- Well-defined: It has well-defined and written guidelines that originated directly from the Sikh Gurus. The Sikh Gurus themselves wrote most of it instead of scripture being compiled later on after their demise. It does not rely on oral traditions and there are no ambiguous interpretations.
- Spiritual Authority in Divinity: It provides simple authoritative answers to metaphysical questions like who are we, what is our purpose in life, what is God, and what is evil etc.
- No discrimination because of people’s views: There is no historical or anecdotal evidence of Sikhs discriminating or repressing anyone for their beliefs, or forcing anyone to change their beliefs or religion. Fanaticism is non-existent amongst the Sikhs. Sikhs practice equality for all.
- Revolutionary: It rejected all previous ideologies and gave an all-new view of the world. Guru Nanak considered it futile to reform existing ideologies and rejected them all.
- Poetic: All Sikh values are written in beautiful poetry. It is a sheer joy to read that touches the heart and stimulates the heart and mind. It is frequently sung in Sikh Gurdwaras and homes.
- Heaven (or hell) is a place on Earth. There is no heaven (or hell) in afterlife. There is nothing ‘up there’.
- Woman’s rights: equal rights and equal status for women enshrined in the Scripture 500 years ago. There are several historical and anecdotal examples of equal status and emancipation of women in practice even 500 years ago.
- Oneness of religion and politics: Men of religion have duty to guide politics and constraint it. Politics and political leaders must be subservient to institutions of religion. Religious institutions are highest authority instead of political institutions.
- No worship of any objects or personality. At the core of Sikh religion are ideas and philosophy. They take the physical form of the Scripture which is considered the living Guru. It is surrounded by various associated objects from Sikh history and culture. There are no statues or idol worship or worship of any object or worship of personality.
- Right to bear arms and legitimacy of violence: there is legitimacy of violence against prolonged injustice and tyranny when other means have failed. It is also worth noting that Sikhs have never been a threat to peace. There is no historical or anecdotal evidence of violence being used to coerce others and confiscate their property or freedom. All the historical and anecdotal evidence of legitimate use of violence in Sikh history has been in fight against injustice and tyranny after all other means have failed. They are not meek pacifists. They do not believe that only the State has monopoly of violence.
- Personal Sovereignty: A Sovereign State should not intrude into the life of a Sovereign Individual. Sikhs believe in Non-Aggression Principle (NAP), non-coercion, and respect for property rights.
- Multilayered and multi-dimensional: the deeper you look, the more you find. The more you look, you realize new aspects of the teachings. It is not superficial. It is a battle tested and proven philosophy that guides the lives of 50 million Sikhs worldwide. It is not cult of personality driven or State Sponsored like new age junk enfeebling philosophies.
12 unique things about Sikh Religion Jan 14, 2026
Philosophy
