Baba Farid & Guru Nanak Impact of Sufism on Sikhism

The Sufis during the Sultanate period had acquired great veneration from the masses due to their being independent preachers of monotheism and concept of equality and their services towards the humanity.

Their shrugging off the state patronage and criticism of the state system brought them closer to the people.

When Muslims came to India, it was Punjab through which they came. The land of Punjab has rich cultural heritage. The Vedas were composed mainly on the banks of five flowing waters of the ancient Punjab; Indus valley civilization also flourished in the soil. In the epic age, this was a land of glorious people broken into a number of tribal Republics, who was pride in their chivalry and honour. Here Sufism flourished to an unprecedented extent. And here, was born, probably, chronologically the youngest religion of the world, ‘Sikhism’.

The advent of Islam and Sufism in Punjab led to cultural and linguistic interaction between the two civilizations. The influence on each other was immense. Persian and Arabic vocabulary was imbibed by the Punjabi language. On the other hand, cultural tenets of Islam also received fulsome impact of local dialects and culture. The most important and interesting outcome of the said intercourse was on the metaphysical thoughts and practices. Shaikh Fariduddin Ganj-i-Shakr, popularly known as Baba Farid played an important role in transforming the religious, linguistic and cultural ethos of the land. Two centuries later Guru Nanak was born when a new composite culture and vitally transformed language had evolved in the soil. Hence, the impact of the Arabic-Persian culture and Islam, especially through the Sufis on Punjabi language, culture and on the socio-religious ethos of Punjab and more so on Sikhism needs no emphasis.

The essence of Islam is the belief in single God. The people of the land knew Islam through the Sufis, their verses and their literature. These had tremendous impact on Sikhism as well. The single most impact was introduction of monotheism as the basic philosophy of Sikhism laid down in the first verse of Adigranth. The verse is identical to the first surah of Quran ie Surah Fateha which reads as follows:

Praise be to Allah,
The Cherisher, Sustainer of the worlds,
Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Similarly, mulamantra in Adigranth pronounces:
He is the Supreme Being of eternal manifestation;
Creator, Immanent Reality; Without Fear;
Without Rancour, Timeless Form;

Unincamated;
Self Existent; Realised by grace of the Holy Preceptor.

Thus, there are striking similarities between Surah Fateha of Quran and mulmantra of Adigranth. Both spell out the God as Almighty, the Creator and Sustainer and also seek His grace for attaining salvation. Both Islam and Sikhism believed in unity of Supreme Being ie one God. Quran spells out;

Say, He is God,
The One and Only,
God, the Eternal, Absolute;
He begetteth not, nor He is begotten,
And there is none like unto Him.

Similarly, Adigranth spells out EK Oankar, Nirguna, Nirankar Brahm.

Further, Adigranth spells out about the Day of Judgment as that of Islamic concept of Qayamat. Both believe in equality, reject idol worship and oppose caste system. Both reject ritualism and conceive that any prayer without purity of heart has no meaning/ Quran reads;

Vain were worship without heart and soul.
In the same vein mulamantra in Adigranth reads;

Ritual purification, though million fold,
May not purify the mind.

Both Quran and Adigranth lay down that the salvation lies in obeying the commands of God. Quran reads;

And they have been commanded
No more than this
To worship God by offering sincere devotion
Being true (in faith) by establishing regular prayer
And to practice regular charity
And this is the Religion Right and Straight.

The Adigranth unfolds;
How then to become true to the Creator?

How demolish the world of illusion?
Trough obedience of His ordinance will.

Elaborating the concept further Guru Arjun Deve notes;
Whoever by the Master’s guidance
Utters the holy Nam is liberated.

