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102-480: The four janamsakhi traditions that have survived into the modern era include the Bala , Miharban , Adi and Puratan versions. While each tradition offering their own perspectives, interpretations, and points of emphasis on the stories they report, they generally present Guru Nanak's life in three parts: the first part covering his childhood and early adulthood, the second part as an itinerant missionary after receiving

204-509: A successor . The Minas were a robber tribe and in Punjabi the word has come to mean someone who conceals his true evil intent. The Minas were subsequently execrated by Guru Gobind Singh and Sikhs were instructed to have no dealings with them. The sect is now extinct. It is said that it was due to this janamsakhi and its hostility towards the Gurus that prompted Bhai Gurdas' Varan account and

306-690: A Christian origin that explicitly mentions the Kaaba, and confirms the idea that not just the Arabs but certain Christians as well, associated the site with Ibrahim in the seventh century. This is the second dateable text mentioning the Kaaba, first being some verses from the Quran . Saudi archeologist Mohammed Almaghthawi discovered some rock inscriptions mentioning the Masjid al-Haram and the Kaaba, dating back to

408-589: A Greek carpenter from the same ship, called Baqum (باقوم Pachomius). Financial constraints during this rebuilding caused Quraysh to exclude six cubits from the northern part of the Kaaba. This portion is what is currently known as Al-Hateem الحطيم or Hijr Ismail حجر اسماعيل. Muhammad's Isra' is said to have taken him from the Kaaba to the Masjid al-Aqsa and heavenwards from there. Muslims initially considered Jerusalem as their qibla, or prayer direction, and faced toward it while offering prayers; however, pilgrimage to

510-787: A group of Muslims towards Mecca with the intention of performing the Umrah , but was prevented from doing so by the Quraysh. He secured a peace treaty with them, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah , which allowed the Muslims to freely perform pilgrimage at the Kaaba from the following year. At the culmination of his mission, in 630 CE, after the allies of the Quraysh, the Banu Bakr, violated the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, Muhammad conquered Mecca . His first action

612-577: A life story of the first Guru. It is one of the earliest sources of Sikh art. The earliest illustrated manuscripts are as follows: The art of illustrated Janamsakhi manuscripts declined following the introduction of the printing press in Punjab during the 1870s. Images of manuscript paintings from the oldest extant or discovered illustrated Janamsakhi manuscript, which belongs to the Bhai Bala tradition, dated to 1658: Images of manuscript paintings from

714-449: A male-orientated and female-orientated oral tradition, with the male stories having later been recorded and delegated to writing, whilst the female stories remained as an oral tradition and were sidelined and neglected. Whilst this women's oral tradition is in decline and is being gradually replaced with the more dominant, male-centric literary traditions, there do exist elderly Sikh women in certain villages of Jalandhar district, specifically

816-602: A mention in the women's oral janamsakhis. Max Arthur Macauliffe , a British civil servant, published his six volume translation of Sikh scripture and religious history in 1909. This set has been an early influential source of Sikh Gurus and their history for writers outside of India. Macauliffe, and popular writers such as Khushwant Singh who cite him, presented the Janamsakhi stories as factual, though Macauliffe also expressed his doubts on their historicity. Khushwant Singh similarly expresses his doubts, but extensively relied on

918-576: A pair of ram's horns were recorded to be inside the Kaaba. The pair of ram's horns were said to have belonged to the ram sacrificed by Ibrahim in place of his son Ismail as held by Islamic tradition. During its history, the Black Stone at the Kaaba has been struck and smashed by a stone fired from a catapult , it has been smeared with excrement, stolen and ransomed by the Qarmatians and smashed into several fragments. al-Azraqi provides

1020-490: A personified deity like the Christian conception of God centred around a concept of personal salvation , but rather to a concept of ultimate reality. It cannot be fully described in words but it can be experienced by those who reach a certain meditative state in-which one reaches liberation. Akal Purakh took pity upon the sufferings of humanity entrapped in sansara , the continuous cycle of rebirth and death, and revealed

1122-544: A pundit to learn how to read. After only one day he gave up reading and when the pundit asked him why Guru Ji lapsed into silence and instructed him at length on the vanity of worldly learning and the contrasting value of the Divine Name of God. The child began to show disturbing signs of withdrawal from the world. He was sent to learn Persian at the age of nine but returned home and continued to sit in silence. Locals advised his father that Nanak should be married. This advice

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1224-583: A source of divergence from the normative tradition. Such attempts, such as modification of the historically highly regarded janamsakhis written by Paida Mokha detailing Nanak's travels, by rival family members of Guru Arjan, who would start the Mina sect and the Miharban collection, would eventually prompt authoritative written traditions in response. The sectarian intent of the Miharban and Bala janamsakhis have been questioned by Sikh scholars, namely that in

1326-477: Is considered by Muslims to be the Baytullah (Arabic: بَيْت ٱللَّٰه , lit.   'House of God') and is the qibla (Arabic: قِبْلَة , direction of prayer ) for Muslims around the world. The current structure was built after the original building was damaged by fire during the siege of Mecca by Umayyads in 683 CE . In early Islam , Muslims faced in the general direction of Jerusalem as

