Why Are Sikhs Not Allowed To Cut Their Hair?

[Justaguest]

Hello!

I'm no Sikh. I want to know why Sikhs are not even allowed to cut their hair. As you know, it is usual for male Europeans to shave your beard and to keep the hair on your head short.

What did Guru Gobind Singh really say in the Guru Granth Sahib about this issue?

Did he say:

Never cut your hair.

or

Never shave your beard.

or

Don't shave your beard because it can cause bad reactions on your skin.

[BhagatSingh]

You have it backwards. Europeans are not allowed to keep their hair or their foreskins for that matter. I am no European so do explain to me why they can't just live as God created them? Why dey b cuttin dem hair and genitals?

Edited July 27, 2014 by BhagatSingh

[Justaguest]

You have it backwards. Europeans are not allowed to keep their hair or their foreskins for that matter. I am no European so do explain to me why they can't just live as God created them? Why dey b cuttin dem hair and genitals?

No, cutting the foreskin is a Jewish and Muslim practice.

In Europe, most men have shaved beards, and some have long beards. Most gentlemen shave their beards completely because a long beard gives you a wild appearance. You also look younger when you shave your beard.

[BhagatSingh]

Well in India they see beards and long hair as a sign of wisdom, trustworthiness, high moral character and strength. There is a really old tradition of keeping long hair and beads in India. As I mentioned on the Pythagoras thread, he was inspired by this culture that's why he adopted this way of life.

[MrSinghUK]

Hi

I cannot claim to be a scholar but can give you the benefit of my own understanding or limited knowledge.

At the very basic level it is the command of Guru Gobind Singh Ji that his baptised Sikhs follow his instructions in how they live their lives. For baptised Sikhs who are part of the Khalsa any cutting of the hair is strictly prohibited as they have been gifted an identity from Guru Ji. With this identity everyone will always be able to recognise them as a Sikh and they will never be able to deny who they are and who their Guru is. It is the duty of the Khalsa to help others when it is needed. For example if someone was in danger and saw a Khalsa Sikh (recognisable by their appearance ie wearing a turban, bangle and sword or dagger) they can approach him or her and say 'I need your help and it is your duty as Guru's Sikh to help me'. There were many occasions in the past where true Sikhs who lived by Guru Ji's teachings would help others risking their own lives regardless of the religion/caste/sex of the others. Also the other reason as I understand it is that before the Sikhs were given this distinct identity and when the 9th Guru Ji was martyred, only a handful of Sikhs were brave enough to admit they were Sikh at that place and time which lead to them also being martyred. There were approximately 500 Sikhs there at the time who got scared and did not admit to being Sikh. As Sikhs are meant to be fearless even in the face of death, having an undeniable identity ensures that they cannot shy away from being a Sikh of the Guru in the future.

If we look in to it there are benefits to keeping your hair ie scientifically it stores nutrients etc that are beneficial to us. My own thinking (not backed up by any studies or research) is if you look at any religious individuals they are always depicted as having long hair or beards ie Jesus, Prophet Mohammed, Hindu religious individuals and the Sikh Gurus obviously. So perhaps there are benefits to keeping our hair that the Gurus did not necessarily tell us about or we have not fully understood as yet. But once again at the very base of everything is that Sikhs believe the Gurus to be perfect and at one with Almighty God. So their instruction/command is perfect. If you really believe this as a Sikh and know your Guru to be perfect you don't really need to know the reason behind his instruction but would wish to follow what He said no matter what. That is why a true Khalsa Sikh would rather lose his life than lose his faith or identity.

As I said before I am just a normal person and my knowledge is minimal at best. If what I have said is wrong or have caused offence then please forgive me.

I hope this is of help. Please let me know your thoughts or if you have any further questions.

VaheGuru Ji Ka Khalsa

VaheGuru Ji Ki Fateh

[MrSinghUK]

Hi

Also to add one more point to it.

What does Sikh mean? It means 'learn' or 'learner' ie student or disciple.

