Sikhism — The word Sikhism (pronounced sickh) means student. The word sikh means disciple in Punjabi, and Sikhs are disciples of God, following the scriptures and teachings of the ten Gurus of Sikhism. Sikhism is Monotheistic, meaning that the Sikhs believe and worship a single god, Vaheguru, meaning the Wonderful Master.
The Sikh religion acknowledges universal truths underlying all human endeavors, religions, and belief systems. Sikhism rejects all differentiation on grounds of caste, faith, sex, color, race or national origin.
In Sikhism, every person has the same rights regardless of their caste, creed, color, race, sex, or religion. Sikhism preaches that individuals of different races, religions, or genders are equal in Gods eyes. People are welcomed into the Gurdwara without regard to their background because the foundation of its faith is openness and equality for everyone.
Sikhism is open to everyone because of the teachings of its 10 Gurus, which are written down in the holy book of Sikhism and living Guru, the holy book, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The Sri Guru Granth Sahib is unique in the world of religious scriptures, not only is it accorded with the status of being the spiritual head of the Sikh religion, but in addition to Gurus verses, it contains the works of holy men of other faiths, whose thoughts are compatible with the thought of Sikh Gurus. The Guru Granth Sahib includes the works of the 10 Gurus of Sikhism, and writers of other faiths. The fifth guru, Guru Arjan, collected teachings, scriptures, and hymns from the gurus, including one named Guru Nanak, in the Adi Granth, the first holy book of Sikhism.
The 10th Guru also felt that Sikhs no longer needed living Gurus following his leadership period, saying that all wisdom that they needed was available in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, a holy book that compiled writings and wisdom from all the Gurus of Sikhism. The tenth guru, by making the Sikh scripture the Guru Granth Sahib as his successor, ended the lineage of the living Gurus, and made the scripture a literal manifestation of the Ik Onkar (G.E.O. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Guruship was eventually passed by the 10th Guru on the Sikh scripture, the Holy Guru Granth Sahib, now considered a living Guru by followers of the worlds fifth largest religion.
Sikhs venerate the 10 Gurus, from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh, as the 10 Gurus delivered divine words from a single, eternal God. Sikhism in India was founded by Guru Nanak, the first of the Sikhs ten Gurus. According to the tradition of Sikhs, Sikhism was established by Guru Nanak (1470-1539) and later led by a succession of nine other Gurus. Many Western scholars have claimed that, at its earliest stages, Sikhism was a movement within Hinduism; Nanak, they note, was raised as a Hindu, eventually belonging to northern Indian Sahni traditions, a movement associated with the great poet and mystic Kabir (1440-1518).
Founded as a religion by Guru Nanak, born into a Hindu family in Punjab in 1469, Sikhism in India is a relatively recent Indian religion, incorporating elements of both Hinduism and Islam. Sikhism is neither a cult nor is it a hybrid, but is an established religious movement. The recognized founder of Sikhism, Nanak (1470-1538), was born into a Hindu parenthood in India. Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak as the One Unseen God. We have also learned that Sikhism was founded about 500 years ago by Guru Nanak, who taught there is a single god, which is worshiped in different ways in different religions.
The traditions of Sikhism are among the living religions in the world. The Sikh religion has articulated the philosophical concept called Miri-Puri, meaning living one’s life with a proactive, powerful sense of engagement with the world and with mankind, guided by the firm basis and underpinnings of spirituality. The Sikh faith is committed to equality for women, and it should be, since it defines God as gender-neutral, possibly one of the only major world religions that does. Sikhs officials claim Sikhism, the fifth-most-popular world religion, is a monotheistic faith, which believes in equality and serving others.
Originating in the 15th century in a region in Northern India known as Punjab, the worlds fifth largest religion was established at a time when superstition and social inequality ran rampant. Sikhism, a religion and philosophy, was founded in the Punjab region of the Indian Subcontinent during the late 15th century. The Sikh religion was founded in northern India (Punjab) by Guru Nanak Dev Ji in the fifteenth century, distinct from both Islam and Hinduism. To begin with, Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh tradition, was born in 1469 in Punjab, South Asia, currently divided between Pakistan and Northwestern regions of South Asia.
Sikh Gurus, known as spiritual guides or teachers, established Sikhism. The Sikh religion requires the non-Sikh person to find out and live by the core messages and meanings of their own religion, such that the Christian becomes the better Christian, the Jewish person becomes the better Jewish person, and the Hindu person becomes the better Hindu, and the Sikh person becomes the better Sikh.