O-LevelIslamiyatArticles of faith and Pillars of Islam2058/21 · May/June 2020 · Q514 Marks

There are five forms of jihad. Write an account of any three of them.

(a)There are five forms of jihad. Write an account of any three of them.[10]
(b)In your opinion which is the most important kind of jihad? Give reasons for your answer.[4]

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2020). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

[10] (a) There are five forms of jihad. Write an account of any three of them. Candidates could well begin their answer by defining jihad. It could be said that jihad has many meanings and can be seen as the internal and external efforts by an individual to be a good Muslim. It is simply striving in the way of God. For jihad of the heart/soul (jihad bin nafs/qalb) it could be said that this is referred to as the greater jihad and is one's inner struggle of good against evil. Jihad of the tongue (jihad bil lisaan) is defending Islam and spreading it by scholarly lectures, speeches and debates. In the Last Sermon the Prophet (pbuh) asked those who were present to spread his words to those who were not there. Jihad of the pen/knowledge (jihad bil qalam/ilm) is studying Islam, understanding its teachings and spreading it. The Prophet (pbuh) said: The ink of a scholar is holier than the blood of a martyr. Jihad of the hand (jihad bil yad) is jihad of action rather than words. It can overlap with zakat and hajj, for example, giving charity to the poor and needy, or performing Umrah. Jihad by the sword (jihad bil sayf) sometimes becomes necessary to undertake and involves the use of weaponry. Qital is an aspect of this jihad as it allows the believer to engage in combat in self-defence or in defending Islam. It allows fighting as a defensive action not an offensive one and has strict rules of engagement. Details and development of the three forms of jihad the candidate chooses to write about need to be given to get to the higher levels.
[4] (b) In your opinion, which is the most important kind of jihad? Give reasons for your answer. Candidates need to choose any one of the five forms of jihad. They can choose one from the three they have written about in 5(a) and say why, in their opinion, it is the most important one. All valid answers to be credited.