Islam and Sikhism

The word Sikh is derived from a word meaning 'disciple', or one who learns. Sikhs believe that the 'creator and creation are one and the same thing'. Most Muslims, on the other hand, believe God is separate and distinct from his creation. Islam believes that Muhammad was the last prophet, to whom the Quran was revealed by God in the 7th century CE. Sikhism was founded in the 15th century CE by Guru Nanak. Guru Granth Sahib is the scripture followed by Sikhs as "The Living Guru."

In Islam, the legal system based on the Quran and the Sunnah is known as Sharia; there is no such legal system mentioned in Guru Granth Sahib. Daily prayers are one of the pillars of Islam, and they are mandatory for all Muslims. Baptized Sikhs read the five banis as part of their daily routine, Nitnem. Islam requires annual zakah (alms giving) by Muslims. Kirat Karna (doing an honest livelihood — earning honestly without any sort of corruption); Naam Japna (to chant and meditate on Naam, read and follow "The One"); and Vand Chhako (selfless service [sewa] and sharing with others) are fundamental to Sikhism given by Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The Hajj is a religious pilgrimage to Mecca that is an important part of Islam, while Sikhs do not believe in pilgrimages. However, many Sikhs do frequently travel to Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar.

There has been a history of constructive influence and conflict between Islam and Sikhism. The Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib includes teachings from Muslims, namely Baba Farid and Kabir.

The first convert to Sikhism was a Muslim, Mardana, who was Guru Nanak's lifelong friend and companion on his journeys. He is believed to have played the rebab while Guru Nanak recited the sacred hymns that would later form the Adi Granth.

The first major interaction between the two religions happened when Guru Nanak spent two years in Mecca and the Middle East. He learned about Islam and had detailed discussions with Muslim sheikhs.

Comparison

Belief

God

Sikhism believes that God is formless (nirankar). It is a monotheistic religion in that it believes in a single God (Waheguru), and it has also been seen as a form of panentheism. God in the nirgun aspect is without attributes, unmanifest, not seen, but all pervading and permeating, omnipresent. God in the sargun aspect is manifest and has attributes, qualities, and is seen in the whole of creation.

There is only one God, He is the eternal truth, He is without fear, He is without hate, immortal, without form, beyond birth and death

— Guru Nanak, Mul Mantar, Guru Granth Sahib

Islam is also a monotheistic religion as Muslims believe one God (Allah) and particularly in the concept of tawḥīd. This Islamic doctrine is a part of its Shahada.

Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; (1) Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; (2) He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; (3) And there is none like unto Him. (4)

— Al-Ikhlas

The Islamic theosophical belief in wahdatul wujud has many similarities to Sikh panentheism.

Guru and Messengers

Sikhism reveres Guru Nanak as the first Sikh Guru of the faith who taught of the one divine creator, WaheGuru. The Guru Gaddi, the symbolic seat of the Guru, has been filled by the ten Sikh Gurus, who have guided the Sikh people (Panth), and is now occupied by the Sikh holy text, Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhism accepts that there were other messengers—including Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed—in other religions.

Islam believes that there were many messengers of God, with the last messenger being Prophet Mohammed, who received the Quran as the last revelation of God. This conflicts with Sikhism whose first guru came around 800 years after the Prophet Mohammed.

Spirituality

Sikhism has an ambivalent attitude towards miracles and rejects any form of discrimination within and against other religions. Sikhism does not believe in rituals, but is permissive of traditions. Sikhism rejects asceticism and celibacy. The Sikhism founder Guru Nanak adopted the Indic ideas on rebirth, and taught the ideas of reincarnation. Adi Granth of Sikhism recognizes and includes spiritual wisdom from other religions.

Islam considers itself to be a perfect and final religion, and warns against innovation (bid‘ah) to what is revealed in the Quran and the Hadiths. Islam believes in miracles and a final judgment day (Yawm al-Qiyāmah).

Apostasy and view on other religions

Sikhism allows freedom of conscience and choosing one's own path. It teaches that many religious traditions are valid, leading to the same Waheguru, and it rejects that any particular religion has a monopoly regarding absolute truth for all of humanity.

Islam teaches that non-Islamic religious traditions have been distorted by man to suit their desires. Accordingly, apostasy—that is abandonment of Islam by a Muslim and conversion to another religion or atheism—is a religious crime in Islam punishable with death. According to the Hadiths, states John Esposito (2003), leaving Islam is punishable by "beheading, crucifixion or banishment," and sharia (Islamic legal code) traditionally has required death by the sword for an adult sane male who voluntarily leaves Islam. However, adds Esposito (2003), modern thinkers have argued against execution as penalty for apostasy from Islam by invoking Quranic verse 2:256.

Predestination

Sikhism believes in predestination within God's will, and what one does, speaks and hears falls within that will; one has to simply follow the laid down path per God's hukam.

Islam, particularly Sunni Islam, believes in predestination, or divine preordainment (al-qadā wa l-qadar), wherein God has full knowledge and control over all that occurs. According to Islamic tradition, all that has been decreed by God is written in al-Lawh al-Mahfūz, the 'Preserved Tablet'.

Practices

Sikh practices are outlined in the Sikh Rehat Maryada. These include the following:

1. Naam japna - To meditate and pray on WaheGuru's name.
2. Kirat Karni - To live and earn an honest life
3. Vand Chakna - To share one's earning with others and live as a community.

