Lesson video

Hello, my young scholars of religion, my name is Miss Marx and I'm going to be your religious education teacher today.

Today we're going to be doing all about the idea of jihad within Islam and how sometimes this is understood as both the greater and the lesser jihad.

We'll think about the origins of it and the meaning of this term and how it might be seen in the lives of Muslims today.

So when you're ready, let's go.

So by the end of the lesson today, you will be able to explain the importance of jihad and the different ways this is understood within Islam.

So let's start with our key terms. Criteria: the way something can be judged.

For a war to be a lesser jihad, it must fulfil certain criteria.

Greater jihad: the personal struggle of every Muslim to live by the teachings of their faith.

Jihad: Arabic term for struggle, effort, or fight.

The personal or collective struggle against evil.

And lesser jihad: the military struggle to defend Islam.

It is carried out according to strict and clear cut rules.

So look out for those in today's lesson.

So our lesson day will have two sections: Jihad: struggle in the way of Allah, and then the Lesser and greater jihad.

So let's start with our first section, Jihad: struggle in the way of Allah.

What are some things that take a great effort to do? Can you think of what might take a really great effort to do? Pause the video and have a think and you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, Lucas, Izzy and Alex are thinking about this question.

And Lucas says, "Doing the best I can in an exam." Izzy says, "Learning a new musical instrument." And Alex says, "Waking up early to do running training before school." So all these three things take a great effort and I wonder if it's the same as the things you said.

We can use the word striving for each of these 'cause it's something that takes a great effort: striving to do well in an exam, striving to learn a new instrument, and striving to get up and do that training before school.

And the word striving is very important for us today when we're thinking about jihad.

This term jihad comes from Arabic and it has a root.

We can always look to the root letters of Arabic words to kind of understand them a little bit better.

And we've got j-h and d.

Ju-hu-duh.

These roots mean to make an effort, to struggle or to strive.

And we can always look to other Arabic words with the same root to kind of understand it a little bit more.

And other words with the same route are: itjihad, which is human effort or striving in interpreting the teachings of Islam, juhida: to be exhausted or strained from having put some effort into something, and mujahid: someone who strives, sometimes in a battle.

So this idea of effort being used is really important for understanding what jihad is.

The term jihad appears four times in the Qur'an.

So that word itself in the Arabic appears four times.

And here's two examples of it from Surah 61 and Surah 29.

So let's have a read.

"Believe in God and His Messenger, and strive, jihad, in the cause of God with your possessions and yourselves." And secondly, "As for those who strive, jihad, for Us, We will guide them in Our ways." So this is two of the occasions where the term is used.

What do they tell Muslims about jihad? Who should they strive for? What does it tell Muslims about God? Pause the video and have a think and look at the questions again.

And you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, they are showing that jihad means to make an effort, it means to strive and put some effort into something.

And also that Muslims should strive for God and with everything that they have and everything that they are, that bit here about jihad with yourselves, everything that they are.

And Muslims will be guided by Allah if they strive for Allah.

So they're not going to be left in this strive and they'll be guided by God in this striving.

We've got his strive in the cause of God and strive for Us.

These sources of authority will encourage Muslims to strive in the way of Allah.

And two examples of this are: Muslims may donate money to help the cause of Allah as the Qur'an says, "strive in the cause of God with your possessions and yourselves." A Muslim will feel comforted that Allah will guide them as they strive to make the right choices.

Because it says in the Qur'an, "for those who strive, we will guide them." And in both of these examples here, I've said the source where it comes from, the Qur'an.

Let's do a quick check.

What Arabic term means to make an effort, struggle or strive? Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

It's jihad.

So the idea of jihad then is important to all Muslims. And we've seen there that it's in the Qur'an, the idea that everyone should strive for Allah.

And jihad is also one of the 10 Obligatory Acts in Shi'a Islam.

Jihad is not one of the Five Pillars in Sunni Islam, but it is important for Sunni Muslims. Jihad can be both a physical struggle or effort as well as a spiritual one.

So let's understand a bit more how jihad can relate to different branches of Islam.

Zainab and Sarah are from two different branches of Islam and they're discussing for us what jihad means to them.

Zainab says, "jihad is in my 10 Obligatory Acts and it reminds me I should always strive to be the best Muslim I can, even when it's hard to do so." And Zainab is a Shi'a Muslim.

And Sarah says, "Jihad is in my Five Pillars, but completing them takes effort and striving, for example, when I fast for Ramadan, it takes a great effort." So it's an important part of doing the Five Pillars, even if it's not mentioned as one of the Five Pillars for Sarah.

Thank you, Zainab and Sarah.

So Muslims can perform jihad in many different ways.

So jihad, to strive, we can have seeking knowledge of Allah, so striving and effort to find out more about God; helping when someone else is in need; performing prayers and fasting; standing up to when someone is doing something wrong; telling others about Islam; a struggle or a fight with the enemies of Islam.

