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Sikhism is one religion, which is founded on the principles of global Interfaith communities and mutual Inter-community respect and harmony. The founders of Sikhism have since 1469 defined and preached the principles of interfaith respect, dialogue and harmony. A Sikh by definition must respect and accept all other world religions. Further, the Sikh must protect, guard and allow the free-practise of the customs and rituals of other religions.

The following are remarks made by distinguished personalities about the Sri Guru Granth Sahib and its interfaith message:

Arnold Toynbee: The Adi Granth is remarkable for several reasons. Of all known religious scriptures this book is the most highly venerated.

Pearl S. Buck: They (the Sikh Scriptures) speak to persons of any religion or of none. They speak for the human heart and the searching mind.

Dr. S. Radhaknshnan: The barriers of seas and mountains will give way before the call of eternal truth which is set forth with freshness of feelings and fervour of devotion in the Adi Granth.

J.C.Archer: The religion of Guru Granth Sahib is a universal and practical religion... The world needs today its message of peace and love.

Dorothy Field: The main doctrine of the Sikhs is contained in Guru Granth Sahib and these concern God, His nature and attributes, and the means by which salvation may be attained.

Sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur

The ninth Guru or Prophet of the Sikhs, Guru Teg Bahadur sacrificed his own life to protect the well-being of the Kashmiri Pandits or Hindus. In 1675, the Sikh’s beloved Guru was publicly beheaded in Delhi by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb for not changing his faith. Before Guru Ji’s demise, Guru Ji said “Hinduism may not be my faith, and I may not believe in various Hindu traditions like idol worship, caste system, pilgrimages and other rituals, but I will fight for the right of all Hindus and all other peoples of the world to live with honour and to practice their faith according to their own beliefs.”

This has set a precedence and Sikhs are bound by the Guru’s teaching to respect and protect the rights of all other faiths – The principle of Interfaith dialogue was thus established by the Ten Gurus of Sikhism. It is also important to note that the Sikh Gurus were helped and assisted throughout history by people of other faiths. These associates on the whole have kept their original religions and in some cases, the Gurus have carried out the last rites according to the original faiths of these associates. Obvoiusly, many of these associates have frequently made the decision to choose Sikhism as their new faith.

Companions of Guru Nanak Dev

As an example, Bhai Mardana, who was a Muslim and Bhai Bala, who was a Hindu were two associates and companions of Guru Nanak. Both of them observed their own faiths and continued to practise their respective religions while accompanying Guruji on his travels spanning several decades. In case of Baba Mardana, on his death, Gurus performed the last rites as per the Muslim custom. This demonstrates the complete acceptance and respect by the Sikh Gurus for other religions. To the Muslims and Christians, the Guru advises
 

Golden Temple

The foundation stone of the Golden Temple was laid by Hazrat Mian Mir Ji, a Muslim and an associate of Guru Arjan Dev. The pool adjoining the Golden Temple complex is named after a Muslim devotee called Mata Kaulan, who had given assistance to Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru. I believe that this is the first time in world history that a Muslim woman has been given such respect by a recognised body.


Bhai Kanhaiya

Further, Bhai Kanhaiya ji was a Sikh of Guru Tegh Bahadur who established the institute of ‘Sevapanthi’ (later called ‘Addanshahi’) sect of the Sikhs. He was born in Sodhara near Wazirabad in Sialkot District (now in Pakistan) of a wealthy family and left home when still young and travelled with yogis and other religious groups. When he met Guru Ji, he became a Sikh and settled down. Bhai Kanhaiya set up a religious centre at Kavha village, Attock District (now in Pakistan) from where he spread the Guru’s message and preached Sikhism to the local people. His special mission was the performance of selfless service (Sewa) to humanity with no distinction of nationality, caste or creed. In 1705 CE when on a visit to Anandpur he found the area entrenched in battle with a combination of hill troops of Hindu Rajas and the Mughal imperial army soldiers ‘littering’ the countryside with wounded and dying people. After the frequent skirmishes, Bhai Kanhaiya would roam around serving water to the wounded and the dying both friend and foe.

