Sikh

Amongst the first remarks made by Guru Nanak upon his enlightenment as a Sikh, is that ‘there is no Hindu, there is no Musalman’ (Singh 134). Guru Nanak, the religious founder of Hindu Sikhism, used this remark to address the long standing relationship between Sikh and the Muslim. Nanak implied that all human beings are equal and that any profiling of people on the basis of their religion, skin colour, gender or any other form of stereotypical description is founded on ignorance.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Sikh-Muslim conflict specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Nanak also added that racial profiling of people does not have any sense of truth since all people are created equally by one creator. As such people from all backgrounds ought to live in peace and harmony, love and kindness towards each other as brothers and sisters from the same creator. Despite Guru Nanak’s philosophy of peace and love towards each other, the conflict between Hindu Sikhs, of which Nanak was one and the Muslim has had along history. The Sikh-Muslim conflict has evolved over long period of time but many philosophers, analysts and scholars tend to focus on the negative nature of this special relationship forgetting the more positive aspects. Suffice to say that, other than the strong personal relationship between Guru Nanak and other Muslim leaders of the time, it has also been recorded that some Muslim solders served in Guru Nanak’s Hindu army. Despite the positive relationship the Sikh-Muslim conflict has at times been so strained to the extent that it has turned violent. Moreover, many philosophers and scholar argue that this conflict is religio-political. Therefore, despite friendly relationship between the Sikh and the Muslim, violent confrontations have characterised this conflict that has also assumed the religio-political perspective. Despite the fact that Many Muslims a nd Sikhs view each other as inveterate enemies, these two communities have a long and complex relationship characterised, at times by very friendly relationships. Many scholars tend to focus their attention on studying the more confrontational aspects of this special relationship. However, the Sikh-Muslim relationship is historically founded on cooperation rather than conflict. Many Sikhs and Muslim are oblivious of the fact that Guru Nanak sole aim was to promote friendly relationships between the Hindu and the Muslim people. Guru Nanak sought to attain this by bridging the existing gap between the two communities through his teaching of love, peace and harmony. Furthermore one of Guru Nanak’s closet ally and disciple, Mardana, was a Muslim. Other than this, Guru Nanak made several symbolic journeys to Mecca and Baghdad in search of peace between Sikhs and Muslim. There are other symbolic occurrences that sought to cement friendly relationship between the two communities.Adv ertising Looking for research paper on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Harminder Sahib, the Golden Temple of the Hindu Sikh, had its foundation stone laid by a muslin cleric Hazrat Mian Mir Sahib upon the requests of Guru Arjan (Sikand, â€Å"Interview† paras 7 – 10). Singh also reports that some of the soldiers who served in Guru Nanak’s army professed the Muslim faith, while still maintaining their loyalty to Guru Nanak (134). As such to claim that the Sikh-Muslim relations have been usually negative is to miss the point. Despite the long history of friendly relationship, the Sikhs and the Muslim have also have bitter differences that have at times turned violent. The confrontation have at times been too much violent that the two communities have been accused of ‘washing their dirty linen in public’ (Kundnani para 1). There are various instances of violent confrontat ions between the Muslim and the Hindu Sikhs in recent times. Some of these violent confrontations have been motivated by such issues as war on terror. In 2001, Sikhs and Muslims engaged on running battler in Bradford, India, over the differences of the definition of terrorism. In the same year, a 15 year old Hindu girl was reportedly severely injured after an argument over the event of the September 2001 bombing of the world trade centre in New York. Some of the violent confrontations between these two communities have turned tragic, such as the killing of three British Muslims on holiday in India. It has been reported that the killings were inspired by the state sponsored war against terrorism and as such any Muslim especially foreigners in the Gujarat state was seen as a representation of terrorism. The state government was accused of distributing weapon such as machetes that were used in such murders (Kundnani para 2 – 4). While the confrontation seems like isolated occurr ences, the violence is a manifestation of long running hatred inspired by religious and political propaganda. This type of propaganda is spread through journals, newspaper and newsletter articles, with very strong views against the other community dominating such publications. Readers of these articles are influenced to stand up and defended their sovereignty. This type of attitude has slowly led to the build up of these violent confrontations (Brass 436, 438). The conflict between the Sikhs and Muslims is a result of the long standing religious and political differences. Suffice to say that that other than being racial groups, the Sikhs and the Muslim are distinctive religious groups.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Sikh-Muslim conflict specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The confrontations are drawn out of the fact that the Sikhs and the Muslims religious foundations have assumed a political dimension su ch that the two see each other as opposing political ideologies. The hostilities emerge as a result of the intention of the Sikhs and the Muslims to maintain a religious identity through a political agenda (Johnstone 132). This type of religious and political identification is totally against the philosophy of Guru Nanak (Singh 134). Due to the concerted effort of Guru Nanak and other Muslim clerics made to maintain friendliness in the 15th and 16the centuries, the religious and political hostilities are only sees as the characteristic of post-Nanak era. Furthermore, the post Nanak Sikh identity has fundamentally changed from the open an accommodating to a more radical religio-political identity. The Sikh sees the Islam as the enemy religion. These strong religion-political conflicts are felt in Punjab where the two communities kill each other in what is seen as religious massacre (Sikand, â€Å" Life of Baba Nanak† para 4). The strong religion and political differences still drive the conflict not only in Punjab but in other areas such Kashmir today. The Sikh and the Muslim have a complex historical relationship. Despite the fact that many see this relationship and only based on violent confrontation, the Sikhs and the Muslim have existed peacefully. There have been several instances of cooperation between Sikhs and Muslims scuh as the laying of the foundation stone of the Sikhs golden temple in Amritsar by a Muslim cleric, a symbolic event that is emblematic of the historical cooperation between the two communities. The violent nature of Sikh-Muslim relationship is a manifestation of religious and political differences that exist between the two communities. Due to the complexities involved, there is no end in sight to this historical affair. Works Cited Brass ,Paul. The production of Hindu-Muslim violence in contemporary India.  Washington: University of Washington Press, 2003. Print Johnstone, Ronald. Religion in society: A sociology of religion. Michigan: Prentice Hall, 2006. PrintAdvertising Looking for research paper on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Kanwarjit, Singh. Political philosophy of the Sikh gurus. New Delhi: Atlantic publisher and distributors, 1989. Print Kundnani, Arun. An unholy alliance? Racism, religion and communalism. 2002. July 14, 2011 http://www.irr.org.uk/news/an-unholy-alliance-racism-religion-and-communalism/ Sikand, Yoginder. Interview : Makhdoom Syed Chan Pir Qadri on Sikh Muslim relations. 2002. Web. Sikand, Yoginder. Re-Imagining Sikh-Muslim Relations in the light of the Life of Baba Nanak. 2005. July 14, 2011 http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/re_imagining_sikh_muslimrelations_in_the_light_of_the_life_of_baba_nanak/ This research paper on Sikh-Muslim conflict was written and submitted by user Dorothy A. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.