So these are all a variety of ways that a Muslim can kind of perform this idea of striving for Allah.

So examples of what could be a Muslims jihad: to give up smoking, that could be a Muslim's jihad, the idea that the body is given to us by Allah and we should look after it and protect it and not speed the hour of our death.

And so for health reasons, a Muslim might wanna give up smoking as a way of striving for Allah.

It could be saving up money to go on hajj, which could be quite expensive.

So that effort of actually not spending it on the different things, but saving that and putting it aside so that a Muslim can go on that hajj pilgrimage, could take effort, could be a form of jihad.

There could be a form of jihad to protest to protect the planet.

So the planet belongs to Allah and it's Allah's creation.

And we have this role to look after it and protect it as vice regents or stewards on Earth.

And so therefore part of that could be protesting to protect it.

And that's gonna take some effort and some striving, isn't it? And it could be to work hard at school, putting that effort in, working hard and gaining knowledge, which is another duty that Muslims have.

So all of these could be seen as a form of jihad.

How could they link to striving for Allah, then? Pause the video and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

So we've seen there can be different ways that Muslims perform jihad, and together let's give the first two of three ways that Muslims could perform jihad.

Hmm, I think the effort to pray fast and the effort to make the right choices when tempted to do something wrong.

So over to you, give the third of three ways that Muslims could perform jihad.

Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

I've got here the effort to stand up against someone who's doing wrong.

Well done.

So time for a practise task to see what we've learned then.

You're going to explain why jihad is important to Muslims and you're going to write one paragraph as part of an answer to this question.

And in all parts of your answer you should refer to sources of authority and wisdom.

And so for this paragraph, you can follow this guidance below: to give a point, a source, develop and show the importance.

And you can use the sentence starters that are here.

Pause the video and have a go and we'll see you come up with in a moment.

Well done.

Some great work there.

So I asked you to explain why jihad is important to Muslims. And you might have said: One reason why jihad is important to Muslims is because it means to strive for the cause of Allah.

The Qur'an says that Muslims should strive for Allah with their possessions and themselves.

This means that striving, or jihad, is something Muslims are instructed to do in the Qur'an, which is the direct word of Allah.

This shows it's important because the Qur'an is the direct words of Allah.

Well done.

Another reason why jihad is important is because it can encourage Muslims to be the best Muslim they can be, for example, through striving to complete the Five Pillars.

Well done.

We've seen there are different ways that Muslims perform jihad.

So together, let's give the first two of three ways that Muslims could perform jihad.

Hmm, I think the effort to pray and fast and the effort to make the right choice when tempted to do something wrong.

So over to you, then.

Give the third of three ways that Muslims could perform jihad.

Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

The effort to stand up against someone doing something wrong.

Well done.

So time for a practise task to see what we've learned, then.

You're going to explain two reasons why jihad is important to Muslims. And in your answer you must refer to a source of wisdom and authority.

And the guidance you have is to give a point and develop it twice.

But for one of them you're going to refer to a relevant source of wisdom or authority.

It could be an exact or paraphrased quote or a general teaching from the named source.

So pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

Some great thinking there.

So I asked you to explain two reasons why jihad is important to Muslims. And you might have said: One reason why jihad is important to Muslims is because it means to strive for the cause of Allah.

The Qur'an says that Muslims should strive for Allah with their possessions and themselves.

This means that striving or jihad is something Muslims are instructed to do in the Qur'an, which is the direct word of Allah.

This shows it's important because the Qur'an is the direct words of Allah.

Another reason why jihad is important is because it can encourage Muslims to be the best Muslim they can be, for example, through striving to complete the Five Pillars.

Well done.

So on to our second section, then: Lesser and greater jihad.

So on to our second section, then: Lesser and greater jihad.

So on to our second section, then: Lesser and greater jihad.

So as well as the Qur'an, we can look to the Hadith as a source of authority to better understand the idea of jihad in Islam, then.

And the Hadiths are things that the Prophet Muhammad said or did that have been passed on by those who were there and witnessed it.

And it's reported that the Prophet Muhammad said: "The Mujahid is one who strives against his own soul." So this is an idea of a Mujahid striving, but who is he striving against? His own soul.

What word in this sentence is connected to jihad and what kind of striving does it mention? Pause the video and have a reread and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, we have this word, mujahid, it has those root letters, j-h-d, and we said a mujahid is someone who strives.

And this word strives is here as well, about striving against something.

And what kind of striving is it? Against their own soul.

So this is a kind of inner striving within themselves.

Mujahid has the same root letters as jihad and the Mujahid is striving against their own soul.

So within Islamic tradition, there's considered to be two forms of jihad.

One is greater than the other.