So who are you a student of if you are Sikh? You would be a student of your Guru Ji.

What does Guru mean? Its normally translated as 'teacher' but the actual meaning if you break it down is: Gu = Dark, Ru = Light, Hence from Darkness to Light = The Enlightened One or The En-lightener.

So if you have accepted your Guru as the enlightened one and are a true student of their knowing their instructions to be the truth then you follow them. This would be part of the fundamental philosophy of a Sikh not cutting their hair, especially an Amrit-Dhari/baptised Sikh.

I hope these have been of help. Once again my own knowledge is limited and I may have made many mistakes in what I said so please accept my apologies if I said anything incorrect or caused any offence without meaning to do so.

VaheGuru Ji Ka Khalsa

VaheGuru Ji Ki Fateh

[Genie Singh]

You have it backwards. Europeans are not allowed to keep their hair or their foreskins for that matter. I am no European so do explain to me why they can't just live as God created them? Why dey b cuttin dem hair and genitals?

The laws of Moses, sunnah of muhammad and modern ideas of hygeine and overall health including social wellbeing. Cut the hair away just like nails when they are too long and filled with dirt which isn't easily removed.

[Genie Singh]

Well in India they see beards and long hair as a sign of wisdom, trustworthiness, high moral character and strength. There is a really old tradition of keeping long hair and beads in India. As I mentioned on the Pythagoras thread, he was inspired by this culture that's why he adopted this way of life.

Long beards are associated now with perverts, santa claus, extremist islamist nutcases, normal nutcases with foil hats on their head trying to stop aliens from invading their brain, homeless people, people with social diseases which prevent them from maintaing hygiene, those who appear disheveled, some people who been pulling all nighters who smell and haven't shaved or baved. You can see alot of great professors these days in our time who are clean shaved but maintain all the knowledge expected and you can meet a village nutcase with a long beard who thinks the world is flat and spirits control things.

So we need more of the positive role models with beards and perhaps we shouldn't judge people on a beard or not.

Edited August 5, 2014 by JatherdarSahib

[das]

My personal thinking about head hairs is as follows but keep in mind that this is my PERSONAL thinking (which may or may not be correct and could change in future):

1. In order to achieve salvation/true-merging-with-True-God head hairs are NOT Necessary. If head hairs are must, then it means God is differentiating based upon the shape which cannot be true. We can find various tuks from Guru Granth Sahib Ji on this; e.g by Bhagat Kabir: (Pana - 1365) - You may have long hair, or you may shave your head bald.

2. But even though hairs are not required in the ultimate salvation, but hairs growing on the head does have special signifiance because of the location. Typically, the area where head hairs grow belongs to the area where Sachkhand is (in terms of Chakra and halographic universe). So, head hairs does have some special importance.

3. As we human beings reside in the Time and Space dimension which is ruled by God's negative power (call it whatever you want: Kal/Lucifier/Time etc.; basically it is someone who is given the duty [by God] to run the 3 worlds); within this space-time dimension, it is considered Spiritual to have head hairs. Now, in order to travel to Sachkhand (true home) one needs to go through this time-space dimension; therefore it is beneficial to have head hairs. I've personally felt that having head hairs do attract more positive forces (from within the time-space dimension) and these forces do help us to push towards real home.


So, in short, head hairs seems to have special importance but head hairs in themselves are not going to provide us the salvation. But at the same time, head hairs will prove to be a very good conductors of positive forces which could help us within time-space dimensions. So, for this reason, all the ancients used to grow head hairs; no matter what their religion was.

Head Hairs are like the same as that of Karmas; we're operating within the realms of time and space and therefore have to contain outselves within Karma. Even though Karma does not directly lead us to the God; it is the Guru's grace that pulls us to our true home. But Guru is not met unless and until we've exhausted our tires and good karma is present. In other words, Guru will cut the ties of karma and liberate us and NOT the karma. Same way, Head Hairs seems to be beneficial in the journey but they in themselves cannot provide liberation.

