ABSTRACT
It is commonly assumed that all Sikhs are the same, but the very existence of different groups1 who have varying beliefs and practices within the Sikh Community (Panth) illustrate aptly that the Panth is not homogenous. It was as an undergraduate that I first came across any mention of the Sikh
Rehat Mary1d1,2 which appeared to be a definitive statement of Kh1ls13 Sikh identity in the Panth. This was my first academic contact with my long-practised faith. The Rehat Mary1d1 suggests that a true Sikh is a person who lives by the tenets of Sikhism, including observance of the Kh1ls1 with its prominent display of five external symbols, known as the Five Ks. The Rehat Mary1d1 imparts a very firm definition of who a Sikh is, and I discovered that certain of my practices – and those of my family – did not measure up to its ideals. This left me with many questions, such as, if a true Sikh is an amrtidh1rı-, an initiated Sikh, who has taken amrit sansk1r,4 and who obeys rules such as a ban on alcohol and cutting the hair, then am I a Sikh? Is my father, who cuts his hair a Sikh? Who really is a Sikh? Thus, although the original intention of the Rehat Mary1d1 was to impart a corporate identity on all Sikhs, it is, in actual fact, responsible for excluding many Sikhs from its definition. Hence, for a substantial proportion of the Panth, the Rehat Mary1d1’s depiction of what it views as a true Sikh appears to be an inadequate yardstick for what it really means to be Sikh. One essential issue is immediately apparent: the fact that the majority of the Sikh Panth is not amritdh1rı-. Does this mean therefore, that the majority of the Panth cannot in actual fact be considered as true Sikhs? This book addresses the implications of the definition of a Sikh as stated in
the Rehat Mary1d1. The Rehat Mary1d1 highlights a number of types of Sikhs. These include:
. mon1/sahajdh1rı-– clean-shaven.
