Tradition / schoolRoots1604

Sikhism and the Guru Granth Sahib

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For everyone

Sikhism emerged in the Punjab in the late 15th century with the teaching of Guru Nanak (1469–1539). It believes in one formless God. It rests on remembering God, honest work and sharing, and rejects caste distinctions. The first compilation of its scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib (Adi Granth), was made by Guru Arjan in 1604. After the tenth guru, Gobind Singh, the text came to be regarded as the community's eternal guru.

For specialists

The Adi Granth contains, besides the Sikh gurus, the verses of bhakti poets of various backgrounds such as Kabir and Ravidas and of a Sufi, Shaikh Farid. The text is written in the Gurmukhi script and arranged by musical ragas. Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa in 1699 and, before his death in 1708, declared that guruship passed to the text and the community. The boundaries of Sikh identity were redefined by the Singh Sabha movement of the late 19th century.

Claims

God is one, formless and present in everything; liberation is sought by remembering God's name and living in social equality.^[1][3]

Positions

Sikh tradition: Sikhism is an independent religion founded on an original revelation to Guru Nanak.^[1]
An older academic interpretation: Sikhism is a synthesis of the Hindu bhakti movement and Sufism; most current scholars criticise this reading for ignoring the tradition's distinctiveness.^[1][2]

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Religions and scriptures

Hinduism and the Vedas Islam and the Qur'an

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Sources

BookMandair, A.-P. S. (2013). Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed. Bloomsbury, London
BookGrewal, J. S. (1990). The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press (The New Cambridge History of India II.3)
EncyclopediaSikhism. Encyclopaedia Britannicabritannica.com archive

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APA

Athena contributors. (2026). Sikhism and the Guru Granth Sahib. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/sihizm/

BibTeX

@misc{athena_sihizm,
  title        = {Sikhism and the Guru Granth Sahib},
  author       = {{Athena contributors}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/sihizm/}},
  note         = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}

Added: September 28, 2026 · Last changed: September 28, 2026 · Page history

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