(Graduate research work at The John Hopkins University)
Introduction
Some say Consommé and Turducken are two of the toughest recipes to master. The first requires fine simmering techniques “to bring impurities to the surface for skimming” leaving behind a clear soup from meat, tomatoes, and egg whites. The second is “whole turkey stuffed with duck, stuffed with chicken, hence the name tur(key)duck(chick)en”(1). Any chef would be pleased to proudly display either and dare not attempt to mix both.
The revered founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak (1469–1539)(2) decided to take on one such challenge of a far greater magnitude. Only this time, he was not merging food recipes or even architectural designs. Instead, Guru Nanak tackled the two major prevalent religions, Islam, and Hinduism, in the sub-continent (present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh) and attempted to devise and preach a new doctrine now known as Sikhism.
This paper will highlight selected material from a large volume of scholarly research and media coverage already completed on how Islam inspired the formation of Sikhism; how the political and economic context of the 15th century in a primarily Muslim dominated sub-continent played in the propagation of this new religion; how teachings of Islam and Hinduism influenced the development of Sikhism’s guidance; how subsequent successors of Guru Nanak organized the Guru Granth Sahib, as their central religious scripture with plenty of Quranic references; how Sikhism manifested in all its glory as a state authority with Muslim and Hindu subjects especially during the reign of Ranjit Singh in the late 18th and early 19th centuries; how Sikhs and Muslims fought together and against each other during the British colonial rule; how the two faiths looked at the ensuing partition of the sub-continent along religious lines; how the failed struggle for Khalistan to create an independent Sikh state strengthened the relationship with Muslims; how the Punjabi culture has often acted as a glue between the two faiths; how Sikh shrines located inside Pakistan have served as a motivator for cordial relations between the two faith and finally how Sikhs and Muslims residing in the West have advanced their association particularly post 9/11.
Rather than dwelling on a repository of historical facts and figures from the already existing literature, this paper will acknowledge them, as needed, to propose a narrative on how the two faiths can flourish while co-existing with each other. One can see this paper as similar to a version of an inter-faith dialogue. But rather than nitpicking on religious texts and obscure theological beliefs to ascertain the superiority of either religion over another, this paper is more interested in promoting a somewhat forgotten idea of mutual collaboration and co-existence.
The author submits that Sikhs and Muslims have enough to draw from both their religious beliefs and political history to thrive together, as well as remind us of the horrific episodes of the past with devastating consequences when the followers of the faiths have clashed under their religious banners.
The Early Years
The year was around 1485 when 16-year old Nanak moved just 185 km from his birthplace Nankana Sahib (present-day Pakistan) to Sultanpur (present-day India) to take a job at a storage warehouse(3). The relatively stable Moghul empire and the golden age it brought to the Indian sub-continent had yet to be born. The British East India Company (1600–1874)(4) had yet to receive its Royal Charter and begin its colonialization efforts.
Instead, Nanak found himself in the waning years of the Lodi Dynasty (1451–1526)(5), the last of the successive Delhi Sultanates (1206–1526)(6). The rulers of the day were Muslims of Turkish and Afghan origins and came from a line of battle-hardened fighters that had occupied and made the resource-rich sub-continent their home. Factionalism was rampant, pseudo-independent governors operated across the vast region, religions and religious leaders competed for political attention, and the voice of the common people was drowned by the elites, who delighted themselves in worldly pleasures while enjoying lavish economic gains.
Perhaps there is some coincidental symbolism in the journey above that Nanak took bridging the modern-day Muslim majority Pakistan and Hindu majority India. His effort to link the two faiths would ensure he would leave a lasting legacy for millions of future followers. In an era, where one’s caste defined the quality of life one would experience as a Hindu in a Muslim ruled region; Nanak was fortunate to be born in the mercantile Khatri caste(7). This allowed him both the economic ability and reformer credibility that would have not been afforded to a lower caste Hindu. Historic traditions around Nanak vary with some disputed ones that emphasize the several journeys he undertook including a pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest site Makkah(8). His teachings were formulated in the latter part of his life when he settled and died in Kartarpur (a stone’s throw away from the Indian border in Pakistan).
In line with the traditional development of religions, the founders leave behind a rough framework that matures under subsequent religious authorities. Sikhism was no different. The bulk of the religious guidelines was formalized under the leadership of ten successive Gurus (1539–1666) that culminated in a collection of hymns in the form of a holy book called Guru Granth Sahib (GGS).
The Underlying Message
Before we jump into the intersections and divergences of the two faiths, let us acquaint ourselves with the basic premise of the Sikh religion.