1428-453: Is depicted as having a normal birth, with a Muslim midwife, Daultan, beside Guru Nanak's mother Mata Tripta, implying interfaith harmony. Typically dangerous natural phenomena either protect Nanak or are mastered by him, as a cobra shades child Nanak as he sleeps, or a rolling boulder being stopped by his hand. In a parable placed in Mecca, during Guru Nanak's travels he fell with his feet towards

1530-554: Is disputed whether Allah and Hubal were the same deity or different. According to a hypothesis by Uri Rubin and Christian Robin, Hubal was only venerated by Quraysh and the Kaaba was first dedicated to Allah, a supreme god of individuals belonging to different tribes, while the pantheon of the gods of Quraysh was installed in the Kaaba after they conquered Mecca a century before Muhammad's time. Imoti contends that there were numerous such Kaaba sanctuaries in Arabia at one time, but this

1632-592: Is further mentioned in Suchak Prasang Guru Ka by Bhai Behlo written during Guru Arjan Dev’s time. Bhai Behlo says, “Bala discarded his body there, At the holy city of Khadaur , Angad, the master, performed the rites, Graciously with his own two hands.” He also raises the point that Bhai Bala’s family is still living in Nankana Sahib and that Bala’s samadhi exists in Khadaur . Singh claims

1734-526: Is generally used with reference to the composite work which was compiled by Bhai Vir Singh and first published in 1926. Of the still existing copies of the Puratan janamsakhis the two most important were the Colebrooke and Hafizabad versions. The first of these was discovered in 1872, the manuscript had been donated to the library of the east India company by H.T. Colebrooke and is accordingly known as

1836-615: Is instructed that he is to return to the world once again to propagate His Name. Details of Guru Nanak's birth are given in the fourth sakhi and his father was Kalu, a Bedi and his mother Mata Tripta . The account of Guru Nanak learning to read from the pundit is also recounted here. After the interlude at Sultanpur Guru Nanak set out to Mount Sumeru . Climbing the mountain, the Guru found all nine Siddhas seated there – Gorakhnath , Mechhendranath , Isarnath, Charapatnath, Barangnath, Ghoracholi, Balgundai, Bharathari, and Gopichand. Gorakhnath asked

1938-505: Is said to have commissioned the work and was also a close companion of the Guru in his later years, was, according to Bala's own admission, ignorant of the existence of Bala. The oldest accepted manuscript of the Bala janamsakhi was written by Gorakh Das in 1658, but the actual date is believed to be earlier. It is generally believed this janamsakhi were written by Hindals as in a number of stories Guru Nanak praises Baba Hindal. Some are of

2040-500: Is the oldest, with the earliest extant manuscript of this tradition dating back to 1640. It is believed to have first been put pen to paper around 80 years after the passing of Nanak. Presenting a more concise, less fantastical account of Guru Nanak's life, its realistic account of Guru Nanak's life and lack of fantasy elements led to its prominence among the Singh Sabha. The term Puratan janamsakhis means ancient janamsakhis and

2142-562: Is the popular Suraj Prakash by Santokh Singh. This poetic janamsakhi is recited on festive occasions in Sikh Gurdwaras, Sikh ceremonies and festivals. The janamsakhis present accounts of the life of Guru Nanak and his early companions, with varying degrees of supernatural elements among them, typical for hagiographic biographies; more important was his message of equality before God, regardless of social classifications, also emphasizing friendships with those of other religions and

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2244-532: The Encyclopedia of Islam , Wensinck identifies Mecca with a place called Macoraba mentioned by Ptolemy . G. E. von Grunebaum states: "Mecca is mentioned by Ptolemy. The name he gives it allows us to identify it as a South Arabian foundation created around a sanctuary." In Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam , Patricia Crone argues that the identification of Macoraba with Mecca is false and that Macoraba

2346-466: The Bala collections, belonging to the schismatic, now-extinct Mina and Hindali sects respectively, to have particularly dubious origins. His approach "proved to be highly controversial," as it "angered many Sikhs" who saw him as "removing the vibrant life and message of their Guru from these texts," using incompatible Christian heuristic methodologies comparable to the Higher Criticism of

2448-683: The Kaaba seven times counterclockwise, known as Tawaf (Arabic: طواف , romanized:  tawaaf ), is a Fard (obligatory) rite for the completion of the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. The area around the Kaaba where pilgrims walk is called the Mataaf. The Kaaba and the Mataaf are surrounded by pilgrims every day of the Islamic year , except the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah , known as the Day of Arafah , on which

2550-448: The Kaaba , to which a Qadi objected, but when he tried to rotate his feet away from it, the Kaaba reorients in the direction of Guru Nanak's feet, attesting to the omnipresence of God and the internality of faith as opposed to the external. A parable also relays Guru Nanak's body vanishing after his death and left behind fragrant flowers, which Hindus and Muslims then divided, one to cremate and other to bury. This janamsakhi tradition

2652-526: The Zurah pilgrimage site was the precursor to the Kaaba. Prior to Islam, the Kaaba was a holy site for the various Bedouin tribes throughout the Arabian Peninsula . Once every lunar year, Bedouin people would make a pilgrimage to Mecca. Setting aside any tribal feuds, they would worship their gods in the Kaaba and trade with each other in the city. Various sculptures and paintings were held inside