Tribute by Miss Pearl S Buck

Miss Pearl S. Buck, a Nobel laureate, gives the following comment on receiving the First English translation of the Guru Granth Sahib (The Sikh Holy Book):

.... I have studied the scriptures of the great religions, but I do not find elsewhere the same power of appeal to the heart and mind as I find here in these volumes. They are compact in spite of their length, and are a revelation of the vast reach of the human heart, varying from the most noble concept of God, to the recognition and indeed the insistence upon the practical needs of the human body. There is something strangely modern about these scriptures and this puzzles me until I learned that they are in fact comparatively modern, compiled as late as the 16th century, when explorers were beginning to discover the globe, upon which we all live is a single entity divided only by arbitrary lives of our own making. Perhaps this sense of unity is the source of power I find in these volumes. They speak to a person of any religion or of none*. They speak for the human heart and the searching mind. .

chall likhda aa :hehe:

likh likh :kiss:

International Turban Day is celebrated on April 13th every year. This event was started in 2004 to bring awareness of the strict requirement on Sikhs to don the turban as a mandatory part of their religion. In the West since 9/11 in 2001, the turban, has attracted negative attention due to the wrongful linking of this garment with Osama bin Laden, the Muslim leader of al Qaeda who has often been pictured wearing a turban.

Due to the vast news and media coverage of Osama bin Laden following 9/11, many men wearing a turban and beard and Punjabi styled clothing articles (long vest or longer shirt) have been looked upon with suspicion, with some innocent people even being killed or wounded by uninformed and even deranged westerners bent on revenge, who just assumed that any Bearded man, wearing a turban and beard was a Muslim.
However, this perception is wrong, as the vast majority of people in Western countries who wear turbans are actually Sikhs. Given that many thousands of Sikhs died fighting against the same sort of Muslim fundamentalist terrorists that bin Laden's group al Qaeda and the taleban espouse today, the irony of such an uninformed assumption is tragic, especially since most Muslims living in the West do not wear turbans.

The turban or "dastar" or "pagri" often shortened to "pag" are different words in various dialects for the same article. All these words refer to the garment worn by both men and some women to cover their heads. It is a headdress consisting of a long scarf-like single piece of cloth wound round the head or sometimes an inner "hat" or patka. Traditionally in India, the turban was only worn by men of high status in society; men of low status or of lower castes were not allowed or could not afford to wear a turban.

Although the keeping of unshorn hair was mandated by Guru Gobind Singh as one of the Five Ks or five articles of faith, it has long been closely associated with Sikhism since the very beginning of Sikhi in 1469. Sikhism is the only religion in the world in which wearing a turban is mandatory for all adult males.

Since 2004, on Turban Day, Sikhs worldwide organise various events to give information about the turban to the general community in their locality. Turbans of every hue are represented at these events and posters highlighting information about Sikhi are also displayed and handed out.

Turban tying session are arranged so that youngsters and others get a chance to wear a turban for the first time and have their photos taken. Many non-Sikhs take part in these events and sport the traditional headgear of the Sikhs to show solidarity with the community.

Many famous personalities are also invited to these events to bring more media attention to the plight of the Sikhs since 9/11.

Sikh organisation in northern India has called on all Sikhs to observe 13 April as "World Turban Day".

The Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) said the purpose of the day was to improve international awareness of Sikhism.

It believes that distrust and aggression against Sikhs is caused by a general ignorance about the religion. Turban wearing Sikh men , especially those wearing beards and clothing styles similar to those in which bin Laden has been pictured, have been mistaken for Islamic fundamentalists since the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.

There has been more than one instance where US-based Sikhs have been attacked and even killed.

SGPC secretary Manjit Singh Calcutta told the BBC the idea for the day was mooted as a way to try to tackle the suspicion and hatred directed against turban-wearing Sikhs living abroad.

