Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
294Women Must Have an Equal Role in Public Worship
In Sikh plac es of worship, male granthis (readers) or bhaijis (c ustodians of
Gurdwaras) are the ones in c losest touc h with the Guru Granth. Their hands dress
the venerated book, their hand open the holy book, and their voic es read out the
sacred verses from the book. They lead t he lit urgic al prayers. Even the sweet
sacrament (karah-prashad) is disturbed by men and boys. Sikhism has no
priesthood, and nowhere in the Scripture are men delegated to be the sole
c ustodians of their sac red text and leaders in worship, and yet women are tac itly
discouraged from conducting public c eremonies. Women are in t he vic init y –
praying, c leaning the sac red prec inc ts, c ooking, doing the dishes – but t hey rarely
lead services. There are many Gurdwaras, but are there any female Granthis? The
Sikh egalit arian prac t ic es in privat e worship must be extended outside the home.
Otherwise, Sikh men and women will c ontinue to internalize the predominant role
played by men in public , whic h has only legit imized women’s deferenc e and
subordination to their fathers, brothers, unc les and husbands.
Follow the Sikh Ethical Code
In its attempt to formalize the message of the scripture, the SGPC developed
several rules in the Sikh Rahit Maryada (the Sikh Ethic al Code, published in 1950...
that would combat female oppression. This standard authoritative statement of
Sikh c onduc t c at egoric ally st at es t hat neit her a girl nor a boy should be married for
mo n e y. T he giving of a dowry is spec ific ally forbidden. Twice the Code makes the
point that Sikh women should not veil their fac es (12, 18). It prohibit s infant ic ide,
espec ially female infant ic ide, and even prohibit s assoc iat ion wit h people who would
prac t ic e it. The Sikh Rahit Maryada allows for t he remarriage of widows, and it
undersc ores that suc h a c eremony must be the same as that for the first marriage
- a marked differenc e from the old Punjabi c ustom, when a widow was shamefully
wrapped in a sheet and carried away to a brother of her dead husband. The Sikh
Rahit Maryada denounc es this c ustom, whic h treats a daughter like an objec t or a
piece of property passed to her husband and his family. In t radit ional Indian
families, there is also a superstitious custom that people should not eat at the
home of t heir married daught er – forget t ing t hat Nanak himself lived wit h his
married sister, Nanaki, and her husband!
The c ommunity needs to propagate and follow suc h c learly artic ulated rules.
Sikh families should feel empowered by their Ethic al Code and not be put under
soc ial pressure t o provide a dowry for t heir daught er and gift s for her and her in-
laws throughout t heir lives – or aborting her even before she enters this world.