Sikh-sufi Relations - Interview, Makhdum Syed Chan Shah Pir Qadri

[OhTwadi]

Read the entire article here. It's quite interestnig

http://sufinews.blogspot.com/2005/12/sikh-...rview-with.html

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Sikh-Sufi Relations: Interview with Makhdum Syed Chan Shah Pir Qadri [ old news ]

Interview of Makhdum Syed Chan Shah Pir Qadri

by Yoginder Sikand in Qalandar: Islam and Interfaith Relations in South Asia

February 2003

Memories of the carnage of 1947 are still deeply etched in the minds of many Muslims and Sikhs, moulding the ways in which they view each other. As a result of this, as well as of a selective and highly skewed understanding of the history of the relations between the Sikh Gurus and the Mughal Emperors, many Sikhs view the Muslims as inveterate 'enemies', and vice versa. In the process, the more positive side of the complex history of Sikh-Muslim relations has been almost totally forgotten. How many people, for instance, recall that Guru Nanak's most trusted and closest disciple and companion, Mardana, was a Muslim and remained a Muslim till he died? That Nanak himself is said to have traveled to Mecca on the Haj? That the foundation stone of the Harminder Sahib at Amritsar, the Golden Temple of the Sikhs, was laid by none other than a Muslim Sufi, Hazrat Miyan Mir? And so on….

In this interview, Makhdum Syed Chan Shah Pir Qadri, the custodian (sajjada nashin) of the shrine (dargah) of Hazrat Miyan Mir in Lahore, talks to Yoginder Sikand on the little-known history of the close relationship between the Sikh Gurus and the Muslim Sufis....Excerpts:

Could you tell us something about Guru Nanak and his relations with the Muslim Sufis?

As I see it, Baba Nanak Sahib did not intend to establish a new religion of his own. One of his principal aims was to build bridges of love and harmony between people of different faiths and communities, exhorting them to serve the one God. Now, in Arabic, one who surrenders himself or herself to God and God's Will is called a 'Muslim', and this is why many Sufis consider Baba Nanak Sahib to have been a true Muslim. The Udasis or accounts of the travels of Baba Nanak Sahib tell us that he traveled to Mecca for the Haj. He is also said to have spent six long years in Baghdad, which was then a major centre for the Sufis. Here he studied with many leading Sufis of his day, and it is said that he was presented by the Sufis of the city with a turban as a token of respect and honor. In Baghdad , in the courtyard of the shrine of Hazrat Bahlol Danaai, a famous Sufi, there is a shrine which mentions that Baba Nanak Sahib stayed there. The shoes, the Muslim-style prayer mat [ja-namaz] and the blanket of Baba Nanak and the copy of the Holy Qur'an which he used to regularly read, are also preserved there.

Baba Nanak Sahib's chief disciple was Mardana, who remained a Muslim till he died, and he served Baba Nanak Sahib for sixty-four long years. Mardana's descendants still live in Lahore. They describe themselves as Sikh-Muslims.

Besides Mardana, did Guru Nanak have any other Muslim disciples?

Yes, he did, for the Muslims of his times saw him as an accomplished Sufi. Thus, when he finally passed away, his Hindu and Muslim disciples started quarreling among themselves as to whether his mortal remains should be burnt or buried. When they removed the cloth that covered his body, they discovered, much to their surprise, that his body had disappeared, and all that remained in its place was a handful of flowers. The Hindu and Muslim disciples then disposed of the flowers in their own way. This happened at a place called Kartarpur, which is now in Pakistan, not far from Lahore. The shrine complex in Kartarpur still remains a major centre of pilgrimage, and is presently administered by the Punjab Awqaf Board.. It has two sections, one containing a Hindu-style shrine, and the other a Muslim-style structure. Many local Muslims, and occasionally, pilgrims from India, still come to the shrine, to ask for Baba Nanak Sahib's blessings.

How did Hazrat Miyan Mir get chosen to lay the foundation stone of the Golden Temple?

Hazrat Miyan Mir was one of the most pious Muslim Sufis of his times, a leading Pir of the Qadri order that traces its origins to the Holy Prophet Muhammad [may peace be upon him] through Hazrat Abdul Qadri Jilani of Baghdad. Hazrat Miyan Mir came to Lahore from Sind when he was around twenty years old. This was the time of Guru Ram Das Maharaj, the fourth Sikh Guru. Now, the Sikh Gurus, like most Sufis, believed in the doctrine of wahdat-al wujud or the 'unity of all being', seeing the light of God in every particle of God's creation. Hence, Hazrat Miyan Mir would often go the Guru Ram Das Sahib's home in Lahore to listen to his spiritual discourses. It was there that Hazrat Miyan Mir befriended the Guru's son, Guru Arjan Dev Maharaj, who became the leader of the Sikhs after his father's death. At this time, the Sikhs were not a separate, well-established community. Rather, in line with the teachings of Baba Nanak Sahib, they were a loosely organized group of Hindus and Muslims united in the quest to travel on God's path.

Guru Ram Das Sahib had purchased a large plot of land in Amristar and built a tank there, and had forecast that a holy shrine would be established on the spot and that its foundation stone would be laid by what he described as the 'best person of the time'. After his demise, when Guru Arjan Dev-ji became the Guru, he decided to build the Harminder Sahib, what is popularly called the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, on the spot. In accordance with his father's wishes, he decided to request Hazrat Miyan Mir Sahib, whom he considered to be the most pious and God-fearing man of his times, to lay the foundation stone of the shrine.

