Guru Nanak (1469-1534), the first Sikh Guru (a guru is a spiritual teacher, a revered instructor) wrote this hymn:
‘No one is my enemy
No one is a foreigner
with all I am at peace
God within us renders us
Incapable of hate and prejudice.’
He too emphasized the importance of non-violence and the equality of all humans whatever their religion (he was particularly concerned to reconcile Hinduism and Islam). But this pacifist emphasis changed as persecution against the Sikhs developed. The sixth Guru said:
“In the Guru’s house, religion and worldly enjoyment should be combined - the cooking
pot to feed the poor and needy and the sword to hit oppressors.”
The tenth and last Guru, Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) was a general as well as a Guru. In order to strengthen the courage and military discipline of the Sikhs at a time of great persecution, he organized the Khalsa - the Sikh brotherhood. Guru Gobind Singh expressed the idea of 'Just War' as follows:
“When all efforts to restore peace prove
useless and no words avail,
Lawful is the flash of steel,
it is right to draw the sword.”
But the idea of 'Holy War' is not found in Sikhism. A central teaching of Sikhism is respect for people of all faiths.
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