Additionally, Amritdhari Sikhs who belong to the Khalsa Panth wear the 5 articles of faith, known as the Five Ks:

1. Kes — uncut hair and beard
2. Kangha — a wooden comb to keep oneself clean
3. Kara — a metal bracelet worn around the wrist to remember the unity of WaheGuru
4. Kirpan — a small dagger to be worn at the waist for the defense of oneself and the innocent
5. Kacchera — an undergarment for humility

The Khalsa was created on Vaisakhi in 1699 by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. The Khalsa Sikhs have a set of seven Sikh prayers, called Nitnem, which are to be recited daily during Amrit Vela.

The Five Pillars of Islam are duties incumbent on every Muslim:

1. Shahada — testimony that "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of God"
2. Salat — prayers;
3. Zakat — Giving of alms
4. Sawm — Fasting during Ramadan; and
5. Hajj — pilgrimage to Mecca).

These 5 practices are essential to Sunni Islam; Shi'a Muslims subscribe to 8 ritual practices which substantially overlap with the five Pillars.

Grooming and dress

The Khalsa Panth among Sikhs are guided by the five Ks. They keep their head hair long (kesh) and men wear dastar (turban). They carry a wooden comb, wear an iron bracelet, wear a cotton underwear, and carry a kirpan (steel sword). Non-baptized Sikh women are free to dress as they wish in Sikhism. Sex segregation is not required in public places or Sikh temples by Sikhism.

Muslim males are encouraged to grow their beards and trim the moustache. Men in some Muslim communities wear turban (head cap). Muslim men, as well as women, must dress modestly. Muslim women are required to cover their bodies in public, with some Islamic scholars stating that the Hadiths require covering the face too; it is also highly recommended to cover their hair. Islam encourages gender segregation in public, and Muslim men and women do not usually mix in public places such as mosques. These restrictions are part of Adab.

Circumcision

Sikhism does not require circumcision of either males or females, and criticizes the practice.

In Islam, no verse in the Quran supports male or female circumcision (FGM/C). Male circumcision is a widespread practice and considered mandatory for Muslim males according to Sunnah. Muslim scholars disagree whether any authentic Sunnah in the hadiths supports the practice of female circumcision. The Ijma, or consensus of Muslim scholars, varies by the Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) on whether circumcision is optional, honorable or obligatory for Muslim male and females. Prominent Islamic scholars have both supported and opposed FGM/C for female Muslims.

Food and fasting

Sikhs are prohibited from eating kutha meat—meat obtained by ritualistic component and a slow death of the animal, as in Islamic halal or Jewish kosher meat. The official Sikh Code of Conduct Sikh Rehat Maryada only forbids the consumption of Kutha meat. Charity meals distributed at a Sikh Gurudwara, called a langar, is only lacto-vegetarian. Some groups of Sikhism disagree with the consumption of meat altogether. In practice, some Sikhs eat meat, while others avoid meat. Sikhism encourages temperance and moderation in food, i.e. to neither starve or overeat. Thus, it does not find merit in fasting, which is banned as an austerity, as a ritual, or as a mortification of the body by means of wilful hunger. Sikhs are forbidden from smoking and consumption of tobacco.

Islam has Quranic restrictions on food, such as how the meat is prepared. Halal meat is required in Islam, prepared by ritual slaughter that involves cutting the jugular veins of the animal with a sharp knife. This leads to death, through bleeding, of the animal. Meat from animals that die of natural causes or accident is not allowed, unless necessary. Beef is a religiously acceptable food to Muslims, but pork and alcohol is not.

Fasting is commended in Islam, especially in the month of Ramadan.

Taxation

Sikhism has never required a special tax for non-Sikhs.

Muslim rulers in history compelled the payment of a special tax (jizya) from dhimmi, non-Muslims living in a Muslim state. The Muslim jurists required adult, free, sane males among the dhimmi community to pay the jizya, while exempting non-Muslim women, children, elders, handicapped, the ill, the insane, monks, hermits, slaves and musta'mins—non-Muslim foreigners who only temporarily reside in Muslim lands. Dhimmis who chose to join military service were also exempted from payment, as were those who could not afford to pay. According to Islamic law, non-Muslim elders, handicapped etc. must be given pensions, and they must not go into begging. The purpose of the jizya was in exchange for protection and defending all non-Muslim residents against outside forces or invasions. Jizya was never imposed with the purpose to humiliate, demean or impose the faith of Islam on the non-Muslims. As Muslims pay zakat (2.5% of their savings, this amount of zakat paid by Muslims, exceeded the amount of jizya paid by the non-Muslims), which goes to the government for people in need. Dhimmis were excluded from having to pay Islamic religious tax such as zakat, also were excluded from other Islamic religious obligations.

Worship and pilgrimage

The Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) in Amritsar, India is not only a central religious place of the Sikhs, but also a symbol of human brotherhood and equality. The four entrances of the holy shrine from all four directions, signify that people belonging to every walk of life are equally welcome. The Golden Temple is a holy site for Sikhs and is welcome to people of any faith.

Sikhs do not believe in pilgrimages.

Mecca in Saudi Arabia is the central religious place in Islam. Mecca is regarded as the holiest city in Islam, and a pilgrimage to it (Hajj) is one of the pillars of Islam. Non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city.