What is it about? What is the basic teachings of it? I have never heard of it till now. Thanks.
What country is it most popular in and where did it start?
A religion started in India by Guru Nanak, incorporating elements from Hindu traditions, Islam etc. Started off with a very benign and peaceful religion. Went through some violent times and got updated with self-defense and other stuff by the gurus who succeeded Nanak. Ended up pretty much like any other religion.
Sikh origins:
No consensus exists on the origins of this religion.
Historians and specialists in Eastern religions generally believe that Sikhism is a synergistic religion, originally related to the Bhakti movement within Hinduism and the Sufi branch of Islam, to which many independent beliefs and practices were added.
Some Sikhs believe that their religion is a re-purification of Hinduism; they view Sikhism as part of the Hindu religious tradition.
Many Sikhs disagree; they believe that their religion is a direct revelation from God - a religion that was not derived from either Hinduism or Islam.
Sikhism does contain many unique postulates and principles that are quite different from both Hinduism and Islam. Joseph D. Cunningham (1812-1851), the author of "A History of the Sikhs" (1848), observed: "It has been usual to regard the Sikhs as essentially Hindu... yet in religious faith and worldly aspiration, they are wholly different from other Indians, and they are bound together by an objective unknown elsewhere."
Sikh History:
The founder of Sikhism was Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, (1469-1538) who was born in the Punjab area of what is now Pakistan. At Sultanpur, he received a vision to preach the way to enlightenment and God. He is responsible for the saying "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim" which has since become one of the pillars of Sikhism. He taught a strict monotheism, the brotherhood of humanity. He rejected idol worship, and the Hindu concept of caste. Guru Nanak and Panth (his followers) later built the first Sikh temple at Katarpur.
A succession of nine Gurus (regarded as reincarnations of Guru Nanak) led the movement during the period from Guru Nanak's death until 1708. At that time, the functions of the Guru passed to the Panth and to the holy text, considered the 11Th Guru.
Mogul emperors ruled a large area of South Asia from the 16Th century until the end of the 18Th century. They attempted to convert the Sikhs to Islam, but were unsuccessful. It has been said of one of the Sikh Gurus (considered by many Sikhs to have been the last guru) that "Had there been no Guru Gobind Singh, the entire country would have gotten circumcised" i.e. been converted to Islam.
In 1801, the Sikh state of Punjab was founded in Northern India by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. According to a historian Vincent Smith, "The Punjab State was neither a traditional Indian territorial State and monarchy, nor merely a dictatorship of one community over another. There was an element of partnership with other communities."
An invasion by Great Britain triggered the Sikh Wars (1845-1849). The British successfully gained control over all of India. After independence in 1947, occupied India was partitioned on religious grounds into a mostly Muslim Pakistan and mostly Hindu India. A mass migration of Sikhs and Hindus from Pakistan to India and a reverse migration of Muslims resulted, with immense loss of life. Some Sikhs have been seeking an independent homeland since the late 1940's.
Sikh Holy Texts:
The holy granth, the Shri Guru Granth, was initially compiled by the fifth guru, Shri Arjan Dev Ji. Subsequently, it was updated to include the writings of the sixth to ninth gurus. The tenth guru, Gobind Singh Ji assembled his writings separately into a number of books, including "Dasam Granth"
The holy granth consists of hymns and writings by the first nine Gurus, along with religious text from different Muslim and Hindu saints like: Kabir Ji, Baba Sheik Farid Ji, Bhagat Namdev, Bhagat Rav Dass Ji, etc. The Shri Guru Granth itself is considered the 11th and final Guru, and the Sikh's holiest religious text. It was made so by Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
At least two English translations are available online:
"The Khalsa Consensus Translation [of the Guru Granth Sahib]...is regarded by some Sikh scholars as being among the finest and most accurate English translation currently available." It is available online at http://www.sikhs.org/english/frame.html
Srigranth.org allows people to search the Sikh scriptures in English, Punjabi, Hindi and in transliteration.
There is enough material available on net to know about Sikhism. A very good website is WNW.sikhnet.com. Sikhism was started by Guru Nanak(1469-1539). Japji and Asa Dee War are his famous writings.
