This is a cross-post of an article by Jai from Pickled Politics
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I think a few more things need to be stated for the record in relation to Rajinder Singh [the Sikh who is supporting the
The venerable Guru Gobind Singh
BNP]. While his reaction is understandable from a “flawed human nature” perspective, considering the apparent loss of his father during Partition, it isn’t justifiable, either from a general moral perspective or indeed from a specifically Sikh perspective. Let me give an example of another Sikh who suffered immense personal tragedy at the hands of Muslims, in some cases explicitly claiming to be acting in the name of Islam.
Guru Gobind Singh, the last human spiritual leader of the Sikhs 300 years ago, lost his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, when he was only 9 years old. The Mughal administration at the time was attempting to force the Kashmiri Brahmin population to covert to Islam; the latter were on good terms with the Sikhs and therefore asked Guru Tegh Bahadur to help them. The Guru travelled to the Mughal capital of Delhi with a couple of companions in order to intervene on the Kashmiri Brahmins behalf. They were subsequently arrested by members of the Mughal administration; after some discussions with Emperor Aurangzeb, the latter ordered that the Guru should be forcibly converted to Islam. He was kept in a cage, tortured, and since he refused to convert, subsequently executed; he was beheaded in full view of the public in the Chandni Chowk area of what is now called Old Delhi. Due to threats of retribution from soldiers present, ordinary Sikhs who witnessed this couldn’t even openly reclaim the body; later on, a Sikh managed to recover the decapitated body and burned down his own house as a cover to cremate it, and another Sikh rescued the head and took it to Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, where it was formally cremated by the young Guru Gobind Singh (at the time called “Gobind Rai”).
Years later, when the conflicts with the Mughal administration had escalated into all-out warfare, Guru Gobind Singh’s two older teenage sons died on the battlefield. His two younger sons, both less than 10 years old, were captured (along with Guru Gobind Singh’s mother) by Mughal officials in Sirhind, Punjab. The Governor of Sirhind tried to force the two boys to convert to Islam and, when he failed, subsequently had them executed, despite the forceful protests of one of the Muslim noblemen present who desperately tried to intervene on their behalf. Guru Gobind Singh’s mother died of shock soon afterwards. There was also a time when Guru Gobind Singh himself found himself completely cut off from his family and his remaining followers, hunted by the Mughal army, during what was one of the darkest periods of his life.
And yet……Guru Gobind Singh never used any of this as an excuse to attack, demonise, caricature and stereotype Islam as a whole or Muslims en masse. He did not scream vengeance against the entire Muslim population of the Mughal Empire. He did not launch attacks against mosques or Sufi shrines. He did not ban Muslims from entering gurdwaras (Sikh temples). He did not initiate any kind of “voluntary repatriation with a firm incentive” of Muslims from territories governed or dominated by Sikhs. He did not order his followers to dig up and remove the foundation stone of what is now called the Golden Temple in Amritsar, which one of his predecessors had invited a Muslim saint called Mian Mir to lay (Mian Mir was the spiritual instructor of the liberal and cultured Prince Dara Shukoh, son of Emperor Shah Jahan of “Taj Mahal” fame, the latter’s chosen heir, and ultimately murdered by his brother Aurangzeb during the war of sucession). Guru Gobind Singh did not remove the verses originally written by Muslim saints such as Baba Farid which had been incorporated into the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhism and whose final version the Guru was responsible for compiling and editing; he did not remove any of the Islamic names for God which the scriptures contain; he did not add any material attacking ordinary Muslims en masse or denigrating Islam as a whole. He did not support or condone anyone else who was bigotted against Muslims either. He certainly did not promote hatred, prejudice, or the notion of “collective guilt”.