Guru Nanak said, “Realization of Truth is higher than all else. Higher still is Truthful Living”(9). In defiance of the emphasis, both orthodox Islam and Hinduism paid to worship rituals, Guru Nanak emphasized the spiritual connection with the creator and practical acts to serve humanity. He borrowed the concept of the one invisible God from Islam and cleansed the Sikh God from the many faces and names given by the Hindu religion. He took the concept of Karma from Hinduism with the cycle of life, death and rebirth continuing until “a total knowledge of and union with God” and that such a union “can be experienced through love, worship, and contemplation”(10). Sikhism emphasizes going beyond a spiritual pursuit with God but instead leading a good life full of charity and community service such as its Gurdwaras (places of worship) with their community kitchens serving langar (free food) daily around the world(11).
There is no God but God
The central tenant that Islam demands without which faith has no standing is the belief of ‘tauheed’. It is expressed in a phrase that a Muslim must utter to attest to their faith “There is no God but God”(12) and rejects any association of anything worldly or spiritual to this one God or Allah in Arabic.
Take the following sample Quranic verses that informed Guru Nanak’s vision of God: “Say: He is Allah, the One! Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born. Nor is there to Him any equivalent”(13). Looking at the concept of the oneness of God in GGS, we see identical attributes: “My Lord is One, One and the only One O Brother”(14) and “Age after age, you are the One. Forever and ever, You are the One. You never change, O creator Lord”(15) and “The One Lord permeates all. The One Lord is pervading everywhere”(16). Guru Nanak made it clear that not only Sikhism will worship one God but also a creator who is free from the limitations associated with humans: “God is devoid of birth and death”(17) and “God is without parents, progeny and wife”(18).
The fact that a Hindu Guru Nanak departed from his polytheistic upbringing and chose to recycle the Islamic concept of one God was essential for the two faiths to see eye to eye and build on a common foundation. One may argue that it was this monolithic affinity that made it easier for the early followers from the Islamic faith to get attracted to Guru Nanak. The message of community service resonated with the population in villages and outside the major urban centres, where governments remained uninterested and/or incapable to look after the needs of the common person.
Let Us Play Some Rabab
Guru Nanak pursued the most innovative way to bring his message to the public. It took the form of “the musical recitation of Sikh sacred hymns through kirtan”(19) (kirtan is the art of story-telling in the form of call-and-response style song). As Guru Nanak traveled from village to village, he was almost always accompanied by one of his devout followers — a Muslim musician by the name of Bahi Mardana(20). The instrument of choice for Bahi Mardana was a rabab. “Part of the lute family of instruments, the rabab has its origins tracing back to 950 CE21, the rabab complements the singing of sacred hymns in Sikh temples throughout the world. Up until present day, the rababi-tradition has survived as a “special relationship of Muslim-Sikh”(22), with a line of Muslim rababi players accompanying all ten Sikh gurus(23).
“Upon entering any Sikh gurdwara and while listening to the recital of the Guru’s hymns through the kirtan, one will notice the use of a variety of instruments”(24) with the chief instrument being rabab. Several times a day in Sikh temples, worshippers are treated to a musical reminder of the role Islam and Muslims played to nurture Sikhism in its infancy.
Sufi Islam
This early cultural association with Islam also set the stage for a long-standing cordial alliance between Sikhs and Sufi Muslims that continues until today.
One of the most celebrated Sufi Islam — Sikh friendship comes to us in the form of the respect and love between the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjun Dev (1563–1606) 25, and a Muslim Saint, Mian Mir (1550–1635)(26).
Such was the friendship that Guru Arjun Dev invited Mian Mir to lay the foundation of the Golden Temple(27) (Amritsar, India), the center place of worship in the Sikh tradition. Mian Mir gained a reputation of not submitting to the Moghul Emperors and specifically Emperor Jehangir’s “brutal and intolerant” approach “against his opponents”(28) and specifically the religious minorities. When Guru Arjun Dev was caught up in taking sides around the succession of the Moghul empire, he was put in jail, tortured and eventually killed. Throughout the ordeal, Mian Mir was vocal in his opposition and despite the fear of royal retributions, he challenged the unjust treatment of the Sikh’s leader by the hands of a powerful Muslim ruler.
Another Sufi Islam and Sikhism collaboration celebrated in a journey Guru Nanak took to Pakpatan, Pakistan to meet with the historic line of Islamic Sufi order started by Baba Farid (1179–1266)(29). This interaction would lead a lasting impression on the Sikhism founder and successive gurus, who were profoundly effected with the poetry of Baba Farid and the view of life and after-life described in his works. Thus, began a process of incorporating Baba Farid’s work in GGS, whose hymnal nature made it ideal to attract religious poetry.
