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Historians have conflicting opinions about Guru Nanak and his mission. Some think, he was the founder of Sikhism while others deny it. Then there are those who say that he lived and died as {Sufi} Muslim. Some insist that he was a reformer of Hinduism like others before him. No matter which opinion you may have, Sikhism is a five centuries old religion and such is the lack of clarity of its mission! The Janamsakhi stories tell us that Guru Nanak was sent to an Islamic school {Madrasah} by his parents. There, he learned that idol worship is sin and the caste system wrong. His learning {Sikh} process continued which took him to Baghdad where he had spent more than two years. After formally accepting Islam, he went to Hajj. If you doubt my interpretation, then let me point out some more reasons to justify my conclusion: !

• The Sikh stories also tell us that Guru Nanak had spent 25 years of his life traveling and preaching his philosophy. Really? !

• At his deathbed, we do not find any clue that he had preached a new philosophy; we find two groups only: Hindus and Muslims by his side. Was there anyone else calling himself a Sikh? !

• To the quarrelling parties, Guru Nanak did not say, cremate me not as Hindus do nor did he say, bury me not as Muslims do! Instead, he lets them settle the dispute with the help of fresh flowers, as the story goes. !

• In another story, Guru Nanak advises Hindus to be good Hindus and the Muslims to be good Muslims. Did he ask them to become good Sikhs? !

• Further, you do not find the successor Guru Angad anywhere at the scene. Why does he not appear at the time of his master’s death? !

• The truth is that the successor was not there. Further, we do not have an authentic account of exactly how and when Sikhism started its journey of evolution. !

What we do know is that Guru Nanak wanted to purge Hinduism of idol worship and merge it with the Muslim monotheism. In other words, his mission was to unite the two religions, Hinduism and Islam into one and not divide the two into three: Sikhism is, therefore, not the religion of Guru Nanak! The common belief that Guru Gobind Singh was the founder of Sikhism is not true either. Charles Hugel, in his well documented travels of 1830 leaves us in no doubt that Guru Gobind Singh was not the last Guru in the evolution of Sikhism. In his book, “The travels in the Punjab and Kashmir”, Hugel noted that 5k’s {Sikh articles of faith} had not been imposed by then and Adi Granth not decreed as the Guru Granth Sahib while Guru Gobind Singh had died or disappeared in 1708. The 20th century Sikh scholar, Kahan Singh Nabha questioned Janamsakhi stories that Guru Gobind Singh died as a martyr. In an article published in the Sikh monthly magazine, “Punjabi Bahen” in 1916 from Lahore with the title, “Itihas de unlikhey

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patray” (un-written letters) he said that Guru Gobind Singh had survived the assassination attempt on his life. Thereafter, he went in hiding, lived and died in a distant forest under the disguised name of Ajay Pal Singh. This opinion is further substantiated and supported by the following two Sikh journalists and writers:

• In 1966, Guru Gobind Singh foundation printed a souvenir "Tenth Master" in which a prominent Sikh personality Divan Singh Maftoon wrote exactly what Kahn Singh Nabha had written in 1916 and corroborated his story that Guru Gobind Singh did not die at Nander, but came to live in Nabha under the guise of Ajay Pal Singh.

• In the Daily Milap, the chief editor Ranbir Singh wrote on 31st January 1973; "I am convinced that Guru Gobind Singh did not die at Nander but secretly slipped away from there. More research is needed to verify this", he added.

Dr. Harjot Singh Oberoi points out to such “vague and unclear identities of the Sikhs” till the end of the 19th century. It brings us to the conclusion that Sikhism in its current form could not have been the creation of Guru Nanak or Guru Gobind Singh. It must have been created by someone else who had decreed the 5k’s as the articles of faith and Adi Granth as the “last and living Guru” and this must have happened after 1830. The question is who was this invisible hand after Guru Gobind Singh? Like so many other questions, the Sikh history does not answer this question!