So we have often used this phrase of the greater jihad and the lesser jihad, and sources like the Hadiths we were just looking at about striving against your own soul are used to say that there's this difference.

And the greater jihad is that inner, personal, spiritual struggle to be a better Muslim.

A bit like that Hadith, where the Mujahid is striving against their own soul.

The lesser jihad is an external battle or fight in defence of Islam and for the cause of Allah.

So that's an external battle.

And the greater jihad is like an inner battle.

So why might the external struggle have been called the lesser jihad, then? Pause the video and have a think and you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, by calling them the greater and the lesser jihad, some Muslims are saying that, you know, it's more important to kind of work on that struggle within yourself and that inner personal struggle to be a better Muslim and the lesser jihad is of less importance.

So one branch of Islam, which has a big focus on the sense of the greater jihad and that inner spiritual battle and like that quote just said, that striving against their own soul is Sufi Islam.

And this is an approach to Islam that really focuses on that kind of inner spiritual battle.

And Layla is an example of a Sufi Muslim.

So Alice is asking Layla, "What does the greater jihad mean to you, Layla?" And Layla says, "As a Sufi Muslim, I see my greatest battle or greater jihad being with my own ego, my desires and wants that only serve me and not Allah.

This is what I strive to control so that I can worship Allah more fully.

When I pray remembrance prayers of Allah, this jihad is what I focus on." Thank you, Layla.

And we know that jihad is important to all Muslims. And so Izzy's asking Iqbal what the greater jihad means to him.

And Iqbal, who's a Sunni Muslim, "I believe I should strive each day to make good choices.

I believe the devil is tempting us all the time to make bad choices, but we should remain strong against that temptation.

This is my greater jihad, to be the bests Muslim than I can be." Thank you, Iqbal.

Let's do a quick check.

Jihad always refers to an external battle or war.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

Well done.

That is false, isn't it? But why? Well, it's false because the external battle or war is known as the lesser jihad, generally.

And the internal, personal struggle to be a better Muslim is generally known as the greater jihad.

So the lesser jihad, then, is an external war or battle fought for the protection of Islam and the cause of Allah.

And it could be for as wars in self-defense, against oppression, protection for religious freedom, when an agreement or a treaty has been broken, and in defence of innocents.

So there's quite strict reasons as to why a lesser jihad can happen.

It must be for a reason such as this, in the cause of Allah.

So let's look to the Qur'an as the ultimate source of authority to see how these instructions come for when wars can occur.

So in the Qur'an in Surah 22, it says, "Permission is given to those who are fought against, and God is able to give them the victory." And in Surah 8, "But if they incline towards peace, then incline towards it and put your trust in God." So what do these show us about fighting in wars within Islam, then? Pause the video and have a reread and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, here you have a sense of permission is granted, it is allowed for people to fight if someone's fighting against you.

So it's not a war that is aggressive or that you are the one that's starting it and causing the war, but you're fighting because you're being fought against.

And then we've got this sense of inclining towards peace.

So if there's a chance and a way to make peace, we should.

War can be fought in self-defense.

But if the enemy offers peace, Muslims then should make peace.

And the Qur'an emphasises quite often that war should not be aggressive but defensive.

And we've got here in Surah 2: "And fight in the cause of God, those who fight you, but do not commit aggression; God does not love the aggressors." What does this passage say about aggression? You can see the word twice here.

What's it saying about aggression? Pause the video and have a think and you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, here we have do not commit aggression and that God does not love aggressors.

Wars can be fought, but they must be defensive and not aggressive.

So not going out to gain land or to attack a country.

It's got to be if people are being attacked and it's self-defense.

So the teachings of the Qur'an and the example of the Prophet Muhammad mean that are strict criteria for what could be declared as a lesser jihad.

So criteria being like almost like a checklist.

It could be a lesser jihad if it fulfils these certain things.

And these include: it must be called by the correct religious leader.

Land, crops and animals cannot be targeted to be harmed.

People cannot be forced to become Muslims. Civilians or innocent people must not be harmed.

It must not be for land or money.

A bit like we saw with the kind of sense of it being aggressive.

And peace must be restored and mercy shown.

So these are some of the criteria for what could be seen as a lesser jihad.

So Izzy and Alex now are gonna discuss whether a war today that's fought could actually fulfil that criteria.

Could a modern war actually manage to do those things and still be seen as a lesser jihad? Izzy says, "Well, I can understand at the time of the Prophet Muhammad Islam was under great threat from others who didn't want Islam to gain in numbers and lands.

I think the lesser jihad was needed much more back then than it is today for Muslims." And Alex says, "Yes, but there might still be times when Islam and other innocent people are being oppressed and lives are being threatened.

I think the idea of a lesser jihad is still needed by Muslims today, even if one isn't actually fought." And I wonder which of Izzy and Alex you might agree with more.

