Satt Bachan

The True Word

Background

Pandit Dyanand wrote a book, entitled Satyarath Prakash, in which he declared that Guru Nanak was illiterate, who posed as a man of learning and it was out of sheer vanity and conceit that Baba Nanak was made a saint by ignorant people after his death. The Promised Messiah(as) took up the cudgels on his behalf against Pandit Dyanand to protect the honour of Baba Nanak, whose followers had neither read the book, nor had taken any notice of it. So he began to write a book and announced his intention by a leaflet issued on September 1895. The Promised Messiah(as) writes:

As some papers run by Sikhs have spread this misconception that this book was written with some bad intention or to hurt the feelings, therefore it is pertinent to state that this book is written with all the good intentions and after thorough research. The basic aim of this book is to highlight his great piety and spiritualism and he completely separated himself from Hindu Vedas. He found that the God presented by Islam sparkles with Majesty, Power, Holiness and is Omnipotent. And it is because of his great piety that he declared his belief in Islam. That is because we stated those cogent reasons and proves of this belief. This view was also supported by many British scholars. This is the reason that we have included in this book extracts from Dictionary of Islam page (583-591) by Reverend Hughe’s which clearly state that Guru Baba Nanak was converted to Islam.1

The Book

The book was completed in 1895. In the first part of the book, the Promised Messiah(as) refuted all the allegations that had been levelled against Baba Nanak by Pandit Dyanand. Then, he separated the historical facts from legendary lore that had gathered round the name of Baba Nanak in Sikh writings, like the fairy tale and stories relating to Baba Nanak’s visit to Mecca. When Baba Nanak was in Mecca, it is alleged that the Ka‘ba kept moving on from one place to another to avoid Baba Nanak’s feet out of respect. And that the Meccans spoke to Baba Nanak in Punjabi. Again, it is written that Baba Nanak met Imam A‘zam in Mecca who had in fact died about 700 years earlier. Similarly, it is said that Baba Nanak met Syed ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani in Baghdad, although the latter died 400 years before him. Baba Farid Shakar Ganj is said to have met Baba Nanak, while he also had died 200 years before Baba Nanak.

Contradictions existed even in the Granth Sahib which was compiled 200 years after the demise of Baba Nanak. The Promised Messiah(as), however, contended that there could be no contradiction in Baba Nanak’s words. It was later writers, who interpolated their own ideas into the Granth Sahib. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says that the Granth Sahib contains the composition of many people. A most convincing piece of evidence which the Promised Messiah(as) discovered and recorded in his book is the Chola Sahib. It is a cotton cloak and held very sacred by the Sikhs. So, the Promised Messiah(as) sent a deputation to the custodian of the Chola Sahib in Dera Baba Nanak, the deputation reported that they had seen written on the Chola verses from the Holy Quran.

The Promised Messiah(as) decided to see the Chola of Baba Nanak Sahib himself. So, he went to Dera Baba Nanak on September 30, 1895. The custodians of the Chola did not know what was written on it. The custodians found it unusual that one should be so interested to see the Chola in original. The keeper, who was paid fourteen rupees by the people who accompanied the Promised Messiah(as), allowed the writings on the Chola to be copied out. It openly declared that “Islam was the only true religion and Muhammad was the Messenger of God.”

It was also stated that Baba Nanak went to Mecca, dressed in blue clothes as a Muslim saint, with a prayer mat in his hand. He called the Adhan and sat in the Mosque for prayers. The research by the Promised Messiah(as) also led to the discovery of the fact that Baba Nanak performed chillah [a forty days’ religious seclusion] at various places. At Sirsa, there is a small building which is known as an adjunct to Chilla Nanak. At Multan also, Baba Nanak performed a chillah at the shrine of Shah Shams Tabrez.

Though the Promised Messiah(as) had done a great service to the Sikhs by answering the objections levelled against their Founder by Swami Dyanand, yet some of them were displeased and charged the Promised Messiah(as) with insulting Baba Nanak by calling Baba Guru Nanak a Muslim saint. Therefore, the Promised Messiah(as) thought it necessary to refute the allegation declaring that he meant no slight but that he had only brought to light some fresh evidence which showed that Baba Nanak was a Muslim at heart, which was rather a compliment to their founder. He also reproduced a few pages of his book, Satt Bachan, as a specimen to show how the Christians also had attacked the Sikh religion and how he had defended the honour of its founder.

Specimen of Writing

While discussing the Christian belief of crucifixion of the Christ, the Promised Messiah(as) provided an interesting footnote titled An Ointment of the Disciples and the Other Name is Marham-e-‘Isa. The Promised Messiah(as) writes:

This ointment is blessed one which is beneficially used on wounds and removal of sign of wounds. Physicians agree that this ointment was prepared by the disciples for the treatment of his wounds. When Hazrat ‘Isa was arrested by Jews and the Jews put him on the Cross with the intention of killing him and proceeded to stretch him on the Cross, God saved him from the evil designs of the Jews and he suffered only slight wounds on his body and because of this curious ointment he was cured and the signs of the wounds disappeared. This fact is even attested by the New Testament that when Jesus was delivered from the Cross, in reality he regained his life. He met his disciples and conveyed the news that he was alive. Disciples were surprised how he did escape from the Cross and thought it might be that they were looking at his soul. Then Jesus showed his wounds which were caused when he was put on the Cross. Then the disciples came to believe that he was delivered from the Jews.

It is the simplicity of the Christians who believe that Jesus died on the Cross and got an entirely new life if it were so, God had the power of granting him a new life and could also totally cure his wounds, specially when it is said that the body that was elevated to heaven was the reflective one that he was seated on the right hand side of God and if it was so, how the wounds could exist on the reflective body. Jesus himself compared this to the event of Jonah. Jonah did not die in the belly of the fish and had he died, then there was no point in making a comparison…

He lived in hiding for forty days in the settlement under Pilate during which the application of the said ointment cured him and the good natured disciples disseminated the news that he was elevated to the heaven, in fact it was very wise move that the thoughts of Jews were diverted and it was decided beforehand that at an appointed date Jesus would leave the settlement that was under the jurisdiction of Pilate. Disciples saw him off and Ahadith of Tabarani also prove that Jesus lived another 87 years after this event and during this time he was constantly visiting one country after another and that is why he is known as a Messiah—a person on tour.2