Inspiration Courses Products Workshops Resources About

⟵ Back to videos

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."

Learn more about Ask SikhRI

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

No items found.

The Sikh Research Institute recognizes its ethical responsibility to promptly correct any factual small or large errors. Please get in touch with us via email to request a correction if you have identified a mistake.

Suggest a correction →

⟵ Previous Video

What does “Sikh” mean?

In the Sikh faith, is God a man?

In This Video

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.

View profile ⟶

Latest Videos

Monday

,

1

September

2025

What role does free will play in Sikhi?

In Sikhi, free will exists within a larger Divine framework. Imagine a picture frame: you choose what to place inside but cannot change the frame itself. You don’t get to change cosmic laws or physical laws.

Thursday

,

28

August

2025

Explore Salok Sheikh Farid Ji

The Guru Granth Sahib Project is pleased to launch the annotation of the first fifteen saloks by Sheikh Farid Ji, one of the fifteen Bhagat contributors to the Guru Granth Sahib. Saloks traditionally do not have a prescribed rag (musical mode).

Monday

,

18

August

2025

What does “Nanak” signify in Bani?

The word Nanak, which refers to Guru Nanak Sahib, the founder of the Sikh faith, appears throughout Guru Granth Sahib. It denotes the contributor or revealer of a composition, functioning as a “signature” used by Guru Nanak Sahib and the rest of...

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Stay informed with our weekly updates, important events and more at SikhRI.

Thank you! Your submission has been received.

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.