“When the Sikh scriptures were first being compiled by the 5th Guru some 400 years ago”(30), more than a 100 hymns made their way into GSS including a couple of samples below:
“The Day the Bride is to be Wedded is pre-determined. And, lo, on that day, the Angel of Death, of whom thou had only heard, confronts thee. And he forces the helpless life out, breaking thy bones: So, instruct thy life that one can challenge not the Writ of God. The life is the Bride, Death the Groom, who marrying her, will carry her off. The body, after bidding farewell to life, whom will she embrace now? Finer than hair is the Bridge of Hell; have you not heard of it? Farid: The Call (from the Yond) calls everyone, so, do not get thyself Robbed unawares!”(31)
And
“Prays Farid: “O my loved mates, cling to your Lord, For, this body will be reduced to the dust, and its home will be a humble grave.” I would meet with my Lord today, if I could hold the wandering geese of my mind’s Desires. If I knew I would die and come not again into the world I would love not the False world to lose the Merit of this life”(32).
The kirtan nature of GGS allows for Baba Farid’s work to interact with the work of the various Gurus in GGS often complementing and building on each other:
“Farid, why do you wander from jungle to jungle, crashing through the thorny trees? The Lord abides in the heart; why are you looking for Him in the jungle?”(34) — Baba Farid
“Why do you tear apart your fine clothes, and take to wearing a rough blanket? O Nanak, even sitting in your own home, you can meet the Lord if your mind is on the right path”(35) — Guru Amar
And
“Rise up, Farid, perform your ablutions and engage in morning prayer. The head not bowing before the Lord merits not to remain on the shoulders.”(36) — Baba Farid
“Chop off that head which does not bow to the Lord. O Nanak, burn that human body in which there is no pain of separation from the Lord.”(37) — Guru Angad Dev
At the same time, some Gurus used Farid’s verses to provide an alternate understanding within GGS:
“My body burns like an oven; my bones are burning like firewood. If my feet become tired, I will walk on my head if I can meet my Beloved.”(38) — Baba Farid
“Do not heat up your body like an oven, and do not burn your bones like firewood. What harm have your feet and head done to you? Behold your Beloved within yourself”(39) — Guru Nanak
In fact, Baba Farid’s poetry did more than just add spiritual reflections to the Sikhism holy book. The quality of the language “also helped transform Punjabi from being a folk language to one considered suitable for literature, in much the same way that Chaucer changed how English came to be perceived”(40). This remains a major legacy of Baba Farid on the Sikh culture and by extension, Islam’s invaluable contribution to building Sikhism as a formal religious institution.
Perhaps, a couple of ironies are worth noting. Firstly, amongst orthodox Islam music is frowned upon and is seen as a dilution of one’s faith. It so happens that an entire new religion of Sikhism was built on the foundations of Islamic inspired music. Secondly, Sufism is viewed by Orthodox Islam as borderline heresy and once again it was the Sufi version of Islam that provided Sikhism the support to bloom into an independent tradition in the early decades of its formation.
Lion of Punjab
Maharaja Ranjeet Singh (1780–1839)(41) registered a permanent place in the Sikh imagination as a legendary warrior, who founded the Sikh Kingdom of Punjab. Although his rule and the empire itself was shortlived (40 years)(42), he gained a reputation of being “fair in dealing with and governing his heterogeneous and multi-religious subjects”(43).
Sikhs have used Ranjeet Singh’s rule as an example of Sikh teachings of humanity taking life. Especially how he mostly fairly treated the Muslim population given Ranjeet fought tooth and nail to take over the throne from a Muslim king in the first place. Muslims were given in charge of the military to protect the Sikh kingdom from threats posed by British and ironically other Muslim invaders.
Such was the Muslim contributions to the stability of the Sikh empire that even in the waning days post-Ranjeet Singh’s death, “All the Muslim nobles continued to enjoy their positions and privileges in the Lahore Darbar (court) during this time, and even the unruly army had great regard for most of the Muslim notables”(44).
Ranjit Singh 2.0?
The desire to bring back the Sikh empire glory days had been murmured within the Sikh circles ever since the demise of Ranjeet Singh’s rule. In 1947, during the partition of the Indian Sub-Continent along religious lines, did not prove to be beneficial for the Sikhs, as they did not find themselves in any considerable majority of any part of combined India, a pre-condition of the partition. Interestingly, the “partition changed Punjab’s ethnic mix, with Muslims now comprising just 2% of the population in Indian Punjab, whereas the Sikhs now comprised 35%”(45) and hence began a political and often violent struggle to create Khalistan — an independent Sikh state sandwiched between Pakistan and India.
