Instructions to leave militant religious groups? (8,6)
I believe the answer is:
marching orders
'militant religious groups?' is the definition.
The definition suggests a plural noun which matches the answer.
'instructions to leave' is the wordplay.
'instructions' becomes 'orders' (an order is an instruction or command).
'to' means one lot of letters go next to another (I've seen this in other clues).
'leave' becomes 'marching' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'orders' after 'marching' is 'MARCHING ORDERS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for marching orders that I've seen before include "They send you packing" , "Military command" , "Notice" , "what's given to departing soldiers?" , "Eg "Best foot forward"" .)