Nirankari

The first half of the 19th-century saw Sikhs rise to power with the Sikh Empire under Ranjit Singh. This strength was deeply admired and cherished by Sikhs.

The Nirankari sect was founded in 1851 by Baba Dyal, a Sahajdhari, who aimed at refocusing Sikhs on the Adi Granth – the Sikh scripture, and reform the beliefs and customs of the Sikhs.[3] Baba Dyal's son and successor, Baba Darbar Singh, collected and recorded the Baba Dyal's essential teachings and established Nirankari communities outside of Rawalpindi. The Nirankari were estimated to number in the thousands by the time of the third leader of the movement, Sahib Rattaji (1870–1909).[3][5] The Nirankari institution of biredars started, where the living Guru appointed his local representative to watch and lead local Nirankaris in distant towns and villages. The office of biredar has been a hereditary one in practice, states Webster.[3]

In the 1891 Indian Census, 14,001 Hindus and 46,610 Sikhs identified themselves as Nirankaris.[6] Under their fourth leader, Baba Gurdit Singh, some of the Nirankari took an interest in the Singh Sabha Sikh revivalist movement. The Nirankaris helped to bring the Anand Marriage Act of 1909 to the attention of the Sikh populace. The movement's fifth Guru, Sahib Hara Singh (1877–1971), started to reorganize the movement, and was later succeeded by his eldest son, Baba Gurbax Singh.

As the Nirankari emphasized the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev in the Singh Sabha Movement, which were unpopular to the Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh preferred by the dominant Singh Sabha Sikhs, the Nirankari were marginalized by society. This was exacerbated by the shift from Sahajdhari (shaven) to Kesh dhari (unshaven) Sikhs.

In 1929 the Sant Nirankari Mission formed out of the Nirankari. Nirankaris believe in a lineage of living Gurus, well beyond the ten accepted by Khalsa Sikhs. Like Khalsa, they too revere the Guru Granth Sahib, but consider it an open book to which the wisdom of the later and present-day living Gurus can be added.[4][2]

The group later developed its own distinct spiritual movement. At the time of the partition of India in 1947, the Nirankari abandoned their center in Rawalpindi, which has since then been part of Pakistan, and established themselves on the Indian side of the partition.[1]

Later the movement split into two groups, the original Nirankari and the Sant Nirankaris. In 1978, the Sant Nirankaris were excommunicated by the Akal Takht for their belief in a living Guru as opposed to strict adherence to the Guru Granth Sahib.

Baba Dayal believed that Sikh practices and rituals of life were unlike what they were when Guru Nanak was alive. He strongly rejected idolatry, the Khalsa stance against living Gurus, and the treatment of the Sikh scripture as a closed book. He believed that salvation can result from naam-simaran, or repetition of the divine Name. He started a Sikh reform movement in 1851 to correct the extant beliefs and practices.[1] The key devotional practice was to repeat the formless God's name as the mantra, Dhan, Dhan Nirankar, meaning "Glory, glory to the Formless One".[7] Their ardas differs from that of the Khalsa Sikhs. They invoke "Nirankar" instead of "Bhagauti", and include their tradition's list of living Gurus beyond Guru Gobind Singh.[1][3] The early worship houses of Nirankaris were called dharamshala, rather than gurdwara.[3]

Nirankari prohibit the consumption of alcohol and tobacco. They are vegetarians. The Nirankaris believe in very simple, inexpensive wedding ceremonies called "Anand", a term related to one found among Khalsa Sikhs.[1][3] The Nirankari Sikhs dispose of their dead in rivers in contrast to burial or cremation.[1]

One of the main differentiation of Nirankari from orthodox Sikh belief is the continuation of the line of human Gurus after Guru Gobind Singh.[1] Nirankaris therefore do not believe in the orthodox view that there were only ten living Gurus in Sikhism and the Guru Granth Sahib is a closed scripture and that last Guru of Sikhism.[8][9] They revere the Guru Granth Sahib, but also have living Gurus (satguru) that they revere and who sits near the scripture.[3]

Baba Dyal Singh (1783–1855) lived during a period of Sikh dominance, resulting from the victories of the Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh. However, Baba Dyal felt that the military successes were a distraction of the Sikh duty to remember Akal Purakh through the practice of Naam Japo. Baba Dyal further preached against the assimilation of other religious traditions into Sikhism. Namely, he was concerned that the Hindu practice of idolatry was becoming increasingly prevalent in Sikhism, and thus Baba Dyal emphasized the formless, or ni ran kar, quality of Akal Purakh, which gave the movement its name.

Baba Dyal reportedly experienced enlightenment when he was 18 years old, entered meditation, and heard a voice saying:

Give up this ritualistic practice. You have been commissioned to expel the darkness of ignorance... You are a true Nirankari, as you are a believer of God as spirit, without bodily form.[11]

Baba Dyal's movement was originally confined to the Rawalpindi area, with followers being mostly Sahajdhari Sikhs of the Khatri and Arora castes. However, his followers were not expected to surrender their occupations and live a life of renunciation. The Nirankari were typically traders and shopkeepers and were expected to continue working while they focused their attention on the remembrance of the divine Name.

Baba Dyal left a brief manual of instruction.' Its form and contents are those of a Rahit Nama, or law code.[5] Its contents emphasize the teachings of Guru Nanak without mentioning the Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh. The essence of the Nirankari hu kam Nama is contained in the words which every adherent is commanded to utter again and again, Dhan than ni ran kar, meaning "Glory be to Nirankar."

• Ahmadiyya