In fact, Guru Gobind Singh actively promoted the notion of desiring the wellbeing and happiness of the entire human race without any kind of distinction or bias regarding people’s individual religious affiliations (or ethnic background, for that matter). He explicitly promoted the teaching that people should “view the whole of humanity as one race”. He was actively assisted by ordinary Muslims trying to save his life when he was completely isolated and being hunted by the Mughal army. He had Muslim officers in his own Khalsa army, including Mughal generals who had defected to his cause in the middle of battles. He explicitly ordered the soldiers in his army not to molest any Muslim women they came across after battles. His entire military and political strategy refrained from attacks on civilians. On the battlefield, he would even use arrows which were mounted with a small amount of gold in order to provide financial assistance to the families of those he killed or, alternatively, to enable the wounded soldier to buy medical assistance if he survived Guru Gobind Singh’s attack.
And after a series of atrocities suffered by the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh wrote a lengthy and extremely forceful letter to Aurangzeb condemning him for his hypocrisy and bigotry, but which simultaneously included a list of what the Guru regarded as the emperor’s genuine positive qualities (albeit with the damning caveat “….but true spiritual righteousness is very far from you”), and the promise that the Guru would be happy to meet the Emperor, reconcile with him and “speak some kind words” to him if he would sincerely reconsider his attitude and actions; as confirmed by the authenticated historical records of Aurangzeb’s memoirs and letters to his sons, the Emperor did subsequently experience something of an epiphany and immediately ceased all hostilities with the Sikhs (along with Hindus and other groups he’d been persecuting). Aurangzeb and Guru Gobind Singh were even in the process of formally arranging to meet each other but the aged emperor died before that could occur. And during the subsequent war of succession, Guru Gobind Singh subsequently gave military support to Bahadur Shah I, one of Aurangzeb’s sons and ultimately the next Emperor.
The BNP’s cynical exploitation of Rajinder Singh is unfortunate but not unexpected. However, along with his fellow BNP supporter “Ammo Singh”, he is completely the wrong person to refer to if one wishes to find an example of the true teachings of Sikhism and the correct attitude Sikhs are supposed to have in this matter. If anyone is looking for the latter, they should go right to the source, because Guru Gobind Singh himself suffered far greater personal tragedy throughout his own life than Rajinder Singh did, and by his own example and teachings Guru Gobind Singh obviously embodied a very, very different message to the opportunistic, hate-filled, divisive, sectarian propaganda & agenda the BNP are now trying to promote.
32 Comments
Which religious community has not suffered under Islam?
An ideology to rob, loot, murder, pillage, enslave and rape infidels is ordained by Allah.
The same could be said about Christianity, Paganism and many other religions.
I think most sensible Muslims realise that this Rajinder Singh fellow is in a minority of one (or 2, if you include ‘Ammo’). Regardless, members of ethnic minorities should be on the guard against classic ‘divide and conquer’ strategies.
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Not so.
Jesus preached forgiveness, compassion, love etc
where as
Muhamad preached revenge, hatred, etc.
Muhammad looted, murdered, pillaged, enslaved and even approved of his gang members to rape captive women and he himself raped a woman whose husband he had just killed.
There is no comparison between Muhammad & Jesus.
It is unbelievable that there people today who think that Muhammad is a role model for them to emulate. Sick.
Gerrit
The Jesus vs Muhammed “comparison” is probably the most boring comments box discussion to be had on the internet. There are any number of places, however, where you can have your rhubarb pulled on that score. Not on here though. So clean up your act or fuck off.
Faisal,
My thanks to The Spittoon’s editorial team for cross-posting my article from Pickled Politics.
I already made the following point on the original PP comments thread, but to re-iterate: Considering the SIOE’s ongoing activities (eg. “there are no moderate Muslims”, “taqiyya/kitman” etc) and of course Stephen Gash’s recent actions on PP (see: http://www.pickledpolitics.com/archives/6595 ), I think that Guru Gobind Singh’s stance towards Muslims is a lesson from history for the SIOE as well as the BNP.
I agree with you Jai and well done on the article.