2754-593: The hatīm was a remnant of the foundations of the Abrahamic Kaaba, and that Muhammad himself had wished to rebuild it so as to include it. The Kaaba was bombarded with stones in the second siege of Mecca in 692 , in which the Umayyad army was led by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf . The fall of the city and the death of 'Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr allowed the Umayyads under 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan to finally reunite all

2856-999: The janamsakhi was written by Bhai Bala and is mostly authentic but was edited and changed by anti-Sikh sects. In the first journey or udasi , Guru Nanak left Sultanpur towards eastern India and included, in the following sequence: Hakimpura → Lahore → Gobindwal → Fatehbad → Ram Tirath → Jahman → Chahal → Ghavindi → Khalra → Kanganwal → Manak Deke → Alpa → Manga → Eminabad → Sialkot → Sahowal → Ugoke → Pasrur → Deoka → Mitha Kotla → Chhanga Manga → Chuhnian → Hissar → Rohtak → Sirsa → Pehows → Thanesar → Kurushetra → Karnal → Panipat (Sheikh Sharaf) → Delhi (Sultan Ibrahim Lodi) → Hardwar → Allahabad → Banaras → Nanakmata → Kauru, Kamrup in Assam (Nur Shah) → Nagapattinam Port → Sri Lanka → Patna → Chittagong → Dibrugarh → Talvandi (twelve years after leaving Sultanpur) → Pak Pattan (Sheikh Ibrahim) → Goindval → Lahore → Kartarpur . The second udasi

2958-647: The B40, which contains influences of both the Puratan and Miharvan traditions. Aside from literary Janamsakhis, there also exists a Janamsakhi tradition passed down orally by Sikh women which provide more information about the lives of girls and women during the period of the first Sikh guru. Particular emphasis and focus is placed on prominent Sikh female figures, their influences, and impact, such as Mata Tripta , Bebe Nanaki , and Mata Sulakhni . Whilst all Janamsakhis originally began circulating as oral stories originally and only began to be written down later on, there existed

3060-517: The Black Stone in its place. According to Ishaq's biography, Muhammad's solution was to have all the clan elders raise the cornerstone on a cloak, after which Muhammad set the stone into its final place with his own hands. The timber for the reconstruction of the Kaaba was purchased by Quraysh from a Greek ship that had been wrecked on the Red Sea coast at Shu'aybah. The work was undertaken by

3162-666: The Colebrooke or Vailaitwali janamsakhi . Although there is no date on it the manuscript points to around 1635. In the year 1883 a copy of a janamsakhi was dispatched by the India Office Library in London for the use of Dr. Trumpp and the Sikh scholars assisting him. (It had been given to the library by an Englishman called Colebrook; it came to be known as the Vilayat Vali or the foreign janamsakhi .) This janamsakhi

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3264-534: The Gospels, through which Trilochan Singh contends that he would have set out to prove that that Guru Nanak himself had never existed, though failing to do so. Throughout the early seventeenth and eighteenth century Janamsakhis, Nanak is consistently likened and considered tantamount to the Divine itself, though this has been downplayed among recent Sikh scholars. Whilst the Janamsakhi literary genre arose to document

3366-574: The Islamic possessions and end the long civil war. In 693 CE, 'Abd al-Malik had the remnants of al-Zubayr's Kaaba razed, and rebuilt it on the foundations set by the Quraysh. The Kaaba returned to the cube shape it had taken during Muhammad's time. Its basic shape and structure have not changed since then. During the Hajj of 930 CE, the Shi'ite Qarmatians attacked Mecca under Abu Tahir al-Jannabi , defiled

3468-538: The Islamic year AH  1439 (2017/2018  CE ). The literal meaning of the word Ka'bah ( Arabic : كعبة ) is cube . In the Qur'an, from the era of the life of Muhammad , the Kaaba is mentioned by the following names: According to historian Eduard Glaser , the name "Kaaba" may have been related to the southern Arabian or Ethiopian word " mikrab ", signifying a temple. Author Patricia Crone disputes this etymology. Historian Patricia Crone has cast doubt on

3570-458: The Janamsakhi tradition was also contemporary with the Sufi allegorical traditions about Muhammad ( mu'jizat ) and Muslim saints ( karamat ), during influence in the period of Islamic domination. In this milieu where spiritual figures were understood and remembered, the janamsakhis commemorated and expounded upon the teachings of Guru Nanak. The janamsakhi may have been the early didactic texts in

3672-628: The Janamsakhis in his A History of the Sikhs . Macauliffe interspersed his translation of the Sikh scripture between Janamsakhis -derived mythical history of the Sikh Gurus. Post-colonial scholarship has questioned Macauliffe's reliance on janamsakhis as "uncritical" and "dubious", though one that pleased the Sikh community. On the basis of W. H. McLeod 's critical methodology which included: McLeod placed each narrative into five categories:

3774-491: The Kaaba on the day of the conquest, ordered all the pictures erased except that of Maryam: Shihab (said) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) entered the Kaaba on the day of the conquest, and in it was a picture of the angels (mala'ika), among others, and he saw a picture of Ibrahim and he said: "May Allah kill those representing him as a venerable old man casting arrows in divination (shaykhan yastaqsim bil-azlam)." Then he saw

