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Is the Sikh religion called Sikhi or Sikhism? Does it matter?

Ask SikhRI

Monday

,

8

January

2024

"I think it matters because what is our indigenous term? And what is the term which those who were studying us in the last hundred years started calling us? Our native term is Sikhi..."

"I think it matters because what is our indigenous term? And what is the term which those who were studying us in the last hundred years started calling us?

Our native term is Sikhi.

Sikhism is something which was born out of the study of religions. “-ism” also implies that there is not a unity of doctrine, that there is too much multiplicity."

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Is the Sikh religion called Sikhi or Sikhism? Does it matter?

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Harinder Singh

Senior Fellow, Research & Policy

Harinder Singh is the Senior Fellow at the Sikh Research Institute. He holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Wichita State University, an MS in Engineering Management from the University of Kansas, and an MPhil from Punjab University in the linguistics of the Guru Granth Sahib.

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