W. H. McLeod
William Hewat McLeod | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 August 1932 Feilding, New Zealand |
| Died | 20 July 2009 (aged 76) Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Education | School of Oriental and African Studies |
| Known for | Sikh theology and history |
| Spouse | Margaret Wylie (m. 1955) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Historian |
| Institutions | University of Otago, University of Toronto |
| Thesis | The life and doctrine of Gurū Nānak (1965) |
William Hewat McLeod (1932–2009; also Hew McLeod) was a New Zealand scholar who helped establish Sikh Studies as a distinctive field.
Considered to be the most prominent Western historian of Sikhism, his publications had introduced higher criticism to Sikh sources for the first time and influenced generations of scholars. However, his scholarship remains controversial among traditional Khalsa scholars, who accuse him of disrespecting the religion and argue that Sikhism can't be studied using Western methodologies.