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GCSE · Islam

RS.IP6 Jihad: Greater and Lesser Jihad

AQA 8062 · Calculators not allowed · about 55 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Show all your working.

This question checks key vocabulary used in Muslim teaching about jihad.

(a)State what is meant by jihad.(1)

(b)State what is meant by the Greater Jihad.(1)

(c)State what is meant by the Lesser Jihad.(1)

(d)Give one example of an action that could count as part of the Greater Jihad.(1)

(e)State which is considered by most Muslim scholars to be the more important or more difficult struggle: the Greater Jihad or the Lesser Jihad.(1)

(Total for Question 1 is 5 marks)

Give three conditions that traditionally must be met before Lesser Jihad (armed struggle) is considered justified in Islamic teaching.

(Total for Question 2 is 3 marks)

Explain two reasons why the Greater Jihad is important for Muslims. Refer to Muslim teaching in your answer.

(Total for Question 3 is 4 marks)

Explain two contrasting Muslim views on jihad. Refer to a source of wisdom and authority in your answer.

(Total for Question 4 is 5 marks)

This question is about jihad and its significance today. It is the AQA-style 24-mark, five-part question: parts (a) to (d) are worth 12 marks; part (e) is the 12-mark evaluation.

(a)State what is meant by jihad.(1)

(b)Give two forms the Greater Jihad can take in daily life.(2)

(c)Explain two teachings about the strict conditions placed on Lesser Jihad. Refer to the Qur'an in your answer.(4)

(d)Explain two contrasting Muslim views on whether jihad is ever compatible with violence against civilians. Refer to a source of wisdom and authority in your answer.(5)

(e)Evaluate this statement: 'Jihad is best understood today as an inner, spiritual struggle rather than as warfare.' In your answer you should: refer to Muslim teaching, refer to different points of view, reach a justified conclusion.(12)

(Total for Question 5 is 24 marks)

Explain two ways belief in the Greater Jihad might affect the daily life of a Muslim believer.

(Total for Question 6 is 4 marks)

Give three strict conditions that must be met for Lesser Jihad (armed struggle) to be justified.

(Total for Question 7 is 3 marks)

Mark scheme · RS.IP6 Jihad: Greater and Lesser Jihad

Question 1

(a) B1 struggle or effort; striving in the way of Allah, oe
(a) Answer: Struggle or effort; striving in the way of Allah.
(b) B1 the internal, personal struggle to live according to Allah's will and resist sin/temptation, oe
(b) Answer: The internal, personal struggle to live according to Allah's will and resist temptation.
(c) B1 the external struggle, which can include armed struggle, undertaken only under strict conditions, oe
(c) Answer: The external struggle, which can include armed struggle, undertaken only under strict conditions.
(d) B1 e.g. resisting the temptation to lie, striving to control one's temper, or working hard to learn about and practise one's faith, oe
(d) Answer: E.g. striving to control one's temper.
(e) B1 the Greater Jihad, oe
(e) Answer: The Greater Jihad.

Question 2

B1 it must be a last resort, after peaceful means have failed, oe
B1 it must be declared or led by a legitimate religious or political authority, not launched by individuals acting alone, oe
B1 it must be defensive, in response to persecution or attack, oe (accept: civilians, women, children and religious sites must not be harmed; it must stop as soon as the enemy seeks peace; it must be proportionate)
Answer: Any three: a last resort; declared by a legitimate authority; defensive only; civilians must not be harmed; proportionate; must stop when the enemy seeks peace.

Question 3

B1 point 1: it represents the daily, lifelong effort to submit to Allah's will and resist wrongdoing, and many Muslims consider it the truest meaning of 'struggle' in Islam, oe
B1 development: a widely repeated tradition attributed to the Prophet, though scholars debate the strength of its chain of transmission, describes him returning from a military campaign and telling his companions 'we have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad', meaning the struggle against one's own soul, oe
B1 point 2: it applies to every Muslim, every day, unlike the Lesser Jihad, which only applies in specific, restricted circumstances, oe
B1 development: because it covers ordinary daily choices, such as honesty and self-control, the Greater Jihad is something every Muslim can, and is expected to, take part in throughout their life, oe
Answer: E.g. it is the daily struggle to submit to Allah and resist wrongdoing (the widely repeated 'greater jihad' saying, whose chain of transmission scholars debate); it applies to every Muslim every day, unlike Lesser Jihad.

Question 4

B1 view 1: many Muslims, both Sunni and Shi'a, hold that armed jihad may only ever be fought defensively, under strict conditions, and never as unprovoked aggression, oe
B1 development: Qur'an 2:190 instructs, 'Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not like transgressors', showing that any armed struggle is bound by strict limits, oe
B1 view 2: some Muslims, particularly within Shi'a Islam where jihad is one of the Ten Obligatory Acts, place additional emphasis on the collective duty to defend the Muslim community when it is genuinely under attack, oe
B1 development: Qur'an 22:39 is widely understood as the first Qur'anic permission for Muslims to fight, given 'because they were wronged', tying any permission for armed struggle to defence against persecution, oe
B1 reference to a source of wisdom and authority made accurately, oe
Answer: Contrast: armed jihad limited strictly to proportionate self-defence (Qur'an 2:190) vs a stronger collective emphasis on defending the community when wronged, reflected in Shi'a Islam's Ten Obligatory Acts (Qur'an 22:39).

