Books
Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed
BOOK REVIEW
SIKHISM: A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED, by Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair. Bloomsbury, 2013, paperback, pp 256. ISBN: 9781441102317. $27.95
Sikhism’s relatively short but eventful history provides a fascinating insight into the working of misunderstood and seemingly contradictory themes such as politics and religion, pragmatism and mysticism, culture and spirituality, orality and textuality, public sphere versus private sphere, tradition and modernity.
This book presents students with a careful analysis of these complex themes as they have manifested themselves in the historical evolution of the Sikh traditions and Sikhism’s role as the most modern and ethical religion known to Man today. It explores the philosophical teachings of its founders and their interpretation by Sikh exegetes, and Sikh ethical and intellectual responses to contemporary issues in an increasingly secular and pluralistic world.
Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed serves as an ideal guide to Sikhism, and also for students of Asian studies, Sociology of Religion and World Religions.
Michael Nijhawan, Associate Professor of Sociology, York University, Toronto, Canada, writes:
"Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed is an insightful and well-crafted introduction to the study of Sikhism as a dynamic and internally fluid tradition.
"Arvind-Pal
Singh offers a novel approach in this introductory text that avoids the
common pitfalls of historicism and that denaturalizes the tendency to
frame Sikhi as purely religious experience within the parameters of the
secular-religious binary.
"Focusing on key issues that reflect
what animates Sikh activity and the lived experiences of Sikhs today,
Arvind-Pal Singh is able to achieve what might seem incommensurable
objectives: introducing novices to a field of study, while challenging
those already engaged in Sikh Studies with new insights and
perspectives.
"Intriguing and at times provocative, this text
will without doubt stand out among introductory texts to Sikhism for its
interdisciplinary format, its success in engaging readers
intellectually, and its capacity to actively relate ideas from the
history and philosophy of religion in a way in which the encounter
between these disciplines and Sikhi as an emerging philosophy and way of
life remains always in sight."
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I - Evolution of the Sikh Tradition
1 Guru Nanak and His Early Successors
2 Martyrdom and Militancy: Rise of the Khalsa
3 Modernity and Colonialism
PART II - Teachings and Practices
4 Way of Life
5 Sikh Philosophy
PART III - Pluralism & its Challenges
6 Sikh Ethics
7 Sikhs and the Public Sphere
Glossary of Punjabi Terms
Notes
Index
BIO
Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair is an Associate Professor and holder of the Chair in Sikh Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
His earlier books include: Religion and the Specter of the West: Sikhism, India, Postcoloniality and the Politics of Translation (2009), Teachings of the Sikh Gurus (with Christopher Shackle, 2005), Secularism and Religion-Making (2009). He is a founding editor of the journal Sikh Formations: Religion, Culture and Theory.
March 4, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Bhawna Malik (India), March 04, 2013, 9:38 AM.
Please advise: are these books available in Delhi. If not, how can we get them to be put in our College libraries?
2: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), March 05, 2013, 9:38 AM.
Sikhi is meant to be a guide not just for Sikhs but for all humanity.
3: Ali Hussain (India), March 09, 2013, 9:12 AM.
I am quite taken with the concept of God which Guru Nanak preached. Given in short in the Mool Mantar ... "One God, the true name, the creator, without fear, without hatred, timeless, self-existent ..." But then, why do I see some Sikhs demeaning themselves by displaying idols of Hindu deities in their homes or businesses? Respecting somebody else's religion is one thing but doing things which go against the basic tenets of one's own religion, ostensibly to gain acceptance, is definitely something else.
4: Ajit Singh Batra (Pennsville, New Jersey, USA.), March 11, 2013, 10:22 AM.
Ali Hussain ji(item#3): Observant Sikhs should not be displaying idols in their homes or businesses. It is expressly prohibited in Sikhi. Unfortunately, the uneducated and the ignorant amongst us do.
5: Sarjit Kaur (Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.), March 12, 2013, 5:09 PM.
I agree with Ajit Singh ji, as I was amongst the ignorant and uneducated but blessed to know now :) So I am ostracized by daughter and my siblings who still worship Hindu idols, and go to psychics, etc., and also display images of the Gurus!