Islam Why Do Sikhs Look Down On Other Religions?

[kds1980]

Politically speaking, the general perception of Jahangir has been that, like his father before him, he was a leader said to be "tolerant" of non-Muslims and their respective religious practices:

"Like Akbar, Jahangir managed diplomatic relations on the Indian subcontinent adroitly, was tolerant of non-Muslims, and was a great patron of the arts. He encouraged Persian culture in Mughal India."
source: britannica.com

This attitude was similarly witnessed first hand by a disinterested historical source and a contemporary of Jahangir: Edward Terry. On his voyage to East India between 1616-1619, the English chaplain - who referred to Jahangir as The Mogul - said of his administration:
In that empire all religions are tolerated, which makes the tyrannical government there more easy to be endured. The Mogul would speak well of all of them; saying, that a man might be happy and safe in the profession of any religion; and therefore would say that the Muslim religion was good, the Christian religion good, and the rest good; therefore the ministers of any religion find regard and esteem amongst the people. I shall speak something of this, from my own particular usage there, then very young, while I lived in those parts...
Source: E. Terry (1777), A Voyage to East-India, (The New York Public Library, J. Wilkie), p.418

Terry then recounts a story that he witnessed of a man who was summoned in the presence of Jahangir after converting to Christianity. The King attempted to convince him "to renounce that his new profession" firstly by way of threats, and then with promises of riches. When Jahangir "perceived that his resolution indeed was to be a Christian... he [Jahangir] bid him to continue, and with a reward discharged him".

Concerning Terry, Prof. Alison Games of Georgetown University observes that "he [Terry] applauded the freedom of religion that all enjoyed".

First of all Jahangir was not at all one of the most fanatic mughal ruler but on the other hand he too was not at all very comfortable with muslims converting to other religions.
Just here read what he wrote in his diary

This is what Emperor Jahangir wrote in his diary called the Tuzk-e-Jahangiri, which translates to "Memoirs of Jahangir"

“ In Goindwal, which is on the river Biyãh (Beas), there was a Hindu named Arjan, in the garments of sainthood and sanctity, so much so that he had captured many of the simple-hearted of the Hindus, and even of the ignorant and foolish followers of Islam, by his ways and manners, and they had loudly sounded the drum of his holiness. They called him Guru, and from all sides stupid people crowded to worship and manifest complete faith in him. For three or four generations (of spiritual successors) they had kept this shop warm. Many times it occurred to me to put a stop to this vain affair or to bring him into the assembly of the people of Islam.

At last when Khusrau passed along this road this insignificant fellow proposed to wait upon him. Khusrau happened to halt at the place where he was, and he came out and did homage to him. He behaved to Khusrau in certain special ways, and made on his forehead a finger-mark in saffron, which the Indians (Hinduwän) call qashqa, (Tilak) and is considered propitious. When this came to my ears and I clearly understood his folly, I ordered them to produce him and handed over his houses, dwelling-places, and children to Murtaza Khan, and having confiscated his property commanded that he should be put to death." „

—Jahangir, Tuzuk-i-Jahangir

 

[Tejwant Singh]

What I said was and I will repeat for your clarity "speaking to followers of Sikhism and from reading some of the literature (no mention of SGGS)".

From my interactions now with you you are just re-inforcing these feelings! This is exactly the attitude I get even when discussing face to face with Sikh acquaintances, a side stepping of the questions posed and instead I am met with challenges and accusations!

Just Curious ji,

Guru Fateh.

There is no need to get upset. We are just trying to interact. You again dodged the question as a seeker of the Truth as you claim yourself to be.

What kind of literature are you talking about? Please give us references from that so we can learn from it.

And what does your religion teach you about how to seek the Truth? Please also share that with us.

Let's be very specific otherwise false accusations in this nonchalant manner not a truth seeker maketh. But to the contrary.

Thanks & regards

Tejwant Singh

 

[kuchnai]

LOL im sorry I find this hilarious, not one person has answered the guy's quistion...Im surprised he isnt yelling yet.. He made it very clear, though sorry Questioner I am of no help since I'm here out of curiosity.

If anything he makes a valid point.

As Sikhs, from what I can conclude, tolerance, in fact ACCEPTANCE of other religions is key, I find this very appealing.

Now as this is true is it fair for you to blatantly attack other religions? There is another here , go back a page, Comparing Sikhism and Islam....It is very clearly written with some anger haha..

Since I've noticed a habit of dodging questions so far in this conversation ill bold it, even though it didn't help the last guy

Since acceptance is a key concept , as followers , would you agree that criticizing and attacking other peoples religions is wrong?

 

[spnadmin]

kuchnai ji

This is the answer to Questioner's question. It was given immediately at the start of the thread, by forum member dalsingh ji.

I think it is unfair to say Sikhs look down on other religions. I think generally, Sikhs have demonstrated a live and let live approach to other faiths and Sikhism can co-exist wth other beliefs. Yes, if attacked, Sikhs may respond robustly to the challenge, but I think usually, it is other faiths "hang ups" that brings Sikhs to that state, not their own ideology.

As the discussion unfolded it became clear that the question was an "idle" question and that religious trolling was the intent. Since then Questioner has been banned, as we discovered that starting a flame war was the purpose of starting the thread.

