhat]]s'' in special esteem, as well as highly developed [[Bodhisattvas]].

[[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhists]] hold the ''[[tulku]]s'' (reincarnates of deceased eminent practitioners) as living saints on earth.<ref>Ray, Reginald A. "Some Aspects of the Tulku Trrdition in Tibet". ''The Tibet Journal'', vol. 11, no. 4, 1986, pp. 35–69. ''JSTOR'', http://www.jstor.org/stable/43300222. Accessed 14 August 2021.</ref>

=== Druze faith ===
Due to the [[Christianity and Druze|Christian influence on Druze faith]], two [[Christian saints]] become the [[Druze]]'s favorite venerated figures: [[Saint George]] and Saint [[Elijah]].<ref name="Beaurepaire">{{cite book|title=Religious Interactions in Europe and the Mediterranean World: Coexistence and Dialogue from the 12th to the 20th Centuries|first=Pierre-Yves|last=Beaurepaire|year=2017|isbn=9781351722179|pages=310–314|publisher=Taylor & Francis}}</ref> Thus, in all the villages inhabited by Druzes and Christians in central [[Mount Lebanon]] a Christian church or Druze maqam is dedicated to either one of them.<ref name="Beaurepaire"/> According to scholar Ray Jabre Mouawad the Druzes appreciated the two saints for their bravery: [[Saint George and the Dragon|Saint George because he confronted the dragon]] and Saint Elijah because he competed with the pagan priests of [[Baal]] and won over them.<ref name="Beaurepaire"/> In both cases the explanations provided by Christians is that Druzes were attracted to [[Military saint|warrior saints]] that resemble their own militarized society.<ref name="Beaurepaire"/>

=== Hinduism ===
{{Main|Hindu saints}}
[[File:Kanua Baba.jpg|thumb|Portrait of the saintly [[Kanua Baba|Kanua]], a Hindu [[baba (honorific)|baba]] of [[Mathura]], India, also pictured with a halo encircling his head.]]

Hindu saints are those recognized by [[Hindus]] as showing a great degree of holiness and sanctity. Hinduism has a long tradition of stories and poetry about saints. There is no formal [[canonization]] process in Hinduism, but over time, many men and women have reached the status of saints among their followers and among Hindus in general. Unlike in Christianity, Hinduism does not canonize people as saints after death, but they can be accepted as saints during their lifetime.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Essentials of Hinduism|last = Bhaskarananda|first = Swami|publisher = The Vedanta Society of Western Washington|year = 2002|isbn = 978-1-884852-04-6|location = Seattle|pages = 12}}</ref> Hindu saints have often renounced the world, and are variously called [[guru]]s, [[sadhu]]s, [[rishi]]s, [[devarishi]]s, [[rajarshi]]s, [[saptarishi]]s, [[brahmarshi]]s, [[swami]]s, [[Pandit|pundits]], [[purohit]]s, [[pujari]]s, [[acharya]]s, [[pravaras]], [[yogi]]s, [[yogini]]s, and other names.<ref name="Rinehart2004">{{cite book|author=Robin Rinehart|title=Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hMPYnfS_R90C&pg=PA88|access-date=3 June 2013|date=1 January 2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-905-8|pages=87–90}}</ref>

Some Hindu saints are given god-like status, being seen as [[Avatar|incarnations]] of [[Vishnu]], [[Shiva]], [[Devi]], and other aspects of the Divine—this can happen during their lifetimes, or sometimes many years after their deaths. This explains another common name for Hindu saints: godmen, is invention of western Abrahamic media to a Pagan Ideas.<ref name="Woodward2001">{{cite book|author=Kenneth L. Woodward|title=The Book of Miracles: The Meaning of the Miracle Stories in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e951hHwu3X0C&pg=PA267|access-date=3 June 2013|date=10 July 2001|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0-7432-0029-5|page=267}}</ref>

=== Islam ===
{{Main|Wali}}

Besides prophets, according to [[Islam]], saints possess [[barakah|blessings]] (Arabic: بركة, "baraka") and can perform [[Islamic view of miracles|miracles]] (Arabic: كرامات, ''Karāmāt''). Saints rank lower than [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|prophets]]. However, they can intercede for people on the [[Day of Judgment in Islam|Day of Judgment]], but their intercession is limited compared to the intercession of the [[Muhammad|Prophet Muhammad]]. Both the tombs of prophets and saints are visited frequently ''([[Ziyarat]])'' as well as visiting modern-day living saints. People seek the advice of a saint in their quest for spiritual fulfilment. Unlike saints in Christianity, Muslim saints are said to be given their rank by God and some with public duties are officially acknowledged by their Sheikh with an ''ijaz''a, a verbal and written permission to be a spiritual guide. Unlike prophets, women like [[Rabia of Basra]] were accepted as saints.<ref>Josef W. Meri ''The Cult of Saints among Muslims and Jews in Medieval Syria'' OUP Oxford, 14.11.2002 ISBN 9780191554735 pp. 60-81</ref>

