Hello Internet
What if I were to tell you there was a religion out there, dedicated to the unity and equality of all humankind, and social justice?
What if I told you that their most holy site is also a soup kitchen?
Does that sound like a religion you know?
Today we’re going to do something a little different, we’re going to tell you about the 5th most populous religion, and their followers, the Sikhs.
The Sikhs are one of the youngest religions on earth, developing in the 15th century Punjab region of the Mughal Empire.
Today, this would be the region that straddles India and Pakistan.
Sikhism has over 25 million followers, in not only India and Pakistan, but nearly every country on earth.
So how did Sikhism start?
The origins come from the religion’s founder Guru Nanak.
Since him, about ten Sikh Gurus have laid down foundations over the centuries.
The last being Guru Gobind Singh who established the final holy scriptures of the faith.
These scriptures, collectively called the Guru Granth Sahib speak of singular god, and Guru Nanak as god’s bard.
Under the Mughal empire, the early Sikhs were pressured to convert to Islam.
Several prominent gurus became martyrs at the hands of Mughal rulers.
It was this that inspired a movement within the religion called the Khalsa, a push for religious freedom.
So what do the Sikhs believe?
They have only one god, but not in the sense that Jews Christians and Muslims do.
To the Sikhs, god is called the Ik Onkar, the one constant, or pervading spirit.
They pray through Simran, or meditation over the words of the Guru Granth Sahib.
This can be quiet meditation, or singing in a ritual called Kirtan.
They preach control over the “five thieves” lust, rage, greed, attachment, and conceit.
They also have a unique emphasis on justice, stating that justice, restorative justice, or divine justice trump any other codes or morals.
Their form of justice means women and men are treated equally in Sikhism, and women have been able to conduct services since the beginning.
They do not see a difference between the temporal world and the spiritual, meaning that devotion is a daily, lived activity.
This includes, but is not limited to, your normal religions’ prohibitions on drinking, superstitions, idol worship, lying, gossiping, and adultery.
But on top of those they also can’t cut their hair, consume alcohol or caffeine, go on pilgrimage, fast, circumcise their children, wear a veil, have a priesthood, or eat meat.
They also have to wear a ceremonial dagger called a kirpan.
There’s… a lot of rules.
Because they don’t cut their hair, Sikh men often wear turbans.
In fact in North America, someone wearing a turban is well over 90% likely to be a Sikh.
They do often get confused with Muslims, and yes it has led to some horrible discrimination and violence.
On that note, of the 25.8 million Sikhs in the world, only 75% live in the Punjab.
They have large communities all over the world, especially in my home country of Canada.
This includes our new badass defense minister Harjit Sajjan.
With their strong devotion to equality, obligatory dagger wielding, and origins in a region thought to be Muslim or Hindu, Sikhism is certainly a unique religion.
This is why I decided to tell you about them.
For a group of people that live in every corner of the world, they seem to be really unknown.
Worse yet, they are often lumped into islamophobic hate.
I guess the world is still filled with cool stories, groups, and people that we don’t notice, even when they’re very close to us.
Did you learn something about Sikhism today?
I always love hearing about people’s experiences with my videos down in the comments section.
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