Sikh must not cut hair from any part of his body in any situation. There is no concession or exemption on this issue. It is final and obligatory. Cutting of hair excommunicates a Sikh. Before one wishes to rejoin Sikh faith, one has to keep unshorn hair and get initiation. An initiated Sikh, at the time of initiation, is given command not to have any social relations with those who cut their hair (Sirgumm).
Hair have significant place in other religions too. The founders of Judaism, Christianity, Islam etc. kept unshorn hair. Most of the great philosophers, scientists and writers keep unshorn hair. Hair is considered to be a source of great spiritual, mental and physical energy.
Normally, a human being has 25 thousand to 125 thousand hair on his head (beard and moustache are extra). Hair begin growing soon after one’s birth (some children have small hair even at the time of their birth). The growth of hair stops after some stage.
Hair growth needs a lot of proteins. When cut, hair grow very soon. New hair too need protein. So cutting of hair leads to loss of protein in the body. On the other hand hair length and growth stops at a particular stage. From this stage hair don’t need protein. So not-cutting of hair saves protein, hence energy of body.
Hair is essential for proper functioning of bones, teeth and nervous system. Longer the hair, higher the production of vitamin D in the body. By cutting hair we loose vitamin D also. Some of us have to resort to vitamin D tablets and other medicines or special food simply because of our folly of cutting or trimming our hair.
Hair protect us from extreme heat as well as extreme cold. Hair is also very helpful in conducting in our body warmth in winter and coolness in summer. On the other hand those who cut their hair have to cover their heads with some headgear to save their heads from the effects of weather and climate. Some headgears don’t give proper protection to the head. It is only unshorn hair which are the best possible safety for head from the adverse effect of weather.
By cutting hair, one looses a lot of zinc, chromium, lead and selenium also. One needs these metallic elements to keep one’s body fit. Women need these metallic elements during the period of menstruation and pregnancy more than men. Cutting of hair has an adverse effect on eyesight too. Regular combing of hair increases eyesight.
Cutting hair leads to early loss of teeth. Cutting moustache leads to diseases of breath. One who cuts his/her hair is more prone to insanity and psychological disorders.
Similarly, beards and moustaches have a special role in a man’s personality. It is beard and moustache that make a man look ‘manly’. One looks feminine by shaving his beard and moustache. Nature has given hair to man due to its necessity for his body. Otherwise, like a female, man would also have been deprived of this gift by nature. Hence, scientifically speaking, it is necessary for human beings to keep unshorn hair.
As far as Sikh religion is concerned hair, beard, moustache are obligatory for a Sikh. Guru Sahib have clearly said that if a Sikh cuts his/her hair, he/she does not remain a Sikh. There is no concept of a “modern Sikh” or a “clean shaven” Sikh. A clean-shaven Punjabi is either a Hindu Punjabi or the one who has renounced Sikhism. One cannot cut hair and still call himself/herself a Sikh. A Sikh is a Sikh and without hair he/she ceases to be so.
There are several references to hair in Gurbani (Sikh hymns). See pp 199, 387, 471, 500, 745, 749, 750, 810, 1084, 1339, 1419 etc. of Guru Granth Sahib). Hukamnamas issued by Guru Gobind Singh Sahib, prohibit cutting of hair as hair is ‘seal of Guru’ and by loosing one’s “seal” one becomes false, base, spurious, bogus, phoney.
A Sikh, in his daily prayer, at least twice a day, seeks from the Almighty, the gift of power to live throughout his life with unshorn hair. Though, these days, a very large number of persons who were born as Sikhs have cut their hair and it is a shame that they still they express their claim to Sikhism. They are hypocrite liars as they have no right to do so. When a Sikh gets initiation, the Punj Piaray (who perform the ceremony of initiation) command in unequivocal words the four prohibitions to be strictly followed and keeping unshorn hair is the first and foremost of these four. Disobeying this commandment makes a Sikh (in fact former Sikh) an apostate and he/she has to get re-initiation before calling himself/herself a Sikh.
