Global terms: Sikhi

Sikh Religious Authority in a Digital World

Research Spotlight: Sikh Religious Authority in a Digital World

September 2022

Dr Jasjit Singh

In this video Dr Jasjit Singh talks about the impact of the online environment on Sikhs in diaspora and how the online environment impacts on religion and particularly on religious authority. Questions raised include:

  • What role does the internet play in religious transmission and learning? What can people do now that they couldn’t do before?
  • How does different digital tools present different types of information about religion? Are there different types of religious authority?
  • Think about issues of translation, and what might be lost when simply imposing meanings from English / Christianity on to non-Christian worldviews – e.g. the word Gurdwara. Emphasises the importance of the Guru for Sikhs, unlike ‘Sikh Temple’ which doesn’t.
  • How might family background and religious affiliation impact on online engagement.

You can find a research report here on RE:ONLINE summarising Jasjit’s research with links to the original articles.

How has the internet impacted on the relationship between Sikhs and the Guru Granth Sahib, and on Sikhism in general?

Research Summary: How has the internet impacted on the relationship between Sikhs and the Guru Granth Sahib, and on Sikhism in general?

The main article reported here focuses on the emergence of online versions of the Guru Granth Sahib, their impact on the transmission of Sikhism, and on religious authority. It looks at the consequences of the emergence of online translations and issues faced in engaging with the ‘digital Guru’. The second article, more briefly covered, presents some more, general, related findings from the same research project as the first.

Researchers

Jasjit Singh

Research Institution

University of Leeds

What is this about?

How has the digital environment impacted on the relationship between Sikhs and the Guru Granth Sahib? How has the evolution of the online environment changed the ways in which the Guru Granth Sahib is presented; and how have technological changes affected the ways in which Sikhs engage with and relate to the Guru Granth Sahib? Also, in general, how has the internet affected the practice of Sikhism?

What was done?

The research was carried out though an online survey (645 respondents), interviews, focus groups and participant observation. As a whole, the study was of religious transmission among 18-30-year-old Sikhs in Britain.

Main findings and outputs

  • For over 20 years, the digital environment has impacted on the ways in which British Sikhs engage with their religious tradition.
  • It enables them to engage with the Guru Granth Sahib but in a very specific way. English translations mean more of them can read the text but the pros and cons of translation are little-discussed.
  • Traditional authorities (preachers, gurdwara officials) can be bypassed – but inner, deeper meanings, that depend on sound and poetry, can be lost in translation. Strictly, the Guru Granth Sahib cannot be translated. Accurate, nuanced translations are needed, as far as possible, but many British Sikhs not taught Punjabi as children learn it as adults, in order to understand their tradition.
  • More general findings: the internet enables Sikhs to know different views on Sikhism than those held by their families, though this can be confusing. It brings more Sikhs into a personal relationship with the Guru Granth Sahib, because a hukamnama (‘order’) can be received from the Guru Granth Sahib whenever wished, without needing to visit a gurdwara. Finding out about sangat (congregation) events is easier, as is finding and purchasing religious resources or looking into the legal position on e.g. turban wearing, or mobilising on social or religious issues.

Relevance to RE

There are several messages for teachers to bear in mind from this research:

  • The importance of language within religious traditions, and how it is used, e.g. poetically rather than literally – and the need to devise ways for pupils to grasp this.
  • The need to listen to and not just read texts.
  • Issues of translation, and how teachers should try not to simply impose meanings from English / Christianity on to non-Christian worldviews (e.g. God, heaven, hell, angels are reported as sometimes imposed on to the Sikh tradition).
  • The need to include the effect of the internet on religion & worldviews in the curriculum.

Generalisability and potential limitations

According to the author, the study, or specifically the survey part, did not seek to represent young British Sikhs as a whole but gather the views of a number of individuals to highlight possible trends.

Find out more

The original articles reported (main one first) are:
Jasjit Singh (2018): Lost in translation? The emergence of the digital Guru
Granth Sahib, Sikh Formations, DOI: 10.1080/17448727.2018.1485355

Jasjit Singh (2014) Sikh-ing online: the role of the Internet in the religious lives of young British Sikhs, Contemporary South Asia, 22:1, 82-97, DOI: 10.1080/09584935.2013.870974

How are young British Sikhs being brought up as Sikhs?

