- Singh
IN the preceding essay, entitled “Sikhism: An Independent Religion”, we provided a fair sampling of the Hindu concepts that occur in the Sikh Scripture Now, for a change, we present ideas of quite a different sort, The reader is urged to pay close attention to the passages reproduced here below:
“O man of unfathomable Allah (God), while you are here on earth, do not get deeply involved in the affairs of the world, Consider yourself a traveler in a foreign land, who may be ordained to quit at any moment. Behave like a mendicant who has made himself the dust for others to tread upon. For, such a being alone is approved at the Lord’s Door.
“Offer you the Nimaz (prayer) of Truth on the Mussala (Moslem prayermat) of Faith, Subduing your worldly hopes, make your body the mass it (Mosque) and mind the Mullah (a learned man of religion). Let purity and wholesomeness be the Word of Khuda (God) for you.
“Shariat signifies the loving remembrance of Allah. Tarikat consistsin withdrawing one’s faculties from without and directing them within for self scarch. Marfat stands for complete mastery over low desires of mind. The true essence of Hakikat lies in attainment of eternal life by becoming ne with the Truth — the God Almighty”.
(Shariat,, ‘Tarikat’, ‘Marfat and ‘Hakikat’ are four stages of spiritual development recognized by the followers of Islam).
“Treat compassion as the Haj (pilgrimage to Mecca), humility as the true Roza (Moslem fast), and acting on Prophet’s teachings as the real Bahishat (Heaven). God’s beauty, Light and Fragrance are the Hurs (lovely damsels of Paradise), and contemplation of the Divine virtues is the only retreat for the followers of the Prophet.
“A Qaai (Moslem priest) is the ‘one who practices truth, a Hazi (a pilgrim) is the one who disciplines his mind. He who succeeds in overcoming evil is the only MulJah, and he who has made the singing of Lord’s praises as his ‘mainstay, is only to be termed a Darvesh (Moslem saint).
“That time, that moment, is auspicious for a Moslem when he cherishes the Maula (God) of the universe in his heart, Overcoming of ten faculties is his rosary and self-culture is the best circumcision.
Brother, be mindful, all that appears before your eyes, stays only for a while . Your household is nothing but an involvement. The ‘emperors, the rulers, the leaders of men, are all headed for destruction, God’s House alone abides forever.
“You cultivate first the virtue of Lord’s praise, second contentment, third humility and fourth charitable disposition. The fifth virtue lies in standing ever guard against the Five (lust, angerl, avarice, attachment and sense of ego). Let these five virtues be the five “Auspicies Times” for your”.
“Consume only that what is earned through honest means. Wash clean your mind of its impurities, By accepting the Prophet (Mohammed) as your preceptor, gain the fruit of Heaven so that you are driven not into Dozakh (Hell) by the Angel of Death,
“The Moslem is a being who is tender of heart, who has removed his inner dirt, who does not let the ‘mundane pleasures touch his consciousness, and who is chaste like flower, butter, a silk cloth and a deerskin”,
“He alone is a man among men ‘on whom is the Grace of the Benevolent Lord. He alone is Sheilk, a Haji, and a true servant, on whom is the Mercy of the Lord.
“If one understands the powers of the Qadar (God, the Creator) and the doings f the Karim (God, the Munificent), one develops love with the limitless Rahim (God, the Compassionate), and comes to comprehend the Will of the Supreme Person, and then, sundering his shackles, he becomes a liberated being”.
After perusing the above paragraphs, the reader will form the view, and rightly so, that this material forms a part of a religious sermon addressed to a Moslem individual or audience, We ask ‘our readers a question, as to ‘what could be the faith of a person who delivered the above sermon?” In nine cases out of ten, the answer would be: “By some Moslem gentleman, of course”. In reality, it is not so, This sermon was delivered by the 5th Sikh Guru, at Amritsar, to Wazir Khan, the then Minister of Lahore Province, under the Mogbul Empire. Wazir Khan was suffering from edema, He got relieved of the severe pain associated with his illness, after having heard the soothing psalms of Song of Peace (Sukhmani), composed by Guru Asjan Dey, the Faith Sikh preceptor, Sense of curiosity drove him to travel from Lahore to Amritsar to get himself acquainted with the nature of spiritual message the Sikh Guru was dispensing to the people around him, The Sikh Guru addressed the Moslem minister in the words narrated above, This address of the Fifth Sikh Guru is recorded on page nos. 1083 and 1084 of the Sikh Holy Book.
Being very catholic in its character, the Sikh Holy Book contains the revealed message of not only the Sikh Gurus, but also of many self realized people of other faiths. We find therein the inspired writings of barbar Sain, butcher Sadna, cobbler Ravidas, farmer Dhanna, and weaver Kabir, can also be seen there in the Holy Book. Though these people were true saints and servants of the Lord, yet they were hardly treated as humans, for reasons f their low birth, by the high cast members of Hindu Society. The 5th Sikh Gurv, by giving place to their inspired writings in the Sikh Scripture, not only accorded them the honor and respect they were entitled to, but also demonstrated that it is the ethical and spiritual conduct, and not the accident of birth, which determines the worth of a being.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 23, 1987
