In Sikhism the description of Waheguru (God) is so unique that for many it goes beyond understanding. Many times what may appear as an apparent contradiction is only due to lack of knowledge and correct understanding of Gurmat teachings. Sikhism holds Waheguru as the absolute power, pure truth, the only creator, without fear, without hatred, beyond time and limitless. He is everywhere and nothing is without Him. He is within His creation and beyond. To people of the Muslim faith this simple yet so elegant concept is hard to grasp since Allah in the Quran has love only for selected individuals and despises “non-believers”. It seems impossible for them that Waheguru can be Nirgun (without attributes) and Sargun (with all attributes) at the same time.

Take sunlight as an example, it is colourless, taking the colours of the rainbow as Guna and in which case sunlight as Nirguna as it has none of the rainbow attributes. If this light is passed through a prism, it splits into seven bands and each band has a different colour (Guna). If these split light beams are collected and inverted back by suitable optics, they will all merge and again become one colourless beam.

Nirguna can become Sarguna and Sarguna can become Nirguna. If it can be done in physics then cannot God do this also?

With this example one can see that Nirguna has all the Gunas or qualities in it. So if in Gurbani one finds the concepts of Nirguna and Sarguna, it appears all the same. The summation of all the Gunas is equal to Nirguna. In other words out of the Nirguna all the Gunas originate. 'Karta Purakh' has all the Gunas, but there is no need for 'Karta Purakh' to show them off, Karta Purakh remains in Nirguna state.

Sikhs openly accept this concept of Sargun Nirgun to be true since every word of Gurbani is directly revealed from Waheguru. Therefore, God is Nirgun and Sargun.

saragun niragun nira(n)kaar su(n)n samaadhheeaap ||
He possesses all qualities; He transcends all qualities; He is the Formless Lord. He Himself is in Primal Samaadhi. (Ang 290)

niragun aap saragun bhee ouhee ||
He Himself is absolute and unrelated; He Himself is also involved and related. (Ang 287)

raaj joban prabh thoo(n) dhhanee || thoo(n) niragun thoo(n) saragunee ||2||
O God, You are my power, authority and youth. You are absolute, without attributes, and also related, with the most sublime attributes. ||2|| (Ang 211)

nira(n)kaar aakaar aap niragun saragun eaek ||
He Himself is formless, and also formed; the One Lord is without attributes, and also with attributes. (Ang 250)

At the beginning of time God was all pervading and was only Nirgun as there existed nothing but Him. Then He created the entire creation i.e. solar systems, galaxies, planets, life forms, humans etc. In other words, anything to everything originated from God.

From the One Light, the entire universe welled up. So who is good, and who is bad? ||1|| (Ang 1349)

Guru Sahib taught that everyone came from the same source of light and it is the same light that pervades in the entire creation. While God has no particular form of His own, all forms originated from Him and therefore all forms belong to Him. Since God is omnipresent and all pervading nothing in the creation is without Him. Therefore, he is Sargun i.e. everything including all life forms and attributes belong to Him.

Thus, it is clear now that the word Sargun refers to creation of Waheguru. When in Gurbaani it says “He Himself is formless and also formed”, “creating Himself” or “fashioning Himself” it refers to creation because He is the creator and resides within the creation. It means that God Himself manifested Himself from His Nirgun (invisible) form, which forever existed, to his Sargun (visible) form.

people, O Siblings of Destiny, do not wander deluded by doubt. The Creation is in the Creator, and the Creator is in the Creation, totally pervading and permeating all places. ||1||Pause|| (Ang 1349)

This whole world which you see is the image of the Lord ; only the image of the Lord is seen.By Guru's Grace, I understand, and I see only the One Lord; there is no one except the Lord. (Ang 922)

Words “Nirankar” and “Ik Oankar” are also not contradictory. Here is why:

Nir (without) Akaar (form) – Waheguru is without any form.

Ik (One) Oan (Brahm or God) Kar (without changes).

One God who has stayed the same, is the same and will always be the same. In other words, He doesn’t change over time. His powers, characteristics and existence are beyond time and forever and ever.

Both words convey the same meanings. First word says that Waheguru is formless and has no particular form of His own. Second word means that He is One and has existed forever and does not change over time. He is One universal creator. Therefore, the contradiction does not exist.

In Jaap Sahib Guru Ji says “anekh hey, fir ekh hey”, that is, He is infinite (in His forms), yet He is One. In the same way God is so vast so infinite that to describe Him is futile, yet if we look as His myriad of different facets we can try to describe Him.

In physics the famous double slit experiment used a set of single electrons (particles) fired one after the other through 2 slits. The result was an interference pattern which is characteristic of a wave and not a particle. This implied that each single electron would go through both slits; through no slits; through just the left slit and through just the right all at the same time!

Quantum field theory explains this by stating that matter is neither a wave nor a particle. It is something more abstract and could be considered as a simultaneous co-existence of all possibilities. This leads to the idea of superposition i.e. all possibilities potentially existing at the same time.

The sikh scripture mentions the idea of superposition as being an intrinsic part of creation and the creator.

