Muslims Do Kirtan At Gurpurab Celebrations In Nankana Sahib

[sikhiseeker]

Weren't Mirasis originally sufi though?

WJKK WJKF

Yea to be fair I think a high percentage of mirasi are still Sufi Musalmaan. Obviously a certain percentage would have converted to sikhi, however their role is still basically hired talented musicians. Sikh kirtan jathas somewhat different as they believe in the gurmantar in which they sing, where as the hired mirasi sings beautifully and gets payed his dues.

[gurdssingh]

So why the discrimination of moneh to perform kirtan? Also apart from token gesture, way back why no bibi s perform kirtan at Harmandir Sahib?

[13Mirch]

So why the discrimination of moneh to perform kirtan? Also apart from token gesture, way back why no bibi s perform kirtan at Harmandir Sahib?

If you read Recollections of the past, printed by Kashi House you will see that Bibis actually did perform kirtan. It was only when the SGPC took over that this practice was stopped.

[JagsawSingh]

WJKK WJKF

Sorry disagree, kirtan is not a family tradition or culture, it's the norm for Sikhs rural or urban. Kirtan being an integral part of sikhi, the very method Guru Nanak Dev Ji utilised as to reach the hearts of people he met on his travels.

I wasn't talking about Kirtan. I was talking about tradition, culture and language, which was I specifically mentioned the words "tradition" "culture" and "language".

[sikhiseeker]

I wasn't talking about Kirtan. I was talking about tradition, culture and language, which was I specifically mentioned the words "tradition" "culture" and "language".

WJKK WJKF

Veer ji, maybe you should start a new topic specifically on "tradition", "culture" and "language", as this topic is about Muslims doing KIRTAN in which the history of the mirasi has been discussed.

[gurdssingh]

If you read Recollections of the past, printed by Kashi House you will see that Bibis actually did perform kirtan. It was only when the SGPC took over that this practice was stopped.

Paaji, that's what I am saying apart from way back as token gestures bibiyan performed Kirtan, why is it stopped. Also under sgpc, I think on the odd occasion it has happened, but very rare indeed.

[kharkusingh1996]

Paaji, that's what I am saying apart from way back as token gestures bibiyan performed Kirtan, why is it stopped. Also under sgpc, I think on the odd occasion it has happened, but very rare indeed.

When SGPC is stable in the future hopefully they will allow bibia to do kirtan and seva inside Harmandar Sahib.

[13Mirch]

When SGPC is stable in the future hopefully they will allow bibia to do kirtan and seva inside Harmandar Sahib.

Back in the 80's Bibi Amarjeet Kaur was doing Kirtan and the SGPC tried confiscating her harmonium. Baba Nihal Singh showed them his sword and they scampered away.

[JagsawSingh]

Weren't Mirasis originally sufi though?

Most Mirasis as a whole are not sufis. Some are though and among them are those that belong to the Kalanot variation. They themselves describe their whole history as performers of bards of sikh history. The whole relationship between Mirasis and rural Sikhs however goes way beyond the realms of sufism, as many if not most of the Mirasis that kept the oral history of each rural Sikh family was a regular Sunni, rather than sufi. Whilst urban Sikhs had a tradition of preserving written family genealogy records at places like Kiratpur and Haridwar the rural Sikhs had a unique personal relationship with clans of Muslim Mirasis who's function was solely to be orally expert in the history of the Sikhs. (Mirasi, by very definition, means 'keeper of the heritage' - from the Arabic word 'Miras' which means 'heritage')

The unique Mirasi relationship aside though, we Sikhs do need to acknowledge certain truths when it comes to Muslims. I think it is a mistake when we sometimes say things like "the first stone of the Golden Temple was laid by a Muslim", "Guru Nanak's constant companion was a Muslim" or "Muslims claim Guru Nanak as their own". I say mistakes, because although they are factually correct, they don't by themselves tell the whole story. For example, Guru Nanak Dev ji's companion, Bhai Mardana, was an Iranian Shia, and the Shias knew exactly how cruel extremist Sunni rule can be. Mian Mir, who laid the Amritsar foundation stone was a Sufi, and sufis know exactly how cruel extremist Sunni rule can be. The 'Muslims' that claim Guru Nanak as their own are in fact Ahmadyans, and Muslims do not recognise them as Muslims, and so they know exactly how cruel Sunni rule can be. (We call them Ahmadyans but most of the Islamic world calls them Quadians, after the village Quadian in District Gurdaspur, Punjab, as their religion was founded in that Sikh heartland and heavily influenced by the teachings of Guru Nanak). The Pakistan constitution refuses to recognise them as Muslims and many thousands of them have been killed in bombings in Pakistan in the last couple of years.

The common theme here is that the 'Muslims' that have had a close relationship with us, turn out to be groups that, just like us, have experienced, the harsh rule of Sunnism.

[Ranjeet01]

From what I recall in pre-partition Punjab, there were a group of Muslims that used to read bani at the Gurdwaras. I only know this because there was a partition era drama that used to be on TV about 20 or so years ago. If anyone knows more about this, please post.