Sikhism

Just like most religions, Sikhism was founded by a man named Nanak (Corduan, 2012; “The Guru,” 2016). Nanak came from a family in which his father was Hindu, and his mother was Muslim (Corduan, 2012). When Nanak was 30 years of age, he “experienced a direct call from God that disclosed his identity as a guru [italics added]” (Corduan, 2012, p. 375). A guru according to Sikh teaching is someone who is the very embodiment of God who teaches with divine infallibility (Corduan, 2012). The term guru literally means light that breaks through the darkness, and it can only be attributed to God (Corduan, 2012). This term is applied to all ten human gurus as well as their holy scriptures which represent the final guru (Corduan, 2012). Sikhism has grown to approximately 23 million members, and its followers are labeled as Sikhs (Corduan, 2012; Morgan, 2012).

Succession

After Nanak died in 1552 A.D., the succession started and was passed down to a man named Angad Dev who was a former servant of Nanak but was wholly devoted to Sikhism (Corduan, 2012; Morgan, 2012). Angad Dev created a new language and also added additional hymns to the writing of Nanak, but after he died, he passed on the title of guru to a man named Amar Das (Corduan, 2012). It wouldn’t be until the fifth guru whose name was Arjan Dev that created the Sikhs Holy book called the Granth (Corduan, 2012). Corduan says, “Arjan Dev collected all of the hymns that had been written by the previous gurus as well as their ideological predecessors, such as Kabir, and added a number of his own” (Corduan, 2012, p. 379; Morgan, 2012). All Sikhs around the world now see the Granth as their final guru in book form; no other human guru will exist (Corduan, 2012). The Granth is now known as The Guru Granth Sahib, giving their book the title of guru and their final teacher (Geisler, 1999; “The Guru,” 2016).

Similarities with Hinduism and Islam

Even though Sikhism would proclaim divine establishment, Sikhism has many similar beliefs and practices with Islam and Hinduism.

  1. The fundamental belief that Sikhism teaches just like Islam is the belief in one true God. They call God Sat Nam which means “true name” but today Sat Nam is called Ekankar (Corduan, 2012; Geisler, 1999; Morgan, 2012). Much like Hinduism though, they do not believe that God is personal and line up more with the Hindu belief that God is one will all reality (Corduan, 2012).
  2. Much like the Hindus and Muslims, they perform some type of preparation before worshiping which includes baths (Corduan, 2012).
  3. In Islam, one of the five pillars of Islam is the Hajj which is to make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in their lifetime. Sikhs also hope to visit the golden temple, also known as a gurdwara, located in Amritsar one day since that is where the original copy of the Granth is located (Corduan, 2012; Geisler, 1999).
  4. In Hinduism, most Hindus practice several different types of rituals to worship their gods. Sikhs do the same as well but to their Holy Book. They have a separate room for it when it is night time so the book can be at peace during sleep hours and in the morning, they perform rituals and decorate the book when daylight comes and move the Granth into the main location of the gurdwara (Corduan, 2012; “The Guru,” 2016).
  5. Nanak kept the Hindu ideas of reincarnation and karma. Their belief focused on total devotion to God to escape the torture of samsara (Corduan, 2012; Geisler, 1999; Morgan, 2012).

Conclusion

Even though Sikhism has many similar beliefs and practices to harmonize Hinduism and Islam, Sikhism does not believe in the caste system of Hinduism. They believe that all people are of equal worth and they demonstrate this with the gurdwara in Amritsar by having four entries into the gurdwara; meaning that all four castes are welcome inside (“The Guru,” 2016).

References

Corduan W. (2012). Neighboring faiths: A Christian introduction to world religions (2nd ed.). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

Geisler, N. L. (1999). In Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Morgan, G. R. (2012). Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers.

The guru Granth Sahib. (2016). In Helicon (Ed.), The Hutchinson unabridged encyclopedia with atlas and weather guide. Abington, UK: Helicon. Retrieved from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/heliconhe/the_guru_granth_sahib/0?institutionId=5865