Sikh Rehat Maryada

The Sikh Rehat Maryada (Punjabi (Gurmukhi): ਸਿੱਖ ਰਹਿਤ ਮਰਯਾਦਾ) (alternate translation Sikh Reht Maryada) is a code of conduct and conventions for Sikhism, approved by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar in 1945.

Although Sikhs have a primary scripture (the Guru Granth Sahib), it does not provide a practical structure for the arrangement of the community. Consequently, the Rehat Maryada was created to standardise Sikh Gurdwaras and religious practices to foster cohesion throughout the community.

History

Before Guru Gobind Singh (the 10th Sikh Guru) died in 1708, he transferred his authority to the scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, and the body of initiated Sikhs, called the Khalsa Panth. However between 1708 and 1925 the Sikh community experienced sectarianism and no centralized authority apart from that arranged under British rule from 1849. A range of other codes and collections of tradition existed, but none represented the entire community (Panth).

In 1925, the Punjab Sikh Gurdwara Act (the Act) was introduced and legislated the establishment of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) (an elected body of Sikhs) for the purpose of administering Gurdwaras.

Sant Singh Maskeen

Giani Sant Singh Maskeen (1934 – 18 February 2005) was a Sikh scholar and theologian known for his expertise of Gurmat and Gurbani.

Early life

Maskeeen was born in 1934 at Lakki Marwat (now in Pakistan) to father Kartar Singh and mother Ram Kaur. He had one sister, Sujan Kaur. He pursued his schooling from Khalsa School (now in Pakistan) and went to Government High School but the turmoil of Partition in 1947, interrupted his education from the Govt. High School. His family migrated to India and settled in Alwar (Rajasthan) but he could not continue with his studies. For some time he worked as a railway employee. In 1958 he was married to Sunder Kaur and made Alwar his permanent home. He had three sons and two daughters.

Works

He authored more than a dozen books. Some of his famous books includes Guru Chintan, Ras Dhara, Amrit Manthan, Ratnagar and Shabad Guru.

Establishments

He established a meditation centre at his home town of Alwar where a samagam (function) is held every year on the eve of Hola Mahalla which is attended by many scholars, preachers, Dhadi Jathas, Kavishars and learned people of Sikh community.

Guru Gobind Singh

Guru Gobind Singh (Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ  pronunciation  (22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), revered as The Tenth Nanak, Sarbans Dani ("The merciful donor, who sacrificed his all"), Mard Agamra ("A Man without any parallels") and Shah-e-Shahenshah ("The Emperor of Emperors") was the Tenth Guru (Prophet-Master) of Sikhism.

Guru Gobind Singh was born in the year 1666 as Gobind Rai, to the ninth Guru of Sikhism, Guru Teg Bahadur, and Mata Gujri, at Patna Sahib. He ascended to become the Tenth Sikh Guru at the young age of nine, following the martyrdom of his father and Ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, who been approached by Hindu Brahmins from Kashmir to seek his intercession against the religious fanaticism of the Mughal empire's General Iftikar Khan. At the innocent behest of the nine year old Gobind Rai (who had remarked that "None could be worthier than you, father, to make a supreme sacrifice"), Guru Tegh Bahadur had courted death and was publicly executed at the imperial capital Delhi in the year 1675.