Introduction To 'Understanding Sikhism' By Dharam Singh

Sikhism has been the youngest of all major religions of the world but the Sikhs, adventurous as they are by nature, are found today living in almost all countries and continents of the world. They are easily recognizable by their neatly tied or flowing beards and high-toned different coloured turbans. However, some of the post-9 /11 tragic incidents revealed that there still needs a lot of effort to be made to let the world know about Sikh religion and identity. It had ever since been my wish to prepare a text which contains within its covers at least a bird's eye-view of Sikh religion and tradition so that the reader - a lay reader as well as a student of Sikh studies - gets to know what Sikh religion, its history and theology are.

I was able to prepare the draft some years back but somehow could not find time to give it the final shape because of my pre-occupation with various other projects. At last when I thought it was final, I wanted to share it with some of my friends abroad, e.g. the famous pluralist theologian Dr Alan Race and others to find out especially if its idiom would be acceptable to the youth abroad. I attribute all merits of the book to the friends who helped me with various suggestions and other in-puts, but I own as my own any lapses and shortcomings a reader might come across in the book. We have put diacritical signs on some of the more important non-English words so that a reader not familiar with Punjabi language can pronounce it correctly. Finally, I was able to hand over the typescript to the publishers only early this year, and I am grateful to them for giving it this beautiful shape.

As it is, the present volume comprises eight small sections giving a descriptive definition of Sikh religion, a brief survey of its history beginning with the founder of the faith till around modern times, various sampradais and renaissance movements which originated in the Sikh tradition, canonical literature, metaphysical thought, social thought, polity and the Sikh response to various modern-day issues like interfaith relations/religious pluralism, concern for the marginalized in society as well as for the environment, sanctity of life, and so on. At the end are given two appendices, one dealing with five symbols a Sikh must wear and the other with the five evils a Sikh must abjure.

I hope the book will prove to be useful for lay readers as well as to the students and teachers in the field of Sikh studies.

About The Author Of 'Uderstanding Sikhism'

Dr Dharam Singh, a former Professor of Sikh Studies and Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, has been active in the field of Sikh and interfaith studies for the past about two decades. He has, besides numerous research papers published in different journals in India and abroad, to his credit about a dozen books on different aspects of Sikh religion and interfaith/pluralist studies. He has also participated in and presented papers at various seminars/ conferences at various universities and other academic fora throughout India and abroad. Presently, he has been holding Senior Fellowship of the Ministry of Culture, Government of india.

Table of Contents of 'Understanding Sikhism' By Dharam Singh