Notwithstanding this, the source of the basic Sikh philosophy was not the Orthodox Islam, but the Sufis and their concepts and way of practicing of Islam, which was universal and often crossed the boundaries of religion and region. It was through Sufis they knew Islam. The remarkable resemblance of the Quran and Adigranth could not merely be accidental. It could possibly be attributed to Guru Nanak’s interaction with and learning from the Sufis. He had evidently visited Pakpattan and Multan to meet the descendant successor of Shaikh Baha al-Din Zakaria and Baba Farid respectively. Guru Nanak’s interaction with the officials of Daulat Khan Lodi, a Siqdar at Sultanpur and later Governor of Lahore also might have influenced him. Guru Nanak had worked under Daulat Khan Lodi at Sultanpur. 13

The Sufis taught the way the religious books were to be respected. Quran was the core book guiding force for all their activities. The importance of this singular book in Islam was immense. They preserve this with highest regard, which is always kept at a higher place and on a ‘rehal’. In Sikhism also, similar practice is followed. ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ is preserved and revered in similar way, kept on ‘rehal’ and is considered the singular most guiding force, as Quran is for Muslims.

The opening verses of Quran and Guru Granth Sahib are similar which reveal the greatness of God, who is one and alone, merciful and all encompassing and all embracing.

In Sikh religious history, Sufism had an important role to play. The compilation of the Guru Granth Sahib is the core event of Punjabi literary and religious history. The best compilation of Nirguna Bhagat like Baba Farid and Namdev are contained in it. Guru Nanak who was born in April, 1469 ie 204 years after the death of Baba Farid had gone to Ajodhan to meet Shaikh Brahm or Shaikh Farid Sani, who was in the line of succession of Faridi order of Chishti silsilah to collect hymns of Baba Farid, which were later on incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib by Guru Arju Deve in 1604. At a later stage, verses or kafies of Shah Hussain of Lahore, a great Sufi saint, inspired the Sikh community in their devotion, as his verses have deeper meaning and lyrical excellence in expressing passionate love for the Creator. Similarly, Waris Shah’s compositon of Heer Ranjha in 18th century had a definite influence in Punjabi classical literature.

The first popular Sufi who had settled in Punjab was Ali Hujwiri. He is considered the father of Sufism in South Asia. All other Sufis who came to India, sought his permission on their pilgrimage or ziyarat to his shrine Data Darbar at Lahore. He came to Lahore in mid 11th century and wrote the famous Kashf al Mahjoob, which became the bible for Sufis of various orders. Shaikh Muin al-Din Chisti who is considered the founder of the Chishti order in India, visited his mazar to seek his permission to come to India and addressed him as ‘Data Ganj Baksh’.

Hitherto, people called him as ‘Data Ganj Baksh’. Shaikh Muin al-Din settled at Ajmer and his khalifa Shaikh Qutab al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki at Delhi. Shaikh Farid Ganj-i-Shakr or Baba Farid was the latter’s khalifa or ‘spiritual successor’ who settled at Ajodhan.

Baba Farid was a great Sufi saint who gave importance to human values and tolerance. The following verse reflects his concept of tolerance and non-violence in a simplistic way:

Farida Jo tein marain Mukkian, tinhan na marain ghumm
Aa panrc ghar jaiya, pair tinhan de chumm

‘Do not strike when struck on the face, you will rather go back home after kissing their feet’.

Baba Farid, the wandering famous Sufi, had tremendous influence on Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikh religion. Thus, it is no wonder that he is a highly venerated saint in the Sikh traditions. There are many verses of Baba Farid recorded in Adigranth. In fact, his verses are well preserved only in Adigranth. Baba Farid is also considered the first ever to compose in any of the modern Indo-Aryan languages. He composed his preachings in Lehindi-Punjabi, which was then spoken in Punjab and some parts of Rajasthan. Many consider him as the father of Punjabi literature and others consider him as the ‘father of Sindh-Sagri poetry’. Sindh-Sagri is meant here to convey the link language spoken in this part of the country, which was a broader version of Lehindi-Punjabi. Urdu is also attributed to have emerged out of this language. Farid bani, which includes twenty-four shlokas and four shabds is included in Guru Granth Sahab.

Adigranth contains Baba Farid’s verses on ‘Dhola’, which is the first symbol of an ideal lover in Lehindi and its dialects. It reads:

Nath na ain kasumbhre jal jasi, Dhola
‘Dhol, don’t touch the opium water, lest it spells disaster on you’

This is in the context of Umru, a villain’s design to intoxicate Dhol, while he was traveling with his wife, so that when Dhol was out of his sense, he would abduct his wife. The verse was made out to have been sung by a drummer-women as a warning. The verse is relevant in philosophical and religious terms as a symbol of warning to all to not to be lured by evils or evil designs of others.