It is a religion of modern age means it does not conflict with science. It does not believe in any kind of superstition. It talks about universal brotherhood. It does not have any fairs or infidels. There is no Satan, hell or heaven. There is no fasting or any importance of rituals. It talks about service of mankind and sharing your wealth(worldly as well as spiritual). It does not categorize humans based on birth like caste system in India. Man and woman are equal and God does not have a gender. It talks about fighting against injustice. It brings peace to heart. It talks about music and its good use. It is only religion among major religions(fifth in number, Jews are sixth) where you get first hand information written by Sikh Gurus and Bhagats rather than written by someone else after several years of death of their prophets. It does not give any special importance to priests. Sikh place of worship is called Guruduara where anyone of any belief or gender can go and free food called LangARs served. Sikhs are known as a warrior tribe by many which is not true. It is not tribe but anyone can join and enjoys the treasures of God's virtues. Sikh Gurus made those people who were weak and downtrodden to fight with mighty rulers and high caste for their rights. They are only 2% of indian population but they have won awards for bravery which are tens of times of their population size. Another significant contribution to humanity are Sikh farmers. They provide food to whole of India. There are very popular in USA, Cananda, Italy, Australia and Newzealand and very respected because of hard work involved in it(not in India though where their movement to other states have been halted because of religious and caste hatred and also because of selfish intrests. States of Rajisthan and Himachal Pardesh have placed a bar on property purchases by outsiders and do not support Punjabi in schools inspite of the factor that Punjabies are largest community in these states whereas western countries provides grants to promote their language). Sikh taxi drivers are also very much trusted particularly in big cities of India like Mumbai and Delhi where people will wait in order to get a sikh as a taxi driver. Sikh engineers, doctors and nurses are also playing their part in making sikhism important.
Population:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism_by_country/temp
Read this site http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Sikhism/index.aspx
Read also WNW.sikhnet.com, its the best site, but a little tarnished because their are views from politically minded Sikhs who hate Hindus today and are hell bent on redefining the religion. So read belief net link first.
And this is what i have to humbly add as well
SIKHISM
To understand Sikhism you have to understand Hinduism. Hinduism is not Christianity and Islam which are codified religions, and have a book and a prophet. Hinduism has originated from various rituals tribal customs and social life over the centuries. Hinduism has 1000?s of Gods and Goddesses and various diverse thoughts.
Predominant amongst these thoughts is a way of life called Sanatan Dharma which more than 60% of the Hindus follow, and this is generally mistaken as Hinduism, and the other thoughts are treated as offshoots of Hinduism. The real truth is that Hinduism means Sanatan Dharma AND all the other thoughts. Sikhism is but one of these thoughts.
Firstly, the British with their policy of divide and rule, and secondly, political turmoil and hatred between Hindus and Sikhs has put the idea of a separate identity in the mind of us Sikhs. Many of my co-coreligionists will say ? but we have different ideas as compared to Hinduism. Sure - I agree that we are different in ways but there are 50 ? 100 major different thoughts within Hinduism and we are BUT one of them.
Do you understand ? Whereas fundamentalist Sikhs we say that we are 1 amongst 7 great world religions the fact is that there are actually 4 great religions. One - Christianity has various branches - Catholic, Protestant, Methodist, Adventist, etc. Second ? Islam has various branches - Shia, Sunni, Ahmediya etc. There is Judaism and finally Hinduism ( which is a collection of various beautiful thoughts like Buddhism, Sanatana Dharma, Sikhism, Jainism, Arya Samajists, Vaishnav, Shaivaites Manbhum, Santhal etc )
So Sikhism is born out of Hinduism. Guru Nanak was born a Hindu, he was a traveling holy man who followed a custom of Sant Mat ( or Saint Tradition ) quite popular amongst saints those days. It was a thought he inculcated in his believers and told them to learn it. His believers were called Sikhs as Sikh means ? ?to learn? We had 9 more Gurus. Yes Guru Nanak also took some minor feedback from Islam but that is the nature of Hinduism ? to absorb from everyone.
KHALSA
Was created about 200 years later by the 10th Guru in 1699 to give Sikhs a unique identity and some more wonderful beliefs. The Guru's first 5 Khalsas were called Panj Pyaras. However this wonderful concept of Khalsa has been altered by Khalsas themselves.
Because almost every 'Khalsa' breaks his religious laws. Of the 5 K?s the Kesh ( hair and beard, eyebrows, body hair ) is shorn by a massive ( maybe 99 %, yes 99 % ) majority of the young 'Khalsa', weather they are in the UK or the fields of Punjab . Even the 'Khalsa's who keep the hair will reject 3 other physical symbols. For convenience sake - without batting an eyelid. Ask a religious 'Khalsa', - if you take so much trouble over maintaining your hair at the right length, do you keep ?the Kacha? ( large undergarment / drawers ) or do you wear a Calvein Klein brand of underwear. Do you keep ?the Kanga? ( comb ) of the right length or only a miniature Kanga ? for convenience sake ? The ?Kara? is convenient so almost everyone ( including I ) wear it.
There is nothing wrong with this though - a dynamic religion will not lay too much emphasis on rituals - it will change, progress and become stronger with time.
What is Sikhism? Serious answers only please.?