Amritsar, Punjab, India -- Young Sikhs stand outside the Akal Takht after doing Ardas to mark April 13 as "World Turban Day" - declared by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

The SGPC said that Sikhs have been targets because of general ignorance about their religion. Since 9/11, Sikhs have experienced a spike in the number of hate crimes in the United States and Europe. Sikhs have also been caught in the middle of a French law banning religious headwear, originaly targeting Muslim women. The pracitice seems to be spreading in other countries in Europe.

SGPC secretary Manjit Singh Calcutta told the BBC the idea for the day was mooted as a way to try to tackle the suspicion and hatred directed against turban-wearing Sikhs living abroad.

In Amritsar, SGPC volunteers tied religious bands on the turban-wearing devotees entering the Golden Temple.

A Sakhi is a tale usually from the era during the times of the Gurus. However, many sakhis do exist from the period before and after the times of the Ten Gurus. Most Sakhis have a moral lesson and highlight important Sikh principles. Below is the list of important Sakhis with a message for Sikhs.

During the period from 1581-1606, Guru Arjan Dev Ji's time, the Sikh Population grew numerously, masses of conversion taking place, even before Sikhism, had won thousands of converts from between 1520s-1581, Even Powerful chieftains like Chaudhary Langaha Dhillon, of Jhabal, Chaudhary Amrika of Tarn Taran Sahib area, and Bhai Manjh of Kang Mai village, and many many more, had converted to Sikhism. 92% of the Punjabi Tribes Such as Khatri, Jatt, Rajput, Tarkhan, Chamar, Arora, Kamboja, Saini, etc converted to Sikhism, mainly from Hinduism and a handful from Islam. Even Muslim Pir's also became followers of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, and even Hindu Saints, Yogis, Sidhas became Sikhs, Sikh religion, had became the official religion of medieval Punjab. This caused jealousy among the Strict Muslims at the Mughal court in Delhi, who started being hostile towards the House of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. During his period Guru Sahib, founded many villages, wells, towns, cities, in the Punjab. Sikhism was a majority in Majha, Doaba, Malva, Nakka, region of the Punjab.

Bhai Kahn Singh (Punjabi ਭਾਈ ਕਾਨ੝ਹ ਸਿਂਘ ਨਾਭਾ ), of Nabha (30 August 1861- 24 November 1938), is a celebrated scholar and encyclopaedia writer, who was born on 30 August 1861 (Bhadori vadi 10, 1918 Bk), in a Dhillon Jatt family at the village of Sabaz Banera which is about 5 miles from Nabha, in what was then territory of the princely ruler of Patiala. His father was Narain Singh and his mother was Har Kaur. His father was a man of saintly character who became in-charge of Gurdwara Dera Baba Ajapal Singh, at Nabha, on the death in 1861 of his grandfather, Sarup Singh

Bhai Kahn Singh, the eldest of three brothers and one sister, did not attend any school or college for formal education as his father arranged his studies in Hindi, Brij Bhasha and Sanskrit from pandits in and around Nabha who also tutored him in the writing of poetry. By the age of 10, he could recite freely both the Guru Granth Sahib and the Dasam Granth.

He learned music from a famous musicologist, Mahant Gajja Singh. When he was 20 years old he wanted to study Persian. Learning of this, people urged his father, Baba Narayan Singh to not let his son study Persian. Never-the-less, Bhai Sahib sought out Maulawis (Muslim preachers) in Delhi to teach him the language that many of the Sikh Gurus had been proficient in such as the Zafarnama of Guru Gobind Singh.

In 1883 he went to Lahore where during his two year stay he studied Persian texts and assisted Professor Gurmukh Singh, a leading figure in the Singh Sabha, in the publication of his Sudhdrdrak. In 1887 he was appointed tutor to Tikka Ripudaman Singh, the heir apparent of Nabha state. From the Maharaja's private secretary to judge of the High Court, he held several different appointments in the state, serving for a brief interregnum, 1915-17, in the neighbouring Sikh state of Patiala.