Accordingly, Guru Arjan Dev Sahib sent a party of 101 of his followers, bearing a palanquin, to Lahore to bring Hazrat Miyan Mir to Amritsar to lay the foundation stone. In the meanwhile, the Hindu diwan or prime minister of the Mughal governor of Lahore, Chandu Mal, heard of the Guru Sahib's plans. Now, he, like many other Brahmins, was scared at the rapid expansion of the Sikh movement among the 'lower' castes, fearing that if the 'lower' castes were all to turn Sikh the stranglehold of the 'upper' castes would be threatened. You won't find this in the history books, because those who have written the history of the Punjab have deliberately concealed it. But this is what I have heard from my elders. In order to draw away the 'lower' castes, who were joining the Sikhs in droves, he established what he called the 'Ram Rahim' movement. As soon as he heard about the Guru's plans of inviting Hazrat Miyan Mir to Amritsar, he sent one of his deputies, a Brahmin who called himself as Ahmad Das, to Hazrat Miyan Mir, seeking to convince him not to lay the foundation stone of the Harminder Sahib. Instead of helping the Guru, he said, Miyan Mir should co-operate with Chandu Mal, for Chandu, too, he insisted, believed that 'Ram and Rahim are one'. But Hazrat Miyan Mir rebuked him, saying, 'The Ram you believe in was not God himself, but a mere mortal—the son of Dasrath, the father of Luv and Kush, while God has neither parents nor children'. And then he said, 'People can be united only on the basis of the love for the one formless God, and this task Arjan Dev is doing best and so I shall help him'.

It is said that Ahmad Das and his followers attacked the caravan in which then Hazrat Miyan Mir was traveling to Amritsar. Although they failed to kill Hazrat Miyan Mir, they injured several of his followers as well as some of the men whom Guru Arjan Dev Sahib had sent to accompany him from Lahore.

What happened in Lahore then when Hazrat Miyan Mir arrived?

After his arrival in Lahore, Hazrat Miyan Mir Sahib stayed with the Guru for two weeks, during which time he was given the honour of laying the foundation stone of the Harminder Sahib. The story goes that after Hazrat Miyan Mir placed the stone, the mason picked it up to place it in a straight line. When Guru Arjan Dev Sahib heard of this, he was very angry and said, 'How can you change what a true man of God, a true dervish, has decided? Because of what you have done, the foundation of this shrine will always be shaky'. And this is why the Golden Temple has been attacked so many times till now.

Shortly after, owing to Guru Arjan Dev's growing prestige, the diwan Chandu Mal instituted a series of false cases against him and had him arrested. He ordered him to be placed on a hot iron plate and had burning sand poured over his head, just outside the fort in Lahore in full view of the public. Hazrat Miyan Mir rushed to his rescue, saying, 'My friend, just give me one word and I shall cause the thrones of Delhi and Lahore to come crashing down'. But the Guru Sahib answered, 'This is the will of God, and I must give an example to the people, or else how will they know what true martyrdom is?'. On Hazrat Miyan Mir's intervention, however, the torture was stopped, but a few days later the Guru Sahib breathed his last. Then, when the Mughal Emperor Jahangir heard about what Chandu Mal had done to the Guru Sahib, he had him arrested, and arranged for him to be dragged by the neck through the streets of Lahore, after which he died.

What about Hazrat Miyan Mir's relations with the successor of Guru Arjan Dev?

Guru Arjan Dev Sahib was succeeded by his son, Guru Hargobind Sahib, who was then a young lad still in his teens. Soon after he was made the Guru, he came to Lahore to meet with Hazrat Miyan Mir, who, after all, had been one of the closest friends of his father. The story goes that as the young boy was dismounting from his horse, Hazrat Miyan Mir stopped him, saying that he should place his feet in his hands instead. And so, the Guru placed both his feet in Miyan Mir's outstretched hands. Hazrat Miyan Mir did this to stress that the true Sufi is one who is humble and has no trace of egoism left in him. Also, he wanted to publicly acknowledge the high spiritual status of the Guru Sahib and to show that only a true dervish can really respect another true man of God.

Later, when because of political enmity, the Mughal Emperor Jahangir had Guru Hargobind Sahib arrested in Gwalior, Hazrat Miyan Mir was instrumental in getting him released, after which the Guru sahib then went with him to Lahore and spent some time with him.

What role did Hazrat Miyan Mir play in the conflict between Guru Hargobind and the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb?

Unfortunately, the story of Aurangzeb has been totally misinterpreted and in the history textbooks he is portrayed as an evil religious fanatic. Actually, he was nothing of the sort, and his policies were dictated essentially by political motives and interests, and not by religion. That is why many of his top military officers were Hindus. Likewise, it is wrong to say that the Sikh community was set up to defend the Hindus from the Muslims. If that were true, then how is it that the Sikh Gurus had such close relations with the Muslim Sufis? No, in actual fact, the conflict between the Gurus and the Mughals was purely political and had nothing to do with religion whatsoever. Moreover, the early Sikh Gurus had much closer links with the Muslim Sufis than they had with the orthodox Hindu Brahmins.

[akitosforever]

I was lookin for this frm quitesome time.....thanks u veeray.

Lately I have discovered that Sufi has great resembelence to Sikhi.....the fakirs in Sufi also praised the lord in Hymns and raagas as did Nanak ji. And the teachings ra e also quite similar.

More on sufi culture and relaated topics would be welcome.

I would be glad to hear sangats vu .

Fateh

[mann_kaum_layee_qurbaan]

hmmm, interesting.

[Mehtab Singh]

Sufism is the best aspect of Islam, and I say this because all the Muslim bhagats whose Bani is in Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee were, I think, Sufis and not the mainstream present day Muslims. In fact, the mainstream present day Muslims, if I am not wrong, do not consider Sufis as a part of Islam. Sufism focusses on music which is banned in Islam, it focusses on mysticism which is again not really very much in Islam as it is in other Indian religions.

Just my thoughts...correct me if I am wrong...