Excellent Guru Bobind is role model for us all
Guru Gobind Singh was indeed a great man. There are also other examples of Muslim and Sikh inter-faith respect and tolerance. For example:
Baba Guru Nanak had two companions who accompanied him everywhere. One was a Hindu and the other a Muslim.
Baba Guru Nanak visited Mecca. He also lived in Baghdad for a few years.
The first brick of the Golden Temple in Amaritsar was laid by a Muslim saint.
Some of the Guru’s even knew Islam better than many of the Mogul Muslim kings did. They used to tell some of the Mugul kings off for not following Islam properly.
Ek onkar means there is only one god.
Thanks again Faisal, very kind of you.
I just posted information about the following on the original PP thread, but it’s worth mentioning here too for the benefit of The Spittoon’s own readers: Another example from Sikh history which is very relevant to my article is the fact that Guru Hargobind (one of Guru Gobind Singh’s predecessors, and the Sikh Guru responsible for beginning the formal militarisation of Sikhs at a time of increasing conflict with his era’s Mughal administration) actually had a mosque built for the local Muslims, called “Guru Ki Maseet”, now located in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab, India.
For readers who are unfamiliar with this matter, the following link contains extensive information about the mosque’s history, the situation after the Partition of India in 1947, and much more recent events involving joint efforts by Sikhs and relevant Muslim authorities. It’s very inspiring reading, and the mosque itself is recognised as a historic site by UNESCO.
http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Gurdwara_Guru_Ki_Maseet
Faisal
I was pointing out to Zalloom that he is wrong in thinking that all religions are the same hence I made comparison between the teachings of Jesus & Muhammad.
Do you have a problem with me mentioning that Muhammad preached genocide of the Kafirs?
“Guru Gobind Singh never used any of this as an excuse to attack, demonise, caricature and stereotype Islam as a whole or Muslims en masse. He did not scream vengeance against the entire Muslim population of the Mughal Empire. He did not launch attacks against mosques or Sufi shrines. He did not ban Muslims from entering gurdwaras (Sikh temples). ”
I bet the Sikhs regret this now that Moslems have occupied Sikhs homeland of Punjab and ethnically clensed it of all Sikhs.
Is there anyway Gerrit can be made to understand that his trollish, imbecilic and offensive remarks are about as welcome around here as a fart in a spacesuit?
Yes. It is not true.
Now, do take it elsewhere.
Do you have a problem with me mentioning that Muhammad preached genocide of the Kafirs?
No I have no problem with you mentioning it, I just don’t fancy a long drawn out, deathly boring and polarised discussion on Jesus vs Muhammed. So you’re allowed one more driveby trollism and then you can feck orf.
Jai
This is a lovely article and beautifully written.
It should serve as great inspiration to anyone who is involved in inter-religious, ecumenical work and more widely in promoting the tolerance and mutual respect that is so needed today.
Many thanks.
Thank you for your kind words, Abu Faris.
The URL link I included in my previous comment above also includes some moving descriptions of recent friendly cooperation between Sikhs and Muslims in relation to “Guru ki Maseet”, so please do take a look at that too.
Thank you, Jai.
I was struck by this:
http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Gurdwara_Guru_Ki_Maseet
To use an old Arabic expression of praise: May Allah raise Baba Kirtan Singh and those who followed his wishes in His ranks.
Good morning everyone,
I’ve written a follow-up article which has just been published on Pickled Politics, called “Guru Hargobind: Mosques, Minarets and Multiculturalism”.
http://www.pickledpolitics.com/archives/6771
Hopefully you will all find that to be interesting reading too.
jai,
great article, yaar. i’d be interested in your take on how the punjab became part of the raj and how the destruction of the khalsa as a standing army (“aldershot in turbans”) contributed to this….
b’shalom
bananabrain
My wife, an Arab Muslim, on reading this said:
“I am sure that when, God willing, you or I should reach Paradise (she shoots a look accusingly at me), I am sure I (she stresses this personal pronoun) will meet such men as Guru Hargobind and Guru Gobind Singh”.