3876-462: The Kaaba was considered a religious duty though its rites were not yet finalized. During the first half of Muhammad's time as a prophet while he was at Mecca, he and his followers were severely persecuted which eventually led to their migration to Medina in 622 CE. In 624 CE, Muslims believe the direction of the qibla was changed from the Masjid al-Aqsa to the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, with the revelation of Surah 2 , verse 144. In 628 CE, Muhammad led

3978-551: The Kaaba was officially dedicated to Hubal , a Nabatean deity, and contained 360 idols which probably represented the days of the year. However, by the time of Muhammad's era, it seems that the Kaaba was venerated as the temple of Allah, the High God. Once a year, tribes from all around the Arabian Peninsula would converge on Mecca to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, which was a mark of the widespread conviction that Allah

4080-615: The Kaaba was the first masjid on Earth, and the second was Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem. Abu Dhar narrated: I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Which mosque was first built on the surface of the earth?" He said, "Al-Masjid-ul-Haram (in Mecca)." I said, "Which was built next?" He replied "The mosque of Al-Aqsa (in Jerusalem)." I said, "What was the period of construction between the two?" He said, "Forty years." He added, "Wherever (you may be, and)

4182-545: The Kaaba was thought to be at the center of the world, with the Gate of Heaven directly above it. The Kaaba marked the location where the sacred world intersected with the profane; the embedded Black Stone was a further symbol of this as a meteorite that had fallen from the sky and linked heaven and earth. According to Sarwar, about 400 years before the birth of Muhammad, a man named 'Amr bin Luhayy, who descended from Qahtan and

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4284-433: The Kaaba, the floor is made of marble and limestone . The interior walls are clad with tiled, white marble halfway to the roof, with darker trimmings along the floor. The floor of the interior stands about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) above the ground area where tawaf is performed. The wall directly adjacent to the entrance of the Kaaba has six tablets inlaid with inscriptions, and there are several more tablets along

4386-486: The Kaaba. A statue of Hubal (the principal idol of Mecca) and statues of other pagan deities are known to have been placed in or around the Kaaba. Apart from the paintings of pagan idols decorating the walls, which were destroyed at the behest of Muhammad after his conquest of Mecca , there were also paintings of angels , of Ibrahim holding divination arrows , and of Isa ( Jesus ) and his mother Maryam ( Mary ), which Muhammad spared. Undefined decorations, money and

4488-812: The Mosque was renovated. In 1916, after Hussein bin Ali had launched the Great Arab Revolt , during the Battle of Mecca between Arab and Ottoman forces, the Ottoman troops bombarded the city and hit the Kaaba, setting fire to the protective veil. This incident was later exploited by the propaganda of the Great Arab Revolt to attempt to demonstrate the impiety of the Ottomans and the legitimacy of

4590-450: The Puratan janamsakhi , Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born in the month of Vaisakh , 1469. The date is given as the third day of the light half of the month and the birth is said to have taken place during the last watch before dawn. His father Kalu was a khatri of the Bedi sub-cast and lived in a village Rai Bhoi di Talwandi; his mother's name is not given. When Guru Ji turned seven he was taken to

4692-433: The Puratan tradition in that it does not present Guru Nanak's travels as four separate journeys. The portion covering the travels of Nanak is believed to have been sourced from the yet undiscovered manuscript. The Bala janamsakhi claims to be written by Bhai Bala , an alleged contemporary of Guru Nanak, and was supposedly written at the request of Guru Angad . There are reasons to doubt this contention as Guru Angad, who

4794-406: The Sikh community and broadly believed as true, historical biography of the founder of their religion. They have been recited at religious gatherings, shared as reverential fables with the young generation, and embedded in the cultural folklore over the centuries. Guru Nanak is deeply revered by the devout Sikhs, the stories in the janamsakhi are a part of their understanding of his divine nature and

4896-515: The Sikh congregation. There are some doubts about the authenticity and author of this janamsakhi . Older manuscript of the Mani Singh janamsakhi have different dates for the death and birth of Guru Nanak compared to popular renditions. The language from this janamsakhi compared to Mani Singh’s Sikhian di Bhagat Mal is noticeably different. No eighteenth century manuscript of this text exists. All of this has led some to doubt whether Mani Singh

4998-468: The Sikh tradition, including a teaching, a moral instruction along with an associated hymn found in the Sikh scripture, serving as pedagogical texts, sustaining Guru Nanak's message through time for the community that valued it. In order to convey Guru Nanak's teachings, the janamsakhis make extensive use of allegory, often with mythic elements to imbue meaning. Though the birth narrative of Nanak shares similarities with that of Christ, Buddha, and Krishna, he

5100-603: The Zamzam Well with the bodies of pilgrims and stole the Black Stone, taking it to the oasis in Eastern Arabia known as al-Aḥsāʾ , where it remained until the Abbasids ransomed it in 952 CE. After heavy rains and flooding in 1626, the walls of the Kaaba collapsed and the Mosque was damaged. The same year, during the reign of Ottoman Emperor Murad IV , the Kaaba was rebuilt with granite stones from Mecca, and

