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Sikhism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought

Equality and the changing roles of men and women

  • 3 things to know
  • A2 Unit 3

Overview

Sikh understanding of marriage and sikh position on the remarriage and standing of a widow.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What did Guru Nanak teach about the woman who is spoken of as inferior?

Key term

Describe the Sikh understanding of marriage.

Key term

What is the Sikh position on the remarriage and standing of a widow?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    On what theological ground does Sikh teaching rest the equality of women and men?

    Model answer

    The same divine light is held to be in every person and the soul is not male or female, so no difference of sex can create a difference of spiritual worth.

  2. 2

    What did Guru Nanak teach about the woman who is spoken of as inferior?

    Model answer

    In the passage at Adi Granth 473 he asks why the one who gives birth to kings, and without whom no one comes into the world, should be called inferior, and answers that she is not.

  3. 3

    How did Guru Amar Das advance the position of women in the community?

    Model answer

    He appointed women to teach and to lead congregations in the network of centres he set up, and he condemned the veiling of women and the burning of widows.

  4. 4

    How does the example of Guru Gobind Singh bear on the standing of women?

    Model answer

    He admitted women to initiation on the same terms as men, gave them the name Kaur and the same discipline, and the tradition remembers women such as Mai Bhago leading Sikhs in battle.

  5. 5

    Describe the Sikh understanding of marriage.

    Model answer

    Marriage is a religious ceremony conducted before the Guru Granth Sahib, in which the couple circle the scripture as four verses are sung, and it is monogamous, a partnership of two souls becoming one light.

  6. 6

    What is the Sikh position on the remarriage and standing of a widow?

    Model answer

    A widow may remarry, is not to be treated as inauspicious, and may be the head of her family, which the Gurus taught against the customs of the surrounding society.

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