Islam and Sikhism - The Gurus and Their Muslim Contemporaries

The Gurus and Their Muslim Contemporaries

Guru Nanak's preachings were directed with equal force to all humans regardless of their religion. While many historians and theologians argue that his philosophy was influenced by other faiths, Guru Nanak's focus was on recognizing the authority of a singular creator who is all pervading and has existed forever and will continue to exist for ever, away from the repetitive cycles of life and death

According to Sikh tradition, while in Baghdad as part of his journey to Mecca and Medina, Guru Nanak had extensive dialogue with Muslim scholars there. In one discourse with a pir.

At Mecca, Guru Nanak was found sleeping with his feet towards the Kaaba Kazi Rukan-ud-din, who observed this, angrily objected. Nanak replied with a request to turn his feet in a direction in which God or the House of God is not." The Qadi took hold of the Guru's feet. Then he lifted his eyes seeing the Kaaba standing in the direction of the Guru's feet, wherever he turned them. Guru Nanak was pointing out that if he moves his feet elsewhere God is still in that direction as God is Omnipresent i.e. not confined by space (or time). The travels of Guru Nanak to Middle East included Baghdad and Mecca and Medina and stones exist in Iraq erected by the local rulers that record these visits.

The Muslim rulers of the Lodhi dynasty and the first Mughals were too concerned with consolidating their respective rules, and Akbar's liberalism led him to establish cordial relations with India's religions. The influence of Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi and the Sufi Naqshbandi order on Jahangir led to the subsequent execution of Guru Arjan Dev in 1606.

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