5202-566: The belief that this is a contemporary work and was later edited by the Hindals. One of the people who subscribed to this belief was Santhok Singh the author of the famed Suraj Granth . Santhok Singh wrote Nanak Parkash based on the Bala janamsakhi with the goal of removing parts he believed were edited and added by the Hindals. Dr. Trilochan Singh counters some of the points raised against the Bala janamsakhi by stating that Mehma Parkash and Mani Singh's janamsakhi both mention Bhai Bala. Bala

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5304-462: The call from Akal Purakh ("Timeless Being," God), and the last part presents him as settled in Kartarpur , founding his community of believers. Over 40 significant manuscript editions of the janamsakhis are known, all composed between the 17th and early-19th centuries, with most of these in the Puratan and Bala collections. The expanded version containing the hagiographies of all ten Sikh Gurus

5406-534: The case of the Hindalis, Hindal and Kabir are promoted at the expense of Nanak, who was depicted as having prophesied Hindal's arrival. The last major, and evidently the latest, tradition of janamsakhi is the Gyan-Ratanavali (also known as Bhagat Ratnavali ) attributed to Bhai Mani Singh , who wrote it with the express intention of correcting heretical accounts of Guru Nanak when requested to do so by

5508-423: The city of Mecca." The Asatir book was likely compiled in the 10th century CE, though Moses Gaster suggested in 1927 that it was written no later than the second half of the 3rd century BCE. The Qur'an contains several verses regarding the origin of the Kaaba. It states that the Kaaba was the first House of Worship for mankind, and that it was built by Ibrahim and Ismail on Allah's instructions: Verily,

5610-567: The claim that Mecca was a major historical trading outpost. Other scholars such as Glen Bowersock disagree and assert that it was. Crone later on disregarded some of her theories. She argues that Meccan trade relied on skins, hides, manufactured leather goods, clarified butter, Hijazi woollens, and camels. She suggests that most of these goods were destined for the Roman army, which is known to have required colossal quantities of leather and hides for its equipment. According to Islamic cosmology ,

5712-577: The cloth covering the structure, known as the Kiswah (Arabic: كسوة , romanized:  Kiswah , lit.   'Cloth'), is changed. However, the most significant increase in their numbers is during Ramadan and the Hajj , when millions of pilgrims gather for Tawaf. According to the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah , 6,791,100 external pilgrims arrived for the Umrah pilgrimage in

5814-578: The command Nanak, this is the cup of My Name ( Naam ). Drink it. This he did and was charged to go into the world and preach the divine Name. The Adi tradition of janamsakhi , known as the Adi Sakhian (adi, meaning "first"; sakhian, plural of sakhi , meaning "anecdotes, stories, discourses, parables"), was first discovered by Mohan Singh Diwana in Lahore , pre-partition Punjab . The manuscript he discovered dated to 1701 but Harbans Singh believes

5916-568: The commission of the Gyan-ratanavali by Bhai Mani Singh. The Miharban exegesis reflected strong Khatri affiliation, as opposed to the rising Jatt influence in the community at the time, leading to McLeod's assertion that the collection dated to later than its given date of 1828 CE, possibly in the late 19th century. The first three sakhis recount the greatness of Raja Janak and describes an interview with God wherein Raja Janak

6018-531: The concept of Akal is not peculiar to the Dasam Granth. It goes back to the very origins of the Sikh faith with Guru Nanak. The term Kāl refers to "time," with the negative prefix a- added to render the word akal , meaning "timeless" or "eternal." Purakh refers to "being" or "entity." Together, the two words form the meaning "timeless, eternal being." The word Purakh ( ਪੁਰਖ ) is the Punjabi form of Purusha ( पुरुष ). Akal Purakh does not refer to

6120-511: The consequent unity of humanity," revealing the beliefs, attitudes, and needs valued by the Sikh community of the age. Incorporating verses from Guru Nanak's works to illuminate his theological and ethical teachings in a biographical framework and in the idiom and style of myth and allegory, their quick, vigorous style would lend them to a popular oral tradition of moral instruction. Along with Indic mythologizing traditions of itihasa , which incorporated mythology, history, philosophy, and geography,

6222-408: The divine words ( gurshabad ) in the form of gurbani , taught by the successive Sikh gurus to those of humanity willing to learn how to know and experience Akal Purakh. Kaaba The Kaaba , sometimes referred to as al-Ka'ba al-Musharrafa , is a stone building at the center of Islam 's most important mosque and holiest site , the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca , Saudi Arabia . It

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6324-408: The established, the probable, the possible, the improbable, and the impossible. Out of 124 sakhis , he classified 37 as "probable" or "established," and 28 as "possible." Specifically looking for details "of importance" of Guru Nanak's life, he filled out just under one typeset page, though most sakhis are themselves brief at three to four pages. He considered the Miharban and earlier manuscripts of

6426-416: The fifth Sikh guru. The fifth guru's Janamsakhi tradition is recorded in an undated manuscript under the title of Prichha Mahala Panjve Ka . For Guru Har Rai , a manuscript covering his life was apparently written by Rup Kaur, it is known as Pothi Bibi Rup Kaur . The janamsakhi literature produced was often elaborately illustrated with paintings on the folios of the handwritten manuscripts, each depicting

