Slipping through fingers # 1 – The first Sikh Martyr
Sikhs have done a very poor job in preserving the history of our Gurus. The book project Taajudin’s Diary has been launched ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji to present some little known episodes from history. Hopefully, this book will encourage interest and research to stop the last remnants of evidence from slipping through our fingers.
Who is the first Sikh Martyr?
a) Bhai Tara Popat
b) Bhai Rukan-ud-din
The Sikh literature identifies Bhai Tara as the first Sikh martyr. However, new evidence suggests that Bhai Rukan-ud-din sacrificed his life roughly a decade and a half before Bhai Tara. According to Taajudin Bhai Rukan-ud-din became a Sikh of Guru Nanak after taking charanamrit on Friday night of the Shawaal month of 916 Hijri (The Shawaal month in 916 Hijri started on December 22, 1511 AD).
Bhai Tara (also known as Taru) was martyred by Babur’s soldiers in 1526 AD. Babur was angered by resistance to his invasion of Lahore and ordered the city burned. Bhai Tara from a nearby village came to the rescue and refused to relent even when people told him that Babur had ordered that nobody is allowed to put out the fires. Bhai Tara sacrificed his life to stand up to tyranny. Bhai Gurdas Ji has listed Bhai Tara in Sikh Namavali, “ਤਾਰੂ ਪੋਪਟੁ ਤਾਾਰਿਆ ਗੁਰਮੁੁਖਿ ਬਾਲ ਸੁਭਾਇ ਉਦਾਸੀ From the very childhood [Guru Nanak] liberated detached natured Taru, a Sikh of Popat clan.”
Mushtaq Hussein (later became Sant Syed Prithipal Singh) while in the Middle East came across a manuscript Twarikhe Arab written by Khawaja Zayn Al-Abedin a witness to Rukan-ud-din’s martyrdom. The following is an excerpt:
Khawaja Zayn Al-Abedin wrote that, after bidding farewell to the Guru, Rukan-ud-din didn’t go home. Instead, he went to a nearby cave in the mountains and started meditating.
Meanwhile, mullahs in Makkah had complained to the Amir that Rukan-ud-din had turned into a kafir. They told the Amir that Rukan-ud-din has taken spiritual guidance from Nanak, the Indian saint, and has turned his back on Islam. The mullahs complained that Rukan-ud-din has forsaken the rules of sharia and is sitting in caverns of Umra reciting false kalma. The Amir sent a legal complaint to the Qazis, and the mullahs started issuing fatwas against Rukan-ud-din, which included:
• Rukan-ud-din is a kafir (infidel) as he followed Nanak Shah, a kafir whose teachings are blasphemous
• Confiscate all of his property
• Order his kin to leave the country
• Give him thirty lashes and then lock him in a dark box without food for eleven days
• Paint his face black and parade him through the streets of Makkah mounted on a camel
• Hang him upside down
• Bury him in hot sand. The historian writes, “When Rukan-ud-din was dug out of hot burning sand, he was calm, and one could hear Allah’s name from every pore of his body.”
According to the last fatwa, Rukan-ud-din was to be buried up to his chest in sand and then stoned to death. The masses of Makkah stood around Rukan-ud-din with the skirts of their robes full of stones ready to rain death to please the Amir.
Rukan-ud-din, buried in sand up to his chest, was absorbed in simran and had his eyes closed. Instead of sadness, his face glowed in peace.
As per the tradition, the Amir asked two qazis to document Rukan-ud-din’s last testament. The two men approached him and shouted,
“By the sharia law, you are about to be put to death. Give us your last statement.” Rukan-ud-din opened his eyes looked at the two men and smiled. He remembered his Guru’s last words, “Whatever you saw just now, share that with your countrymen. You must bear the unbearable. Kartar will remain with you always.” The time to share with his countrymen had arrived.
In front of everybody, he stated his last testament:
“Rubanian khatiba el imame hazrat Nanak ma, akallamehu ina feehay musle mun.”
This meant that “my religion and my god is Guru Nanak. He brings the greatest sacred message and the book. I believe in him. If you wish for redemption, then seek Nanak’s shelter. Whoever reflects on this, will go to heaven.”
Upon saying this, his neck slumped, and he left his body.
Sadness fell all around, stones fell on people’s own feet, and the guilt-ridden crowd went home. Half of the people in the crowd turned their faith to Nanak, started simran and absorbed themselves in Kartar.
You can get a PDF version of the book Taajudin’s Diary by downloading from the link below:
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drive.google.com]
ਸਤਿਗੁਰਬਚਨਕਮਾਵਣੇਸਚਾਏਹੁਵੀਚਾਰੁ॥