Research Summary: How are young British Sikhs being brought up as Sikhs?

Young British Sikhs are regularly accused of not attending gurdwara and not being interested in Sikhism. However, many young Sikhs are now learning about Sikhism outside traditional religious institutions. Using data gathered as part of a project studying the religious upbringing of 18- to 30-year-old British Sikhs, the research explores how young Sikhs are learning about Sikhism in their pre-adult life stage. It examines the influences of the family and the school environment and the various methods used in gurdwaras. It provides an understanding from the perspective of young Sikhs themselves about what it can mean to be a young British Sikh. There are important messages for RE teachers. British Sikh family life can vary according to different factors such as country from which migration into Britain took place. Particular individual, social or cultural experiences can deepen young Sikhs’ sense of commitment. So far RE in school appears to make very little contribution to young Sikhs’ development of religious identity.

Researcher

Jasjit Singh

Research Institution

University of Leeds

What is this about?

  • Young British Sikhs are regularly accused of not attending gurdwara and not being interested in Sikhism, but is this true?
  • How do young British Sikhs learn about Sikhism outside traditional religious institutions, and in what ways do they do so?
  • What influence do family life, school education and gurdwaras have on young British Sikhs’ religious development?

What was done?

A qualitative methodological approach was taken, using a variety of sources as part of the investigation. The main methods included: semi-structured interviews with 30 18- to 30-year-old British Sikhs who had attended and participated in events organised for young Sikhs; a
self-selecting online survey of young British Sikhs; focus groups with Sikh students; and participant observation at events organised for young Sikhs, including Sikh camps and university Sikh society events.

Main findings and outputs

  • Young British Sikhs are socialised into Sikhism in different ways – what is true of some may not be true of others.
  • It is important not to assume that there are discrete British and Asian cultures which necessarily clash. Although Sikh families may share some elements, many have their own way of practising Sikhism influenced by their migration experiences, caste, political affiliation, level of religious commitment, etc.
  • In general, the majority of East African Sikh migrants to Britain are more religiously inclined than those coming directly from India.
  • Sikhs not maintaining visible signs of commitment (e.g. uncut hair or the turban) may be very committed to prayer, storytelling to their children and other Sikh activities. In many families, emphases such as prayer, vegetarianism or display of images of gurus are passed down from parents or grandparents to children.
  • At school, experiences of not belonging to e.g. Islam or Catholicism – where these other traditions are prominent – sometimes provokes an emotional moment of identification with Sikhism, prompting more engagement with the faith.
  • Gurdwaras use different ways of engaging with young people, including Punjabi classes, music tuition, adapted services, youth camps or providing library facilities; but many young Sikhs themselves have started to organise events outside gurdwaras, which they are free to shape as they wish.
  • Many respondents reported that they had not learned about Sikhism in school.

Relevance to RE

  • At national levels of policy and curriculum, the absence of significant attention to teaching about Sikhism in school should be addressed.
  • When planning lessons about or teaching about Sikhism, teachers should bear in mind the diversity of British Sikhism and that Sikh pupils present may offer different explanations or relate differently to lesson content. Such pupils should be listened to with sensitivity.
  • The British context for Sikhism has evidently been rich and varied, and – again, with the sensitivity needed to avoid intrusion on privacy – teachers might usefully collect some of its stories as resources:
  • E.g. Sikh family experiences of coming to Britain from India or East Africa and how gurdwaras and other religious resources were developed. Contacts in local Sikh communities could be developed for this purpose.
  • ‘Emotional moments of identification’ could offer vivid teaching stories. The following example is from p.376 of the article:

I was in the choir .. .and I thought to myself, ‘today I’ll get the Holy Communion’ … so I had my hands in the right place … and I knew from his eyes that the priest wasn’t going to give it to me … and he just said, ‘Bless you my child’. I was so angry – I thought, ‘I’ve done your kirtan [singing of religious compositions] for so many years and you don’t give me parshad [blessed food]? ’Then I thought, ‘if these gore [white people] go to a gurdwara , they’ll get parshad no matter what.’ So from then on, every time we used to say, ‘In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’, I used to mattha tek [bow to the Guru] … it was an internal rebellion – and I was like ‘I’m going to gurdwara, I’m going to show my friends, I ’m going to talk about Sikhism – I’m going to tell them why I don’t cut my hair.’

