Quora Answer: How Did Guru Nanak, Founder of Sikhism, Visit Makkah Twice?

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

 The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, visited Makkah twice.  At one time were non-Muslims allowed to enter Makkah?”

By the time of Guru Nanak Nankana Swahib, non-Muslims were no longer allowed to enter Makkah or Madina, the Haramayn.  This prohibition arose in the time of the swahabah, the companions; and the tabi’un, the successors; from just after the time of the Prophet (s.a.w.).

The decision to restrict the non-Muslims from Makkah was always a jurisprudential one, based on a specific tafsir, exegesis, of certain verses.  Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit (r.a.) was of the opinion that non-Muslims can enter Makkah and even the Sacred Mosque, al-Haram, but they cannot do so in imitation of the pilgrimage, as was the practice of the polytheists, prior to the advent of the Prophet (s.a.w.).  And this has been the general position of the Hanafi madzhab until now, but it has become a minority position.  Every other madzhab, school of jurisprudence, concluded otherwise based on this verse, from the Qur’an:

سُوۡرَةُ التّوبَة

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ إِنَّمَا ٱلۡمُشۡرِكُونَ نَجَسٌ۬ فَلَا يَقۡرَبُواْ ٱلۡمَسۡجِدَ ٱلۡحَرَامَ بَعۡدَ عَامِهِمۡ هَـٰذَا‌ۚ وَإِنۡ خِفۡتُمۡ عَيۡلَةً۬ فَسَوۡفَ يُغۡنِيكُمُ ٱللَّهُ مِن فَضۡلِهِۦۤ إِن شَآءَ‌ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ حَڪِيمٌ۬ (٢٨)

O you who believe!  Truly the pagans are unclean; so let them not, after this year of theirs, approach the Sacred Mosque.  And if you fear poverty, soon will Allah Enrich you, if He Wills, out of His Bounty, for Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (Surah at-Tawbah:28)

Imam Muhammad ath-Thahir ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Aashur (r.a.) wrote, in his Tafsir at-Tahrir wa at-Tanwir, that this verse was Revealed in the 9^th year after Hijrah, and it is taken to be that the polytheists were banned after this year, and the verse is explicit that it is a prohibition for them alone.  He further wrote that most mufassirun, Qur’anic exegetes, interpreted the first statement as metaphorical, that is, polytheists are not literally impure, but their creed of associating partners with Allah (s.w.t.) is so vile in the Sight of Allah (s.w.t.) that it is akin to filth itself, so much so that it is as if those who adhere to such beliefs are themselves filth.  This is also the opinion of Imam Abu ats-Tsana’ Shihab ad-Din Sayyid Mahmud ibn ‘Abdullah al-Husayni al-Aluwsi al-Baghdadi (r.a.), as recorded in his ar-Ruh al-Ma’ani fi Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘Azhim wa as-Sab’u al-Matsani; Imam Najm ad-Din Abu Hafsw ‘Umar ibn Muhammad an-Nasafi (r.a.), in his Madarik at-Tanzil wa Haqa’iq at-Ta’wil; Imam Abu as-Su’ud ibn Abu al-‘Asha’ir (r.a.), in his Irshad al-‘Aql as-Salim; Imam Muhammad ibn Yusuf bin ‘Ali Abu Ḥayyan al-Jayyani al-Gharnathi al-Andalusi (r.a.), in his Bahr al-Muhith; and Imam Abu al-Fadhl ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr Jalal al-Din al-Khudhayri as-Suyuṭhi (q.s.), in his Tafsir al-Jalalayn.

Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) interpreted the verse to mean that after that year, the polytheists were not allowed to enter the Sacred Mosque of Makkah, but they could enter other mosques, as only the Sacred Mosque was specified in the verse.  This was also the opinion of his student, Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal (r.a.).  Imam Abu ‘AbdullahMalik ibn Anas (r.a.) understood the verse to be more general.  He believed that polytheists could not enter, not just the Sacred Mosque of Makkah, but any mosque.  Further to this, we have to clarify that according to Imam Malik (r.a.), Imams ash-Shafi’i (r.a.), and Imam Ahmad (r.a.), the term, “Sacred Mosque,” used in the verse refers to the entire Sacred Precinct.  This is the entirety of Makkah, its outlying areas, and includes the area around Madina as well, the modern Haramayn.

In contrast to all of them, Imam Abu Hanifah (r.a.) understood this verse to refer only to the actual pilgrimage, not to mere entrance into the area for other, mundane reasons.  As such, the polytheists could enter anywhere, since the place is not sacralised, people are not inherently unclean except by their acts, and the previous reason is invalid.  This is found in Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ar-Razi al-Jaswswasw’s (r.a.) Ahkam al-Qur’an; Imam al-Aluwsi’s (r.a.) Ruh al-Ma’ani; Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Ansari al-Qurthubi’s (r.a.) Jami’ li Ahkam al-Qur’an; and elsewhere.

As can be seen, from the earliest days of Islam as an organised faith, polytheists were not allowed into Makkah.  This was then later expanded to be non-Muslims in general.  Thus, unless Guru Nanak was a Muslim then, which is entirely possible, he could not have openly entered Makkah.