Sikhism

Core beliefs & worldview

Ask a Sikh what their faith is about, and you may well hear the first words of the scripture before anything else: Ik Oankar, “One God”, or more literally, “there is one Being”. The opening verse of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Mul Mantar, describes that one God as true, the creator, without fear and without enmity, timeless, unborn, self-existent, known through the Guru’s grace.^•

God has no form and does not take human birth, so Sikhs do not worship images. But God is also intimately present in everything, and can be found within, which is the point of the whole spiritual life.^•

The problem and the path. The problem of human life, in Sikh teaching, is haumai, ego or self-centredness, which drives the “five thieves” of lust, anger, greed, attachment and pride, and keeps us cycling through births and deaths. The answer is not ritual, pilgrimage, fasting or renunciation, which Guru Nanak criticised in both Hinduism and Islam, but nam simran: constant, loving remembrance of God’s Name, by meditation, by singing hymns, and by living truthfully.^•

The goal is liberation, mukti, understood as union with God, which can be attained in this life. Guru Nanak’s own words are often quoted: truth is high, but higher still is truthful living.^•

The Gurus and the Guru. Guru means teacher, the one who leads from darkness to light. Sikhs believe the same divine light passed through ten human Gurus, from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh, “as one lamp lights another”. Since 1708 the Guru has been the scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, together with the community, the Panth.^•

The scripture itself, first compiled as the Adi Granth in 1604, is poetry to be sung, in Punjabi and related languages, written in the Gurmukhi script. It includes hymns by Hindu and Muslim saints alongside the Gurus, which Sikhs often point to as a sign of the faith’s openness.^•

Saint and soldier. After the martyrdoms of Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur, the Gurus taught that a Sikh should be a sant-sipahi, a saint-soldier: deeply spiritual, but ready to stand up against injustice, including by force as a last resort. The Khalsa, founded in 1699, embodies this. Its members keep the five Ks: kes (uncut hair, usually under a turban), kangha (a small wooden comb), kara (a steel bracelet), kirpan (a small sword, a sign of the duty to protect) and kachera (cotton undershorts).^•

Equality. The Gurus rejected caste, and Guru Nanak praised women in a society that often scorned them: “Why call her inferior, from whom kings are born?” runs a well-known paraphrase of one of his hymns. Sikhs have no priestly caste; any Sikh, man or woman, can read the scripture and lead prayers.^•

Sikhs also believe that no religion has a monopoly on truth, and do not seek converts actively.^•

Daily life & customs

Prayer. Devout Sikhs rise before dawn, in the “ambrosial hours”, bathe, and recite set prayers, beginning with Guru Nanak’s Japji Sahib. There are evening prayers (Rehras) and a bedtime prayer (Kirtan Sohila). Every service ends with the Ardas, a standing prayer that recalls the Gurus and the martyrs and asks for sarbat da bhala, “the good of all”.^•

The gurdwara. A gurdwara, “the Guru’s door”, is open to everyone. Visitors cover their heads (scarves are usually provided), take off their shoes and wash their hands. Inside, the Guru Granth Sahib sits on a raised throne under a canopy, and worshippers bow, make an offering, and sit on the floor, men and women often on separate sides, to listen to kirtan. At the end everyone receives sweet karah prashad, then eats in the langar, sitting in rows, with no distinction of rank or religion. Alcohol, tobacco and drugs are not allowed on the premises.^•

Food. Langar is always vegetarian, so that anyone can eat it. Sikh teaching forbids tobacco, and initiated Sikhs also avoid alcohol and halal or ritually slaughtered meat; many Sikhs are vegetarian, while many others eat meat. Practice varies a lot, and plenty of Punjabi Sikhs enjoy a drink, a point of debate within families.^•

Festivals. The big days are Vaisakhi in April, celebrating the founding of the Khalsa with nagar kirtan processions, music and food stalls; Gurpurabs, the birthdays of Guru Nanak (usually in November) and Guru Gobind Singh; and Bandi Chhor Divas, which coincides with Diwali and celebrates Guru Hargobind’s release from Mughal imprisonment, when the Golden Temple is lit up.^•

Sikhs follow their own calendar for many observances, though which calendar to use is itself debated.

