How Islam undid itself by ignoring bombing of Guru Nanak's symbol in Iraq
Guru Nanak turned orthodox thinking inside out when he held a dialogue with Semitic religions.
Yes, he was the first figure from what is now called the Asian subcontinent when he, accompanied by a Muslim named Mardana, set out to Afghanistan, Saudi and Iraq to share a world view.
That's how his vision is summarised compellingly by his fifth successor, Guru Arjan:
Naa Ko Bairi, Nahin Bigaana; Sagal Sang Hum Ko Bann Aayi. ("I see no stranger, I see no enemy; I look upon all with goodwill.")
Every Sikh grows up seeing the artists' depiction of Guru Nanak asleep in Mecca, his feet facing the holy Kaaba.
When an angry cleric drags him into reverse position, the Kaaba turns too in an imagery symbolising Guru Nanak's doctrine that no place is unhallowed.
Now followed a debate as documented by Bhai Gurdas, a marvellous poet, scholar and the first interpreter of sacred Sikh writings.
"Puchhan Gal Imaan Di Kaajee Mulaan Ikathhay Hoee. Vadaa Saang Vartaaiaa Lukh Na Sakai Kudarat Koee.
"Puchhan Fol Kitaab Nau Hindu Vadaa Ki Musalamaanoee. Baba Aakhay Haajeeaa Subh Amalaa Baajhahu Dono Roee."
Bhai Gurdas' ballad above centres around a Q&A that Muslim religious leaders in Mecca had with an adult Nanak, referred to as Baba Nanak.
They ask him what still is a key question locking civilisations in perpetual conflict:
"Which of them is greater or truer - the Muslims or the Hindus (Indian/non-Abrahamic)?" they ask, as quoted by Bhai Gurdas.
Guru Nanak's response to them, in the hub of Islam, was radically egalitarian.
"None," he replied. "Both sulk, caught as they are in meaningless rituals and not in meaningful deeds."
I travelled to Baghdad ten years ago to cover Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's tour of war-torn Iraq.
Under military protection organised by Ahmed Chalabi, founder of the Iraqi National Congress, I went to the site where Guru Nanak is believed to have held a discourse with a powerful Pir of Baghdad.
"Phir Baba Gaiaa Baghdad No, Baahar Jaai Keeaa Asathhaanaa. Ik Baba Akal Roop Dooja Rababi Mardana."
"Ditti Baang Nivaaj Kar Sunn Samaan Hoaa Jahanaa. Sunn Munn Nagari Bhaee Daikh Pir Bhaiaa Hairanaa."
In his writings, Bhai Gurdas records Guru Nanak's talks with the Pir.
This shows that Islam in that age - and right in the middle of the Islamic world - was open to dialogue. Guru Nanak broke common perceptions the faith was too rigid for interfaith exchanges.
So, by the time I reached that location, where history was created, it was dark.
There was no trace of anything Sikh on the site. But the shrine to the revered Pir on the same complex was intact. The roof of the room marking Guru Nanak's stay had been razed to the ground, its marble floor pulled out.
This Friday night, India Today aired images of Mosul's al-Nuri Mosque shredded to a relic.
It's the same mosque from where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the elusive ISIS leader, had declared a caliphate in 2014.
His brutal group destroyed it before fleeing Mosul.
During the war with US-led coalition forces, Islamist guerrillas bombed Guru Nanak's memorial. A rare, living symbol of Islam's cross-cultural engagements was levelled.
In 2017, advocates of terror, this time under an ISIS nomenclature, left al-Nuri in ruins.
The two events, as distinct and spread out in time as they are, pose difficult questions to Islam.
Groups like ISIS, al-Qaeda or whatever name they choose to describe themselves as - from Africa to the Middle East to Kashmir - have imposed their writ on the religion they belong to.
Their terror has severed all ties with humanity.
Undoubtedly, they have to be annihilated militarily wherever they exist.
"Chu Kar Az Hama Heelt E Dar Guzshat; Halal Ast Burdan Ba Shamsheer Dast," declared Guru Gobind Singh in a letter in exquisite Persian to Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperor.
In English, this verse of Zafarnama, meaning the Epistle of Victory, captured the warrior-saint-poet Guru's quest for justice after all other means fail. "When all has been tried, yet, justice is not in sight, it is then right to pick up the sword. It is then right to fight," Guru Gobind Singh wrote in 1705.
But what about Islam in general?
For Muslim elders across the globe, the destruction of Guru Nanak's site in Baghdad should have served as an ultimate warning.
It didn't and what unfortunately followed was al-Nuri in less than 15 years.
More than holding talks with the outside world, the religion needs a debate within over what makes up Islam.
For them, time is up for interfaith dialogue. It's high time for intra-faith.