Generalisability and potential limitations

This research is based on contact with as wide a representation of young British Sikhs as possible. The researcher identifies an interesting possible limitation, in that those studied did not grow up with the internet in the same way as the current generation of British Sikh children, meaning that the role of the internet in Sikh identity formation is not covered.

Find out more

Keeping the faith: reflections on religious nurture among young British Sikhs, Journal of Beliefs & Values, 33:3, pages 369-383 (published online 13 December 2012)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13617672.2012.732817

The Lived Worldviews of Tower Hamlets

Resource spotlight: The Lived Worldviews of Tower Hamlets

Ruth Marx was awarded a 10th anniversary grant from Culham St Gabriel’s to research and create resources into core- Religion and Worldviews for Key Stage 5. This suite of resources is the result of this research and explores the worldviews of 13 individuals who live or work in Tower Hamlets interviewed about their worldviews. The worldviews discussed are from a range of religious and non-religious traditions and the interviewees are expressing their own opinions and not representing any organisation as a whole. Each video is accompanied by an editable power point with activities to embed and extend the learning and an overview document shows the worldview(s), themes discussed and cross curricular links which can be explored with this resource. Whilst created with core 16-19 Religion and Worldviews in mind these resources may be of use for younger age groups and for teacher CPD.

  • Could you create a suite of resources like this for your area?
  • Could you share one of these resources and compare it to a case study of a person in your area?
  • Do let us know how you use these resources?

All the resources are available in The Lived Worldviews of Tower Hamlets Padlet

A taster video is available below:

The nature of God in Sikhi – Ranvir Singh

The nature of God in Sikhi

While some Sikhs are happy to use the term ‘God’ to refer to the Ultimate, the Base of Being, others are more suspicious for it is difficult for some people to conceive of ‘God’ without thinking of a sort of bearded man in the sky. For Sikhs this is problematic as they believe that the Ultimate is neither male, nor female but also because they believe that the Creator is in the creation and the creation is in the Creator.

The Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, begins with the numeral ‘1’. Therefore, it is true to say that Sikhs are monotheistic. However, Sikhs may also be called panentheistic as they believe that the One is present in creation: “One Light fills all creation. That Light is You” (Guru Granth Sahib, p.13).

Sikh are not pantheists, people who believe that God is the world. For Sikhs the Divine is not the universe but is the Life within it, its driving force, like fire inside wood, a “reflection in a mirror or fragrance within a flower” (Guru Granth Sahib, p.684). It is this belief about Divinity that gives rise to the Sikh ethos of the sant-sipahi or saint-soldier.

The saintly element follows from connecting with the Divine within. This Presence is called Naam or name. Naming is integral to a relationship and relationships shape, and are shaped by, our being – our ideas and practices – in the world. The Presence is revealed to us through the Sabd, or word, that inscribes our existence and which therefore constantly reaches out to us as our Inner Tutor or intuition. This Sabd is regarded as the SatGuru or Real Guru, with the interaction between the Guru Granth Sahib or Sikh scripture and Sikhs, a reflection of the dialogue between consciousness and intuition. The action of the Sabd is called gurprasad or grace.

The soldierly element follows from the recognition that there is Divinity and, therefore, dignity in every person. For this reason social action is a corollary of spiritual realisation. Grace reaching to us flows through us as meeta or loving-kindness. “After spending time with saints I lost the sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’. No one automatically is my enemy, nor do I regard others as strangers. I am friendly towards everyone” (Guru Granth Sahib, p.1299). These friendly relations are best expressed in the langar which is a free kitchen where free vegetarian food is available to everyone, whatever their race, gender, faith or class – it represents equality, inclusion and the importance of social service.