Question 5

(a) B1 struggle or effort in the way of Allah, oe
(a) Answer: Struggle or effort in the way of Allah.
(b) B1 resisting the temptation to do wrong, oe
(b) B1 striving to learn about and practise Islam more fully, oe (accept: being patient/self-controlled; giving generously despite hardship)
(b) Answer: E.g. resisting temptation to do wrong, and striving to learn about and practise Islam more fully.
(c) B1 point 1: armed struggle must only be defensive, fought in response to persecution or attack, not aggression, oe
(c) B1 development: Qur'an 22:39, 'Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged', is widely cited as the first Qur'anic verse permitting armed struggle, and ties that permission explicitly to being wronged, oe
(c) B1 point 2: even once permitted, fighting must remain proportionate and must stop when the enemy inclines towards peace, oe
(c) B1 development: Qur'an 2:190, 'do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not like transgressors', sets a clear limit on how any armed struggle may be conducted, oe
(c) Answer: E.g. armed struggle must be defensive, only permitted because of being wronged (Qur'an 22:39); it must be proportionate and not exceed limits (Qur'an 2:190).
(d) B1 view 1: mainstream Muslim scholarship of every major school, Sunni and Shi'a, holds that deliberately targeting civilians is never a legitimate form of jihad, since the strict conditions on Lesser Jihad explicitly rule out harming non-combatants, oe
(d) B1 development: Qur'an 2:190's instruction not to 'transgress' is used by scholars as a basis for rules protecting non-combatants during any permitted conflict, oe
(d) B1 view 2: some extremist groups have claimed the term 'jihad' to try to justify terrorism and violence against civilians, but mainstream Muslim scholars and organisations reject this completely as a fundamental distortion of Islamic teaching, since it directly violates the Qur'anic conditions on legitimate struggle, oe
(d) B1 development: Qur'an 5:32 teaches that whoever unlawfully kills a person, it is 'as if he had slain mankind entirely', a verse frequently cited by Muslim scholars in explicitly rejecting terrorism as a form of jihad, oe
(d) B1 reference to a source of wisdom and authority made accurately, oe
(d) Answer: Contrast: mainstream scholarship ruling out any deliberate harm to civilians (Qur'an 2:190) vs extremist misuse of the word 'jihad' to claim otherwise, which mainstream scholars firmly reject (Qur'an 5:32).
(e) L4 (10-12): A well-argued, balanced answer that considers more than one point of view in a developed way, using accurate and detailed references to Muslim teaching and/or the Qur'an to support each point, and reaches a clear, justified conclusion.
(e) L3 (7-9): A clear and reasoned answer that considers more than one point of view, supported by relevant references to Muslim teaching and/or the Qur'an, though the justification of the conclusion may be less developed.
(e) L2 (4-6): A reasoned answer that considers at least one point of view, with some relevant supporting evidence, but with limited or no consideration of an alternative view.
(e) L1 (1-3): One or more relevant points are made, but with little or no supporting evidence and no reasoned conclusion.
(e) L0 (0): No relevant content.
(e) Indicative content:
- Agree: the word jihad literally means struggle or striving, and its most basic, daily application for the vast majority of Muslims is the Greater Jihad: resisting temptation, controlling anger, being patient, and striving to practise the faith well.
- Agree: the widely repeated tradition describing a return 'from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad' (whose precise chain of transmission is debated by scholars) is used within Islam to teach that the internal struggle matters more than armed struggle.
- Agree: the strict conditions on Lesser Jihad (last resort, declared by legitimate authority, defensive only, proportionate) mean armed jihad is rare and tightly restricted, while the Greater Jihad is a constant, universal duty for every Muslim, every day.
- Agree: the overwhelming majority of Muslims will never take part in armed conflict, so for them jihad in practice is entirely the inner struggle.
- Disagree: the Qur'an does explicitly permit defensive fighting under certain conditions (e.g. 22:39, 2:190), so reducing jihad only to an inner struggle risks understating a genuine, if strictly restricted, part of Islamic teaching.
- Disagree: within the Ten Obligatory Acts of Shi'a Islam, jihad as a communal duty to defend the Muslim community has had real theological significance, not a purely metaphorical one.
- Disagree: treating jihad as only spiritual can obscure the careful conditions Islamic scholarship places on when defensive struggle is permitted, and understanding those conditions correctly is itself an important part of understanding the term.
- A balanced answer might conclude that the Greater Jihad is the primary, most emphasised meaning of the term in everyday Muslim life and teaching, but that Lesser Jihad remains a real, though strictly bounded, part of Islamic teaching that should not be defined away entirely - and that neither sense of jihad has anything to do with terrorism, which mainstream Muslim scholarship explicitly rejects.

Question 6

B1 point 1: it encourages a Muslim to actively work on their own character, e.g. controlling anger, being honest and resisting temptation, as an ongoing daily discipline, oe
B1 development: this can lead a Muslim to reflect regularly on their own behaviour and try to improve it, rather than seeing faith as only about formal acts of worship, oe
B1 point 2: it can shape how a Muslim approaches everyday difficulties, such as illness, work pressures or family problems, understood as opportunities to strive and show patience for the sake of Allah, oe
B1 development: this can give a Muslim a sense of spiritual purpose even in ordinary hardships, rather than seeing them as meaningless, oe
Answer: E.g. encourages daily self-discipline and honesty; reframes everyday hardship as an opportunity to strive patiently for Allah's sake.

Question 7

B1 it must be defensive, in response to persecution or being wronged, oe
B1 it must be declared by a legitimate leader/authority, not by individuals acting alone, oe
B1 it must not harm civilians/non-combatants, oe (accept: proportionate; a last resort; must stop once the enemy seeks peace)
Answer: Any three: defensive only; declared by a legitimate authority; civilians must not be harmed; proportionate; a last resort; must stop when peace is sought.

Jihad: Greater and Lesser Jihad - Worksheets, Questions and Revision