Sikhism: A Religion that Unites
What the Birthday of Guru Gobind Singh Can Teach Everyone
An increasing number of UK Sikhs feel marginalised by society. The birthday of Guru Gobind Singh is a reminder to live by his teachings of the love and worship of others.
On 5th January, Sikhs around the world will celebrate the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), the last human Guru in the Sikh tradition. By this time, most of the world will be recovering from Christmas or dreading the return to work at the start of 2008.
Yet many Sikhs in Britain are still unhappy that, despite being a minority religion, they are being marginalised by increasingly divisive elements of society (source: Network of Sikh Organisations Annual Report 2006-2007).
Sikhs in the UK
The 2001 census revealed that there are 336,000 Sikhs living in the UK.
The first Sikh settled in 1849 when Maharajah Duleep Singh, the last ruler of the Sikh kingdom of Punjab, was exiled. However the main immigration started in the 1950s when a mainly unskilled male workforce came to work in British industry. They had to remove outwards symbols of their religion because of the prejudice and discrimination of society.
More highly skilled Sikhs arrived from East Africa as the drive to Africanise countries meant that many non-Africans felt forced to leave.
Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh was the last of the 10 Gurus and the one who transformed the Sikh faith. In 1699 he created the Khalsa (Pure), a community of the faithful who wore visible symbols of their faith and are trained as warriors. Today the Khalsa comprises all practising Sikhs.
Guru Gobind Singh believed no power could exploit the Sikhs and his teachings included the oneness of mankind and the love and worship of God.
Among the Sikhs, the celebration of the anniversary of the birth or death of a guru is an important event and usually lasts three days. As Gobind Singh was the last human Guru there is sometimes a special significance attached to him.
What Sikhism Can Teach Others
Sikhism is a religion all but unknown to much of western civilization. Despite the Sikh population being fimly rooted in society, the main elements of the religion appear to be less well known with western religions dominating the faith horizon. Sikhism is rarely in the news and struggles to impact mainstream society.
Its followers are mostly to be found in the Punjab province of India. A fairly recent religion, Sikhism is an attempt to harmonize two of the world's religions, Hinduism and Islam. There are many similarities between them and they, as well as Islam in particular, are based in part on Christianity and Judaism.
Yet Guru Gobind Singh was a vital part of Sikhism and he has left a legacy behind which is useful to Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike, giving the religion a firm identity within conflicting cultures. He served to provide a basis for the religion which mirrored his mission of unity, equality, compassion, love and of virtuous deeds. From this point onwards, Sikhism was not just a localised movement but a major international religion.
The Guru's birthday serves to remind both Sikhs and non-Sikhs about the importance of these qualities and their unifying factor. Without the dedication and compassion shown by Gobind Singh, Sikhism wouldn't be the religion the world knows today and other major religions would be also poorer because of it. Furthermore, he acts as an example of someone who stands up for his beliefs and isn't afraid to use religious symbols to show it.
Maybe if more people took this stance in either their religious or secular lives, the world would consist of more identifiable and cohesive communities.