Such service can feed into political action. The fifth Guru, Guru Arjun wrote: “From now such is the Will of God: No one shall force another, no one shall take advantage of and use another. Everyone, each individual, has the right to look for and work for happiness and self-fulfilment. Love and persuasion is the only law of social cohesion” (Guru Granth Sahib, p.74). He became the first Sikh martyr in 1606 as the Emperor feared that his words and actions were a threat to the divine right of kings – the belief that God chose rulers and gave them the authority to rule others. A second Guru was martyred, in 1675. The Dasam Granth, a Sikh religious text, says that his sacrifice was for three principles: the right to worship; the right to have your views about the ultimate nature of the world and life respected; the right to pursue happiness and self-fulfilment (Dasam Granth p.54). In 1699, the Khalsa was formed. This remains a self-governing community of equals that anyone is eligible to join providing they agree to abide by its code of conduct, designed to transform a person into a knight.

The battle-drum beats in the sky of the mind; aim is taken, wounds inflicted. The spiritual heroes enter the field of battle; the time for war is here and now! Only
They may be cut, piece by piece, but they never leave the field of battle

(Guru Granth Sahib, p.1105).


The hymn refers to the battle within each person as they struggle with the five thieves that oppress us – pride, greed, lust, anger and undue attachment; and forces of fear, desires and hopes that imprison us in stories of the future and past. These elements may govern and shape our lives. But the stories they tell are part of wider social stories that feed into, and reflect, social realities. Therefore, the struggle for freedom and authenticity has a social as well as spiritual dimension.

The in/out structure of believer/unbeliever; male/female; black/white; high caste/untouchable is replaced by unity through the Presence of the Divine. This oneness of God and oneness of humanity is manifested in the common intellectual human cauldron of the Guru Granth Sahib, featuring 36 non-Sikh authors, symbolised by the sword of discriminating intelligence and will that stirs the pot of the human body. The sword and cauldron together symbolise the amrit ceremony whereby people join the Khalsa. This nexus of spiritual-social is found in the langar where people serve but also eat. Free and abundant food challenge stories of scarcity that justify poverty and restricted access to power in the human species. “The wealth of nature is there to be used. There is enough for all, but it is not shared justly in this world” (Guru Granth Sahib, p.1171). The generosity or grace of God involves other species. “In the deepest rocks there are living beings and even there food is provided for them” (Guru Granth Sahib, p.10).

The implications for ideas of space are clear. Each person’s heart is a sacred space. Moreover, even other planets have sacred spaces as, “The saints of many worlds live there. They celebrate, blooming with the divine” (Guru Granth Sahib, p.8), implying intelligent life and perhaps even more religions. “The concept of time emphasises present/Presence. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and seasons all originate from the 1 Sun”, says Nanak, “in just the same way that different religions originate from the 1 Creator” (Guru Granth Sahib, p.12-13).

God’s truths were established with the “first breath” and persist through time. There was neither a golden age nor will there be one. Suffering exists due to free will and provides the opportunity for relationship between Being and beings. Faced with carnage when Babur invaded India, Guru Nanak wrote: “Nanak sings of the virtues of the King in the city of corpses and gives this lesson: the Creator who allocates unique opportunities sits apart, watching our choices” (Guru Granth Sahib p.723).

Sikhs believe in an afterlife where God acts as Judge. “The rulers are tigers and their officials are dogs. Together they go out to wake up the sleeping people to harass them. Those who should be serving the public wound people with their claws while the dogs lick up the blood that is spilled. But in the Court of God everyone will be judged. Those who have betrayed the trust of the people will be shamed and punished” (Guru Granth Sahib p.1288).