This lack of clarity in Sikhism makes the conclusions more difficult. In order to reach some conclusion, we need to interpolate our imagination, as suggested by Dr. Kirpal Singh in his book, “The Janamsakhi Traditions”. If we do that or read in between the lines, then like Master Tara Singh, we come to the conclusion that ‘Sikhism is a sect of Islam’. Rev. Patrick Hughes and Dr. Ernst Trumpp had similar views; they regarded Guru Nanak as {Sufi} Muslim. Many Sikh scholars like Dr. Trilochan Singh and Dr, Kirpal Singh have acknowledged the influence of Islam but they stop short of calling a spade a spade. Last but not the least, there are other Sikh scholars like Kahan Singh Nabha {Hum Hindu nahain hain} who insist that Sikhism is a distinct religion while their counterparts like Dr. Harjot Singh Oberroi do not draw the lines that clearly; they see the different images of Baba Guru Nanak as ‘Nanak of faith’ and ‘Nanak of history’.

By the way, if Guru Nanak was to come back to this world today, he would say, “Sikh is not a Sikh”. He never used 5k’s as his articles of faith. Whose faith is this then? And if Bikhan, Kabir Das and Baba Farid were to come back to this world, they would sue those who had decreed that the Sikhs respect and revere their poetry as Divine and bow down to it. No Muslim would ever bow down to anyone or anything besides Allah!

Sikhism is a matter of few centuries, and yet, its lack of documentation is pathetic. Please imagine that by then the paper had been invented and the books printed. Another problem is the lack of authenticity of Sikh record. As if it was not enough, a new controversy {Ragmaala} erupted in the 20th century, which is said to have resulted in a new version of Guru Granth Sahib without the chapters of Ragmaala. Let us, therefore, stick to Guru Nanak’s mission of “Sulah-e-Kull” and stretch our hands to each other, my dear brothers

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and sisters: If he learned Islam, why don’t you learn it and if he went to Hajj why don’t you go to Hajj? Islam is the one and only religion of God for mankind, as certified by Al-Qur’an while others have been synthesized, designed and evolved by their clergy and that is the reason that they are full of contradictions.

{Surah 4:82} Do they not consider {Quran} with care? Had it been anyone besides Allah, it would have had many discrepancies. In Qur’an, we do not find any discrepancies. In Surah 15:9, Allah pronounces, “We have indeed sent down {Al-Qur'an}, and most assuredly shall We guard it” from corruption and change.

{Surah 3:19} "Verily, the only deen (way of life) for Allah is the deen of Islam" and it means that you submit and surrender to the will of God. In other words, it is not Buddhism, Christ-ism, Hinduism Muhammad-ism or Sikhism. !All religions are not equal. God is one and his religion is one: Quran says, {Surah 3:85} "Whoever seeks a way of life other than Islam, it will not be accepted from them and in the Hereafter, they will be amongst the losers." !Dear readers, Bhagwan, God or Waheguru are not the names of Almighty: Allah is the only universal name of the creator of this universe; it is there in every religious scripture while others are not. Moreover, the others are contaminated; the word, “Guru” is used for both, the creator {God} and the created {the Gurus} in Sikhism. Let us work on our commonalities, as the glorious Quran says, “Come to common terms” and be not divided. Please, therefore, pay heed to the mission of Guru Nanak’s “Sulah-e-Kull” and get rid of this synthesized and manmade “Ism”, because: !{Surah 5:3} “This day have I {Allah} perfected your religion for you, and completed My favor upon you, and chosen for you Islam as your religion”. Surah 22:78 certifies that “Allah named the followers of Islam as Muslims in the previous scriptures {including Vedas} and in this Quran”. !{Surah: 36:58} Surely on that day {of Judgment}… they will be greeted with the word “Salaam” (peace) from the Lord of Mercy – Allah. Jesus Christ greeted {Matt 10:12} “Shalom aleichem” {Hebrew} which is, “Salam Alaikum” in Arabic. The words, Hi, Namaste or Sat Sri Akal are not the greeting words of the scriptures, then: !{Surah 2:75-79} Woe to those who write the Book (religious) with their own hands, and then say: "This is from Allah," to traffic with it a miserable price! Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for what they gain thereby. !{Surah 2:23-24} "If you are in doubt about Quran, then produce a Surah like this, and call upon your helpers other than Allah. And if you cannot do it - and surely you cannot do it - then be conscious of the Fire ... which awaits those who reject the truth." !

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Please note the beauty and clarity of the messages of Islam. You see, the truth stands clear from falsehood and it is so easy to find out. !Saeedullah Khan