What sword? Where was the sword?
The Muslim trader did thejob. His good conduct and moral
rectitude achieved the miracle of conversion. "All what you say
seemsincontrovertible, Mr. Deedat,"
says the Christian controversialist, "but we are talking about
Islam at its verybeginning, the way in which your
prophet converted the pagans to his faith! How did he do it if not
with thesword?"
ONE
AGAINST ALL?
We
can do no better than to allow Thomas Carlyle himself to defend his
Hero Prophet against this false charge; - - -
"THE SWORD INDEED: BUT WHERE WILL YOU GET YOUR SWORD! EVERY
NEW OPINION, AT ITSSTARTING, IS PRECISELY IN A
MINORITY OF ONE. IN ONE MAN'S HEAD ALONE, THERE IT DWELLSAS YET. ONE MAN ALONE OF THE
WHOLE WORLD BELIEVES IT; THERE IS ONE MAN AGAINST ALLMEN. THAT HE TAKE A SWORD, AND
TRY TO PROPAGATE WITH THAT, WILL DO LITTLE FOR HIM.YOU MUST FIRST GET YOUR SWORD! ON
THE WHOLE, A THING WILL PROPAGATE ITSELF AS ITCAN. WE DO NOT FIND, OF THE
CHRISTIAN RELIGION EITHER, THAT IT ALWAYS DISDAINED THESWORD, WHEN ONCE IT HAD GOT ONE.
CHARLEMAGNE'S CONVERSION OF THE SAXONS WAS NOTBY PREACHING."
Heroes and
Hero-Worship. p. 80
At
the age of forty when Muhammad {pbuh} declared his mission from
heaven, there was no political party, orroyalty, and certainly no family
or tribe to back him up. His people - the Arabs, immersed in
idol-worship andfetishism were not by any means a
docile people, they were no easy meat. They were a very volatile
people.given
to internecine and fratricidal wars: subject to "all kinds of
fierce sincerities - " {Carlyle}. One man, singlehanded,to wean such a people required
nothing short of a miracle. A miracle did happen. God alone couldhave made Islam and Muhammad
{pbuh} to triumph through with flimsy, gossamer support. God
fulfilling His promise:
And
have We not raisedhigh
the esteem in whichthou
O Muhammad areheld?
Sikhism
is a non-Semitic, Aryan, non-Vedic religion. It is a religion that has the
sixth largest following in the world. Some consider it as an offshoot of Hinduism.
It was founded by Guru Nanak at the end of the 15th century. It originated in
the area of Pakistan and North West India called Punjab, meaning the land of
the five rivers. Guru Nanak was born in a Kshatriya (warrior caste) Hindu
family but was very strongly influenced by Islam and Muslims.
DEFINITION
OF SIKH AND SIKHISM
The word ‘Sikh’ is derived from the word sisya meaning disciple or follower.
Sikhism is a religion of ten Gurus, the first Guru being Guru Nanak and the
tenth and the last being Guru Gobind Singh. The sacred book of Sikhism is Sri
Guru Granth also called Adi Granth Sahib.
THE FIVE – ‘K’s
Every Sikh is supposed to keep the following five ‘K’s, which also serve to
identify him as a Sikh:
Kesh –
uncut hair.
Kanga – comb; used to keep the hair clean.
Kada – metal or steel bangle; for strength and self-restraint.
Kirpan – dagger; for self-defence.
Kaccha – special knee length underwear or under-drawer for agility.
CONCEPT OF GOD IN SIKHISM
MULMANTRA:
THE FUNDAMENTAL CREED OF SIKHISM
The best
definition that any Sikh can give regarding the concept of God in Sikhism is to
quote the Mulmantra – the fundamental creed of Sikhism, which occurs at the
beginning of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
It is mentioned in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, volume 1 Japuji, the first verse:
"There exists but one God, who is called The True, The Creator, Free from
fear and hate, Immortal, Not begotten, Self-Existent, Great and
Compassionate."
Sikhism is a monotheistic Religion
Sikhism enjoins its followers to practise strict monotheism. It believes in
only One Supreme God who is, in the unmanifest form, called Ek Omkara.
In the manifest form He is called Omkara and has several attributes such as:
Kartar –
The Creator
Akal – The Eternal
Sattanama – The Holy Name
Sahib – The Lord
Parvardigar – The Cherisher
Rahim – The Merciful
Karim – The Benevolent
He is also called Wahe Guru – the One true God.
Besides Sikhism being strictly monotheistic, it also does not believe in
Avataravada – the doctrine of incarnation. Almighty God does not incarnate
Himself in what is known as Avatara. Sikhism is also strongly against idol
worship.
Guru Nanak was influenced by Sant Kabir
Guru Nanak was influenced by the sayings of Sant Kabir so much that several
chapters of Sri Guru Granth Sahib contain couplets of Sant Kabir.
One of the famous couplets of Sant Kabir is: "Dukh mein sumirana sabh karein
Sukh mein karein na koya
Jo sukh mein sumirana karein
To dukh kaye hoye?"
"In times of trouble, God is remembered by all
But none remembers Him during peace and happiness.
