Sarjit S. Gill

Sikh Women Diaspora in Malaysia: The Reality of their Role and Status in the Religious Domain

This article aims to examine how the Sikh women diaspora from two generations exercised their rights within the religious domain in Malaysia. Sikhism has a unique world view of gender ideology; from a gender perspective, God is symbolically described as a husband to all of humanity, whereby all humans, irrespective of gender, are perceived as having the status of wives to God. Since the Sikh religion focuses on the concept of the spirit rather than the physical body; therefore, the position of God and mankind should be cognized from the viewpoint of transformation of spirit. Most significantly, every human being, be they male or female, is held in equal importance, with each individual being conferred the same position, status, rights and opportunity to live this life as God has ordained. In fact, tenets of life that define practices as being praiseworthy, or to be avoided, are not gender specific. This makes the philosophy of gender equality of the Sikh religion particularly interesting and worthy of academic scrutiny. To what extent is it true that women have equal status with men? The authors discovered that patriarchal cultural practices have clearly dominated Sikh women’s views about their roles in daily life, as well as in the perception of their own status. This article concludes with specific recommendations to uplift and strengthen gender equality among the Sikh community in the religious domain.

Understanding The Christian Communityâs Stance towards the Muslim Community in Sabah: After the Ban on the Usage of the Term Allah

The Muslim-Christian relationship dates back to more than 1400 years. Over the years, many incidences have contributed to the fluctuation in the relationship between the two religions. In the Malaysian context, the practice of different religion is allowed, as defined in Article 3(1) of the national constitution “Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation”. Nevertheless, the MuslimChristian relationship has entered a new phase when on 22 October 2013, the Court of Appeal has decided that the Catholic Church’s publication, Herald – The Catholic Weekly (Herald) has been banned from using the term Allah. This issue has garnered local and international attention because it will shape the future of the Muslim-Christian relationship. Even though this issue has affected the Christian community in West Malaysia, specifically, it has also left an impact on the other Christian communities including those in Sabah. Thus, this brings forth the discussion of the Christian community’s stance towards the Muslim community in Sabah post 22 October 2013. This research employs both the quantitative and qualitative approaches. The outcome of the research shows that the Christian community demonstrates a positive attitude towards the Muslim community and they conduct their daily activity without any animosity or negative reaction.