Ambassador Ahmed, a scholar of Islamic studies
at American University in Washington DC and at the US Naval Academy in
Annapolis, is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington’s leading
think tank. He is also a writer of many books. He has taught at Princeton,
Harvard, and Cambridge Universities. Regularly interviewed by CNN, NPR, BBC,
Fox, he has appeared several times on Oprah, and has also been a guest of The
Daily Show and Nickelodeon. Ahmed was the Pakistan High Commissioner
(Ambassador) to the UK and Ireland.
During his first ever visit to a Sikh
congregation, He stated, “If we are looking for a model, Guru Nanak gives us the
best model in the 21st century. I feel a great sense of pride in figures like
Guru Nanak from South Asia who brings us together and tell us to hold on to the
concept of unity of God.”
He added, “Guru Nanak gave us as a framework to
be able to meditate on the beauty of God and beauty of unity; to be householders
and yet think of Divinity; and finally to live as a community and to share our
wealth. These are wonderful principles for any society. “
He quoted one of his favorite sayings of Guru
Nanak ‘When I give myself to thee O, Lord, the whole world is mine.’ and said,
“Everyone can related to it and I, as a Muslim, can also relate to it.”
He added, “Guru Nanak played an important role
in the South Asian region. Through Guru Nanak you have a great intersection of
history between two great religions, Hinduism and Islam and now the third
religion Sikhism. So you have all the great currents of history meeting in Guru
Nanak.”
Ahmed shared his personal pain of partition
when in 1947 India and Pakistan separated. He said it felt like “a knife had
gone through the heart of all of us… and separated us, the brothers and
sisters.” He urged that the healing process must begin by saying “Here we have a
opportunity in United States to begin the process of healing and that is the
ultimate message of Guru Nanak in the 21st Century. His message of love and
compassion constantly inspires us in our daily lives.”
Ahmed narrated the message of Guru Nanak during
his visit to Mecca, Islam’s holiest shrine `’that God is present everywhere and
it struck me even as a young boy growing up in Abbotabad that there is so much
depth and sense of compassion in Guru Nanak’s observation.”
He also regretted that a shrine built in memory
of Guru Nanak’s visit to Baghdad was damaged recently. He said, “Guru Nanak’s
shrine is a testament and we ought to preserve history and in turn we preserve
ourselves. It provides us the dignity and identity with the message of Guru
Nanak that comes to us through generations.
Ahmed reminded to a large audience about the
close connections between the two communities. He said, “We know of close
connections with Sikhism and Islam. We know that Mian Mir, a great Sufi saint
from Lahore laid the foundation of the Golden Temple and Mughal Emperor Akbar
gave a golden gift to the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh Scriptures). We also know that
when Dara Shikoh, a Mughal prince fell ill and who was very close to the Sikhs,
Sikh Guru prayed for him. We also know the problems with Mughal emperor
Aurengzeb but we must remember that it was not a clash between religions.
Aurengzeb in fact imprisoned his own father.”
Dr. Rajwant Singh, Secretary of GGSF, welcomed
Ambassador to the Sikh congregation and said, “ We are touched by Ambassador
Ahmed’s comments. They are indeed full of passion and deep appreciation for Guru
Nanak. We are also proud of Ambassador’s contributions in the field of
interfaith dialogue and his desire to bring people of Indian subcontinent
together. All religions in the Indian subcontinent must initiate a lead towards
civil dialogue rather than always be led by politicians or geopolitical events.
Ahmed's presence today was befitting while we are celebrating Great Guru’s
life.”
Sarabjit Singh Sidhu, Chairman of GGSF,
presented a book on Sikhsim and Guru Nanak on behalf of the Sikh congregation
and said, “We pray that Ambassador Ahmed continues to work towards bringing
harmony in a broken world. The world needs persons of faith like him who can
create a loving world in line with the vision of Guru Nanak.”
Later Manjula Kumar, a prominent Indian and a
director at the Smithsonian institute, said, “Ahmed was creating history... I
have never had such a wonderful experience at any Gurdwara.”
Dr. Nisar Chaudhury, the President of the
Pakistan American league , who advocates people to people contact among Indians
and Pakistanis to foster harmony in the subcontinent and has organized trips of
Pakistani physicians to visit India recently, was also visiting his first
Gurdwara with the Ambassador and was thrilled. Sardar Harcharan Singh Brar who
is head of the Mian Mir foundation in Amritsar and his organization is working
to bring together relatives separated during the tragedy of the partition and
has brought together 600 people together such families also spoke.