Hair, for a Sikh, is not only hair on head. It includes beard and moustache too. A fine-looking Sikh is one who keeps untied (flowing) beard. Such a figure is known as Darshani Darha (respectable beard). There are some references to beard and moustache in Gurbani. But, in these references, the Sikhs have been told, besides having Darshani Darha, Truthful Living and love for the Guru and the Almighty:
True are the beards which touch Guru’s feet (p. 1419)
Only those faces and beards are true
which speak Truth and practise Truth (p. 1419)
Guru Arjan Sahib told in clear words that if one has fine beard but troubles the poor people and does not live a Truthful life, will be punished by God:
One who haughtily strokes his beard on poor people
Will be burnt in the fear of hell (p. 199)
The first reference to be beard, in Guru Granth Sahib, however, has been made in a hymn by Sheikh Farid:
See, O Farid! what has happened to you beard, it has grown grey,
yours days in this world are numbered
now your death is approaching (but you are still living ungodly life)(p. 1378)
According to a historical source, Guru Ram Das Sahib had a long beard. Once, Sri Chand, elder son of Guru Nanak Sahib, met the Fourth Nanak. On seeing Guru Sahib’s long beard, Sri Chand asked him “How do you have such a long beard?” At this Guru Ram Das Sahib told him, “it is for cleaning the feet of senior people (like you).” This story might not be exactly true but it speaks of Guru Ram Das Sahib’s humbleness, generosity, saintliness and intelligence.
Beard, otherwise, is considered as a sign of wisdom, seniority, and grandeur. Famous Punjabi poet Shah Mohammed, too, has referred to turban and beard as symbolic of a man’s honour. While addressing the Sikh soldiers going to battlefield, he says:
O friends ! preserve the honour of turbans and beards”
Beard is such a sign of seniority, intelligence and wisdom that if someone, having nice beard, makes some (major) mistake or shows some ethical lapse, he is immediately warned:
He has a lovely beard
But is a ‘black crow’ at heart
When a white-bearded person makes a mistake, he is told to take care of his white fine-looking beard. One, who gets a bad name for his misdoing is chided with the words “you have insulted your beard” or ” you did not preserve the honour of your beard.”
As beard symbolises seniority and generosity, moustache symbolises masculinity and prowess. Among Hindus the highest punishment for a man is ‘shaving off his moustache’. Nowadays, however, Hindus shave off their head, beard and moustache themselves without knowing what they are doing to themselves.
On the other hand, show of moustache, in an improper manner, is a negative activity too. Those who fix their moustache upward and also make unethical signs, are known as Badmash (wicked and flirts). This exhibition is disliked by society.
Moustache, too, is a symbol of honour in Punjabi society. Touching the moustache of a tiger is almost an impossible act. Insulting a Sikh is like touching the moustache of a tiger. If somebody gets insulted due to some reason, he is chided as “having got his moustache lowered or trimmed.” Such idioms are associated with beard too. Some one showing ungrateful attitude is said to be “plucking beard while sitting in the lap of a nice person.”
Beard and moustache are a part and parcel of Sikh-life since Guru Nanak Sahib. In 1695 (a couple of years before revelation of Khalsa), Guru Gobind Singh Sahib made it obligatory for a Sikhs. It is an inseparable part of a Sikh’s being. A Sikh is identified specially because of his beard and turban.
Among the Sikhs, the most respectable and representative beard is an untied, flowing beard. By the first half of the nineteenth century, there was no concept of tying the beard. Sher Singh (son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh) was, perhaps, the first Sikh who tied his beard. He separated beards from his chin and tied it upward over his cheeks. In spite of a prince’s action, no Sikh tried to practice it. However, in the beginning of the twentieth century several Sikhs began tying beard with a net or fixer or gel or in some other manners.
After 1947, some Sikhs began trimming their beards and moustaches. Up to 1960s, there was a very small percentage of such persons who shaved off their heads, beards or moustaches. By 1978, the number of such persons rose very high. The Indian government, as it is headed by the Hindus, began encouraging, promoting, helping and patronising those who renounced their hair, beards and moustaches. Majority of the Hindu officers gave jobs and promotions to those who had insulted their hair. It resulted into disappearing of beards, moustaches and hair.