Admin reserves the right to delete and otherwise restrict participation according the SPN TOS. That is what happened.

 

[harbansj24]

Narayanjot ji,

Deviating a bit, I would like to say that upto late seventies the Hindus were a tolerant lot and they were not aggressive in their religious practices.
Subsequently much water has flowed down the Ganga and Jamuna and the Hindus especially the middleclass are promoting Hindu believes and philosophy rather aggressively with the open agenda of bringing back former Hindus among Christans, Muslims and Sikhs back into Hindu fold.
Since the Middleclass Hindus are the dominant lot in the Indian beureucracyand politics,this slant is slowly creeping in the official policy too. There is the anti conversion bill which is being taken up in different states.
In several government functions,lighting of lamp,breaking of coconut,applying Tilak, singing of gayatri mantra etc is a norm. All this in the name of "Indian traditon and culture".Even in Punjab such things are becoming a norm. Rarely if ever you will hear a Sikh Ardas in such functions unless it is specifically a religious occasion of the Sikhs.

 

[spnadmin]

harbhansj24 ji

Great answer for me as it clarifies some hazy areas in my knowledge. A new thread on the Hindu conversion act would be very interesting material for this forum.

At the risk of being arrogant -- we Sikhs do not help ourselves when we buy into the practice of breaking coconuts and/or perform other similar practices, without being clear ourselves that these are remnants of culture which dies hard, and not fixed truths of Sikhism.

Don't we have to educate one another more energetically than we do.

Thanks again. Looking forward to reading that thread when I first log on one of these days.

 

[harbansj24]

Narayanjot ji,

Anti conversion law has been enacted in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.This was enacted in these states when BJP came to power. It was about to be enacted in Tamil Nadu but the Jayalalitha government was voted out.

The law basically says that if anyone wishes to convert from Hinduism to any other religion he and the clergy responsible for conversion must must get the clearance of the state (represented by the district magistrate).
The stated reason is to prevent anyone from being forcibly being coverted or being allured into it. It is said that it is only against the Christians who are known to resort to such tactics. But since the law is general and does not specifically mention Christianity, it is bound to be misused againt all religions.

This law goes against the Indian Costituition which allows freedom of religious practice.

 

[kds1980]

Harbans ji

I agree with you that constitution provide reiligious freedom .But on the other hand we have to accept that christian missionaries are trying their level best to lure people into christianity.I live in posh area of Gurgaon and I was so surprised that even christian missionaries reached even in my home delivering sermons.So one can easily imagine what they are doing in poor people area.stories about christian schools saying that convert to christianity and you don't have to pay any fee are common.

On the other hand Muslims in India are breeding like rabbits 200 million muslims are now major vote bank.


In this type of scene what should hindu's do?Just like we sikhs want to protect our religion they too want to protect their own

 

[harbansj24]

kanwardeep Singh ji,
As I have said the law framed is general and does not specifically mention the Christian missionaries. So tomorrow a fanatical administrator can prevent a Punjabi, Sindhi or Multani person who on record may be a Hindu, but is an ardent admirer of Sikhi from participating in Amrit Sanchar and from becoming a Khalsa !

 

[Seeker9]

Well this has been an interesting read...exactly the sort of debate I love to see with a number of significant contributions from learned regulars

The issues raised have been answered well but I felt compelled to say something as it has been brought to my attention that I I haven't posted for a while!

Do Sikh's look down on other religions?
Absolutely not! You can't make that sort of sweeping generalisation. If you think you have come across 1, 5, 50 a 100 Sikhs who you think are that way inclined, that is still no justification for such a statement

Is it right for one religion to be critical of another?
Clearly religions have differences as well as a lot of commonality. Nothing at all wrong with constructive debate. As long as the debate remains constructive and not destructive then it's fine by me. When it comes to this sort of topic, I think if you are genuine in your approach and the intention is to increase knowledge and understanding then everybody gains

As for the quote:
"I won't respond fully to models of afterlife that promise you the everlasting fires of hell, dancing maidens or a way-station of purgatory where you will be in the interim period during which your case is still sub judice. Such idealizations of the afterlife obviously are wholly anthropomorphic and seem to have been dreamed up by men without consulting women. I will grantyou these idealizations are imaginative."

I must confess I have no problem with this as I too agree with what the author has written. I'm not saying that to deliberately insult anyone. If people want to believe this, that is absolutely fine. Like I said earlier, there are always some differences to be found between different religions. If anybody wants to have an intelligent debate about this then that's no problem.

But if I don't believe something that is written in other scriptures, don't expect me to lie and say that I do believe them!

 

[kds1980]

kanwardeep Singh ji,
As I have said the law framed is general and does not specifically mention the Christian missionaries. So tomorrow a fanatical administrator can prevent a Punjabi, Sindhi or Multani person who on record may be a Hindu, but is an ardent admirer of Sikhi from participating in Amrit Sanchar and from becoming a Khalsa !

Harbans ji

I agree with you that law could be misused,but just because of fear of some fanatical ruler which could come in fear a law should not be enacted?.Presently there are many laws which are grossly misused what about them.

I don't think a law to check fraudulent conversions or luring persons into a religion be giving him bad idea O/W we may see communal clashes where religions will blame each other