Insh’allah.
Bananabrain,
Long answer, and there are numerous historical books available which describe the sequence of events in detail — but the short answer is that, coupled with internal divisions, the second part of your paragraph explains the first
Read “The Maharajah’s Box” by Christie Campbell for a relatively recent example of a well-written book about the period.
Abu Faris,
Beautifully put, and a nice combination of humour and idealism. Mrs Abu Faris is obviously a wise woman.
Faisal,
One final post — If you did want to publish the follow-up Guru Hargobind article (link supplied in my first post earlier today) here on the Spittoon too, by all means go ahead. Either way, I hope you enjoy reading that as well.
abu faris:
what jai said – i think i would enjoy meeting both you and your mrs, do let me know if you are ever in london. actually, same goes for jai – i assume there is also a mrs jai of equal sense and sensibility, certainly the redoubtable mrs bananabrain (a woman of worth whose price is above rubies) has been known to cater for, as it is generally put, “your frummie weirdo mates from the internet” from time to time.
jai:
i have put in a request for my technologically-challenged romanian au-pair to obtain both the campbell and the dalrymple book you have previously recommended from the library – let’s see if she comes back with a dvd of a kids’ show again.
b’shalom
bananabrain
bananabrain
That’s a very welcome invitation. We are, hopefully, going to in UK and France some time in the first quarter of next year. I will keep you posted, as events here mean that our movements may be somewhat rapid.
Your frummie weirdo mate from the internet.
Jai
Very kind words, thank you.
As she likes to remind me on a very regular basis. Of course she is absolutelyrightaboutthisassheisabouteverythingelsealready.
I have recently come across this essential on-line resource, bananabrain, that I feel may be of some interest to comparative linguists everywhere:
http://www.bubbygram.com/yiddishglossary.htm#ak
hur hur hur, i particularly like the “daven, moshe, daven!” joke, it’s right up there with the famous joke about the flowers. being sephardi, i don’t tend to use a lot of yiddish, although i did learn some choice phrases from my “shver”, especially the ability to describe someone as a “tuches mit fil gesheften” (lit. “an arse full of hot air”) or myself (frequently) as “zukrochen”.
b’shalom
bananabrain
bananabrain,
Ho ho!
Once upon a time (well, about a decade ago), I was sitting with my mother, drinking coffee, in the Cafe Cosmopolitan (I jest not) in Tangier. A couple of old men were on a nearby table playing cards, smoking tabs and generally shooting the breeze… apart from the fact that we could not pinpoint the language in which they were chatting. So, my mum, in her best French, asked. We both knew it was a Romance-based language of some order; we were unaware that they were actually speaking in Ladino; a language, unfortunately, now as rare as hen’s teeth.
All the stranger as most Ladino speakers are now either in Israel, or in Thrace and Turkey, not Morocco at all.
well, ladino is something i know a lot more about it, being involved professionally, as it were. email me if you want to know more!
b’shalom
bananabrain
Yes, I shall, bananabrain. Thanks.
Ladino was, I believe, the mother-tongue of Elias Canetti – a writer and thinker for whom I have a bit of a soft-spot.
With increasing complexities in one’s life these days, people are perpetually looking for a medium through which they get some peace of mind. This is where another science, that of meditation and spirituality comes into the scene. Meditation and Yoga are synonymous with India and Indian spirituality. Meditation is one of the most important components of Yoga, which is a mind-body therapy involving a series of exercises. The word ‘meditation’ covers many disparate practices from visualizing situations, focusing on objects or images, thinking through a complex idea, or even getting lost in a provocative book, all qualifying as meditation in the broad sense. However in Yoga, meditation generally refers to the more formal practice of focusing the mind and observing oneself in the moment. Many people from India and abroad are resorting to yoga and meditation to de-stress and rejuvenate their mind.