RE-searchers Approach

RE-searchers Approach

A team from Exeter University and the Learning Institute has developed a new approach to Religious Education in Primary Schools. It is called ‘the RE-searchers approach’. It encourages pupils to think about the significance and effectiveness of different methodologies and methods of enquiry in Religious Education. To make these accessible to young children, they have personified some of them as cartoon characters. Individually these characters are called Debate-it-all Derek, Ask-it-all Ava, Have-a-go Hugo, and See-the-story Suzie, but collectively they’re known as the ‘RE-searchers’. Each character holds different assumptions about religion(s) and advocates different research methods (e.g. questioning and arguing, interviewing and empathizing, participating and experiencing, and narrating and exploring interpretations). Once acquainted with our characters and their respective characteristics as researchers, pupils can undertake learning activities associated with each of them in pursuit of different understandings of religion(s).

Watch and Learn: BBC and the Educational Recording Agency

Resource Spotlight: Watch and Learn: BBC and the Educational Recording Agency

December 2024

Where do you go to find programmes suitable for showing lived religion and belief to your pupils?

As you sample the programmes below you might like to consider

  • Who might these programmes be useful to support teacher subject knowledge?
  • Where might snippets of these programmes exemplify the concepts and understanding we are teaching?

BBC

There is some interesting programming coming up on BBC radio and TV next year, but what did you miss in 2024? Look on iPlayer- lifestyle and page down to Faith and Hope to find Sacred wonders, Big Zuu goes to Mecca and much more. For those of you teaching younger pupils also look at Treasure Champs which has stories you may share in lessons.

If you would like to read a little more from Daisy Scalchi, Head of Religion and Ethics at the BBC, read this professional reflection piece, Religion, the most important subject on the curriculum?

The Educational Recording Agency (ERA)

The Educational Recording Agency (ERA) offers you free access to a wide range of high-quality, ad-free video content to support your lessons on religion, faith, and ethics. Their curated resources align with the RE curriculum and are available for instant streaming in your classroom, including:

These programmes provide engaging, real-life examples of how religion shapes individual lives and societies, making them excellent tools to bring classroom discussions to life. Search Religious Education and the age group you teach to see all the programmes available. Alternatively click on the links below for some curated resources.

Primary religious education

Secondary religious education

Concepts of God and the Ultimate

Concepts of God and the Ultimate

In 2015 we commissioned a group of writers to produce articles on the concept of God and the Ultimate from a variety of different belief traditions: Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Humanist, Muslim, Jewish and Sikhi. You can find links to each of them below.

Ultimate reality, God and gods in Buddhism – Denise Cush

Summary explaining that Buddhism does not centre on a creator God but on awakening to ultimate reality through the Dharma; seen as truth, nirvana, emptiness, mind‑only or Buddha‑nature depending on the tradition.

Christianity and God – Jane Brooke

Christian concepts of God and ultimate reality, providing insights and teaching ideas for Religious Education lessons.

The Hindu Concept of God – Jim Robinson

Summary explaining how Hindu traditions understand the divine as both one ultimate reality (Brahman) and many deities who express its different qualities, allowing diverse ways of relating to and realising the sacred.

Humanism, Ultimate Reality, God and Gods – Sara Passmore

How humanists understand ultimate reality—rejecting supernatural gods, grounding meaning and morality in human experience, and turning to science and reason to explain the natural world.

Islam and God – Aliya Azam

Summary explaining Islamic beliefs about God as absolutely one, unique and indivisible, transcendent and beyond human comprehension, with any association of partners rejected as shirk.

Judaism and G-d – David Hampshire

Summary explaining how Jewish thought focuses less on defining God’s essence and more on covenant, scripture and lived responsibility.

The nature of God in Sikhi – Ranvir Singh

Summary of Sikh belief in one formless, timeless and all‑pervading God, known through the Guru and realised by remembering the divine Name.

Beyond Stereotypes: Teaching Sikhi Through Powerful Women’s Stories

jenny-kaur | 08 March, 2026

“That’s not my Sikh faith” Amy Ark [Sikh panellist] said during the recent National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE) Strictly RE conference. Amy was discussing her own experience at school, where Sikhi was only covered for one week and in this short time she found the curriculum had resonated little with her lived experience; Amy is not alone, there are many Sikhs who also feel the same. I find the common phrase “She’s not Sikh her hair is cut” circling in many discussions in groups in 11-14 RE.