"You have thousands of eyes, and yet you have no eyes. You have thousands of forms, and yet you do not have even one. You have thousands of lotus feet, and yet you do not have even one foot. You have no nose, but you have thousands of noses. This play of yours entrances me."


"He himself is formless, and also formed; the one lord is without attributes, and also with attributes."

"At the same time, he is both hidden and revealed. For the spiritually wise, doubt and fear are dispelled."

Another finding from the famous double slit experiment was that when scientists put cameras at each of the slits to observe the actual slit through which any given electron was passing through they discovered that the electrons behaved like particles and created only 2 bands on a screen instead of an interference pattern! So matter behaved differently when interacting with thoughts or the mind.

The sikh scripture also goes further to mention that mind or consciousness and matter are interchangeable and that the spirit of God rests within both.

"You yourself are conscious of your creation."

"Wherever i look, i see the lord pervading there, in the union of consciousness and matter."

"The distinction between mind and matter has been destroyed, and the darkness has been dispelled."

"He himself is mind, and he himself is matter."

From the outset Guru Nanak Dev Ji has said that whatever God as asked him to say or do that is what he has done. The only reason why God summoned Guru Ji to His court was for Guru Nanak Dev Ji to propogate Gods faith to the masses, there is therefore no reason to be influenced by anyone else. Also, at no time in any of the shabads of Guru Nanak Dev Ji that are in Guru Granth sahib Ji does Guru Ji site any influences other then that from God, This is what Guru Nanak Dev Ji says :

"I myself know not what to say; all I speak is what the Lord commands." (Ang 763)

It is clear from this that Guru Nanak Dev Jis mission was started by God and Guru Ji spoke only what God wanted him to say.

As for Kabir Ji being a muslim ,this shabad has been reproduced on a number of pages on this site but it is an important one. This shabad is not addressing one individual muslim that Kabir Ji is writing about as can be seen, it is a general synopsis of Bhagat Ji's thoughts, this is what Bhagat Kabir Ji says :

Aasaa:
Where have the Hindus and Muslims come from? Who put them on their different paths?
Think of this, and contemplate it within your mind, O men of evil intentions. Who will go to heaven and hell? ||1||
O Qazi, which book have you read?
Such scholars and students have all died, and none of them have discovered the inner meaning. ||1||Pause||
Because of the love of woman, circumcision is done; I don't believe in it, O Siblings of Destiny.
If God wished me to be a Muslim, it would be cut off by itself. ||2||
If circumcision makes one a Muslim, then what about a woman?
She is the other half of a man's body, and she does not leave him, so he remains a Hindu. ||3||
Give up your holy books, and remember the Lord, you fool, and stop oppressing others so badly.
Kabeer has grasped hold of the Lord's Support, and the Muslims have utterly failed. ||4||8|| ang 477

Hardly a ringing endorsement from Kabir Ji. Infact Bhagat Kabir Ji rejected Islam and followed the true path of God

Many times Bhagat Kabir Ji uses the word 'Guru' in his shabads, this does not sit well with those who say he was a Muslim as a muslim would not use this word. Also Kabir Ji uses the word Raam Raam many times in his shabads, again why would a muslim use a Hindu word for God when he would use a whole selection of muslim words like Allah, Khudda, Rahim,

Kabeer, use the word 'Raam', only to speak of the All-pervading Lord. You must make that distinction.
One 'Raam' is pervading everywhere, while the other is contained only in himself. ||191|| ang 1374

It is has been proven beyond doubt that not a single word of Gurbani supports Islam or Hinduism. In fact, both are rejected in all of the Shabads that are misinterpreted by unlearned Muslims and Hindus. Gurmat’s unique message is universal and preaches to everyone to live true way of life by following the only true Guru (Guru Nanak Sahib), remembering God constantly, purifying heart, having pure conduct, being merciful and renouncing false practices such as fasting, circumcision, pilgrimage (hajj), eating meat etc. This is the only way to attain salvation. Gurbani only preaches One Universal God and one universal way to reach him which is through the Satguru. All other paths are condemned and rejected as false.

In Sikhism everyone is equal. All people of different color, religion, caste, creed, race and sex are equal in the eyes of God. No one is high or low. All are children of God created by God and God loves them all. Sikhism teaches that everyone should live a peaceful life and love each other as human beings. Sikhism teaches love, humility, equality, humbleness and how to live a peaceful life.

This is the universal message of Sikhism :

"The temple or the mosque are the same, the Hindu worship or the Musalman prayer are the same; all men are the same; it is through error they appear different. Deities, demons, Yakshas, heavenly singers, Musalmans and Hindus adopt the customary dress of their different countries. All men have the same eyes, the same ears, the same body, the same build, a compound of earth, air, fire, and water. Allah and Abhekh are the same, the Purans and the Quran are the same; they are all alike; it is the one God who created all. The Hindu God and the Muhammadan God are the same; let no man even by mistake suppose there is a difference." (Guru Gobind Singh, Akal Ustat, pg. 275)