6528-404: The first House (of worship) appointed for mankind was that at Bakkah (Makkah), full of blessing, and a guidance for mankind. Behold! We gave the site, to Ibrahim, of the (Sacred) House, (saying): "Associate not anything (in worship) with Me; and sanctify My House for those who compass it round, or stand up, or bow, or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer)." And remember Ibrahim and Ismail raised

6630-399: The first and second centuries of Islam. One of them reads as follows: God suffices and wrote Maysara bin Ibrahim Servant of the Kaaba (Khadim al-Kaaba). Juan Cole is of the opinion that the inscription is likely from the second century A.H. ( c.  718 –815 CE). During Muhammad's lifetime (570–632 CE), the Kaaba was considered a holy site by the local Arabs. Muhammad took part in

6732-454: The following narrative on the authority of his grandfather: I have heard that there was set up in al-Bayt (referring to the Kaaba) a picture ( Arabic : تمثال , romanized :  Timthal , lit.   'Depiction') of Maryam and 'Isa. ['Ata'] said: "Yes, there was set in it a picture of Maryam adorned ( muzawwaqan ); in her lap, her son Isa sat adorned." In her book Islam: A Short History , Karen Armstrong asserts that

6834-415: The foundations of the House (With this prayer): "Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us: For Thou art the All-Hearing, the All-knowing." Ibn Kathir , in his famous exegesis ( tafsir ) of the Quran, mentions two interpretations among the Muslims on the origin of the Kaaba. One is that the temple was a place of worship for mala'ikah ( angels ) before the creation of man. Later, a house of worship

6936-410: The geography starts with a speculation about the origin of the Muslim sanctuary in Arabia: Regarding the K'bta (Kaaba) of Ibrahim, we have been unable to discover what it is except that, because the blessed Abraham grew rich in property and wanted to get away from the envy of the Canaanites, he chose to live in the distant and spacious parts of the desert. Since he lived in tents, he built that place for

7038-477: The identity of the visitor and his disciple replied, "This is Nanak Bedi, a pir and a bhagat who is a householder." What follows is a lengthy discourse with the siddhas which ends with the siddhas asking what is happening in the evil age of Kali Yuga . The Guru responds with three slogans: Attempts to change birth places, birth and death dates, and the level of spiritual prominence of the orthodox Gurus by rival claimants of Sikh guruship have been considered to be

7140-418: The life of the first Sikh guru, Nanak, there also exists literature which was a later expansion of the Janamsakhi genre which details the lives of later gurus. There exists a Janamsakhi tradition which covers the life of Guru Amar Das , the third Sikh guru. The earliest surviving manuscript of Amar Das' Janamsakhi tradition dates to 1683. There also exists a Janamsakhi tradition covering the life of Guru Arjan ,

7242-401: The many wonders he is believed to have performed. The early editions of the janamsakhi manuscripts are more than Guru Nanak's life story. They relate each story with a teaching in the hymn of the Sikh scripture and illustrate a fundamental moral or teaching. The earliest janamsakhi collections were structured to lucidly expound on Guru Nanak's teachings to the audience, relating accounts to

7344-529: The most neglected as it has acquired a disagreeable reputation. Sodhi Miharban who gives his name to the janamsakhi was closely associated with the Mina sect and the Minas were very hostile towards the Gurus around the period of Guru Arjan . The Minas were the followers of Prithi Chand , the eldest son of Guru Ram Das. Prithi Chand's behaviour was evidently unsatisfactory as he was passed over in favour of his younger brother, (Guru) Arjan Dev, when his father chose

7446-603: The omnipresent divine . It literally means "without-death being". The first word Akal , literally "timeless, immortal, non-temporal," is a term integral to Sikh tradition and philosophy. It is extensively used in the Guru Granth Sahib , and the Dasam Granth hymns by Guru Gobind Singh , who titled one of his poetic compositions Akal Ustat , i.e. "In Praise (Ustati) of the Timeless One (Akal)". However,

7548-418: The other walls. Along the top corners of the walls runs a black cloth embroidered with gold Qur'anic verses. Caretakers anoint the marble cladding with the same scented oil used to anoint the Black Stone outside. Three pillars (some erroneously report two) stand inside the Kaaba, with a small altar or table set between one and the other two. Lamp -like objects (possible lanterns or crucible censers ) hang from

7650-529: The perpetually warring tribes, Mecca was declared a sanctuary where no violence was allowed within 30 km (20 mi) of the Kaaba. This combat-free zone allowed Mecca to thrive not only as a place of pilgrimage, but also as a trading center. In Samaritan literature, the Samaritan Book of the Secrets of Moses ( Asatir ) states that Ismail and his eldest son Nebaioth built the Kaaba as well as

7752-657: The picture of Maryam, so he put his hands on it and he said: "Erase what is in it [the Kaaba] in the way of pictures except the picture of Maryam." After the conquest, Muhammad restated the sanctity and holiness of Mecca, including its Great Mosque (Masjid al-Haram), in Islam. He performed the Hajj in 632 CE called the Hujjat ul-Wada' ("Farewell Pilgrimage") since Muhammad prophesied his impending death on this event. The Kaaba has been repaired and reconstructed many times. The structure