Baba Farid composed both in Persian and Lehindi. His compositions in Lehindi are pure, unalloyed and undiluted and are away from aparbhransha tradition of love-romance and feudal heroism and are focused on the liberalistic mystical mode in great measures. His verses totaling 123 in Guru Granth Sahib emphasise on good deeds and high thinking. There are about 2,000 words contained in Aligranth, which pertain to verses of Baba Farid, out of which more than 1,800 words are in chaste Lehindi. Some of the words like ‘Raab’ or ‘Sahib’ used for ‘God’, which did not belong to Lehindi language, were later incorporated in Guru Granth Sahib and have now been completely naturalised. Thus, to begin with such naturalisation Guru Granth is called Guru Granth Sahib.

The originality of Baba Farid’s verses in Lehindi is pure and well preserved. They are chaste with minimum Persian or Arabic words, which for that matter is common in many compositions. Another influence of Baba Farid on Sikhism is his use of word ‘ at the end of verb form such as ‘bhaviom’ which was incorporated by Guru Arjan towards the close of sixteenth century.

During Baba Farid’s time and thereafter, the relations between Hindus and Muslims remained cordial due to his teachings, the impact of which continued during the Sultanate and the Mughal period. This is also evident from the fact that Bhai Mardana, a Muslim, was Guru Nanak’s constant companion during his long journeys. Guru Nanak’s message was like that of the Sufis in as far as it was meant both for Hindus and Muslim. Thus in his first utterance in his mission he said:

There is no Hindu, no Musalman
Nanak the true teachers great trust is to unite all.
He further says:
He who looks upon both parties as one
Will alone be able to solve mystery;
He who regards others as heretics;
Will burn (in hell fire)
Almost in the similar vain, a century earlier, despite Islamic aversion to idol worship, Amir Khusrau, a disciple of Shaikh Nizam al-Din Auliya had said:

Don’t look down upon the idol worship of Hindus
Learn from them the way of worship.

Baba Farid, like his predecessors popularised the concept of deg and langar in Punjab. Deg means food pot, which was popularly used in Sufi Khanqahs of that time. Baba Farid had his Khanqah at Ajodhan, which was strategically a very important place, as all trade routes passes through Ajodhan. People of all sections, creed and religion came to his Khanqah or jamat khana. Both inmates and visitors partook food cooked out of the common deg. Whatever was available was consumed together by all on the basis of equality. This concept is linked with the concept of langar, ie, open kitchen.

Thus, the principle of food for all was incorporated in the khalsa rank, whereby each from khalsa panth including the Guru must eat the same food. Sharing food and eating together was laid down as a rule. Like in Sufi Khanqahs, Sikhism outlawed the concept of untouchables. Both Sufism and Sikhism in their turn, thus, opposed the dogmatic principles of the caste system, status based on birth and concept of ‘pollution’ accruing due to touch by lower castes. Baba Farid’s langar was run out of unasked for gifts, ie, futuh.

Sometimes dire poverty was witnessed. The inmates shared the food and poverty in equal proportion. In his Khanqah the inmates irrespective of their status had to pluck pelu and delha from the kareel trees, fetch water, collect wood from the jungle and thus food without a grain of salt was prepared. Similar traditions are found in Sikhism also. It is noteworthy that one of Baba Farid’s khalifa and his son-in-law, Ala al-Din Sabir or Pran kaliyar, who is the greatest known jalali Sufi in the subcontinent was in charge of the langar. As he was in charge of it, he performed his duty with religious devotion and did not eat even a morsel out of it. He had thinned down and looked sick. Baba Farid, on inquiry found out that he had not eaten out of the langar, as he was merely asked to look after it. Because of this patience or sabr, Baba Farid named him Sabir. He preferred him to his own sons because of his spiritual attainment.

Another khalifa of Baba Farid was Shaikh Nizam al-Din Auliya who is considered the most popular Sufi saint of his lifetime. Shaikh Rukn al-Din, the spiritual head of then suhrawardi sishilah, the rival of chishti silsilah, addressed him as ‘kind of religion’.