Sikhism

This article forms part of the series

Indian spiritualities

Religions

Brahmanism

Sikhism

See too

Deities of the Indian world

Related articles

Religions of India

Jews in India ~

Méta

The word sikhism comes from the word sikh who means disciple in . A sikh is a person who believes in only one and in the lesson of Ten gurûs, collected inAdi Granth, the holy book of the sikhs. While it and jainism are inspired by religious and social ideas coming from funds exclusively (or, more precisely, pre-hindouiste), the sikhism, of more recent development, has bonds quite as strong with the ideals of.

Religious principles

The sikhism, like religion, is not a true innovation. Its base -- -- coincides with the Moslem doctrines, whereas the character dévotionnel pronounced its literature and of several of its doctrines are in conformity with the concept of bhakti . However, the sikhism should not be regarded a simple mixture of two older religions, but as a truly new religion. Its faithful considers that it was authenticated by a new divine revelation.

Gurû Nanak (-), the founder of the sikhism, is born in the village from Talwandi, named now Nankana Sahib, close of Lahore currently with . His/her parents are hindouists and belong to one commercial. As of its childhood, Nanak is fascinated by the religion, and its desire to explore the mysteries of the life leads it to leave the family house. It wanders in all it with the way of sannyasin, Hindu saints. It is undoubtedly during this period that it discovers the teaching of Kabîr, a saint révéré as well by the Hindus and by the Moslems.

After several years of wander, Nanak has the revelation which it must teach. It preaches then in front of the temples jains and Hindus, the mosques and thus converts a certain number of sikhs (or disciples). , thinks it, is a bond to link men, but in practice it notes that it assembles the men the ones against the others. He regrets in particular antagonism between Hindus and Moslems and he fixes himself like drank life to join together them. A well-known sentence of Nanak is: "There is neither Hindu and nor Moslem. "

Nanak is opposed to system of the castes. Its faithful refers to him as a gurû (professor, Master). Before its death, it indicates new gurû to be its successor and to carry out the community. The tenth and last gurû, Gurû Gobind Singh (-) introduces the ceremony of baptism sikh in giving by there a characteristic identity to Sikhs. The five Sikhs lately baptized are called Panj Pyare, Five Well-Liked, which baptizes in their turn the gurû with his request.

Little before its death, the gurû order that itÂdi Granth, called too Gurû Granth Sâhib, the holy book sikh is henceforth the final spiritual authority and that the temporal authority passes to Khâlsâ Panth - the Community of Sikhs. The holy book of Sikhs is compiled and published by the fifth gurû, Gurû Arjun in . They are the first Scriptures in the world to be compiled by the founders of a faith during their life (holy writings of the religion bahá' íe at the 19th century all being also written by the founder himself or in its presence). They are especially written in , but also in Hindi, Persan, etc.

The doctrinal position of Nanak is rather simple, in spite of its origin, I.E. a mixture of revelations coming from the two distinct beliefs. The coherence of the sikhism is to be put for the benefit of its simple central concept - sovereignty of one single, the Creator. Nanak invites its god "the True Name" to avoid using a term which is more restrictive. It teaches that "the True Name", which appears various manners, in various places and by various names, is eternally "One", sovereign and omnipotent God, at the same time transcend and immanent, creator and destructor.

God predestines all the creatures and orders that the highest creature, the man, is been useful by the lower creatures. According to Nanak to discuss which components of its belief come from the hindouism, which are Moslem, it is to discuss as an idiot who seeks which religion has the right to profess concepts universals such as kindness, charity, honesty, the veneration of the name of god, the respect of the others.

Nanak also subscribes to the belief in mâyâ, the illusion of the physical world. Although it regards the material objects realities and as expressions of the eternal truth of the creator, they tend to set up "a wall of errors" around those which live only in one world of the material desires. This prevents them from seeing true God who created the matter like a veil around him, so that only the spiritual consciences, released of the desire, can penetrate it.

The world is immediately true in the sense that it is made manifest with the directions by the Maya, but it is finally unreal since only God is finally true. Preserving the Hindu doctrines of transmigration of the hearts, like its corollary, the law of karma, Nanak advises with faithful not to prolong their cycle of reincarnations by a life out of God, I.E. by the choice, through selfishness and of the sensual pleasures, of a life materialist.

To do this it is necessary to accumulate karma. One must think only of God, repeat without end the name of God (Nam Japa) and thus link oneself with God. Safety, says it, does not mean to enter to the paradise after the last judgement, but to link God with and to be based in him.

