What are the Rahit Namas?

The Rahit Namas are the earlier codes of discipline attributed to companions of Guru Gobind Singh and to writers of the eighteenth century, which record what the Khalsa was required to do.

How does the Rahit Maryada differ from the Rahit Namas?

The Namas are several, are attributed to individuals, come from different periods and sometimes contradict one another; the Maryada is one text, agreed by a representative body and accepted across the Panth, so it can settle disputes that the older codes could not.

How does the code define a Sikh?

A Sikh is defined as anyone who believes in one immortal God, in the ten Gurus and their teaching, in the Guru Granth Sahib and in the amrit given by the tenth Guru, and who owes allegiance to no other religion.

Name the four cardinal prohibitions binding on an initiated Sikh.

An initiated Sikh may not cut the hair, may not eat meat killed by ritual slaughter, may not commit adultery, and may not use tobacco.

WJEC A-Level Religious Studies 603-0277-X

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Sikhism: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsSikhism

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Sikhism: Religious Life and Moral PrinciplesSikhism

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Sikhism: Practices and Religious IdentitySikhism

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The Nature of Religious Experience

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Christianity: Historical Developments in Religious Thought

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Christianity: Social Developments in Religious Thought

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Christianity: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues

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Islam: Texts, Authority and Key Figures

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Judaism: Texts, Authority and Key Figures

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Judaism: Social Developments in Religious Thought

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Judaism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues

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Buddhism: Social Developments in Religious Thought

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Hinduism: Social Developments in Religious Thought

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Hinduism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues

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Sikhism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought

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Sikhism: Social Developments in Religious Thought

Topic overview Sikhism, science and secularisation The Sikh community in Britain Miri and piri and life as a minority Debates on science, secularisation and minority life

Sikhism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues

Topic overview The Rahit Maryada and the Rahit Namas Naam japo, the shabads and the khands Sikhism, infertility and assisted reproduction Debates on the code of conduct, naam and bioethics

Meta-Ethics

Topic overview Naturalism, F. H. Bradley and the naturalistic fallacy Intuitionism and H. A. Prichard Emotivism and A. J. Ayer Evaluating the meta-ethical theories

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Determinism and Predestination

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Free Will and Libertarianism

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Psychological Challenges and Atheism

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Religious Experience and Miracles

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New Testament: ParablesNew Testament

Topic overview Types and literary characteristics of the parables The purposes of the parables and how they are interpreted Close study of the prodigal son, the great banquet and the sower Debates about the parables and their value

New Testament: MiraclesNew Testament

Topic overview Types of miracle and the characteristics of the accounts The purpose of the miracle accounts and how they are interpreted Close study of the centurion's servant, the Gerasene demoniac and the feeding of the five thousand Debates about the miracles and their historical validity

New Testament: The Letters (1 Peter)New Testament

Topic overview Authorship, Silvanus and the readership of 1 Peter The purpose of 1 Peter and its place among the New Testament letters Close study of the set passages of 1 Peter Debates about authorship, submission and suffering in 1 Peter

New Testament: Apocalyptic LiteratureNew Testament

Topic overview Defining apocalyptic literature and its characteristics The purposes of apocalyptic writing and how Revelation is interpreted Close study of Revelation 1, 6 and 21 Debates about Revelation's genre, violence and value

Sikhism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues

4 subtopics
12 things to know
A2 Unit 3

What Sikhism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues covers

Sikhism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues is examined in A2 Unit 3, A Study of Religion — the Sikhism option, studied instead of the other five. It covers the Rahit Maryada and the Rahit Namas, naam japo, the shabads and the khands, Sikhism, infertility and assisted reproduction and debates on the code of conduct, naam and bioethics.

Where it is assessed

A2 Unit 3

A Study of Religion — the same religion, in depth.

Check the WJEC specification ↗

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What is the Rahit Maryada?

Key term

How does the code produce uniformity of Sikh practice worldwide?

Key term

State the attributes ascribed to naam in gurbani.

Key term

What are the panch shabad?

Key term

Why is God spoken of as word or shabad in Sikh thought?

Key term

Which Sikh principles bear on the treatment of infertility?

Evaluation

What arguments are given against the use of donated sperm or eggs?

Key term

What position does Dr Jodh Singh take?

Key term

What is said against treating the experience of naam as evidence of union with God?

Key term

How might a Sikh respond to the psychological explanation of naam experience?

Process

Which of the five stages of spiritual progress is most often argued to be the most important?

Key term

Describe the origins of the Rahit Maryada.

Take Sikhism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues further

The same content, four other ways.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What is the Rahit Maryada?
Model answer
The Rahit Maryada is the agreed Sikh code of conduct, which sets out what a Sikh believes, how a Sikh should live and how ceremonies and worship in the gurdwara are to be conducted.
2
Describe the origins of the Rahit Maryada.
Model answer
It grew out of the reform movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which found that Sikh practice varied widely and that the older codes disagreed; a representative committee worked on a single text through the 1930s and it was approved and published in the 1940s.
3
What are the Rahit Namas?
Model answer
The Rahit Namas are the earlier codes of discipline attributed to companions of Guru Gobind Singh and to writers of the eighteenth century, which record what the Khalsa was required to do.
4
How does the Rahit Maryada differ from the Rahit Namas?
Model answer
The Namas are several, are attributed to individuals, come from different periods and sometimes contradict one another; the Maryada is one text, agreed by a representative body and accepted across the Panth, so it can settle disputes that the older codes could not.
5
How does the code define a Sikh?
Model answer
A Sikh is defined as anyone who believes in one immortal God, in the ten Gurus and their teaching, in the Guru Granth Sahib and in the amrit given by the tenth Guru, and who owes allegiance to no other religion.
6
Name the four cardinal prohibitions binding on an initiated Sikh.
Model answer
An initiated Sikh may not cut the hair, may not eat meat killed by ritual slaughter, may not commit adultery, and may not use tobacco.

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Sikhism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues revision questions

What does Sikhism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues cover in WJEC A-Level Religious Studies?: 4 subtopics: the rahit maryada and the rahit namas, naam japo, the shabads and the khands, sikhism, infertility and assisted reproduction and debates on the code of conduct, naam and bioethics. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Sikhism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues organised?: By the WJEC 603-0277-X specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

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