Combination of Hinduism and Islam
Some people think that Sikhism is mostly a combination of Hinduism and Islam because the early Sikhs shared basics of Hinduism and Islam in their faith. It is also because its founder Guru Nanak Dev Ji took resources and main beliefs from Hinduism and Islam religions. Guru was born of a Hindu father and Muslim mother. He was very close to Islam and he visited Makkah and to some extent he was thought to be initially approaching Islam. The religion is extensive in India and the Sikhs have large communities in England and America where they offer their worship the same manner in the temple like Hindus (Singh 15).
There are specific similarities between the Sikhism and the Hinduism. For instance, both religions believe in transmigration of the soul or reincarnation. According to both religions, there are countless series of births and deaths. The cycle is only broken when he achieves Mukhti that is union with God. They both believe in Karma which adjusts the reincarnation and transmigration of the soul and it is connected with the principle of Grace. Both Hindus and Sikhs believe in Omkarr or Aum as one holy and final god. They both burn their bodies as well as sharing common festivals such as Holi, Diwali among others. The religions believe in Maya in that the world is just an illusion and some get charmed the illusion and forget God. Lastly both the Hindus and the Sikhs believe that earthly acquire a body as an outcome of good actions but the he arrive at the gate of deliverance with God’s kind grace.
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The similarities between the Sikhism and Islam include, strictly believing in one God and submitting themselves to God and rejecting Idol Worshipping (Geoffrey 252). They also believe in war for righteousness where the Sikhs call it Dharam Yudha while Muslims refer to it as Jihad. They also reject that their spiritual teachers and prophets were God as they pray to Alla and Waheguru but not to their Gurus or Hazrats. The two religions also believe in Granths whereby Muslim believes in Quran and Sikhs in Adi Granth. They belive in power of their scriptures and consider it as the heavenly revelation. They are also strictly against Kabarprasti as some Muslims do visit majhars of their renowned saints. They both treat charity equally (Christopher, 60). On the issue of priesthood, there is no ordained priesthood in both Islam and Sikhism. They also criticize slanderers.
However, Sikhism is not a combination of Islam and Hinduism as it is a religion that was uniquely created by Guru the same way Hinduism was created. It was started with the initiative of shaping ideas together from both Islam and Hinduism to harmonize the followers and stop them from killing each other and get along well.
The religion varies from Islam and Hinduism in different ways. For instance, Hindus tend to worship different gods while the Sikhs worships only one God. The Hindus practice idol worshipping while the Sikhs are totally against the practice. There is a practice of Caste system in Hinduism but Sikhism recommends considering all humans equally in spite of the caste.
Sikhism also differs from Islam in such a way that Muslims consider polygamy but Sikhs are totally against the practice. While Muslims practice animal sacrifice, the Sikhs are not for the idea. Sikhs treats women equally whereas Muslims don’t. Both Hindus and Muslims consider their religions to be superior but the Sikhs focus on God instead of glorifying a religion. Both Muslims and Hindus make pilgrimages while Sikhs seeks for God inside one’s soul. Lastly, Sikhism teaches the purpose of life to become one with God that we derived from. Sikhism also directs the way to achieve salvation and become on e with God (Christopher 39).