Although Sikhism is a major world reli-gion and the fourth largest UK religion, it is surprising that even in well-stocked Christian bookstores there is very little material in the way of reaching out to the Sikh community. Typically in the apolo-getic section there are many books regard-ing Islam, some on Hinduism and a few on Judaism and Buddhism, though little if anything on Sikhism.
In 1992 Josh McDowell and Don Stewart wrote ‘Sikhism is a religion all but unknown to Western civilization’1. Strangely, we are left with the same conclusion today.
Hindu / Muslim beginnings
Due to the geographical setting, religious upbringing and experiences of its founder Guru Nanak, one might initially assume that Sikhism is basically a combination of equal elements of Hinduism and Islam. It certainly does (to some degree) try to unify the two worldviews. After all, Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was raised a Hindu and was employed as an administrator working for a Muslim nobleman.