7854-496: The pilgrimage including doing naked circumambulation. A king named Tubba' is considered the first one to have a door be built for the Kaaba according to sayings recorded in Al-Azraqi 's Akhbar Makka . The interpretation that pre-Islamic Arabs once practiced Abrahamic religions is supported by some literary evidence, being the prevalence of Ishmael , whose God was that of Abraham , in pre-Islamic Arab culture. Writing in

7956-556: The prayer time becomes due, perform the prayer there, for the best thing is to do so (i.e. to offer the prayers in time)." Sahih al-Bukhari : Volume 4, Book 55, Hadith Number 585 While Abraham was building the Kaaba, an angel brought to him the Black Stone which he placed in the eastern corner of the structure. Another stone was the Maqam Ibrahim , the Station of Abraham, where Abraham stood for elevation while building

8058-430: The qibla in their prayers before changing the direction to face the Kaaba, believed by Muslims to be a result of a Quranic verse revelation to Muhammad . According to Islam, the Kaaba was rebuilt several times throughout history, most famously by Ibrahim and his son Ismail , when he returned to the valley of Mecca several years after leaving his wife Hajar ( Hagar ) and Ismail there upon Allah 's command. Circling

8160-458: The reconstruction of the Kaaba around 600 C.E., after its structure was weakened by a fire, and then damaged by a subsequent flood. Sources including Ibn Ishaq 's Sirat Rasūl Allāh , one of the biographies of Muhammad (as reconstructed and translated by Guillaume), as well as Al-Azraqi 's chronicle of Mecca, describe Muhammad settling a quarrel between the Meccan clans as to which clan should set

8262-400: The revolt as a holy war. The Kaaba is depicted on the reverse of 500 Saudi riyal and 2000 Iranian rial banknotes. The Kaaba is a cuboid -shaped structure made of stones . It is approximately 15 m (49 ft 3 in) high with sides measuring 12 m (39 ft 4 in) × 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in) wide (Hawting states 10 m (32 ft 10 in). Inside

8364-475: The source: Diodorus puts the temple too far north for it to have been Mecca. Christian church father Arnobius , in around 300 CE, referred to "an unshapen stone" worshiped in an unspecified location in Arabia. This short Nestorian (Christian origin) chronicle written no later than the 660s CE covers the history up to the Arab conquest and also gives an interesting note on Arabian geography. The section covering

8466-553: The specific hymns of the Adi Granth . The early oral tradition reached remote areas away further from Kartarpur, presenting his life and teachings to those who had never met the Guru, and for following generations. The dominant motif of the janamsakhi is not chronological or geographical accuracy, as history was not their concern, but the depiction of various themes of "the divine dispensation of Nanak, his concern for kindness, social cohesiveness, and his stress on divine unity and

8568-541: The structure. The Black Stone and the Maqam Ibrahim are believed by Muslims to be the only remnant of the original structure made by Abraham as the remaining structure had to be demolished and rebuilt several times over history for its maintenance. After the construction was complete, God enjoined the descendants of Ismail to perform an annual pilgrimage: the Hajj and the Qurban , sacrifice of cattle. The vicinity of

8670-468: The temple was also made a sanctuary where bloodshed and war were forbidden. According to Islamic tradition, over the millennia after Ismail's death, his progeny and the local tribes who settled around the Zamzam well gradually turned to polytheism and idolatry. Several idols were placed within the Kaaba representing deities of different aspects of nature and different tribes. Several rituals were adopted in

8772-600: The third oldest illustrated Janamsakhi manuscript known (Bhai Sangu Mal MS, published in August 1733 CE, preserved at the British Library ): Janamsakhi manuscript paintings from the 19th century: Akal Purakh Akal Purakh ( Punjabi : ਅਕਾਲ ਪੁਰਖ , romanized:  Akāla purakha , lit.   'the Timeless Being';) is an interchangeable Sikh name used to denote God , or

8874-422: The tradition may date back to the mid-17th century but unlikely to originate earlier than that period. More manuscripts of this tradition have been discovered since the finding of the initial manuscript. It shows influence from the Puratan tradition (particularly a few anecdotes or stories and discourses) and another unknown source, that has yet come to light, that also influenced the B40 janamsakhi . It differs from

8976-492: The verses left by him in what would become the Adi Granth. The first janamsakhis were oral in nature and began spreading across the Punjab when news on Guru Nanak's exploits and fame started being passed around. They were first put to writing likely around the early 17th century. However, according to Pyar Singh the earliest dated extant janamsakhi manuscript is from 1588. The janamsakhi have been historically popular in

9078-407: The villages of Mahala and Bara Pind, where tellers of the women's oral janamsakhis can still be found. Interestingly, these oral stories passed down by Sikh women focus more on the domestic and family life of Nanak, with women playing much more prominent roles than the literary traditions. Many important figures in the literary traditions, such as Rai Bhullar or Jai Ram (Nanaki's husband), barely make