In 1885, he had a chance meeting with Max Arthur Macauliffe which led to a lifelong friendship. Macauliffe depended a great deal on his advice and guidance in the work he was then doing on Sikh scriptures and on the history of early Sikhism. He took him along to England when his 6 volume, The Sikh Religion was being printed at the Clarendon Press. Such was his admiration for Bhai Kahn Singh that he assigned to him the copyright of the book.


From among Bhai Kahn Singh's works, Gurushabad Ratandkar Mahan Kosh (1930), an encyclopaedia of Sikh literature, will remain a permanent monument to his unmatched industry and erudition. He spent 14 long years writing the Mahan Kosh which is a clear, succinct and wonderful exposition of the history, religion, culture and literature of the Punjab and the Sikhs. This reference book was published through the patronage of the Maharaja Bhupendra Singh of Patiala and is a standard reference text, still in print. It is considered an authentic interpretation of Sikh ethos.

His maiden work, Raj Dharam (1884), written at the instance of Maharaja Hira Singh of Nabha, was followed by Natak Bhavaarth Dipika (1888), an exegesis of extracts from the Hanuman Nalak, based on his notes prepared for the instruction of the young prince under his tutelage.

In 1898, he published Hum Hindu Nahin which set forth forcefully the Singh Sabha standpoint with regard to Sikh identity. The "Gurmat Prabhakar", a glossary of Sikh terminology, concepts and institutions, was published in 1898, and "Gurmat Sudhakar", an anthology of important Sikh texts, scriptural and historical, in 1899. His Guru Chhand Divdkar (1924) and Gur Sabad Alankar (1925) deal primarily with rhetoric and prosody employed in the Guru Granth Sahib and some other Sikh texts.

His Guru Gird Kasauti answers some of the questions raised by his pupil, Tikka Ripudaman Singh, about the meanings of certain hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib, and his Sharab Nikhedh (1907) is a didactic work stressing the harmful effects of drinking. Among his other works are tikas or exegeses of Jameni Asvamedh (1896), Visnu Purana (1903), Steek Chandi di Var (1935).

From among his works which were published posthumously, Gurmat Martand (2 volumes) which essentially follows the formal of his earlier Gurmat Prabhdkar but includes much more explanatory material was published in 1960. A travelogue was published in 1984.

Bhai Kahn Singh lived in seclusion, totally immersed in his scholarly pursuit, yet his influence transcended the bounds he had created around himself. From the privacy of his study, he continued to enrich contemporary Sikh life in its diverse aspects. A man of aristocratic bearing, he was extraordinarily handsome, with sharp, chiselled features.

He had the interests of an aesthete and loved art, flowers and music. In several spheres, he was the arbiter of taste. Through his writings, he subtly moulded the course of Sikh awakening at the turn of the century. On later day Sikh learning, he has left a permanent imprint.

Significant works

Raj Dharam (1884)
Nanak Bhavarth Dipika (1888)
Hum Hindu Nahin (1898)
Gurmat Prabhakar (1898)
Gurmat Sudhakar (1899)
Guru Chand Divakar (1924)
Gur Sabad Alankar (1925)
Gur Gira Kasauti (1899)
Sharab Nikhedh (1907)v Gurushabad Ratanakar Mahan Kosh (1930)
Tikas or exegeses

Jaimant Assamedh (1896)
Visnu Purana (1903)
Sadu and Chandi di Var (1935)
Posthumously published

Gurmat Martand
(2 volumes) (1962)
Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha de Aprakshiet Safarname (1984)

Every Sikh is expected to get up in the morning before dawn. After taking a bath he or she should meditate on the Name of God.

    Rise early in the morning, and chant the Naam; worship and adore the Lord, night and day. Anxiety shall not afflict you, O Nanak, and your misfortune shall vanish.

    - Guru Granth Sahib p. 255

The following compositions are recited every day:

    Morning: Japji Sahib, Jaap Sahib, Swaye, Chaupai Sahib and Anand Sahib
    Evening: Rehras
    Before Bed: Sohila Sahib

A Sikh is required to attend Gurdwara, the Sikh Temple, as a part of their daily routine or as often as possible.