Sikhism

What Sikhism covers

One of the six Paper 4 options. Waheguru and the path to liberation, the ten Gurus and the Guru Granth Sahib, the Khalsa and the five Ks, seva and miri-piri, and the Sikh experience of reform, migration and self-determination.

The 15 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Waheguru, the Self and LiberationRecall questions on the oneness of Waheguru, sat, shabad and the Mool Mantar, nam, hukam and nadar, union with Waheguru, maya, rebirth and karma, mukti and the Guru, and the purpose of life and death.Open →
• Sikh Thought and its Indic BackgroundRecall questions on the sant movement and Guru Nanak, the Indic terms he reworked, Nayar and Sandhu on the Nath yogis, Cole and Sambhi on Sikh thought, and Sikh teaching against bhakti, Islam and Hindu liberation.Open →
• Sangat, Panth and QaumRecall questions on the sangat and its development under the Gurus, the Panth as a qaum carrying the Guru's authority, binding decisions, virtual sangat, N K Singh on the sangat and K Nayar outside Punjab.Open →
• Sikh Moral Principles, Seva and Miri-PiriRecall questions on nam japna, kirt karna and vand chakna, seva, N K Singh against a martial reading, miri-piri and the sant-sipahi ideal, gurmukh and manmukh, haumai and the five failings, and Sandhu.Open →
• The Guru Granth Sahib and Secondary TextsRecall questions on the Guru Granth Sahib as living Guru and its treatment and uses, its compilation, Gurinder Singh Mann and the Institute of Sikh Studies, the janamsakhis, Bhai Gurdas and the Dasam Granth.Open →
• The Ten GurusRecall questions on Guru Nanak, Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 and 1708, the martyrdoms of Guru Arjun and Guru Tegh Bahadur, the middle Gurus, one light in ten bodies, the sants, and N K Singh and W O Cole.Open →
• The Singh Sabha Movement and Sikh ReformRecall questions on the Singh Sabha movement and its two wings, the Anand Marriage Act, gurdwara reform, the Sikh Rehat Maryada, and Oberoi and the Institute of Sikh Studies on religious boundaries.Open →
• The Khalsa, the Five Ks and Nam SimaranRecall questions on the founding in 1699, the amrit ceremony, what each of the five Ks signifies, and the practice of remembrance.Open →
• The Sikh Diaspora, Migration and SecularisationRecall questions on Sikh migration, pressures on the code of conduct and assimilation, the law and the panj kakke, mixed and same-sex marriage, caste, Punjabi and English, secular values, science, and G Singh and Tatla.Open →
• Dharam Yudh, Social Justice and MartyrdomRecall questions on dharam yudh and its conditions, social justice and halemi raj, shahidi and the martyrdoms of Guru Arjun and Guru Tegh Bahadur, eighteenth-century martyrs, Fenech on martyrdom, and Cole and Sambhi.Open →
• Khalistan and Sikh Self-DeterminationRecall questions on the origins of the demand, 1984 and its aftermath, and the range of Sikh opinion on it.Open →
• Women and the Feminine in Sikh TeachingRecall questions on the feminine principle and whether Waheguru is male, N K Singh and Jakobsh on women and scripture, women in Sikh history, the Gurus' reforms, and the gap between principle and practice.Open →
• Two Ways of Explaining the DivineRecall questions on the analytic and the unitive ways of accounting for the divine, on nirguna and saguna, on why images are forbidden, and on what Ik Onkar establishes.Open →
• Religious Freedom, Pluralism and the Bhagat BaniRecall questions on the bhagat bani in the Guru Granth Sahib, the pluralist reading of Sikh teaching, the boundary with Hindu tradition, Guru Nanak's travels and the yogis, and N K Singh and S B Singh Dalawari.Open →
• Sikh Views of Other Religions and WorldviewsRecall questions on knowledge of the divine as experience, the rejection of priestly speculation, N K Singh and W O Cole on revelation, reason and evidence, humanist and rationalist critiques, and worldviews that reject the divine.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Sikhism further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Nirguna vs Saguna

  Nirguna: the divine described as beyond all form and attribute. Saguna: the divine described as manifest and knowable through creation.

• Sangat vs Panth

  Sangat: the local congregation gathered for worship. Panth: the whole Sikh community as a body.

• Miri vs Piri

  Miri: the exercise of worldly power, including political and military leadership. Piri: the exercise of religious guidance over the community's inner life.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   When Sikhs say Waheguru is one, what are they ruling out?

   Model answer

   They affirm a single reality with no partner, rival or division, not one deity among many and not a being who takes birth in successive forms. Sikhs hold that the same one made everything and is present within it, so no caste, nation or religion owns exclusive access.

2. 2

   Why do Sikhs use the name Waheguru rather than a term borrowed from another tradition?

   Model answer

   Waheguru is the Panth's own name for the divine and carries its own theology, expressing wonder at the Guru who enlightens. Sikhs use many names alongside it, such as Satnam, Akal Purakh and Kartar, on the understanding that no name exhausts what it names.

3. 3

   Explain what Sikhs mean by calling Waheguru sat.

   Model answer

   Sat means real and true: Sikhs hold that Waheguru alone is eternally real and unchanging while everything else is dependent and passing. An ethical consequence follows, since the Gurus rated truthful living above merely knowing what is true.

4. 4

   Explain the idea of shabad in Sikh teaching.

   Model answer

   Shabad is the divine Word or sound through which Waheguru is expressed and known. Sikhs hold that the Gurus' hymns are shabad, which is why the Guru Granth Sahib is Guru as Word rather than an object of devotion, and why singing and meditating on the shabad is the ordinary means of knowing the divine.

5. 5

   Outline what the Mool Mantar establishes and the part it plays.

   Model answer

   Composed by Guru Nanak and standing at the head of the Guru Granth Sahib, it functions as the foundational statement of what Waheguru is: one, true by name, creator, without fear, without hatred, beyond time, never incarnated, self-existent, and realised through the Guru's grace. Sikhs recite it constantly and it prefaces sections throughout the scripture, so it works as both summary and touchstone.

6. 6

   Why is nam more than a label in Sikh thought?

   Model answer

   Nam is the divine reality made available to human beings rather than a word attached to a distant being. Sikhs speak of nam as dwelling within a person, so remembering the Name is understood as being filled by what is remembered.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Sikhism revision questions

What does Sikhism cover in Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies?

15 subtopics: waheguru, the self and liberation, sikh thought and its indic background, sangat, panth and qaum, sikh moral principles, seva and miri-piri, the guru granth sahib and secondary texts, the ten gurus, the singh sabha movement and sikh reform, the khalsa, the five ks and nam simaran, the sikh diaspora, migration and secularisation, dharam yudh, social justice and martyrdom, khalistan and sikh self-determination, women and the feminine in sikh teaching, two ways of explaining the divine, religious freedom, pluralism and the bhagat bani and sikh views of other religions and worldviews. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Sikhism organised?

By the Edexcel 9RS0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.