If God is remembered in good times of happiness
Why should trouble occur?" Compare this with the following verse of the Qur’an:
"When some trouble toucheth man, He crieth unto his Lord, Turning to Him in repentance: But when He bestoweth
A favour upon him As from Himself,
(Man) doth forget what he cried And prayed for before,
And he doth set up
Rivals unto Allah." [Al-Qur’an 39:8]
The Sikh scriptures therefore emphasize monotheism and God-consciousness
One
may ask, if both Muslims and Christians love and respect Jesus (pbuh), where
exactly is the parting of ways? The major difference between Islam and
Christianity is the Christians’ insistence on the supposed divinity of Christ
(pbuh).
A study of the Christian scriptures reveals that Jesus (pbuh) never
claimed divinity. In fact there is not a single unequivocal statement in the
entire Bible where Jesus (pbuh) himself says, "I am God" or where he
says, "worship me". In fact the Bible contains statements attributed
to Jesus (pbuh) in which he preached quite the contrary. The following
statements in the Bible are attributed to Jesus Christ (pbuh):
(i)
"My Father is greater than I."
[The Bible, John 14:28]
(ii) "My Father is greater than all."
[The Bible, John 10:29]
(iii) "…I cast out devils by the Spirit of God…."
[The Bible, Mathew 12:28]
(iv) "…I with the finger of God cast out devils…."
[The Bible, Luke 11:20]
(v) "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my
judgement is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father
which hath sent me."
[The Bible, John 5:30]
2. The Mission of
Jesus Christ (pbuh) – to Fulfill the Law
Jesus
(pbuh) never claimed divinity for himself. He clearly announced the nature of
his mission. Jesus (pbuh) was sent by God to confirm the previous Judaic law.
This is clearly evident in the following statements attributed to Jesus (pbuh)
in the Gospel of Mathew:
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the Prophets: I am not
come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and
earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all
be fulfilled.
"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and
shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever
shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of
heaven."
"For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the
kingdom of heaven."
[The Bible, Mathew 5:17-20]
3.
God Sent Jesus' (pbuh)
The Bible mentions the prophetic nature of Jesus (pbuh) mission in the
following verses:
(i)"… and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent
me."
[The Bible, John 14:24]
(ii)"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent."
[The Bible, John 17:3]
4. Jesus Refuted
even the Remotest Suggestion of his Divinity
Consider the following incident mentioned in the Bible:
"And behold, one came and said unto him, ‘Good Master, what good thing
shall I do, that I may have eternal life?’
And he said unto him, ‘Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one,
that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.’ "
[The Bible, Mathew 19:16-17]
Jesus
(pbuh) did not say that to have the eternal life of paradise, man should
believe in him as Almighty God or worship him as God, or believe that Jesus
(pbuh) would die for his sins. On the contrary he said that the path to
salvation was through keeping the commandments. It is indeed striking to note
the difference between the words of Jesus Christ (pbuh) and the Christian dogma
of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus (pbuh).
5.
Jesus (pbuh) of Nazareth – a Man Approved of God
The following statement from the Bible supports the Islamic belief that Jesus
(pbuh) was a prophet of God:
"Ye
men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among
you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of
you, as ye yourselves also know."
[The
Bible, Acts 2:22]
6. The First
Commandment is that God is One
The
Bible does not support the Christian belief in trinity at all. One of the
scribes once asked Jesus (pbuh) as to which was the first commandment of all,
to which Jesus (pbuh) merely repeated what Moses (pbuh) had said
earlier:
"Shama
Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adonai Ikhad."
This is a Hebrew quotation, which means:
"Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord."
[The Bible, Mark 12:29]
It
is striking that the basic teachings of the Church such as Trinity and
vicarious atonement find no mention in the Bible. In fact, various verses of
the Bible point to Jesus’ (pbuh) actual mission, which was to fulfill the law
revealed to Prophet Moses (pbuh). Indeed Jesus (pbuh) rejected any suggestions
that attributed divinity to him, and explained his miracles as the power of the
One True God.
Jesus
(pbuh) thus reiterated the message of monotheism that was given by all earlier
prophets of Almighty God.
NOTE: All quotations of the Bible are taken from the King James Version.
III) Concept of God
in Old Testament:
1.
God is One
The following verse from the book of Deuteronomy contains an exhortation from
Moses (pbuh):
"Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adna Ikhad".
It is a Hebrew quotation which means: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord"
[The Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4]
2. Unity of
God in the Book of Isaiah
The following verses are from the Book of Isaiah:
(i) "I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour."
[The Bible, Isaiah 43:11]
(ii) "I am Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me."
[The Bible, Isaiah 45:5]
(iii) "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like
me."
[The Bible, Isaiah 46:9]
3. Old Testament
condemns idol worship
(i) Old Testament condemns idol worship in the following verses:
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of
anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is
in the water under the earth:"
"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord
thy God am a jealous God."
[The Bible, Exodus 20:3-5]
(ii) A similar message is repeated in the book of Deuteronomy:
"Thou shalt have none other gods before me."
"Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
beneath the earth."
"Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord
thy God am a jealous God."
