Sikh vs. Muslim

[jsfroude]

Please excuse my ignorance but... What's the difference between Sikhs and Muslims and are they the 2 main religions of British Asians?

[A Chill Wind]

I suspect those of the Hindu faith may have something to say about that.

[ugly_bob]

Tey are different religions. They have different gods. That's quite a major difference.

The major visible difference is that Sikh men turbans and don't cut their hair or shave (strict Sikhs anyway)

[jno]

no, Hinduism and Buddhism are also common Asian religions. I suspect among Britons, Islam (Muslims) and Hinduism are the most common: after India achieved indpendence from Britain in the late 1940s, it swiftly split into India (chiefly Hindu) and Pakistan (chiefly Muslim), two countries that still provide a lot of immigrants. You could also call Judaism (Jews) an Asian religion, but Middle East is probably a fairer description.

Here are the figures in the last census:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id =293

[suffragette]

The Moslem faith was started by the Prophet Muhammad about 1500 years ago in present day, Saudi Arabia, but I believe the Sikh faith is only about 500 years old and was originally centred around the Punjab region of India. Sikhs follow the writings of ten different Guru's.

Moslem means 'one who serves God' and Sikh means 'disciple'.

Both religions believe in one God who cannot/has not taken human form. Sikhs do not believe in fasting as Moslems do when celebrating Ramadaan. The Sikhs do not worship the many Gods of their fellow Indians who happen to be Hindu, nor do they follow the caste system of the Hindus.

Both religions believe in the importance of family life and do not celebrate celibacy in the manner of the Catholic clergy. Sikhs also believe in the full equality of women and reject the wearing of veils for women, though their menfolk wear turbans and do not cut their hair.

http://www.sikhs.org/topics.htm
http://www.islamworld.net/true.html

The Moslem faith is the fastest growing faith in the world and the second largest religion in GB after Christianity. Hindus are more prevalent in the UK than Sikhs, who form quite a small, but nonetheless very important world religion.

[azif]

They are Different :o) Even though from appearance I know some people find it difficult to differentiate but there is a difference.

[azif]

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid =20060819233855AAcFvQv

[curiosity]

This may only be my personal experiences, but certainly I have found my Sikh neigbours far more accepting of us white catholics and we had a normal friendly relationship, kids going to each others parties etc. Our very friendly muslim neighbours on the other hand, wouldn't allow their kids over the door step or to any party (if the sikhs were going to be there) or just because, we never really found out, but explaining why their good friend from next door who is 3 can't come to a toddlers party is hard to explain to your child, when you don't know why. As a minority, whose kids were not getting a "normal" childhood experience, we moved, the Siikh families were sad about this. So were we, but also frustrated at feeling ostricised.

[jsfroude]

thanks everyone, really interesting how the muslim faith seems to dominate mainstream representation of British Asians these days.