Saints are recognized as having specific traits they can be identified through. These include: floating lights appearing above their tomb, the body not decaying, a pleasant and miraculous odor coming from the body, appearing in the dreams of others who they pray on behalf of, appearing in two places at once, and having normally impossible knowledge.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Winkler |first=Hans Alexander |title=Ghost Riders of Upper Egypt}}</ref>

Islam has had a rich history of veneration of saints (often called ''[[wali]]'', which literally means 'Friend [of God]'),<ref name="See John Renard 2008">See John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); Idem., ''Tales of God Friends: Islamic Hagiography in Translation'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009)</ref> which has declined in some parts of the Islamic world in the twentieth century due to the influence of the various streams of [[Salafism]]. In [[Sunni Islam]], the veneration of saints became a very common form of devotion early on,<ref name="See John Renard 2008"/> and saints came to be defined in the eighth-century as a group of "special people chosen by God and endowed with exceptional gifts, such as the ability to work miracles."<ref name="ReferenceA">Radtke, B., "Saint", in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC.</ref> The classical Sunni scholars came to recognize and honor these individuals as venerable people who were both "loved by God and developed a close relationship of love to Him."<ref name="ReferenceA"/> "Belief in the miracles of saints (''karāmāt al-awliyāʾ'') ... [became a] requirement in Sunni Islam [during the classical period],"<ref>Jonathan A. C. Brown, "Faithful Dissenters: Sunni Skepticism about the Miracles of Saints", ''Journal of Sufi Studies'' 1 (2012), p. 123</ref> with even medieval critics of the ubiquitous practice of [[ziyara|grave visitation]] like [[Ibn Taymiyyah]] emphatically declaring: "The miracles of saints are absolutely true and correct, and acknowledged by all Muslim scholars. The [[Quran]] has pointed to it in different places, ''"A messenger who has instructed them in scripture and wisdom, and sanctify them." (Qur'an 2:129)'' and the [[hadith|sayings of the Prophet]] have mentioned it, and whoever denies the miraculous power of saints are innovators or following innovators."<ref>Ibn Taymiyyah, ''Mukhtasar al-Fatawa al-Masriyya'' (al-Madani Publishing House, 1980), p. 603</ref> The vast majority of saints venerated in the classical Sunni world were the [[Sufi]]s, who were all Sunni mystics who belonged to one of the [[maddhab|four orthodox legal schools of Sunni law]].<ref>John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008)</ref>

Veneration of saints eventually became one of the most widespread Sunni practices for more than a millennium, before it was opposed in the twentieth century by the [[Salafi movement]], whose various streams regard it as "being both un-Islamic and backwards ... rather than the integral part of Islam which they were for over a millennium."<ref>Juan Eduardo Campo, ''Encyclopedia of Islam'' (New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009), p. 600</ref> In a manner similar to the [[Protestant Reformation]],<ref>See Jonathan A. C. Brown, ''Misquoting Muhammad'' (London: Oneworld Publications, 2015), p. 254</ref> the specific traditional practices which [[Salafism]] has tried to curtail in both [[Sunni]] and [[Shia]] contexts include those of [[wali|the veneration of saints]], [[ziyara|visiting their graves]], [[tawassul|seeking their intercession]], and [[relics|honoring their relics]]. As Christopher Taylor has remarked: "[Throughout Islamic history] a vital dimension of Islamic piety was the veneration of Muslim saints ... [Due, however to] certain strains of thought within the Islamic tradition itself, particularly pronounced in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries ... [some modern day] Muslims have either resisted acknowledging the existence of Muslim saints altogether or have viewed their presence and veneration as unacceptable deviations."<ref>Christopher Taylor, ''In the Vicinity of the Righteous'' (Leiden: Brill, 1999), pp. 5–6</ref>

Despite attempts by the Salafis to minimise the importance of saints in Islam, there are many living saints with huge popularity, often with millions of followers, mainly found in the Sufi orders or ''[[Tariqa|tariqat]]''. They follow the teachings of the [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]] and are usually direct descendants of him. They are also scholars of the religion. Well-known modern-day saints include [[Nazim Al-Haqqani|Sheikh Nazim al Haqqani]], [[Sheikh Hisham Kabbani]], [[Mehmet Adil|Sheikh Mehmet al Rabbani]] of the [[Naqshbandi Sufi Order]], [[Umar bin Hafiz|Habib Umar bin Hafidz]] of the [[Ba'Alawi Tariqat]], [[Muhammad al-Yaqoubi|Sheikh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi]] of the [[Shadhili Tariqa]].

