EVEN a cursory glance at the teachings of Guru Nanak and his preaching’s and his preaching’s would unmistakably denote that the great Guru was highly conscious of the tenets of Islam and the philosophy of Prophet Mohammad. “He saw in Islamic teachings what other Hindus could not see for themselves”.
Nanak was striving for intercommoned amity. In his New Order were combined the essentials of truth enunciated by both the Hindu and Muslim thought. His ideas were fundamentally based on the Indian Sanskrit. He believed in the Nirvama of the Hindus and the Fan a of the Sufis. But more, like the Sufis, he favored sublimating the passions rather than suppressing them. Like a clear stream of reason, he chalked out a new way out of the dreary sands, problematic pebbles and stinking stagnating dead habits and hallucinations. The feeder of this stream was the same water, with channels partly old, partly new, joining ultimately the same Ocean of Eternity.
A careful comparison between the holy Quran and the sacred Granth can reveal adequately that the basic truths, presented in both, are the same. At some places, the subject matter, the allusions and the forms resemble each other to such a great extent that Dr. Sir Mohd. Iqbal, the great poet, even asserted that Japji of the sacred Granth was a sort of a commentary on the Quran, even though we may find some difference in details.
India had been a cradle of a cosmopolitan culture; Guru Nanak could not be secluded from such a society which comprised kaleidoscopically a complex of races, religions, customs and manners. Keeping in view the then social and political canvas, it is observed that the stamp of Islamic creed is, at places, so deep and definite that some historians, — Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, have ventured to declare that the influence of Islam on Guru Nanak was conspicuously high. Dr. Tara Chand (Influence of Islam on Indian Culture, page 176), Yusuf Husain (Glimpes), and Ishwari Prasad (History of Medieval India, P. 507) have made definite assertions about the influence of Islam on Sikhism. Pincott Hughes (Dictionary of Islam) and E. Carpenter (Theism in Medieval India) see a significant impact of Islam on the creed of Nanak. Nirad Choudhry calls Sikhism the result of the application of Islam: to Hinduism (Autobiography of an Unknown Indian). An objective Sikh writer of repute, Khushwant Singh, admits that “Sikhism was born out of wedlock between Hinduism and Islam”. He also points out that the “Sikhs were the most outstanding example. of Hindu renaissance produced by Islam — an edifice built as it were with Hindu bricks and Muslim mortar” (The Sikhs, P. 191) Again, in his latest Review of Mcleod’s Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion, Khushwant Singh refuted the said author’s thesis that Nanak owed little or nothing to Islam. Of course, it is a matter of individual opinion. Several Sikh theologians, however, assert that Guru Nanak had a direct Revelation, and that the basic truth (gian) is normally attained through a Divine Revelation and not by mere borrowing from the others.
Without dilating on the question of an Islamic influence on Nanakism, or disputing with the claims of. various historians, it would be appropriate to examine some similarities between Sikhism started by Guru Nanak and Islam as propagated earlier by Prophet Mohammad.
Both Islam and Sikhism arose almost under similar circumstance which was surcharged by aggression coupled with perversion and painful sufferings. The basic philosophy of both the creeds could conveniently be summed up in two words: “Unity” (Nahdat) and “Fraternity” (Akhuwwat). Both aimed at purifying the prevailing religious beliefs and were thus concurrently negative as well as positive. Both derived their material from their original moorings i.e. Judaism and Christianity in the case of Islam, and Hinduism in case of Sikhism. Both struck hard, root and branch, at the prevailing idea of plurality of gods and current unintelligent social customs.
According to Guru Nanak’s biographies, he, when 27 years old, had a heavenly vision, in Sultanpur, on the bank of the river Bain (now called as Kali Bain), near Kapurthala. Before he received the Call to preach his message of Truth and Love, just like Prophet Mohammad who received a similar divine message of his noble assignment at the Mount of Hira. Macauliffe writes, “Hereupon a voice was heard, “O Nanak, thou hast My sovereignty as Upon this, the Guru uttered the Preamble of the Japji…..When Nanak had’ finished, a Voice was heard again: “O Nanak, to him resteth, be thou merciful, as I too shall be merciful. My name is God, the Primal Brahm, and thou art the Divine Guru”. In Rag As a, Nanak says, “On hearing the celestial music, my mind becomes absorbed in God”. In Rag Tilang, he says, “As I received the Word from God, so I utter, O Lalo”. Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru, particularly pointed out: “Guru’s Sikhs know that the Guru’s hymn is most true; the Creator Himself hath caused him to utter it~. Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru, endorsed the same by saying, “God gave Baba Nanak the Word as an inexhaustible wealth to use and spend”.
