What Saif Ali Khan taught Taimur and Jeh about God will win hearts
Actor Saif Ali Khan opens up about the conversations he has about religion with his sons, Taimur and Jahangir. His comments came as a reflection of his interfaith upbringing and family values.
Actor Saif Ali Khan recently discussed religion with his sons, Taimur and Jahangir, saying that he has taught them that “God is one, and He has many names”. At a recent event, the 55-year-old said these are conversations he enjoys, even though he doesn’t see himself as a deeply religious person.
His comments are rooted in his own family history. Saif was born to late cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and veteran actor Sharmila Tagore, in an interfaith marriage. He later had two interfaith marriages, first to actress Amrita Singh, whom he divorced in 2004, and then to actress Kareena Kapoor in 2012.
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Speaking to the London edition of We The Women, Saif said, “It’s a conversation I love having with them. Because I’m not the most religious people myself. My mother taught me, and I taught my children, that God is one and He has many names. It’s as simple as that. You worship Him in different places. And if your religion talks about love and forgiveness for your fellow men, that’s it.”
He also recalled growing up around Christian institutions and said he spent time in churches and schools where the day began with chapel.
Sharing an anecdote with a laugh, he said that he once tried to bunk the chapel by saying he was from a different religion, but “then he got one.” Maulvi (Islamic scholar) Come and talk to us. That didn’t work”. Saif said his upbringing still included prayers from other religions, and Christmas is celebrated as much as Diwali. “I never really thought about it. It’s effortless,” he said.
Saif also shared a recent conversation he had with Taimur, whom he described as 9 years old. He said he asked his son, “What is the difference between religion and method?” Timur replied, “In religion, we pray, and in method, we do not.” Saif called it “a good answer” and added, “So, we are constantly talking about these things.” He said his mother was open-minded about religion and his wife also took what he called a “more spiritual viewpoint”.
Khan family on interfaith relations
Last year, Saif’s younger sister, actor Soha Ali Khan, had said that she and her actor-husband Kunal Kemmu faced the same kind of criticism over their interfaith marriage as Saif and Kareena Kapoor did. Speaking to journalist Nayandeep Rakshit, he said there were “a lot of strange things” and cited headlines such as “Love Jihad, Homecoming”, as well as comments such as “You took our one, now we’ll take yours”.
His mother Sharmila Tagore had earlier said meeting place Journalist Simi Garewal said that before marrying Mansoor Ali Khan, she converted to Islam and was named Ayesha. She had said, “It was not easy, nor was it very difficult. It has to be faced and understood. You cannot be too careless about it. Before this, I was not very religious. Now, I feel I know more about Hinduism and Islam.”
Kareena Kapoor Khan also talked about her marriage with Saif express stand three years ago. He said that too much time and energy was spent on discussing inter-religious relationships and the age difference between them, while “the most important thing between Saif and me is that we like each other and enjoy our company.”
Talking about work front, he was recently seen Duty. actor Will act in Priyadarshan’s next film beast With Akshay Kumar. This film is going to be released in theaters on September 11.