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"Of all the religions,
the best religion is to repeat God's Name and to do pious deeds. Of
all the religious rites, the best rite is to remove the filth of evil
intellect by association with the saints." (Guru Arjan Dev, Ashtpadi,
pg. 266)
Sikhism
was founded by Guru Nanak who shaped a new, unique and distinct religion
during his lifetime. Under the stewardship of the Ten Gurus Sikhism
was able to gather many followers from other religions. Although the
Gurus were critical of other religions they very strongly believed in
religious freedom. They also emphasized that the most important thing
was not which faith one followed but the remembrance of God at all time
and the leading of a decent and honourable life. Due to it's relatively
young nature Sikhism is sometimes misunderstood to be only a reform
movement or branch of older existing religions. This is certainly not
the case, like all religions there are some similarities as well as
differences.
Bani Concerning
Religions in General
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Source:
1994 World Almanac
| Religions
of the World |
| Rank |
Religion |
Followers
|
| 1. |
Christianity |
1,830 mil. |
| 2. |
Islam |
971 mil. |
| 3. |
Hinduism |
732 mil. |
| 4. |
Buddhism |
314 mil. |
| 5. |
Sikhism |
19
mil. |
| 6. |
Judaism |
18 mil. |
| 7. |
Shamanists |
10 mil. |
| 8. |
Confucianism |
6 mil. |
| 9. |
Bahai |
6 mil. |
| 10. |
Jainism |
4 mil. |
| 11. |
Shinto |
3 mil. |
|