History

A Man of God Sans Religion

Bhai HARBANS LAL

 

 

 

Many a dear friend has encouraged me in recent years to begin recording my memories and memoirs.

My response began with the series, Tales of Haripur, first published in the pages of sikhchic.com and thereafter in the Sikh Review.

A Persian phrase that reverberates through all  that comes back to me from the umpteen decades I have lived, is one used by Guru Nanak in his reply to an oft-repeated question posed to him about his religion, during his extensive travels in the Middle-East.

Those he engaged him during the course of that particular udaasi included Muslim scholars well-versed in in Islam and Islamic laws, pirs and saints, mullahs, ulemas, as well as Muslim laymen.

The phrase whose English translation provides the title of this article, was one first revealed to me by a learned scholar who
used to visit Haripur and other Potohar towns frequently. I was one of his many admirers, first while I lived in Haripur, and later in Patiala after the Partition of Punjab and the rest of the subcontinent.

Syed Prithipal Singh was originally Syed Mushtaq Hussain Mirpuri who converted to Sikhi several years after his education at an Islamic madrassa in the holy city of Mecca. His ancestors were well known for their Islamic scholarship and community leadership in the Mirpur area of Kashmir.

He was the only son of the famous Pir, Muzafar Hussain, and a grandson of Pir Baqar Shah.

In 1927-30, young Mushtaq accompanied his father on a pilgrimage of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in addition to several other places of pilgrimages in the Middle East. When visiting the Muslim sacred shrines, his father, Pir Hussain, was inspired to place his son in a Muslim madrassa for Islamic education as well as for private lessons under the private supervision of Islamic scholars to learn Arabic and Persian languages.

It is during his visit of those holy cities that Mushtaq came across a book titled Siyahto Baba Nanak Shah Faqir, by Haji Tajjudin Naqshbandhi, who had met Guru Nanak during the hajj.

Tajjudin caught up with Guru Nanak in the town of Undlas located between Erar and Bagdad and travelled thereafter with him as a member of his entourage. He thus remained with Guru Nanak during the years of 1504-06.

Tajjudin recorded his time with Guru Nanak in great detail by reporting on his travels.

The book that Mushtaq came across more than four centuries was this very diary, originally hand-written by Tajjudin in a mix of Arabic and Persian languages. The book was in fact a compilation of Tajjudin’s diaries from a 2-year period.

Therein, Tajjudin had described Guru Nanak’s ravels and recorded his dialogues with the Islamic religious and civil leadership of the time. The completed diary was dated 1505 and was archived in a local library.

Recently, I have learned more of this and other extraordinary documents through my friend, Dr. Himat Singh of Patiala, Punjab.

In the absence of any facility available to copy the book in facsimile, Mushtaq Hussain took notes from Tajjudin's diaries and another book, Twarikh-e-Arab, by Khwaja Zainul Abideen, who was also present during Guru Nanak’s travels to Mecca.

Mushtaq then undertook to visit personally as many places as he could to experience the places Guru Nanak had visited four centuries earlier. During those travels, Mushtaq sought out and examined various artifacts and relics then extant from the Guru’s times. He talked to their caretakers and the locals to gather as much information as he could.

Mushtaq was fascinated by the account of Guru Nanak’s travels to the sacred places of Islam and he decided to share his experiences through public presentations and by working on publishing his findings.

Upon his return to Kashmir, Mushtaq witnessed intense persecution (1930-31) being then waged against Sikhs and their institutions in Kashmir right in front of him. The incidents he witnessed, coupled with other things that had begun to disturb him through the years, finally led to his decision to change his faith.

Thereafter, Mushtaq left his ancestral Kashmir and moved to Lahore where he came across a number of scholars of Sikh, Hindu and Buddhist orientation. He was accompanied by his wife, Gulzar Begum and son, Mohammad Nazir.

In Lahore, Mushtaq began to visit Gurdwara Dera Sahib where Guru Arjan had been martyred in 1606. He began to learn about Sikhism. He was already well on his way as a sehajdhari, having been deeply affected by all that he learned about Guru Nanak in the Arabian achives.

In Lahore he was further influenced by Giani Achar Singh.

Soon after his acquaintance with Giani ji, Mushtaq took khande-di-pahul from him in 1935.

Thenceforth, he became Syed Prithipal Singh, later also known as Sant Syed Prithipal Singh Patiale-wale.

His family joined him in this journey and also converted to Sikhi.

Syed Sahib was a very sought-after speaker. He travelled as far as England where he is remembered for laying the foundation stone of the Southall Gurdwara in or about 1965.

In 1968 he was invited to speak at the Guru Nanak Parkash Gurpurab celebrations in Kanpur, India.

He passed away during his visit to Kanpur.

Through the years, Syed Sahib worked away at translating his Persian notes for a book to be published in Punjabi. However, he did not live long enough to see the project come to final fruition.

His hand-written draft of Guru Nanak’s Travels remained unknown until his son Mohnderpal Singh Bedi finally released parts of it a few years later.

The first booklet, Babe-di-Bagdad-Pheri, has now been published (2011) by Kanwar Ajit Singh of Gurmat Vichar Kendar, Patiala, Punjab.

Coming back to the Persian quote from Guru Nanak, it is from Guru Nanak’s dialogue - not unlike the one he had with the Siddhs - with Qazi Ruknuddin of Mecca.

During Guru Nanak's visit to Mecca, Qazi Ruknuddin was among the first batch of Muslims who visited him. After the incident in which Nanak was found sleeping with his feet pointing in the "wrong" direction, several Hajjis or pilgrims to Mecca-Medina gathered around Guru Nanak, seeking a dialogue.

Qazi Ruknuddin then asked Nanak:

Fala Allah mazaboo? (What is your religion?)

To that Guru Nanak responded:

Abdulla Allah la mazaboo  (I am a man of God and belong to no religion.)

This was one of some 360 questions and answers from that dialogue.

Sikh scholar Bhai Gurdas and the authors of Janam Sakhis have referred to this historic dialogue and Guru Nank’s responses,  including this specific one.

To me the doctrine embodied in Guru Nanak’s self-description is a profound statement that should draw the attention of civil societies everywhere in the global village.

 

April 29, 2012

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