9180-436: The welfare of women. As stories were told and retold, the ways they were combined crystallized into a small number of specific traditions. The janamsakhi stories likely began through family and friends close to Guru Nanak, spreading to others. The earliest layer of what was to become the written tradition later was, according to McLeod, "authentic memories concerning actual incidents from the life of Nanak," in conjunction with

9282-473: The worship of God and for the offering of sacrifices. It took its present name from what it had been, since the memory of the place was preserved with the generations of their race. Indeed, it was no new thing for the Arabs to worship there, but goes back to antiquity, to their early days, in that they show honor to the father of the head of their people. This is an early record from the Rashidun caliphate , of

9384-504: Was a town in southern Arabia in what was then known as Arabia Felix . A recent study has revisited the arguments for Macoraba and found them unsatisfactory. Based on an earlier report by Agatharchides of Cnidus , Diodorus Siculus mentions a temple along the Red Sea coast, "which is very holy and exceedingly revered by all Arabians". Edward Gibbon believed that this was the Kaaba. However, Ian D. Morris argues that Gibbon had misread

9486-691: Was built on the location and was lost during the flood in Nuh ( Noah )'s time and was finally rebuilt by Ibrahim and Ismail as mentioned later in the Quran. Ibn Kathir regarded this tradition as weak and preferred instead the narration by Ali ibn Abi Talib that although several other temples might have preceded the Kaaba, it was the first Bayt Allah ('House of God'), dedicated solely to him, built by his instruction, and sanctified and blessed by him, as stated in Quran 22:26–29. A hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari states that

9588-499: Was severely damaged by a fire on 3 Rabi' I 64 AH (Sunday 31 October 683 CE), during the first siege of Mecca in 683 in the war between the Umayyads and 'Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr , an early Muslim who ruled Mecca for many years between the death of ʿAli and the consolidation of power by the Umayyads . 'Abdullah rebuilt it to include the hatīm . He did so on the basis of a tradition (found in several hadith collections ) that

9690-462: Was taken and at the age of twelve a betrothal was arranged at the house of Mula of the Chona sub-caste. Sometime later Nanak moved to Sultanpur where his sister Nanaki was married. Here he took up employment with Daulat Khan . One day Nanak went to the river and while bathing messengers of God came and he was transported to the divine court. There he was given a cup of nectar ( amrita ) and with it came

9792-408: Was the author and the reliability of this janamsakhi . The work is an expansion of the first Vaar of Varan Bhai Gurdas . It shows influence from the Bhai Bala tradition. This janamsakhi tradition makes no mention of Bhai Bala amongst the list of Guru Nanak's close companions and associates. Various other more minor and obscure janamsakhi traditions are known. One such tradition is that of

9894-585: Was the basis of the accounts written by Trumpp, Macauliffe, and most Sikh scholars. Gurmukh Singh of the Oriental College, Lahore, found another janamsakhi at Hafizabad which was very similar to that found by Colebrook. Gurmukh Singh who was collaborating with Mr. Macauliffe in his research on Sikh religion, made it available to the Englishman, who had it published in November 1885. According to

9996-407: Was the king of Hijaz , placed an idol of Hubal on the roof of the Kaaba. This idol was one of the chief deities of the ruling Quraysh tribe. The idol was made of red agate and shaped like a human, but with the right hand broken off and replaced with a golden hand. When the idol was moved inside the Kaaba, it had seven arrows in front of it, which were used for divination . To maintain peace among

10098-614: Was the only one built of stone. The others also allegedly had counterparts of the Black Stone. There was a "Red Stone", in the Kaaba of the South Arabian city of Ghaiman; and the "White Stone" in the Kaaba of al-Abalat (near modern-day Tabala ). Grunebaum, in Classical Islam , points out that the experience of divinity of that period was often associated with the fetishism of stones, mountains, special rock formations, or "trees of strange growth." Armstrong further says that

10200-596: Was the same deity worshipped by monotheists. At this time, the Muslims would perform the Salat prayer facing Jerusalem, as instructed by Muhammad, and turning their backs on the pagan associations of the Kabah. Alfred Guillaume , in his translation of the Ibn Ishaq 's seerah , says that the Kaaba itself might be referred to in the feminine form. Circumambulation was often performed naked by men and almost naked by women. It

10302-514: Was to remove statues and images from the Kaaba . According to reports collected by Ibn Ishaq and al-Azraqi , Muhammad spared a painting of Mary and Jesus , and a fresco of Ibrahim. Narrated Abdullah: When the Prophet entered Mecca on the day of the conquest, there were 360 idols around the Kaaba. The Prophet started striking them with a stick he had in his hand and was saying, "Truth has come and Falsehood has vanished..." (Qur'an 17:81) Al-Azraqi further conveys how Muhammad, after he entered

10404-408: Was to the south of India with companion Bhai Mardana: Delhi → Ayodhya → Jagannath Puri → Rameswaram → Sri Lanka → Vindhya mountains → Narabad River → Ujjain → Saurashtra → Mathura The third udasi was to the north: Kashmir → Mount Sumeru → Achal The fourth udasi was to the west: Afghanistan → Persia → Baghdad → Mecca Of all the janamsakhi traditions this is probably

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