MAT & MATAA
Mat (mq, miq) means advice, counsel, instruction.
{It also means intelligence, wisdom, opinion, judgement, vote}.
Mata in the word Gurmata too has its origin in Mat (Gurmata means ‘mat of the Guru’).
A Sikh is expected to seek the Guru’s advice before performing any action (it is done by reading a random hymn from Guru Granth Sahib):
O ignorant one! Follow the instruction of Guru.
(Guru Granth Sahib, p.288)
MATA/ MATAA
Literally: resolution.
In Sikh context, the decisions regarding the issues, which do not affect the Sikh nation as a whole, are called Mataa. It affects only the persons or the groups covered by its scope.
Also see: Gurmataa and Hukamnaama..
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)