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D&D Religion's "Ask About Sikhism" Thread

All sikh related questions here.


As with H&R, remember that all advice is unprofessional.

This thread is for questions about Sikhism ONLY, any chat, or personal discussions will be WARNED. Please take any discussions amongst Sikhs to the Sikh Society thread, or if it is of a substantial nature, create a discussion thread in the Theology & Religion subforum.

QUESTIONS ONLY

Spam will be dealt with severely

Post in the English language ONLY, or when using another language, POST A TRANSLATION. Any posts not abiding by this will be WARNED.

Use etiquette, be polite, and civil.
(edited 12 years ago)

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Reply 1
Why do sikhs not cut their hair?
What's the deal with the hair? Is it compulsory to not cut facial hair or not?
Reply 3
whats d&D religions?
_khan
whats d&D religions?

The part of Debate and Discussion that deals with topics related to Religion. This thread is a part of that.
Reply 5
No hair must be cut, it is one of the four major sins in Sikhism requiring re- baptism (that is if they were baptised in the first place). Hair is considered a gift from God and an acceptance of his will. It is also important to spirituality - You'd have to go really deep into Sikh philosophy to understand exactly how, but it plays a big part in spiritual progression. Finally it, along with the turban is a symbol of the Guru (Guru Nanak-Guru Granth Sahib Ji- the 11 Guru's who revealed Sikhism) and shows pride in the path, and not being scared of letting the world know you who you are and what you believe (this ties in greatly with the religious opression Sikhism was born under the Mughal Empire in India).
Reply 6
What's with the swords? Can I have one?
Reply 7
BasiConcept
Why do sikhs not cut their hair?



Keeping the hair is part of the 5 K's.

The sikh belief is that hair is a gift from god so why get rid of it.
So, they just let their hair grow for ages? At what point is it cut/trimmed?
Reply 9
punktopia
What's with the swords? Can I have one?


It's a symbol for fighting opression, defending the weak and also yourself. Never to be used for personal gain. Sikhism has a rich martial heritage, a large part of the first few hundred years were spent fighting off bigoted Mughal Emporers intent on forcefully converting everyone to Islam. In Sikhism Weapons are considered tools to defend what you believe in and defend those who can't defend themselves, we also have a martial art called Gatka/Shastar Vidya.
Reply 10
USingh
No hair must be cut, it is one of the four major sins in Sikhism requiring re- baptism (that is if they were baptised in the first place). Hair is considered a gift from God and an acceptance of his will. It is also important to spirituality - You'd have to go really deep into Sikh philosophy to understand exactly how, but it plays a big part in spiritual progression. Finally it, along with the turban is a symbol of the Guru (Guru Nanak-Guru Granth Sahib Ji- the 11 Guru's who revealed Sikhism) and shows pride in the path, and not being scared of letting the world know you who you are and what you believe (this ties in greatly with the religious opression Sikhism was born under the Mughal Empire in India).


I'm sorry but I disagree, I don't think you need to abstain yourself from cutting your hair and putting it into a turban just to show you are part of a religion. And I think no-one is scared to reveal which religion they believe in, they just see no reason to stop cutting their hair just to show they are religious. Most people openly admit that they are religious, when questioned. I think having a turban is rather a bold statement, you don't have to declare to the world you are sikh if someone asks which religion you are, you answer.
BasiConcept
I'm sorry but I disagree, I don't think you need to abstain yourself from cutting your hair and putting it into a turban just to show you are part of a religion. And I think no-one is scared to reveal which religion they believe in, they just see no reason to stop cutting their hair just to show they are religious. Most people openly admit that they are religious, when questioned. I think having a turban is rather a bold statement, you don't have to declare to the world you are sikh if someone asks which religion you are, you answer.


That is not the only reason, however. Many religions have held prohibitions on the cutting of hair, from Judaism, to Islam to Confucianism.
Reply 12
SolInvictus
That is not the only reason, however. Many religions have held prohibitions on the cutting of hair, from Judaism, to Islam to Confucianism.


What are the other reasons?
I have never heard the prohibition of cutting hair in Islam and Judaism, I think that is merely cultural.
Reply 13
BasiConcept
I'm sorry but I disagree, I don't think you need to abstain yourself from cutting your hair and putting it into a turban just to show you are part of a religion. And I think no-one is scared to reveal which religion they believe in, they just see no reason to stop cutting their hair just to show they are religious. Most people openly admit that they are religious, when questioned. I think having a turban is rather a bold statement, you don't have to declare to the world you are sikh if someone asks which religion you are, you answer.


If you will allow me, I will as briefly as possible just say where this reason first originated.
The first time it was made compulsory to keep the hair and turban was after the 9th Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji was martyred (by be heading) for defending each person's right to choose which religion to follow themselves. At the time of the execution the Mughal ruler's decided to ask if anyone in the crowd watching was a Sikh, but no one answered. After the Guru's martyrdom, the tenth Guru, who was the ninth's son decided that he would make Sikhs no longer ashamed or afraid of being who they were and instead decided that we should have pride and the hair, also spiritually significant was a symbol for doing this. Even today people face religious and racial discrimination all the time, by making a constant open statement of inner beliefs its a way of tackling this head on and with pride and identity.
The other reasons are equally important.

I'll be back in a bit, but there are quite a few others on here who can answer too.
Reply 14
nothingspek
So, they just let their hair grow for ages? At what point is it cut/trimmed?



It isn't. However some sikhs do trim it, but thats just because the want to.
Reply 15
punktopia
What's with the swords? Can I have one?



thanks for calling it a sword, most people don't respect that. You can have one however if you get stopped by the police you would have to changed your religion to sikhism real fast in order to get out of that situation >.>
Reply 16
BSJ
thanks for calling it a sword, most people don't respect that. You can have one however if you get stopped by the police you would have to changed your religion to sikhism real fast in order to get out of that situation >.>


What do most people call them? Really big knives? I had a Sikh friend in school, he had a great big sword on his wall... but he was the biggest liar I ever knew, so I didn't ask him what it was for. He'd have told me it was to cut dogs up with or something.
I think there is some funny video clip of a chav harassing a little old sikh lady, who scares the **** out of him when she takes out her Kirpan, brandishing it while cursing at him in Punjabi.

Anyone know about it?
BasiConcept
What are the other reasons?
I have never heard the prohibition of cutting hair in Islam and Judaism, I think that is merely cultural.


There's something in the Bible too (in leviticus) that states that cutting your beard is sinful too. It's odd.. but it's a traditional religious belief. No idea why.
Reply 19
USingh
If you will allow me, I will as briefly as possible just say where this reason first originated.
The first time it was made compulsory to keep the hair and turban was after the 9th Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji was martyred (by be heading) for defending each person's right to choose which religion to follow themselves. At the time of the execution the Mughal ruler's decided to ask if anyone in the crowd watching was a Sikh, but no one answered.


No-one answered because they were afraid, they would be executed like he was. I don't think any of them were ashamed of their religion many were afraid I concede that. I don't think anyone should have to not cut their hair to show they are not afraid or ashamed. If any of them were not afraid or ashamed they could have spoken out, that represents true pride in their religion, which they clearly did not have if they were afraid to declare it.

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