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Summary of Question:	I Want To Shave My Head For Charity
Category:	Hair
Date Posted:	Thursday, 3/07/2002 10:50 AM MST

hi, can i just say that this website is really cool and has helped me understand alot more about the sikh religion:)

I know sikhs are not allowed to cut their hair and i am 16 years old and i have NEVER cut it. I want to shave all of my hair off, not for fashion purposes or for an ego boost or anything like that, but for charity. I am hoping to raise £1000 for Cancer relief and as u know many people who suffer from cancer have to shave their hair. My auntie recently died from cancer and i am greatful for whet the doctors etc did to help her b4 she went and so i want to give something back.

God has taught us to help others and i want to be able to do this...i know your gonna sat theirs other thing u can do to raise money but this is what i want to do. It will grow back and i would never cut it again. I have been a sikh since i have been born and i respect my religion and faith. I will even keep all of the hair i shave off in a bag. Will this make me a bad sikh, or not a sikh at all if i do this?

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REPLY
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Sat Siri Akaal. Cutting hair is about intention as much as anything else. There will be plenty of Sikhs who will think you are a 'bad' Sikh or not a Sikh. Being Sikh is first about intention and devotion, not about form, but the form is an integral part of being Sikh.

I agree that there are other ways to raise money and would ask you to go within and ask yourself if your ego isn't involved in this a bit -- as in being attached to serving cancer victims by cutting your hair. As a Sikh I cannot tell someone it's OK to cut their hair (short of absolute medical necessity) but in the end the decision is yours.

I also ask you to think about the shock to your system of losing your hair-- and believe me you will feel it and know it right away! You might find yourself depressed, actually. Finally, it is easy to say "I will grow it all back" but then, will you??? You might decide it's too easy to have short hair. Beware the slippery slope.
Guru ang sang,
-DKK