- A Sikh will only worship God. We do not set up any idols or statues of Gods, Goddesses for worship and also we do not worship any human being.
- We only believe in one holy book which is the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, however we can study other religious books to gain some knowledge of other religions.
Guru Granth Sahib Ji (the holy book)
image from Flickr Yahoo
- Sikh’s do not believe in castes, magic, omens, amulets, astrology, ceremonial hair cuts, fasts, sacred thread, graves and traditional death rites.
- If one is baptized in the Sikh community they must wear the five K’s. I wear one of the five K’s which is the ‘Kara’ a steel bracelet. The ‘Kara’ shows self-control.
- The Khalsa will pray to God before starting any work, and this is the usual prayers.
- We can learn many languages but we must know how to speak Punjabi and be able to teach our kids.
- Every male should add “Singh” after his name and every female should add “Kaur” after her name. Singh means lion and Kaur means princess. So my name is Jasmeen Kaur Sidhu. Basically Singh and Kaur act as our middle names.
- Drugs, smoking and alcohol are strictly forbidden for Sikhs that are baptized and also for none baptized Sikhs too.
- Baptized men and women can not pierce their ears or noses. I am not baptized so therefore I have my ears pierced.
- Sikh’s are not allowed to have connections with those who kill their daughters. Killing females is strictly forbidden in Sikhism.
- A Sikh must be living by honest labour and should be generous and help out the poor and needy and thinking at all times that whatever is given to them is given by the Guru.
- Sikhs should never steal or gamble.
- There is so restriction on the dress of a baptized Sikh except for a turban and ‘Kachera’ (long shorts worn underneath). The clothing should be simple and reserved.
- When we see another Sikh we both greet each other by saying “Sat Sri Akal” which means “the God is the ultimate truth”. Or we say “Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh” which means “The Khalsa belongs to God, Victory belongs to God” (Khalsa is a community of Singhs and Kaurs, in other words the people of Guru Nanank Dev Ji)
This was very informative. I actually know noting about Sikh culture, but have always been curious.I really like how Sikh people do not smoke, do drugs or drink, Muslim people have the same beliefs too. Why do Sikh people wear turbans? I have always wondered, but I always have felt scared to go up to random strangers and ask, because i do not personally know any Sikh people
ReplyDeleteThank you! Well Sikh people wear Turbans because it is a symbol of royalty and dignity in the Sikh religion. Historically the turban has been held in high respect in Middle Eastern cultures. The tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji changed this cultural symbol into a religious requirement where the baptized man has to wear the turban so that he would always have high self-esteem. Even some baptized women wear turbans.
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