Ghulam Singh

Can anyone explain to me how I can get ringtones [free ones?] for my cell phone ... Its a nokia t720? Thanks a million :TH:

:nihungsmile: :TH: Women’s Space in the Mosque: Sikhs Might Have a Solution print-friendly version A service at a Bay Area Gurdwara By Safiyya Aslan It is important for people of all religions to understand each other, to recognize unique differences and to relate through their essential similarities. Recently, as part of a university research project, I was granted the opportunity to investigate some aspects of Sikhism. In order to understand the religion in practice, I have been hanging around a Sikh Gurdwara (house of worship) diligently taking note of all observations, from aspects of its architecture to rituals and social interaction between attendees. My experience has shown me that Sikhs may hold the answer to the current controversy over women’s equal access to space in our mosques. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How important is MWU! to you? Muslim WakeUp! Urgently Needs Your Support! click here -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are many Sikhs where I live, and some neighborhoods could almost be mistaken for a Punjabi village instead of a metropolitan Canadian city. Although for my entire life I have coexisted with Indo-Canadian Sikhs, I have never really examined their cult ure or religion. I always wondered: what is it that Sikhs believe, why do the men wear big turbans and the women veils, why do they refrain from cutting their hair and from eating alcohol and pork? Is their religion something between Islam and Hinduism, or something altogether different? And so on… Sikhism (actually pronounced as Sick-ism) is a monotheistic religion with origins in Punjab, India. It is a relatively recent religion, whose founder, Guru Nanak was born in 1469. Guru Nanak’s society consisted of Hindus and Muslims who, in his view, excluded outsiders and neglected the poor and needy. The Hindu caste system was inflexible and poorly treated the lower castes. To Guru Nanak it seemed that people in India were worshipping idols and not God. Thus, with a universal message of salvation, Guru Nanak began to travel, preach and help the poor throughout the Punjab. He preached acceptance of all people regardless of their caste, worship of one God, breaking the worldly desires, service for the better good, and respect of every person’s rights. Guru Nanak wrote many spiritual verses that were recorded into the Sikh scriptures called the Adi Gurunth Sahib. The Gurunth also includes spiritual poetry from several Hindu mystics and Muslim Sufis. The fifth Guru Arjan Dev compiled all Sikh sacred writings completing the creation of the Gurunth. Nine more gurus followed Guru Nanak, many of them adding to the body of scriptures. The Guru is thought to embody the wisdom and compassion of God in a human. The closest parallel of a Guru in western religion can be made to that of a prophet or saint. The last Guru, Gobind Singh died in 1708. Before the last Guru died, he declared the Gurunth as “the living eternal soul of the ten Gurus.” Hence, the Gurunth continued the succession of Gurus in its corpus of writings Essential for many Sikhs is the five outer symbols of their belonging to the Khalsa, or brotherhood. Known as the five K’s, men must wear a turban, a comb, a silver bangle, a sword and a pair o f special underwear. Just as the veil for some Muslim women is an external symbol representing their faith in Islam, so too are the five K’s for orthodox Sikhs. In orthodox Sikhism, both men and women are forbidden from cutting any of their body hair because they do not believe in disrupting natural occurrences. Thus many Sikh men often have very long hair and beards. There are also many laws which purposely make them distinct from the practices of Hindus and Muslims, such as the prohibition of eating meat killed in the Muslim way, the practice of various Hindu rites, etc. They also are commanded to refrain from indulging the body to excess and using intoxicants of any form as well keeping a heart free of lust, anger and selfishness. Upon entering the Gurdwara for the first time, I was happily surprised with what met my eyes. The Gurdwara is cut in two by an invisible barrier, one side for women and the other for men. Yet, there is no wall and no difference between the two spaces. This invisible line cuts the Gurdwara in half through its length, giving men and women the exact same amount of space and same distance to the front of the room. In the foyer, the separation is immediately apparent. Men walk to the right side where they must remove their shoes, wash their hands and put on a head covering if they don’t have one. Women walk to the left side and perform the exact same procedure as men. Then both men and women enter in the same main entrance. The entire main hall is lushly carpeted; there is not a chair in sight because everyone must sit below the Adi Gurunth Sahib (the sacred scriptures of the Sikhs). Both men and women walk down the middle of the room and bow to the Gurunth once, and take a piece of the sacred pudding that is given to everyone. They then sit down in their respective sides. The main walkway is about five feet wide and runs down the entire length of the Gurdwara. It functions as an invisible barrier between men and women. The shrine containing the Gurunth is in the exact center of t he room, and the Granthi (Priest) sits and reads from the Gurunth in this location. Both women and men have the same view and distance to the Granthi. The invisible barrier also continues downstairs which contains the langar (communal kitchen). In this room, which is open all-day and everyday, people of all faiths, races, social status and backgrounds are welcome to eat. Working in the kitchen is part Seva (service) required for Sikhs--often, it is one of the wealthy members who prepare and serve the food while the poorer ones are served. It is considered a great honor to perform service in the langar. There are two entrances to the langar, one from the men’s side upstairs and one from the women’s side also upstairs. In the langar, women and men take their food from the same place and then sit at tables on their respective sides. Wouldn’t it be nice as well if mosques also opened their doors to all people, rich and poor, Muslim and non-Muslim, to serve food in the name of service to Allah? And thus, the point of this description is to show how a sacred place can be divided by gender, yet allow for complete equality between them. Despite the fact that some Muslims say that if men and women were to sit side by side they would be too distracted, I don’t believe this is always the case. In the Gurdwara, men and women sat side by side, albeit with some five feet of distance between them, and I never once noticed a lustful glance or nod from one side to the other. Rather, everyone sat in their groups, either talking among each other or focusing on the front of the room where the Granthi was performing the services. The debate among Muslims, especially in North America, over the rights to space in the mosque is a very hot and controversial issue. While some believe that women should either not be allowed in a mosque or should be relegated to a back room and others advocate no gender separation at all in communal prayer, the Sikh approach offers a good compromise. Women and men should be given equal access to the main hall and should be able to view the imam during Friday prayers. I strongly believe that this realization can be achieved in full accordance with the Sunna and Qur’an. Even during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings upon him), women were not at all excluded; they prayed behind men in the same room of the first mosque in Medina and after the battle of Uhud. But many rights that the Prophet explicitly deemed important for women were taken away during the Umayyad dynasty and in subsequent “Islamic” dynasties and nation-states. The Sikh approach toward gender participation in their houses of worship could be used as a spatial and ethical model for designing and implementing new policies in mosques. It would be wise for mosque authorities to reconsider the division of space in mosques and readjust it to satisfy the needs of modern Muslims. The objective of Muslim women’s struggle for equal access in the mosque is to gain a peaceful and welcoming space wherein to pray and worship God. It’s time to start seeing some changes being implemented in North American and other mosques throughout the world that accommodate that need and include women in all functions of religious life. And God knows better. Safiyya Aslan is a fourth-year student of anthropology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. :wub: )