Thanks
das

Edited August 5, 2014 by das

[CdnSikhGirl]

I always had short hair all my life... since coming to SIkhi about 3 years ago I have not cut my hair... I love my hair now and would never part with it aside from the ones that come out when I comb my hair - and there are usually enough for a whole new head of hair each time haha. I have VERY thick and unruly hair. Also why I tie a dastaar even though it's 'optional' for women. My hairs are so unruly its just way easier, and I happen to think I look ok with a turban There is something spiritual about it too... I believe it affects dasam dwar - both hairs and the turban.

btw, many girls prefer bearded men. You know it IS possible to have a long beard and not have it unhygienic... upkeep, brushing, cleaning, applying oils etc are allowed. And I am not against tucking it up either though I don't like when guys put so much fixxo that they can't smile lol.

[gdskler]

btw, many girls prefer bearded men. You know it IS possible to have a long beard and not have it unhygienic... upkeep, brushing, cleaning, applying oils etc are allowed. And I am not against tucking it up either though I don't like when guys put so much fixxo that they can't smile lol.

Yes seen the trend is changing here in Malaysia too. As for fixxo, as professional living in a country where majority of the people can't grow a beard especially dealing with the chinese, one must keep "neat" with fixxo. Use fixxo that had been blend with aloe vera, it has little "that" smell.

[BhagatSingh]

The laws of Moses, sunnah of muhammad and modern ideas of hygeine and overall health including social wellbeing. Cut the hair away just like nails when they are too long and filled with dirt which isn't easily removed.

Long beards are associated now with perverts, santa claus, extremist islamist nutcases, normal nutcases with foil hats on their head trying to stop aliens from invading their brain, homeless people, people with social diseases which prevent them from maintaing hygiene, those who appear disheveled, some people who been pulling all nighters who smell and haven't shaved or baved. You can see alot of great professors these days in our time who are clean shaved but maintain all the knowledge expected and you can meet a village nutcase with a long beard who thinks the world is flat and spirits control things.

So we need more of the positive role models with beards and perhaps we shouldn't judge people on a beard or not.

Nailed it

PS

"the world is flat and spirits control things."

Lol but this really is true. Our lived experience of the world is that of a flat, bumpy plane. At no point does it occur to us that we are living on an egg. And who is Waheguru if not the supreme spirit?

[MrSinghUK]

VaheGuru Ji Ka Khalsa

VaheGuru Ji Ki Fateh

As I understand it Guru Granth Sahib Ji is Jagat Guru - Guru for all, not just the Khalsa/Sikhs to learn from. There are not any rules as such in the Guru Granth Sahib for you to have long hair. But when Guru Gobind Singh Ji created the Khalsa, He gave his followers instructions on what they must do if they are to be part of His Khalsa.

This does not mean you cannot attain enlightenment if you are not of the Khalsa or Sikhi as there are many examples of non Khalsa individuals who attained enlightenment ie Baba Kabir Ji and Baba Farid Ji.

God is the Truth. Neither Truth nor God are exclusive to Sikhi. Sikhi has some similar beliefs to aspects of other faiths and differs on other aspects. To my understanding we believe other faiths have certain aspects of the Truth but have gone wrong on certain things ie we believe in reincarnation where Christianity does not, we believe in praying to the One Supreme Lord but Hindus pray to multiple deities (just a couple of basic differences without going too deep into them). So Sikhi believes other faiths have certain aspects of the Truth but the Gurus put the complete Truth in Guru Granth Sahib Ji. That is why we can lead our lives by Guru Granth Sahib Ji. If however we are to be part of the Khalsa then we have to be baptised and follow the rules Guru Gobind Singh Ji set for His Khalsa Sikhs. The Khalsa are like God's police force or God's army, standing up against oppression and for the rights of those who need their help.

I hope this is helpful.

I hope I have not caused any offence or said anything in appropriate as this was not my intention. My understanding and knowledge is limited but have contributed in accordance with my own current understanding.

VaheGuru Ji Ka Khalsa

VaheGuru Ji Ki Fateh