In foreign countries several Sikhs, partly due to racial insults and partly due to fashion, renounced hair and beards. In fact, it was their weakness as well as their non-commitance to Sikh faith, which made them cut their hair. By 1978, it was so startling a situation that on some occasions it was almost impossible to find even five Sikhs with hair and beards. However, the killings of 13 Sikhs, at Amritsar, on April 13, 1978 and particularly the attack by the Indian army on Darbar Sahib (4.6.1984) that brought a major change in the Sikh attitude and thousands of Sikhs in foreign countries and hundreds of thousands of Sikhs in the Sikh homeland, not only stopped cutting their hair but also got initiation. But, during 1992-1995, the mass killings of the Sikh youths by Beant Sinh and K.P. Gill in the Sikh homeland stopped initiation movement in the Punjab.
A Sikh must not dye his/her hair, beard or moustache. This act is liable to religious punishment. Similarly, a Sikh must not pluck white/grey hair from any part of his body. It is a misconceived notion that dying hair can conceal one’s age. Nor it is true that a black-haired or dark-brown haired person is (or looks) stronger or younger. Those who dye their white hair are, in fact, mentally weak persons who don’t want to accept their seniority. Strictly speaking, one who dyes one’s hair to conceal age is not worth credibility as he can try to deceive others in any other situation, under any other garb, in any other manner, with another excuse. Concealing, deceiving, cheating are a general way of behaviour.
A European writer, while commenting upon the Sikhs’ hair and beards, once said “the best appearance of a nice man on this earth is a Sikh with untrimmed beard.” He further said, “the worst appearance of a person is a Sikh who has insulted his beard.”
A look at the histories of different religions shows a remarkable factor common to all the religions. The founders of all the religions of the world kept unshorn hair. Moses, Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, all kept unshorn hair. All the great philosophers, scientists and intellectuals keep (even now) unshorn hair. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Newton, Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, Walt Whitman, Kali Das, Tagore, Acharya Rajneesh, all kept unshorn hair.
According to Christianity and Islam, Adam (according to them the first man on this earth) was the one with unshorn hair. In Islamic and European world no one had ever trimmed one’s hair till the beginning of the twentieth century. In Egypt, Turkey, Persia, Greece, Iraq (then Mesopotamia) no body ever trimmed hair. In Turkey, only the slaves were not allowed to keep unshorn hair. Shaving hair meant slavery. The same was the rule in the Hindu world. A sinner or a criminal was condemned to shaving his beard and cutting his hair. In Britain, Henry I (1154-89) was the first clean-shaven king. But Henry III (1216-1272) started keeping hair again. After the death of Edward III (1377), the British rulers stopped keeping unshorn hair. By seventh century, all the Anglo-Saxons used to keep unshorn hair. William I had issued orders that the ordinary people won’t be allowed to keep unshorn hair as only rulers had a right to keep unshorn hair, as it was a God-given privilege of the royal family only.
Russia, too, has interesting history about hair. Peter, the Russian king, in 1705, levied a tax on those who wanted to keep unshorn beard. Queen Catherine finally withdrew this tax.
Beard is a symbol of piety not only in the east but also in the west. If someone wishes to ensure one’s sincerity of promise, he says “I swear by my chin”. Here chin means beard. It has been a belief in the west that a man without beard is not a trustworthy person. Similarly, a woman with a beard was condemned as a witch. Now, this belief does not exist anymore. Sikhism does not believe in the taboo that a man without natural beard or a woman with beard are evil beings. According to Sikhism it is due to hormones only.
In Sikhism, hair, beard, moustache are an obligation. There can not be any exception. A man is a Sikh only if he has unshorn hair on each and every part of his body. (But, only unshorn hair do not make a Sikh. One must get initiation and live one’s life according to fundamental principles of Sikhism).
A Sikh should not tie his beard as only flowing natural (flowing) beards is the genuine representative of Sikh faith. There have been attempts to ban natural flowing beard in India too. Once the British government in India banned flowing beard in the army. It was strongly reacted to by the whole of the Sikh-world. The Indian government, too, repeated the same after 1947. Even today, undeclared rules have been promulgated and a Sikh soldier is not allowed to keep flowing beard.
Hair, beard and moustache are sacred and respectable and symbol of seniority and they shall ever remain so. A natural man is one who has unshorn hair. Nature has provided this masculine gift to men with some purpose. Hence, cutting or trimming hair is unnatural.
Hair, moustache, beard are a sign of seniority, wisdom, honour, credibility and beauty. Their absence points to incredibility, cheating, hypocrisy, weakness, deficiency and unnatural activity. Moreover, it is like disobeying nature.
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)