Political pressure of the Moslem nations which surround them force Sikhs to be defended and at the beginning of XIX^E century, the area of Panjâb, preceding it and it modern, is made autonomous. Khâlsâ (the Pure ones, names of the chivalrous order) of Sikhs spent several times at fault the British colonial army.

Today, Sikhs are in India like elsewhere in the world. The practise can be identified by their practice always to carry a turban to cover their long hair which they never cut (in some countries, the laws requiring the port of the helmet for the motorcylcists had to be amended with their advantage) and by their almost universal use of the surname Singh (lion, such as for example in , the city (for) of the lion (singa)). The men carry barb and moustache.

However, all the named people Singh are not necessarily of Sikhs! The men sikhs are also supposed to carry on them the following articles or five K :

Kesh, or hair and bores not crossed, sign of holiness;
Kangh, a comb used to keep the well capped hair;
Kach, kind of trousers full not to be constrained during the battles;
Kara, a steel bracelet symbolizing austerity and sobriety;
Kirpan, sword or bent defensive scraping-knife.

In the modern society, of course, one cannot allow oneself to carry a sword or even a large dagger, but a good penknife or a miniature dagger is sufficient to express the significance symbolic system. While carrying a weapon, Sikhs recall persecution that their religion underwent and need for defending it against its enemies.

The women of Sikh generally wear the Indian dress of north or salwar kameez rather than it sârî. Most of the time, they employ the surname Kaur (supposed traditionally to mean "princess", but who wants to actually say lioness to agree with Singh or lions), rather than the name Singh which is reserved to the men normally although little country allows this use.

The revolt of Sikhs

In , the state of is made up starting from the part of the state of Panjâb the most strongly hindouist. The sikhs are henceforth majority (60%) in new smaller Panjâb.

Towards the end of and during , a separatist movement emerges, which tries to create a separate state sikh called Khalistan, asserting the area of Panjâb Indian, Pakistani Panjâb and certain areas bordering.

In , a group of militants sikhs heavily armed extremists (qualified terrorists by the Indian authorities), and following Jarnail Sing Bhindranwale, takes refuge, or occupies, it Gold temple with Amritsar, true holy place of the sikhism.

After the attempts at negotiation failed, Indian the Prime Minister, , orders at the beginning of June that the temple is emptied of its occupants by the troop. The refusal of a peaceful withdrawal has like consequence a shooting, resulting in the death of 83 soldiers and 493 occupants sikhs, as well as many casualties. Many Sikhs considered that the use of the force in their holy place was an unforgivable insult

October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi is assassinated by its own bodyguards Sikhs.

In reaction to this assassination, anti-sikhs riots strike India, and more specifically the area of Delhi, primarily of October 31 at November 3, 1984. Partly spontaneous, these riots were also encouraged by certain politicians of the party of the Prime Minister, it party of the congress. There would have been 2.000 died, and even 3.000 according to certain sources.

The business of the gold temple and the massacres anti-sikhs increased the influence of the freedom fighters considerably, at the same time as they radicalized their methods, with a passage generalized with the armed struggle. Panjâb became a zone of war.

The partisans of independence developed their armed struggle against 2 large targets:

Representatives of the Indian federal state: civils servant, soldiers, police officers, politicians...
the populations Hindus of Panjâb, victims of many massacres aiming at making them leave the Panjâbi territory, in order to create a state ethniquement homogeneous.

The Indian répréssion gradually eliminated the majority from the historical leaders of the insurection, often at the price of many violations of the humans right. The armed struggle with Sikhs then evolved/moved. The large structured organizations succeeded of the smaller organizations, less structured, more and more force, directed by young badly known leaders.

From the beginning of the Nineties, the rebellion seemed overcome, at the same time by the repression and the lassitude of the population in front of violence.

Sikhs in India today

Sikhs are one of the most prosperous communities of. They are very well represented in the sectors commercial and administration. In the army, they constitute nearly 10% of manpower, whereas they constitute nearly 2% of the total population.

A regional party of Panjâb Shiromani Akali Dal, applicant to represent the community sikh, is combined with the nationalist party BJP (with the capacity of 1998 to 2004), and sent eight deputies to Lok Sabha (Indian Lower House). The current one , Manmohan Singh (party of the Congress), is the first sikh to occupy this function.

Sikhs in the world

One finds Sikhs communities relatively important in Anglophones countries, as private individuals the USA, Canada and England.

After , some Americans, confusing the symbols of religious belief, such as the turbans and the barbs with those of the terrorists who carried out the attacks, are turned over against Sikhs and maltreat or wounded certain members of the community sikh. In the months which follow the attack, not far from 300 incidents are brought back on the American, including threats, acts of violence, and even dead ground.

See too

Gurûs of the sikhism