Life events. A baby is named in the gurdwara with a letter taken from the hymn on which the scripture randomly opens. The wedding ceremony, Anand Karaj, involves the couple walking four times around the Guru Granth Sahib as four hymns, the Lavan, are sung. Sikhs are cremated, and ashes are often scattered in flowing water, many at Kiratpur Sahib in Punjab.^•

Taking amrit, initiation into the Khalsa, can happen at any age; only a minority of Sikhs are initiated.^•

Names and greetings. Most Sikhs carry the names Singh (men) and Kaur (women), which can confuse officials when a whole family has different “surnames”; many also use a family or village name. The greeting is Sat Sri Akal, “God is the timeless truth”; among devout Sikhs you will hear Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh, “the Khalsa belongs to God, victory belongs to God”. Waheguru, “Wonderful Lord”, is the most common Sikh name for God.^•

Wounds & sensitivities

1984. No subject carries more pain. In June 1984 the Indian Army attacked the Golden Temple complex in Operation Blue Star, killing hundreds, by official count, including many pilgrims, and wrecking the Akal Takht. After Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards that October, mobs killed thousands of Sikhs in Delhi and other cities: 2,733 in Delhi by the official figure cited by the Nanavati Commission, more by other counts.^•

Many Sikhs call it a genocide, and see the slow, partial justice since as a second wound. Hearing it called “the riots”, or seeing Indira Gandhi celebrated uncritically, can sting.^•

The disappeared. During the Punjab insurgency that followed, thousands of young Sikh men were killed in staged “encounters” or disappeared in police custody, as human rights groups have documented, alongside killings of civilians by militants. Many families are still seeking answers.^•

Partition. 1947 cost Sikhs half their homeland and the places where Guru Nanak was born and died. Many older Sikhs still speak of villages in what is now Pakistan.^•

Mistaken identity and hate. After 11 September 2001, turbaned Sikhs in the West were often taken for Muslims or for followers of Osama bin Laden. Four days after the attacks, Balbir Singh Sodhi was shot dead at his petrol station in Mesa, Arizona; in 2012 a white supremacist killed six worshippers at the gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Many Sikhs, especially boys with patkas, report bullying.^•

Sikhs generally refuse to answer this by saying “we are not Muslims”, which they feel would deflect hatred onto others; they prefer to say that no one should be targeted.

The turban and hair. Touching or knocking off someone’s turban, or forcing a Sikh to cut their hair, is a profound humiliation. Struggles to wear the turban at work, in schools and in uniform shaped diaspora history, from British bus drivers in the 1960s to Canada’s Mounties in 1990.^•

Khalistan and being labelled. Many Sikhs feel that any criticism of the Indian state, or any memorial to 1984, gets them labelled “Khalistanis” or extremists. The 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, and the dispute over alleged Indian involvement, sharpened this. Views on Khalistan itself vary a great deal.^•

Modern attitudes

Faith and identity. For many Sikhs, Sikh, Punjabi and Indian (or British, Canadian, American) identities overlap comfortably; for others, especially since 1984, the relationship with India is strained. Many young diaspora Sikhs have rediscovered the turban and Sikh practice, while others keep their hair cut and feel culturally rather than religiously Sikh.^•

Punjab today. Punjab, once India’s richest state thanks to the Green Revolution, faces falling water tables, farm debt, drug addiction and heavy emigration of its young people, to Canada above all. The year-long farmers’ protests of 2020–21 against agricultural laws, led largely by Punjabi Sikh farmers with langar kitchens at the protest camps outside Delhi, ended with the government repealing the laws.^•

Equality in practice. Sikh teaching rejects caste, but caste still shapes marriage and some gurdwaras, and Dalit Sikhs (from historically “untouchable” communities) have often faced discrimination; some have formed their own gurdwaras or movements.^•

Likewise, many Sikh women point out that while scripture affirms their equality, women rarely hold leadership roles in gurdwara committees, and women still do not perform kirtan inside the Harmandir Sahib itself, a much-debated question.^•

Seva in the world. Sikh charities such as Khalsa Aid have become famous for feeding people in disasters and war zones, and langars appeared at protests and pandemic food banks worldwide. For many Sikhs, this is what their faith looks like in public.^•

In politics. Sikhs have reached the top in several countries: Manmohan Singh was India’s prime minister (2004–2014); in Canada, Jagmeet Singh led the federal New Democratic Party, and several Sikhs have served as ministers; in the UK, Preet Kaur Gill became the first female Sikh MP in 2017.^•

Not all Sikhs are the same

Amritdhari, keshdhari, sahajdhari. Amritdhari Sikhs have taken amrit and keep the five Ks and the Khalsa discipline. Keshdhari Sikhs keep uncut hair but are not initiated. Sahajdhari or “clean-shaven” (sometimes called mona) Sikhs cut their hair but identify fully as Sikh. Who counts as a “proper” Sikh is a sensitive debate, and in India the right of sahajdharis to vote in SGPC elections has been fought over in the courts.^•

Groups and traditions. Most Sikhs follow the mainstream code of conduct, the Sikh Rahit Maryada, issued by the SGPC. Other groups have their own emphases: the Damdami Taksal and Akhand Kirtani Jatha with stricter practice; the Nihangs, with their blue robes, tall turbans and weapons, guardians of the warrior tradition; and the Namdharis, who believe in a continuing line of living Gurus and whom many mainstream Sikhs therefore regard as outside the fold. Sikh devotion also overlaps with deras, popular spiritual centres in Punjab, some with their own living gurus, which mainstream Sikh authorities often view with suspicion.^•