Famous Islamic saints in history include [[Rumi]], [[Ibn Arabi]] and [[Al-Ghazali|Al Ghazzali]].

=== Judaism ===
{{Main|Tzadik}}

The term ''Tzadik'', 'righteous', and its associated meanings developed in [[Rabbinic literature|rabbinic thought]] from its [[Talmud]]ic contrast with ''[[Hasid (term)|Ḥasīd]]'', 'pious', to its exploration in [[Musar literature|ethical literature]], and its esoteric spiritualization in [[Kabbalah]]. In [[Hasidic Judaism|Ḥasidic Judaism]], the institution of the Tzadik assumed central importance, combining former elite mysticism with social movement for the first time.

In Muslim majority countries, particularly [[Morocco]], Jewish saint veneration resembles local Muslim practices. However, the ideas and rituals in this specific context are still thoroughly situated within Judaism. The bodies of the saintly dead are treated like [[Torah scroll|Torah scrolls]], with their shrines being their ark, and pilgrimages taking on the ritual trappings of a Torah service. Icons of saints also are paralleled to Torah scrolls; both are manifestations of the sacred. They are also given frames made from velvet in the same style as Torah mantles, and are physically handled in similar ways. The stories and poems produced about saints match the conventions of other Rabbinic literature. Saints may be venerated by both Jews and Muslims, and are typically Torah scholars, miracle workers, and divine mediators. The similarities of Moroccan Jewish and Muslim practices, including saint veneration, were used by colonial powers to claim Morocco was unified and consisted of a distinct nation, but were not sufficiently united to resist imperialism. Today, these similarities are used to emphasize and display tolerance of religious minorities.<ref>Beyond Exoticism and Syncretism: Situating Moroccan Pilgrimage in Jewish Studies by Oren Kosansky </ref>

=== Sikhism ===
{{See also|Sant (religion)}}
The concept of ''[[Sant Mat|sant]]'' or ''[[bhagat]]'' is found in North Indian religious thought including [[Sikhism]], most notably in [[Guru Granth Sahib|Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee]] . Figures such as [[Kabir]], [[Ravidas]], [[Namdev]], and others are known as ''Sants'' or ''Bhagats''. The term ''Sant'' is applied in the Sikh and related communities to beings that have attained enlightenment through God realization and spiritual union with God via repeatedly reciting the name of God ([[Naam Japo|Naam Japn]]). Countless names of God exist. In Sikhism, ''Naam'' (spiritual internalization of God's name) is commonly attained through the name of [[Waheguru]], which translates to "Wondrous Guru".

Sikhs are encouraged to follow the congregation of a Sant (Sadh Sangat) or "The Company of the Holy". ''Sants'' grace the Sadh Sangat with knowledge of the Divine God, and how to take greater steps towards obtaining spiritual enlightenment through ''Naam''. ''Sants'' are to be distinguished from "Guru" (such as [[Guru Nanak]]) who have compiled the path to God enlightenment in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhism states however, that any beings that have become one with God are considered synonymous with God. As such, the fully realized Sant, Guru, and God are considered one.<ref name=Khalsa>{{cite book | title=Sri Guru Granth Sahib: English Translation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib | publisher=Hand Made Books (Mandeep Singh) | author=Khalsa, Sant Singh  | year=2007 | location=Arizona | pages=12–263}}</ref>

=== New religious movements ===

[[Thelema]] is a new religious movement with a list of saints including individuals such as [[Roger Bacon]].<ref name="Kaczynski 2010 p. 265">{{cite book | last=Kaczynski | first=R. | title=Perdurabo, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Life of Aleister Crowley | publisher=North Atlantic Books | year=2010 | isbn=978-1-55643-899-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HlEvfflQZbIC&pg=PA265 | access-date=2023-06-02 | page=265}}</ref>