27 May, 2024
Oxford Interfaith Forum had the immense honour of paying respect to Guru Granth Sahib Ji, and spending a day with HE Bhai Sahib Ji, Professor Mohinder Singh Ahluwalia OBE KSG, and the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (GNNSJ) community in Birmingham. The visit, organised by our Fellow Jyotveer Singh Gill, was a reciprocal courtesy following Bhai Sahib Ji’s and the GNNSJ members’ visit to Oxford to celebrate the World Interfaith Harmony Week together in February 2024.
After paying our respects to Guru Granth Sahib Ji, listening to the Granthi’s recitation, and Keertanis in the Dome Darbar, and partaking in the Langar, we embarked on a fascinating journey through the GNNSK campus, including Nishkam School Trust, and Nishkam Health Care facilities. At the end of our visit, Bhai Sahib Ji and Gopinder Kaur, the author of the commentary, presented us with the gift of the lifetime – Jewels from Sikh Wisdom: A Journey of Discovery. We left with an enormous sense of gratitude for the hospitality, friendship, and mutually enriching interfaith exchange.
After a few days, we received the devastating news about the sudden death of Bhai Gurdev Singh Ji (who captured our visit on camera), may his memory be a blessing 🕯️ Bhai Gurdev joined the GNNSJ at their visit to Oxford for the World Interfaith Harmony Week celebration, and also filmed our events in the Ashmolean Museum, Taylorian Institute, and St Edmund Hall.
Dr Aaron Maniam, Senior Fellow of the Oxford Interfaith Forum, and award-winning poet, reflecting on our visit, composed a poem Ten Names for God. We published Aaron’s poem together with Bhai Gurdev Singh Ji’s breathtaking photo of the Dome Darbar to pay tribute to his selfless service and the promotion of interfaith understanding and friendship across faith traditions.
As the last and most grateful recipients of Bhai Gurdev Singh Ji’s outstanding service in interfaith relations, we want to honour, perpetuate, and immortalise his name through his labour of love. We are grateful for the opportunity to meet Bhai Gurdev Singh Ji. It is our honour to dedicate this blog to his blessed memory 🕯️
The video and photos
published below were
taken by Bhai Gurdev
Singh Ji and they represent
his craft and his love.
Thank you, Bhai Gurdev Singh Ji.
Video of Guru’s Darbar (within Dome)
Image Gallery of Visit
