IslamintheDiocesanGuidelinesforRE

Whatarethe‘bigideas’inIslam?

Theword‘Islam’means‘peace’,‘harmony’and‘submission’,andaMuslim’slifeislivedinaccordancewiththeseconcepts,insubmissiontoAllah(God).Muslimsbelieveintheonenessof

God,‘Tawhid’,whichisstatedintheshahadah,boththeMuslimstatementofbelief,andthecalltopray.MuslimsbelievethattheQu’ranistheeternalwordofGod,the

completeandfinalrevelationofAllahtothelastprophet,Muhammad(pbuh)ontheNightofPower.TheProphet

Muhammad(pbuh)isconsideredbyMuslimstobethebestexampleofspiritualandmoralconductandisreveredaboveallothers.FivePillarsarecentraltothelifeofaMuslim,givinglifeshapeandstrength:to‘believeeverymoment;prayfivetimesaday;givewhenyoudoyouraccounts;fastforamonthoutoftheyear;andtraveltoMakkahonceinalifetimeifyoucan.’Prayer(salah),performedatfivedailyprayertimesmeanthatMuslimsprayasacommunity,eveniftheyarenotphysicallytogether.Mosquesimplymeans‘placeofprostration’,whichis

howMuslimsexpresssubmissiontoAllahduringprayer.

InformationforKS1teachers

lāʾilāhaʾillā-llāh,muḥammadur-rasūlu-llāh

ThereisnogodexceptAllah,MuhammadistheMessengerofAllah.

‘Bismillaahar-Rahmanar-Raheem’InthenameofGod,theinfinitelyCompassionateandMerciful.

Qur’an,openingsurah

WhatdoIneedtoknowaboutIslam?The word ‘Islam’ comes from the Arabic root, SLM, which means peace, purity, submission andobedience. It is thereforefound inotherkeywords inthereligion: ‘Muslim’–a followerof Islam–and‘sallam’,peace,oftenusedasagreeting.

Islamisacomprehensivewayof life,and isbasedontheOnenessofAllahandtheroleandstatusoftheProphetMuhammad*(pbuh)asanexampletohumankind.[*AfterthenameoftheProphetMuhammad,oranyotherprophetofIslam,Muslimssayorwrite,‘Salla’llahualaihiwasallam’(peaceandblessingsofAllahuponhim–oftenreducedto‘pbuh’)].Itisnot required that non-Muslims do this, but it is suggested that teachers, as part of learning about Islam in theirclassrooms,modelthisconceptofrespecttopupils.TheIslamicwayoflifeencompassesallaspectsofaperson’sdailyexistence,andisbestbedescribedasastateofpeaceattainedthroughwillingobediencetoAllah’sdivineguidance.MuslimsstrivetoachievethisbyfollowingalltheQur’anicinjunctionsregardingbehaviourandworship,forexamplethefivedailytimesofsalah(prayer),fastingduringRamadan,actsofcharityandconstantconsciousnessoftheirrelationshipwithAllah.LifeisshapedbytheFive

Pillars,whichstrengthenandsupporttheMuslimcommunity(Ummah).An importantpartofMuslimcommunity life formenandwomen inEurope is theMosque.Friday is the day for congregational worship, butmanyMuslims attend theMosque daily.However, ‘mosque’ simplymeans ‘placeofprostration’, so inactual fact,Muslimscanprayanywhere,aslongasitisclean,whichiswhytheymightuseaprayermat.Theactofpraying,incompletesubmissiontoAllah,makesthewholeworldamosque!MostMuslimswillkeep

oneroomintheirhomeespeciallycleanforsalah.Whilst images of living beings, and especially any representations of Allah, the prophets orangelsareforbidden,therearemanyotherwaysinwhichmosques&sacredtextsaredecorated,usingpatternandArabiccalligraphy,oftenexpressingtruthsaboutAllah. The concept of tawhid (the oneness of God) is often illustrated throughelaboratelyintricateandinterlacedpatterns,andinmosquegardens.