Well, let's understand why a lesser jihad could be less likely to happen today than in the past.

Well, we can think about modern weapons, the way that war was fought at the time of the Prophet Muhammad is very different to the way that war is fought today.

Weapons used during battles are very different today to the time of the Prophet Muhammad.

During Muhammad's time, battles were fought fighter to fighter.

So there might be a war, two sets of soldiers would fight against each other.

Weapons today actually harm vastly more civilians than soldiers.

So there are some statistics that show that many, many more people who get harmed or killed in war are civilians.

They're not the soldiers, they're not people fighting, they're just people who are going about their daily lives and they are more likely to be harmed than soldiers are.

And also modern weapons can harm water supplies, trees, and land.

If you think about some of the weapons of mass destruction you might know about, or even just bullets going into trees, modern weapons have much more capacity to harm the land as well.

So therefore, some Muslims don't think lesser jihad can actually happen today because it cannot fulfil that criteria due to the damage that could be done to not only civilians but also the land.

So we have a diversity, actually, within Islam of whether a modern war could actually fulfil that criteria of a lesser jihad.

Could a modern war actually match up and do the different things it's supposed to do to be a lesser jihad? Meyrem and Iqbal are both Sunni Muslims and they're going to discuss this because they've got different views.

And let's see what they say.

Meyrem says, "If in modern warfare, innocent lives can be protected, and therefore as a last resort to protect life, yes, it could fulfil the criteria of a lesser jihad." So she's saying it might be hard to, but it is possible that it could fulfil that criteria of a lesser jihad.

Sometimes it might be needed.

And Iqbal says, "While the criteria of a lesser jihad also involves protecting the land, and modern weapons do so much damage that no, it can't fulfil the criteria." Which view between Meyrem and Iqbal do you find the most convincing and why? Pause the video and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, we'll work on these views a little bit more in the practise task for this section of the lesson.

But first let's do another check.

Which of the three of the following are a criteria for a lesser jihad? The war doesn't harm civilians, peace is restored after the war, any Muslim can declare the war, the war is defensive, not aggressive.

Which three of those are correct and which one is incorrect? Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you come up with a moment.

Well done.

A is one of the criteria for lesser jihad.

B is one of the criteria, C isn't, and D is.

Why isn't C? Because it's not any Muslim who can declare the war.

It has to be the correct religious leader and authority.

Well done.

So I said we were going to work a little bit on those views from Meyrem and Iqbal about whether a modern warfare could actually fulfil the criteria of a lesser jihad.

And so let's think about this with an evaluation question.

The statement is: Modern wars do not fulfil the criteria of a lesser jihad and here we're doing the full answer.

You would need to discuss the statement, showing you've considered more than one point of view, and refer to religion and belief in your answer.

But what you're going to do today is look at a table where I've put some points and decide if they're for or against the statement.

And then you're going to decide which side you think is stronger and write a statement showing that.

And your points are: In modern warfare, too many innocent civilians are killed and harmed as we have weapons that do great damage.

If there's a need for it, the correct religious leader in Islam could call for a lesser jihad against oppression.

The Qur'an states that war is permitted, therefore it is.

And the lesser jihad was more important in the past than it is today.

We have other ways to justify war if needed.

So for each of those points, decide if they're for or against the statement: Modern wars do not fulfil the criteria of a lesser jihad.

Then decide which side is stronger and write a statement explaining why.

Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you done in a moment.

Well done for your hard work.

So your table should look like this: That in modern warfare, too many innocent civilians are killed and harmed as we have weapons that do great damage, would be for the statement that a modern warfare could not fulfil the criteria of lesser jihad.

The second point: If there was a need for it, the correct religious leader in Islam could call for a lesser jihad against oppression.

So that would be against.

The Qur'an states that war is permitted, therefore it is.

That would also be against.

And the lesser jihad was more important in the past than it is today as we have other ways to justify war if needed.

So that would be for the statement, that with modern warfare, a lesser jihad could not fulfil the criteria.

I also asked you to decide which side was stronger and write a sentence explaining why.

And your sentences might look something like these: The arguments for the statement are stronger because modern warfare does too much damage to life and the earth to fulfil the criteria of a lesser jihad.

Or you might have said: The arguments against the statement are stronger because there may still be a need for a lesser jihad if innocent lives are in danger and if people are being oppressed.

So well done.

So let's summarise everything we've learned today, then.

Jihad means to struggle or strive in the way of Allah.

Jihad is one of the 10 Obligatory Acts of Islam.

And it's also important to Sunni Muslims. Many Muslims see a distinction between the greater jihad and the lesser jihad.

A lesser jihad is an external battle or war and has strict criteria, and there's a diversity of views within Islam on if a modern war can fulfil the criteria of a lesser jihad.

So well done for your hard work today and I hope to see you again soon.

Bye-bye!.