Ss paanji, Basically interviewers ask the same questions, if you been to some interviews, the main questions they ask include the following? What is your greatest strength? What is your weakest characteristic about your personality? What applications or operating systems are you fluent in? Describe a time when you worked in a team setting? Describe a little bit about yourself? Questions like this are commonly asked, if you're still unsure. Just goto google and type it up and I am sure there are plenty of websites, but if I were you PREPARE BEFORE HAND... Recruiters & HR people love it, when you answer quickly and promptly, because they know that you have prepared and are on the ball.. Best of luck paanji Ghulam Singh.

Singhavelli bro, I just always buy the National Post on the way to work and it was suprising to read about that. Maybe this forum needs to be moderated more, because I think its the 3rd time that Kim Bolan has posted something about this site.. Anwyays Fateh

It's already in the Vancouver Sun... First page.. about some babbar khalsa thing.. So just watch what you say ..

Sangat ji, I was wondering if I can get your guy's help, I have a problem, listen to much western music. Was hoping if our mitrs here could please list their favourite kirtan tune, and the link to it, so I can stop listening to ghand and listen to Guru ji.

How many different names are there for Guru Gobind Singh Ji? I have heard a few, but how many are there, like names for babaji?

My uncle told me this one story, he said in Satyug people would get married when they were born. And like people would say I am married to this person, or something. I myself am inclinded to say girls should get married roughly 23, guys 25-26. However, it seems like most people are marrying when they're 30+ up..

Sup veerji, There are pretty good number of Singhs, if you're going to Vancouver/Surrey area, just try checking out some of the parks. Westermann, Bear Creek, Fleetwood, Stanley, Queen E... and there usually tons of apnas to chill with.. There's always your friendly local neighbourhood gurdwara as well to chill at.