WhatdoMuslimsbelieve?Key beliefs in Islam are expressed in the shahadah, the Muslim declaration of

faith:‘ThereisnogodexceptAllah,MuhammadistheMessengerofAllah’.ApersonbecomesaMuslimnotby race,nationalityor culture, butbyprofessingbelief in thatstatementandbyreflectingitinthepracticeoftheIslamicwayoflife.Theshahadahisalsocontainedwithinthecalltoprayer,theadhan,whichfirststatesthat‘Godisgreat’

(inArabic,‘AllahuAkbar’)andthencontinueswiththeshahadah.TheAdhanisthefirstthingthatiswhisperedintotheearofanewbornbaby,andthelastthataMuslimhopestohearbeforetheydie.AllahistheArabicnameforGod.MuslimsbelievethatGodisOne(tawhid),andhasnoequal;thathisexistence is revealedwithinnature,and throughhisprophets.Muslimsbelieve thatAllahsentmanyMessengersandProphetstowhomHerevealedHisdivineguidance.TheseincludedIbrahim–Abraham(peacebeuponhim),Musa–Moses (peacebeuponhim), Isa– Jesus (peacebeuponhim)and the last andgreatestprophetMuhammad*,whowasborn inMakka,Arabia in570CE. They thereforeaffirmthewritingsoftheTawrah(Torah),theZabur(PsalmsofDawud,David)andtheInjil(GospelsoftheprophetIsa,Jesus),butbelievethemtobecorruptedversionsoftheoriginalrevelation.

Muhammad (pbuh) is not the founder of Islam, but is the last and greatest of all the Prophets,describedinIslamasthe‘sealoftheprophets’.Muhammadisreveredasthemostperfectexampleofaman,onwhomMuslimswillmodeltheirownlives.StoriesabouthimcanbefoundintheQur’an,andmanyotherofhiswisesayingsarecollectedintextsknownashadith.Itisimportantthatstoriesabout

prophetsinIslam,especiallyMuhammad,arehandledappropriately:pupilsshouldnotbeencouragedtoactthemout,asthiswouldbeconsidereddisrespectful,buttherearemanyotherwaysofworkingwithMuslimstories,suchasreflectivestorytellingusingobjects.TheQur’an is the final revelationofAllah’s guidance formankind, and is acopy of a book that is kept in heaven. The Qur’an was revealed toMuhammad* in a cave on Mount Hira by the angel Jibra’il – Gabriel – in610CE,whenMuhammadwas49yearsold.Thisnightisknownasthe‘Night

ToHimisduetheoriginoftheheavensandtheearth.WhenHedecreesamatter,Hesaystoit‘Be’,anditis.

Qur’an,surah2:117

of Power’ (Laylat al-Qadr) and is one of the odd-numbered nights in the last week ofRamadan: it is believed that prayer on this night isworth 1000months ofworship. Therevelations continued over the next 23 years of his life and were learned by heart anddictated to scribes. The revelations were also recited and proclaimed by him to hiscompanions. The Qur’an gives detailed guidance on how humankind should behave, intermsofmoralconductandfamilyrelationshipsaswellasthetreatmentofanimalsandthe

naturalworld.WhateverthelanguageoftheMuslim,theQur’anisrecitedintheArabic languageof its revelation, in itspurest form.Muslimchildrenwill oftenattendmadrassah (mosque school) each day for up to 2 hours after school,where theywill learnportionsof theQur’anandwhat itmeans.TheQur’an isdivided into 114 surahs (chapters) and ayahs (verses). Arabic copies of theQur’anaretreatedwiththehighestrespect,becauseitcomesfromthehighestauthority,whichiswhyitiskepthighonashelf,coveredwhennotinuse,andhandledwithcleanhands.Whilstitisimportantthatpupilsgettoseea‘real’Qur’an(especiallyifitcanbereadfrombysomeonewhoisaMuslim),itisrecommendedthatanEnglishversionoftheQur’anisusedasthebasisforlearningaboutIslamintheclassroom.Itensures that thecontentsaremoreaccessible topupils,and is less likely tocauseanyoffencewithin theMuslimcommunity.SuggestionscanbefoundwithintheResourcessectionbelow.

Awindowon…..ninety-ninebeautifulnamesNamesoftenhavemeanings,andexploringthemeaningsofpupils’ownnamesisagoodplacetostart.In Islam, Allah has 99 names reflecting different aspects of his character. The Qur’an reveals thesenamesforAllah(oftencalledthebeautifulnames):eachonetellsMuslimssomethingaboutthenature

ofGod,buteventhese99arenotenoughtofullydescribehim.Prayerbeads,oftenmarked intosections,aresometimesusedtoaid recitationof thenames. TheKS1unit ‘What’s important toMuslimchildren?’suggests lookingwithyourclassatsomeofAllah’sbeautifulnames–andthenusingcolourandpatterntodecoratethem.Hereareafewtogetyoustarted….