The Khalistan movement is rich in details and although officially dead, it still surfaces within the expatriate Sikh community in the West. For the purpose of this paper, it is important to acknowledge that Pakistan’s interests have been to use it as a political wedge, “Khalistan was a key component of Pakistan’s military doctrine of “bleeding India with a thousand cuts” and avenging its defeat in the 1971 war, when India backed a rebellion of Bengali-speaking Pakistani Muslims and carved out a new country, Bangladesh, out of former East Pakistan”(46).
However, to a student of history, the connection of the role Muslims played in supporting and sustaining the first Sikh empire and now Pakistani Muslims supporting the idea of a second one, is apparent.
Partition: An Uncomfortable Compromise
In the modern era, the most significant geopolitical event that shaped the Sikhism-Islam relationship was the partition of the subcontinent in 1947.
Given the two largest political parties the Muslim League and the Congress had agreed with Britain a boundary based on majority Muslim and Hindu populations, the Sikhs found themselves sandwiched between the soon-to-be Pakistan and India. Sikhs were torn to migrate to Pakistan and be close to the birth of their religion and the resting place of Guru Nanak in Kartarpur versus stay in a Hindu dominated India with a promise of religious freedom.
One of the main hesitancies shown by Sikh leadership at the time was their unpleasant history with the Moghuls and in their mind a potential repeat of Sikh persecution(47).
For the purpose of this paper, we will stay clear of the atrocities that took place and acknowledged by both Sikhs and Muslims on each other during the mass human migration at the time of partition (an estimated 1–2 Million lives were lost and some 15 Million displaced over a period of months touching followers of all religions in the sub-continent!)
What is perhaps of higher importance of how Islam and Sikhism came extremely close together due to the treatment of Sikh Shrines and holy places in Pakistan. Most recently the Kartarpur Corridor has linked a straight road from India to the Guru Nanak Shrine in Pakistan receiving thousands of pilgrims a day and creating a significant wave of goodwill about the Muslims amongst the Sikhs(48).
Sikhs and Muslims from around the world are actively collaborating to further the protection of Sikh shrines in Pakistan. A particular focus has been the reconversion of Shrines that were confiscated from the Sikhs during the Moghul empire and returning them as places of worship. One example from the summer of 2020 was the return of a 200-year old Sikh temple that had been converted into a school. In an emotional ceremony, Sikhs prayed in the temple after almost a century. The local Sikh leader Jasbir Singh summed it up, “This is the best gift for us…For us, it is like a dream come true.”(49).
Fighting Terror Together
Lastly, it is worth acknowledging the unintended consequence of 9/11 on the relationship between Sikhs and Muslims. The West and particularly the United States saw a multiple-fold increase in hate crimes against Muslims in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy. However, several of the attacks and the racism that ensued was felt by the Sikhs given their beards and turbans associated by the West as an Islamic attire for men(50).
The situation has brought together the leaders of both faiths together in inter-faith dialogue, as well as collaborating together to create awareness in the community. It is fitting to end the paper highlighting a political event that took place in 2017 and brought together some of the themes discussed in this paper.
The current leader of the Canadian federal NDP party is Jagmeet Singh. There is no denying his Sikh affiliation, as Jagmeet wears a colorful turban and dons a long beard. Jagmeet has won the hearts of Canadians from all stripes and all religious backgrounds including Muslims due to his progressive views. While widely popular in Canada, he has not received a friendly reception from his mother country India, who has denied his visit visa on the allegation of his affiliation with the Khalistan movement.
In 2017, Jagmeet Singh stood up in an auditorium in Brampton, Canada to conduct a town hall. He was immediately confronted by an angry heckler who stood up close to him and accused him of wanting to bring Sharia law to Canada. The hurling of hateful comments continued for a few minutes, while all along Jagmeet remained silent. When asked later, why he did not simply shut the argument by saying he was Sikh, he said, “While I’m proud of who I am, I purposely didn’t go down that road because it suggests their hate would be OK if I was Muslim”(51).
Looking Forward
The paper has highlighted a sample of the rich overlapping history both Sikhism and Islam enjoy. There is no denying that political ambitions have resulted in bloodshed experienced by both Sikhs and Muslims at the hands of each other.
However, the linkages have proven to be strong enough to withstand the episodes of discords. Islamic Saints, music, culture, reverence for places of worship, and handling of post-911 persecution are some of the main motivations that give hope to the reformers in both communities to continue to pursue platforms for building a positive future together.
A future paper building on the above will be a narrative that contemplates an India and Pakistan living as friendly neighbors, as a combined force of good for the rest of the world.
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