Chola of Baba Nanak

The Chola (cloak) of Baba Nanak (RH), is the holiest relic of Baba Nanak (RH) and is carefully preserved in Dera Baba Nanak, a small village in Gurdaspur District of the Punjab, India. It is significant because it is the cloak which Baba Nanak (RH) wore very often in his lifetime. It is so sacred that Baba Nanak’s immediate followers took every care to keep it safe, and even today, special care is given to keep the cloak safe. The regard and reverence given to the Chola by the Sikh community is a testimony to the authenticity of the cloak.

In 1895, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) himself visited Dera Baba Nanak and drew a sketch of the Chola, after a delegation of his companions had already gone earlier and confirmed that the Chola was preserved there.

Allegation

Some Sikhs today claim that the Chola has verses from different scriptures in different languages to show Baba Nanak’s respect for all religions. But this is not true in the slightest. As one can see from the Sketch of Chola above, the writings on the cloak are only from the Holy Qur’an.

Challenge of Promised Messiah (AS)

As many knowledgeable Sikhs were hiding the true identity and contents of the Chola at the time, after Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) personally saw it and noted that the only inscriptions on the Chola were purely Islamic, like the Shahadah and verses from the Qur’an, he became fully convinced that Baba Nanak (RH) was indeed a follower of Islam. Subsequently, he issued a bold challenge to all Sikhs in his book Satt-Bachan:

The cloak (Chola) still exists; anyone who wishes may go and see it. And we are prepared to offer a cash reward of three (3000) thousand rupees if anywhere in the cloak there is even the slightest mention of the Vedas or its verse, or any praise of any religion other than Islam, or any verses from any scripture other than the Holy Qur’an…

[Satt-Bachan, Rohani Khizain, Volume 10, page 156]

Conclusion

Over a hundred years have passed, yet no Sikh has ever dared to come forward to meet this challenge. For those willing to reflect, this serves as a striking sign of the truthfulness of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) and the clear Islamic identity of Baba Nanak (RH).

Some Sikhs may further argue that the Chola was just a gift to Baba Nanak. But if it really was only a gift, then why did Baba Nanak wear it so often himself? And why has it been kept as such a sacred relic by Sikhs ever since? For those willing to reflect, the importance of the Chola to Baba Nanak (RH) clearly shows that he followed Islam and that his faith was deeply connected to the message of the Qur’an.

It is itself a miracle that the Chola was preserved for many centuries after Baba Nanak’s passing, and that too by people who did not believe in Allah and his Messenger, Muhammad (SAW). Reflecting on this can make it clear to a person that it was solely by divine decree that the Chola survived, so that when the Promised Messiah (AS) appeared, he could reveal the true faith of this revered saint and prove to the world that it was solely through the beautiful religion of Islam from which this noble Saint received all his blessings.

May Allah open the hearts of our Sikh brothers and sisters to recognize the faith that Baba Nanak RH himself embraced – and guide them towards the True Islam.