The Sikhs believe that God sent the Guru to comfort the world and that it was by His grace that the Guru’s instruction had been promulgated, Like the Decalogues of Moses, and the Wahi (celestial Message through the vision of angle Gabriel) to Prophet Mohammad, Guru Nanak too was given a few laws to propagate throughout the world. His laws were;
- The law of Love and Devotion to One Graceful True God. fie. Nam). Fer. Nanak, Nam\ was; the fountainhead of all inspiration and simran (meditation) was the banisher of all woe and misery. He says:
“Thy Name is my luminous lamp, in it is the oil of pain.
As the lamp burns bright, it sucketh up the oil”
- The Law of Charity and Goodness to Humanity (re Dan). There is an interesting anecdote about the Guru himself giving away his whole commodity to the poor, counting feratera (i.e. thirteen meaning also Yours own, Your’s Own…). The anecdote plays well with the parable given in the Quaran about the reward for charity. “The parable of those who spend their property is that of Corn: it growth seven ears and (Quran 2: 262265All Baqarah).
- The Law of Purity of Personal Character (i.e. Isnan). Guru Nanak’s formula of ‘Nam, Dan, and Isnan’ or Simran, seva, (service of humanity) and! safai, strikingly resembles ImanoSatat and! SaumoSalat—the pillars of Islam. The regular Namaz (prayer), Vazu (ablutions), Zakat (charity) and saum (roza or fast) as tenets of Islam, and the same, in essence, are so strongly advocated by Nanakism also. Nanak’s Nam and Dan perfectly coincide with Islain’s zikrand Zakat. These were Mainly intended to instill into’ the mind of mana constant feeling and fear of God so that he may not misbehave with fellow beings, and Tears pure thoughts. The Quran Specially emphasizes, “Verily, prayer restrains from all shameful deeds and those things which are Prohibited”. (29:45 Al’Ankabut). Again, it says, “Say, the things that my Lord hath indeed forbidden are: “Shameful deeds, whether Open or secret, sins or trespasses against truth or reason; assigning of partners to God for which He hath given no authority and saying things about God of which ye have no knowledge” (7:33 Al A raj). Nanak reiterated these injunctions with equal force.
It is interesting to find the common and basic underlying fundamentals of worship, prayer and pilgrimage in both Islam and Sikhism. Both strictly believe in the Cardinal point of Unity i.e. Unity of Being, Unity of Worship, Unity of Traits, Unity with the Creator and His creation (i.e. complete self-surrender) etc. Guru Nanak advocated worship of only Ek On ’kar i.e. the One Primal and Eternal Lord. Prophet Mohammad said, typaka na’budu wa ipyaka nostaueen”’i.e. “These alone we worship and Thee alone shall we ask for help”.
Both Islam and Sikhism gave prominence to the efficacy of prayer almost in the same tone and tune. Guru Nanak says.
Soiled with mud hands, feet
and other parts of the body are,
Their dirt is removed by rinsing
them with water, When clothes
do become polluted,
Their stains are washed clean,
If soap be applied to them.
But when the mind is defiled,
By the commission of many a sin,
It can be cleansed,
By the remembrance of God’s name.
According to Hadith, Abu Horaira is said to have heard Prophet Mohammad say that five prayers a day are like effectively washing the dirt by bathing five times a day in a Tiver.
Again, the Prophet enjoins in the Quran: “Glorify God morning and evening, in ‘heaven and on earth, in the afternoon or at tide time”. So does Guru Nanak say: “Remember Satnam in the early morning hours; Remember Him before daybreak; Remember Him day and night”.
(TO BE CONCLUDED).
Article extracted from this publication >> August 7, 1987
