Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
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Extract 4: Doris R. Jakobsh ‘Sikhism, Interfaith Dialogue, and
Women: Transformation and Identity’
Taken from: Doris R. Jakobsh (2006) Sikhism, Interfaith Dialogue, and Women:
T ransformat ion and Identity, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 21:2, 183–199,
DOI: 10.1080/13537900600655860.
Sikhs ... pointed both to Hindu and Muslim influenc es having c orrupted the superior
position of women as evident in the Guru period of Sikh history. Eac h vied with the
another to protec t their c ommunal interests through c lose c ollaboration with their
c olonial mast ers. What bec ame inc reasingly vit al for t hese groups, part ic ularly for
minorit y populat ions suc h as Muslims and Sikhs, was t he c reat ion of religious
dist inctions, separate identities, and distance between themselves and the wider
Hindu population.
For Singh Sabha reformers, great pains were taken to present Sikh women as
having a dist inc t ly superior posit ion vis -à-vis their Hindu and Muslim c ounterparts.
Given t he Sikh minorit y posit ion amidst t he Hindu and Muslim milieu t hat
surrounded them, it was important to present Sikhism as offering Punjab’s
womenfolk more than the larger traditions that surrounded them. Bhai Vir Singh’s
writ ings offer evidenc e in t his regard. In his famous novel Sundri, the protagonist’s
message to her fellow sisters and to Bhai Vir Singh’s larger audience stresses the
unparalleled position of Sikh women: women within Sikhism c onfined to the harem
and are also not women who are not treated as Shudras.
If one turns to c ontemporary writings on women and Sikhism, little has
c hanged in this regard. While women writers are inc reasingly addressing the issue
of gender and women in Sikhism, this task has until rec ently been fulfilled by men
(Kohli). .1 T he need t o present Sikhism as superior t o ot her religious t radit ions wit h
regard to the position of women has also c ontinued. This is partic ularly the c ase on
the Internet: a searc h on Sikhism and women displays a great deal of information
on the subject. What becomes quickly evident in perusing the various web sites is a
c ontinued need to present Sikhism as strikingly different in the wider spec trum of
religions vis -à-vis the status of women. Other traditions are largely presented as
oppressive in t his respec t , while Sikhism st ands unique in it s message of liberat ion
for women.
Writ ings by Sikhs pert aining t o women and Sikhism have largely remained in
t he realm of apologet ic s. T his appears t o st em from a seemingly fearful minorit y
ment alit y, one that is needful of protec tion and therefore in need of fortific ation. A
c onc rete rec ent example has been a c onc ern that Sikh women in the diaspora,
part ic ularly in t he UK, are c onvert ing t o Islam en masse through their romantic
liaisons wit h Muslim men. T his issue is being addressed through extensive dialogue
on disc ussion boards and essays on the subjec t, warning young women to be aware
of the ever enc roac hing threat (J. Singh).
Women in the World Religions: An Overview
While it has long been said t hat Sikhism is the ‘‘forgotten tradition’’
(Juergensmeyer 190–201) in the study of religion, an overview of the c ommonly
used and rec ent ly published int roduc t ory t ext s in World Religions will at t est t o a
c hange. Most university textbooks on the subjec t will either give a brief overview or
devote a c hapter to the study of Sikhism. The situation is markedly different when