Eduqas GCSE Religious Studies key terms

The meal eaten before dawn during Ramadan, also called suhur.

Excluding oneself through one’s own choices; in Christian teaching about hell, rejecting communion with God through sin.

The capacity to experience sensations such as pain and pleasure.

Living apart as a couple without necessarily ending the marriage.

A prayer with established words that can be read, memorised or recited together.

Selfless service to others, often understood as service to God.

The seven wedding blessings, also called sheva brachot, which praise God and celebrate creation, marriage and the couple's happiness.

Selfless service performed without expecting anything in return.

The Guru’s divine Word or teaching, which guides a Sikh’s understanding and way of life.

The Jewish weekly Sabbath: the seventh day, set apart for rest and worship.

The Muslim declaration of faith: there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger.

A Hindu whose principal focus of devotion is Shiva.

A Hindu tradition that worships Shiva as supreme.

Divine feminine power or energy, worshipped through goddess forms including Parvati, Durga and Kali.

The ‘straight path’: Islamic moral and religious guidance about how Muslims should live, based on the Qur’an and Muhammad’s example.

The Jewish method of ritual slaughter carried out by a trained slaughterer so that permitted animals can provide kosher meat.

The divine presence of God dwelling among people; also spelt Shekhinah.

The Jewish declaration of faith in one God, beginning with the words of Deuteronomy 6:4.

The realm of the dead in the Hebrew Bible, often portrayed as a shadowy existence; it should not simply be equated with eternal punishment.

The seven Jewish wedding blessings, praising God and celebrating creation, marriage and the couple’s happiness.

Associating partners with Allah, for example by giving another being worship that belongs to Allah alone.

The first seven days of Jewish mourning following burial, when mourners traditionally remain at home and receive support from visitors. Also written as sheva.

The Holocaust: the Nazi genocide of Jews. The Hebrew word means catastrophe.

A ram’s horn sounded during Jewish religious observances, including Rosh Hashanah and the end of Yom Kippur.

A focal place for Buddhist devotion and meditation, usually containing an image of the Buddha and offerings.

A Jewish prayer book containing the order and wording of prayers for worship.

A Buddhist discourse in which the Buddha teaches Sigala about reciprocal responsibilities in everyday relationships, including marriage and family life.