Usefulweb-basedresourcesforteachersandclassrooms:• www.reonline.org.ukGreatforbackgroundknowledge,withlotsoflinkstoclassroomresourcesviaasearchtool.Usethe‘Knowing’tab

tofindoutwhatyouwanttoknow,ortryhere:www.reonline.org.uk/knowing/what-re/islam/ • REOnlinealsohavesomelessonideas(searchfor‘REBanquet’),butensureyoumatchtotheDiocesanCoreKnowledgeobjectives. • www.reepinfo.org/an-introduction-to-islamic-gardens/exploringhowpattern,beautyandsymmetryareimportantelementswithinan

Islamicgarden:areflectionofParadiseaswellasaplacetoshelterfromtheheatoftheday.• InterfaithExplorerswebinars&resourcesforteachers/pupilsesp.webinarsmighthelpwithbackgroundinformation• SomesacredstoriesfromIslamfeatureontheBritishLibrarywebsite:www.bl.uk/learning/cult/sacred/stories/• OthersuitablestoriescanalsobefoundontheBBCSchoolspages:www.bbc.co.uk/learning/schoolradio/subjects/collectiveworship/collectiveworship_stories• MyLife,MyReligion’canbefoundasindividualclips,andascompleteprogrammesathttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05pc1c9

AlthoughtheseprogrammesareaimedatKS2pupils,manywouldbesuitableforKS1,withsometeacherinput.• ThereisacompleteglossaryofIslamictermsavailableontheDiocesanwebsite:http://www.cofeguildford.org.uk/education/our-school-

services/re/new-guidelines/materials-for-re-subject-leadersScrolldowntofindtheglossary!• MyFirstQur’anStorybook:storiesfromtheQur’anforchildren(ISBN81-7898-554-3)• GoldenDomesandSilverLanterns–HenaKhan&MehrdokhtAmini:alovelypicturebookbasedoncolours(ISBN978-1-4521-4121-3)• Islamicartatwww.arthafez.comandwww.voqonline.com/99name.html,andhttp://ayeshagamiet.com/gallery/Ayeshaalsohasablog.• EmailcontactforKauserAkhtar,DiocesanInterfaithadvisor,MuslimmemberofSurreySACRE(andwifetotheImamatShahJahan

mosque,Woking!):kauser.akhtar@cofeguildford.org.ukKauseralsomentionedaudiobooksofstoriesfromtheQur’anthatacontactofhersiscompiling.Thesecanbebrowsedathttp://www.mirajaudio.com/

• YoucanlistentotheQur’anbeingread(itactuallysoundsmorelikesinging)athttp://quran.com/1• InformationaboutYusufIslam(AKACatStevens)at:http://catstevens.com/hehasdonesomegoodchildren’ssongs.

http://catstevens.com/media-songs/a-is-for-allah/-thissonginparticulargoesthroughtheArabicalphabet.

Al-Khaliq–TheCreator‘Hewhocreateseverythingfrom

nothingandwhocreatesallthingswiththeknowledgeofwhatwillhappentothem.’

Al-Salam–TheSourceofPeace‘Hewhofreeshisservantsfromalldangerandobstruction.Hewhogiveshisgreetingtothosefortunatepeopleinheaven.’

Al-Hakim–TheWise‘Hewhohaswisdominallordersandactions.’

Al-Hadi–TheGuide‘Hewhoguides,givessuccessanddirectshisservanttodothings

beneficialtoothers.’

Al-Karim–TheGenerousOne‘Hewhoisgenerous.’

ThisunitexploreskeyMuslimbeliefsaboutAllah,Muhammad(pbuh*)andtheQur’aninordertohelppupilstounderstandwhat’simportantforMuslimchildren.ItwillbebuiltoninKS2bytwounitsthatfocusonthemosqueandtheFivePillars(aswellasapossibleoptionalstudyunit‘WhatdoesitmeantobeaMuslim?’)It’svitalthattheconceptswithintheseunitsarenotexploredatKS1aswell!YoucanviewthemontheDiocesanwebsite.