Hi guys, I finally got gmail, however how I would give invitations to anyone. Not sure, how the process works, I just emailed some guy from Denver and he gave me an invite..

Yeah, I realized today as well Bhangra & Hip Hop are so similar, its not even funny. They both talk about boasting about their people, drinks, and women. So yeah, I guess all to my bros/sis ... lay off the bhangra.. :wub:

I try to do prayers, I talked with the Doctors, he said it was some heart condition.. Oh well, Wahguru Got to do more exercise..

Hi guys, I took a heart test turned out it was only 39 beats per minute.. The average is 72 beats per minute, if you're not doing anything [lying still]. Pretty strange, huh..

It is actually spelled Dennis the Menace ..:

Hey guys, I found out there there is a 3ho or Gora Singh yoga center in downtown vancouver, what is your take on yoga. I was thinking of learning it actually, and try to get more flexible and stuff. Has anyone heard of caperio as well?

Here are some things I 'll clear up for you guys, I have been following their case very closely. 1. Regarding the Khalistani connection: Mithu actually became amritdhari after 1984 hamla, and it stated that because he was amritdhari, the police basically tortured him for it and he cut his kes and found solace in kabaddi. I am sure you probably watched it and saw Sant Ji's video in the beginning and they were showing that just so that we know why mithu became amrit shaq. 2. The police have proof that the parents killed the girl for $50,000. They hired some goondas from India to do their dirty work and the mother phoned up the girl and asked, 'We wont' kill if you give up Mithu'. The girl replied no and the mother gave the goondas the chance to just slit her throat and kill her. 3. They were trying to get them deported or something like that back to India. 4. I don't know about you guys, but this is like a tale similar to Heer Ranjha or some fable, we hear as a child, but in this case it was real life. Sad part is people dont' let others live their lifes to the individuals values.

The sukhjinder guy was right on. How do you know anything about Sikhism if you dont' even know the founder's name. Her reply 'Umm, errr, umm, err, umm, [for the next 30 seconds].. Totally muslim propaganda, if someone says anything about their religion, I guess then its the end of the world. I mean, now I totally understand what's happening throughout the rest of the world. Propaganda. Waheguru.

Bhai Parminder Singh ji was an excelletn katha vachak and I think one thing that I believe he did so honestly was raising the awareness of sikhi in the youth. I think in the history of sikhi, there are only few paracharks who make an impact the way he did and I believe if you honestly think he was a good role model. Try to emulate what he says and live that to the fullest. Che

Extremely sad to hear about Bhai Parminder Singh Ji. I remember listening to him for the last couple of years at gurughar, he was definetly someone with huge amounts of pyaar for sikhi. God bless this sacha insaan. I remember, he would always say 'Pyariyoo' with so much sharda.. ---------------- Possibly the gurughars in Calgary, Van should have an akhand paaths for these gursikhs.

It's anyone's choice, Sikhs can eat meat, because Akal Takhat says so.. So I dont' really say anything... But the funny thing is the report said people shouldn't eat dairy products as well, give me a break. What are we supposed to eat, tofu??

Whats wrong with changing a religion, he wasn't devout before, so its all good for him.

No, basically what you do is get a program called Partition Magic. And in a nutshell, what it will do is break up your hard drive into partitions. So if you have a 20 gig hard drive. It will make it into 2 halves. So you'll possibly have enough space to install the other operating system you want. :bringitondude have fun

Theres another baba, I saw in India who has a bad dhaari, I am sure there are sadhus and saints in himalayas who have longer ones.

I was at some friend of my mom's house a couple of months back, and this bebbiji was talking about sant jarnal singh ji. She was talking about how there was a wedding in their pind, and sant ji was the granthi of the wedding. What happend was they only assumed this many people would show up, but when they so much sangat was showing up just to see sant jarnal singh ji do his role as giyaani for a wedding. She just said it was so amazing, how so many people showed up just to see him.

Like most of them are immigrants from muslim populated countries. I ask you this question, why goto France, when you know it has that type of culture, that type of lifestyle and start complaining. See the reason why I was saying that they should go back to their countries is if you dont' like ti then move back to the 20-30 muslim populated countries throughout the world. Also, in the article that you posted Rochak bhai, there stating is that there will be more killings in store for France, I mean in all honesty, how do you think French peopel will respond to that. All I can say is watch 20 years, when France is turned into a muslim country.