Caste and region. Jat farmers are the largest group among Punjabi Sikhs and have long dominated rural Punjab and many institutions; other communities include Khatris and Aroras, traditionally traders; Ramgarhias, artisans, many of whom came to Britain via East Africa; and Mazhabi and Ravidassia Sikhs from Dalit backgrounds.^•

There are also small Sikh communities in Afghanistan, much reduced, and converts of non-Punjabi heritage, including followers of the 3HO movement in the US.^•

Politics. Sikhs range from staunch Indian nationalists, including many army veterans, to Khalistan supporters, with most somewhere in between, wanting justice and respect within India or simply preferring to keep religion and politics apart.^•

Meeting someone

Conversation starters

• Langar and the gurdwara. Asking about the local gurdwara or langar is almost always welcome, and many Sikhs will happily invite you along. Cover your head, take off your shoes, and accept the karah prashad with cupped hands.^•
  • Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction (2nd edition) — Eleanor Nesbitt, Oxford University Press (2016)
• Food and Punjab. Sarson da saag and makki di roti, butter chicken, lassi, chai, a grandmother’s village: Punjabi food and family stories are easy, warm topics.
• Vaisakhi and Gurpurab. “Vaisakhi di vadhaiyan” (Happy Vaisakhi) or “Gurpurab di vadhaiyan” is a lovely greeting on those days.
• Music. Bhangra, kirtan, or the latest Punjabi pop star; Sikhs are often proud of how Punjabi music has gone global.
• The turban. Genuine, respectful curiosity about how a turban is tied, or what it means to the person, is usually welcome; many Sikhs run “turban days” to explain it.^•
  • The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies — Pashaura Singh and Louis E. Fenech (eds.), Oxford University Press (2014)

Topics to approach carefully

• 1984. Let the person lead. Many families lost relatives or carry trauma, and calling it “riots” can sound dismissive.^•
  • Report of the Justice Nanavati Commission of Inquiry (1984 Anti-Sikh Riots), Vols I and II — Justice G. T. Nanavati Commission of Inquiry, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (2005)
  • The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies — Pashaura Singh and Louis E. Fenech (eds.), Oxford University Press (2014)
• Khalistan. Don’t assume a Sikh supports or opposes it, and don’t call someone a “Khalistani” casually; it can be used as a slur. Opinions differ widely.^•
  • The Sikh Diaspora: The Search for Statehood — Darshan Singh Tatla, UCL Press (1999)
• Hair and the turban. Never touch someone’s turban or hair, and don’t ask a Sikh to take off their turban, kara or kirpan without understanding why it matters to them.
• “Are you Hindu?” or “Are you Muslim?” Sikhism is a distinct religion. Asking whether a person is “a kind of Hindu” can feel like erasing it, a question with real political history.^•
  • The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition — Harjot Oberoi, University of Chicago Press (1994)
  • Sikhism — W. H. McLeod, Penguin (1997)
• Caste. Asking about someone’s caste is intrusive in any South Asian setting, and particularly awkward given Sikhism’s rejection of it.

Common misconceptions

• “Sikhism is a blend of Hinduism and Islam.” Sikhism grew in a Hindu and Muslim world and shares ideas and vocabulary with both, but Sikhs see it as a distinct revelation with its own scripture, Gurus, practices and community. Most scholars agree it is a religion in its own right.^•
  • Sikhism — W. H. McLeod, Penguin (1997)
  • Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed — Arvind-Pal S. Mandair, Bloomsbury (2013)
  • Sikhism — Encyclopaedia Britannica
• “Everyone in a turban is a Sikh” (or a Muslim). In Western countries, most men who wear turbans are Sikhs; Sikh turbans are distinct from those of Afghan Taliban or some Muslim clerics. And not all Sikhs wear turbans, while many Sikh women do.^•
  • Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction (2nd edition) — Eleanor Nesbitt, Oxford University Press (2016)
• “The kirpan is a weapon.” It is a religious article representing the duty to protect the weak and resist injustice, usually small and worn under clothing; many countries allow it with limits.^•
  • Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction (2nd edition) — Eleanor Nesbitt, Oxford University Press (2016)
  • The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies — Pashaura Singh and Louis E. Fenech (eds.), Oxford University Press (2014)
• “Singh is a surname.” Singh and Kaur are names given to all Sikhs to erase caste distinctions, so they show a shared family of faith rather than a family name.^•
  • Sikhism — W. H. McLeod, Penguin (1997)
  • Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction (2nd edition) — Eleanor Nesbitt, Oxford University Press (2016)
• “Sikhs are all Khalistan separatists.” Most Sikhs, in India and abroad, are not involved in separatist politics, and support for Khalistan in Punjab itself is small.^•
  • The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies — Pashaura Singh and Louis E. Fenech (eds.), Oxford University Press (2014)
  • The Sikh Diaspora: The Search for Statehood — Darshan Singh Tatla, UCL Press (1999)