1. Sikh people are adamantly monotheistic.
At the 2024 Republican National Convention, committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon opened her prayer from the podium by saying, “Dear Waheguru, our one true God.” Dhillon’s invocation of this Punjabi name for Sikhism’s singular deity is indicative of the monotheism (or ek-onkar) that characterizes Sikhs all over the world. Waheguru is conceptualized very differently from the God of the Bible. That is, Waheguru is not simply a Punjabi name for the God of Abraham. Sikh people are adamantly monotheistic, but theirs is a god completely different from him who raised Christ from the dead.
2. The Sikh heritage traces back to Guru Nanak.
Nanak was an early 16th-century poet, teacher, and societal leader in what is now the Punjab region of Pakistan. Put off by the rigidity and ritualism he saw in the Muslim and Hindu communities around him, Nanak charted another path. His teachings emphasized personal meditation, service to society, and human equality. Those who followed him were first and foremost learners, translated as sikhs in Punjabi. Guru Nanak, then, is the founder of the Sikh religion, as well as the spiritual father of what has become the worldwide community of Sikhs.
3. Sikh tradition also reveres nine other gurus.
Being monotheistic, Sikhs never revered Guru Nanak as divine but rather as a wise teacher who had a special connection to Waheguru. Sikh tradition acknowledges a lineage of nine other gurus who succeeded Nanak as the religious and societal heads of the Sikh community. From the time Nanak affirmed his successor, just before his death in 1539, until the tenth guru died in 1708, each of these leaders had shaped the history and traditions of Sikhism. Guru Ram Das began construction of the famous Golden Temple in Amritsar, in modern-day India, and Guru Hargobind established the first Sikh military. Most importantly, it was Guru Amar Das who initiated the compilation of what would become Sikhism’s key scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib.
4. The Guru Granth Sahib is more than a religious text.
By the final years of Guru Gobind Singh’s life at the dawn of the 18th century, he—as the 10th and final guru of Sikhism—had become convinced that something needed to change. Concerns were mounting that disputes over succession would soon break out among the Sikh leadership. Singh also desired that the teachings of Sikhism be preserved for generations to come. For these reasons, just before he died in 1708, he declared: “Guru manyo Granth” (“Take the Granth as [your] guru”). In effect, he installed the scripture itself as Sikhism’s 11th and eternal guru.
5. When it comes to Sikhism and idolatry, it’s complicated.
Since the days of the religion’s founding, Sikhs have unwaveringly abstained from the worship of idols. Indeed, Hindu ritualism and idolatry were among the religious practices that Guru Nanak categorically opposed. Nonetheless, ever since the Guru Granth Sahib was enshrined as Sikhism’s eternal guru three centuries ago, members of the Sikh community have treated their physical copies of the book with a peculiar degree of care. Many Sikh houses of worship (or gurudwaras) feature an air-conditioned hut where their Granth codex is kept on a velvet pillow. Attendees can often be seen fanning the elaborately decorated book with foliage branches as a local teacher reads from it aloud. At least on the surface, then, care for the Sikh scripture often appears very similar to idolatry.
6. Sikhs believe in rebirth but focus on the present.
Having emerged from the soil of medieval Hinduism, the Sikh worldview assumes reincarnation. The Sanskrit term for reincarnation is sansara (often mistakenly Romanized as samsara). In general, the Sikh’s goal is to escape the reincarnation cycle and be united with Waheguru. This is accomplished through meditation, acts of service, and the grace of Waheguru himself. Distinctive of Sikhism, though, is its emphasis on jivan-mukti, or living liberation. Sikh tradition has always insisted that union with Waheguru can be attained not only upon one’s escape from sansara but also during this life in the here and now.
7. Sikh salvation is based on grace plus works.
Ever since the days of the religion’s founding in the early 16th century, Sikhs have been characterized by their dutiful service to humanity. Along with meditation, humanitarian activism is a major way in which members of the Sikh community work to obtain living liberation, or jivan-mukti. However, a certain paradox is inherent in Sikh soteriology. While cumulative acts of service can be efficacious in salvation, it is ultimately gur-prasad—the grace of Waheguru—that determines the fate of every Sikh. According to Sikhism, salvation is a matter of works and grace.
8. Sikh people tend to be very philanthropic.
Steve Jobs used to share that as a young man he would walk every Sunday to the ISKCON (commonly referred to as Hare Krishna) temple in Los Angeles for a free meal. Interestingly, ISKCON’s open kitchen ministry is something the cult picked up from Sikhism many years prior. In the early 1500s, Guru Angad Dev established the tradition of appending large dining halls—or langars—to Sikh houses of worship that would remain open to everyone free of charge. The langar system is the hallmark of Sikh philanthropy, but it is by no means their only avenue of service. The worldwide Sikh community is engaged in disaster relief, homeless sheltering, and educational programs. On the whole, Sikhs are highly philanthropic.
9. Many Sikhs’ identities are marked by the five Ks.
Last Spring, the Hopkinton school district in Massachusetts made a special provision for Sikh students to carry their knives on campus. The rationale was that these traditional blades, or kirpans, were essential to the students’ religious identities. At the start of the 18th century, Guru Gobind Singh formalized what he called the Sikh khalsa. The term khalsa literally means “the pure,” and it came to demarcate a special segment of Sikh society that had undergone Singh’s initiation ceremony and demonstrate their devotion by adhering to the five Ks, that is, wearing five symbolic items: kesh, kirpan, kara, kanga, and kachha. The first K, kesh, refers to the khalsa member’s uncut hair, which is typically bound in a turban, while the kirpan is that small dagger that was allowed into Hopkinton school buildings last year. The kara is a bracelet made of steel or iron, the kanga refers to a wooden comb worn in the hair, and the kachha is an undergarment. Not every Sikh is a member of the khalsa today, but each of the five Ks remains an outward marker of khalsa identity.
10. For many Sikhs, religion equals identity.
Regardless of whether or not they are initiated khalsa members, many Sikh people see their religion as inseparable from their very identity. For example, to be a Punjabi woman with the surname “Kaur” is to be Sikh. A young Sikh man may have his hair cut short for the sake of a new job while remaining a proud member of the worldwide Sikh community, though his grandfather may never approve of the change. Being Sikh does not just depend on what one believes; it’s who you are.
Engaging Sikhs with the Gospel
Many of these distinctive features of the Sikh religion provide excellent opportunities for engaging Sikh people with the gospel. While we must be clear that Waheguru is not the God of the Bible, our shared monotheism just might be the perfect conversation starter. As we observe our Sikh neighbors treating their holy book with the utmost respect, we can share how we treasure God’s Word like nothing else. As Sikh people labor for living liberation in the here and now, we have an opportunity to impress upon them that Christ wants a relationship with them today. Since our Sikh friends see their salvation as dependent on both grace and works, what a beautiful truth it is that they can be saved purely by grace through faith! Finally, we can proclaim boldly that a new identity in Christ is what God offers to people from every nation, tribe, people, and language—including those from the proud heritage of Punjabi Sikhs.