I’m sure I am not alone. I’m sure we have all found ourselves in the lesson where we combat generalisation and stereotypes in the classroom. I have found it best to provide examples of modern and historical Sikhs who have a story to disrupt the ‘typical Sikh look’ for students. What does it mean to look or act like a Sikh currently?

In Professor Jasjit Singh’s excellent ‘Teaching Sikhi in RE: Engaging communities with Teaching Religion’ research we learned it was clear there is insufficient community and ‘Lived Experience’ integration. There is an explicit finding of weak engagement with Sikh communities in curriculum development and delivery. This perpetuates a textbook-only approach, ignoring the richness of contemporary British Sikhi. I had also read this from Dr Phra Nicholas Thanissaros “Teaching Buddhism in Britain’s schools: redefining the insider role” here we learn the “dissonance apparent between home and school presentation of Buddhism is compared to similar findings for the Hindu and Sikh communities in Britain.” One of his suggestions to bridge this gap is to enrich the conversation between “insider” (the community’s living faith) and “outsider” (the teacher’s academic presentation) perspectives. In a further report from Insight UK it is posited that the lack of accurate, quality representation is linked to an “inferiority complex” amongst South Asian children, failing the duty of RE to support identity development.

As a result of my own experience and these reports I have chosen to explore modern and historical examples of Sikhs, allowing students to see the modern ways women are shaping their fields from psychology to art. These women are all united with a shared conviction – not in a general archaic sense of Sikh identity. I would have enjoyed hearing of these voices whilst at school and teaching at a single sex girl’s school I have found providing the students with female voices resonates with them [and me]. I have also underneath each biography suggested how they can be used in different contexts from creative tasks or discussions on equality in practice with many connections to GCSE units’ such as relationships for roles of men and women and intergenerational living. I have listed them below and given a little detail about them but they are available in more detail with biographies and teaching suggestions on the RE:Online website as PDF’s to use in the classroom.

I hope you find them useful and interesting as I did!

  1. Dr Manpreet Dhuffar Pottiwal : Sikh Psychologist

Dr Manpreet Dhuffar Pottiwal is a Sikh psychologist and activist whose work focuses on intergenerational trauma within South Asian communities. Through her TEDx talk, she uses the metaphor of family trees to show how inherited burdens and strengths shape identity, encouraging healing through understanding roots, culture, and community.

  1. Mai Bhago: Female Sikh warrior

Mai Bhago was a fearless Sikh warrior who challenged forty men for abandoning their faith and led them back into battle against a vastly larger Mughal army. Though badly injured, she survived and later became Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s bodyguard, standing as a powerful example of equality and courage in Sikh history.

  1. Amrita Sher Gill: Hungarian Sikh Artist

Amrita Sher-Gil was a Hungarian Sikh artist whose paintings explored the emotional lives of women constrained by tradition. By blending Indian and European styles, she gave voice to women’s quiet struggles, resilience, and unspoken strength, especially in works like Three Girls.

  1. Neelam Kaur Gill: British Sikh model

Neelam Gill is a British Sikh model who turned experiences of bullying and racism into a mission for representation in fashion. As a trailblazer for major global brands, she speaks openly about discrimination and uses her visibility to challenge stereotypes of modern Sikh identity. 

  1. The Singh Twins: British Sikh miniature artists

Amrit Singh and Rabindra Kaur Singh, the Singh Twins, are British Sikh artists who have revived Indian miniature painting to explore modern social, political, and religious themes. Their highly detailed, vibrant work challenges Eurocentric ideas of fine art while proudly expressing Sikh history and worldview

  1. Mata Khivi: The only woman mentioned in the Guru Granth Sahib

Mata Khivi is the only woman named in the Guru Granth Sahib and is honoured for her compassion, equality, and service. She played a central role in establishing the langar system, ensuring food and care for all, and remains a lasting symbol of Sikh values in action

  1. Sophie DuLeep Singh: Suffragette

Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, daughter of the last Sikh Maharaja, was a key figure in the British suffragette movement. She used her royal status to fight for women’s rights, support Indian independence, and amplify South Asian voices in Britain.

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