Guidelines for Holding a Dialogue

Suggested Duration: 60 minutes

Lesson Objectives

To understand what a dialogue is
To know what makes a good dialogue

Key Words

Dialogue, response, listening

Islamic Values

Islam encourages dialogue and the building of strong relationships between people of different faiths and backgrounds.

Citizenship Values

Citizenship encourages dialogue, listening, understanding others and coming to common agreements.

Activities

Ask some quick questions to recap the last lesson. Share the lesson objectives.

A Starter Activity

Explain that when we talk to different people we talk in different ways.

Give pupils the following scenarios/situations (Pupils' Activity Sheet 2.0201) to discuss in pairs/small groups.

Examples of Scenarios

A You kick your football into your neighbour's garden. How would you get it back?

B You have bought a toy from the shop and realise that some parts are missing and you decide to return it. What would you say to the shopkeeper?

C You see a new child in your madrasah who is feeling out of place. How do you approach them?

D One of your teachers is very cross with you because of something you have been blamed wrongly for. How do you speak to the teacher to explain your innocence?

Take feedback on each scenario and ask the rest of the class to comment on the answers given. Ask pupils to put themselves in these situations and comment on how they would feel if they or their family members were spoken to in that way.

B Development

Activity 1: Different Conversations

Split the class into groups. Allow them to discuss why it is important to be polite and what they must do in order to be polite. Take this time to assess the pupils' language.

Take feedback on what it means to be polite.

Activity 2: What is a Dialogue?

Ask pupils what a dialogue is and why it is important. Take some comments from the class and explain the ICE definition of 'dialogue'.

Dialogue is:

listening carefully to each other
attempting to understand each other's point of view
responding politely
attempting to come to a common agreement.

Finally, if a common agreement cannot be reached, the dialogue should end with: 'Let's agree to disagree.'

Activity 3: Islamic Guidance

Ask a pupil to recite the following verses. Explain the meaning.

وَقُولُوا لِلنَّاسِ حُسْنًا

'...And speak to people kindly... ' (Surat al-Baqarah 2:83)

وَلَا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ فَيَسُبُّوا اللَّهَ عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ

And do not insult those who worship other than God, because they may insult God in a hostile way without knowledge...' (Surat al-An`am 6:108)

Explain that this verse tells us not to make fun of people who worship others besides God because then they will respond by making fun of God. It explains we should not insult the objects of worship other than God, not the people who worship other than God.

'One can recognise the perfection of a Muslim's faith by his not talking unnecessarily, not quarrelling, being patient and being good tempered.' (Mishkat al-Anwar)

'Who so ever believes in God and the Last Day should speak good or remain silent.' (Bukhari)

Ask the class to discuss how they might respond to people who speak badly about Islam. What is their experience and how did they respond? We are told not to be insensitive and rude towards the beliefs of others as this will create conflict. Instead, start a dialogue with them and try to understand their point of view.

C Plenary

End with a little game – thumbs up, thumbs down.

Ask pupils to put up their thumbs if they now feel that it is their duty as Muslims to be polite when speaking to others, or thumbs down if they do not feel confident about how to be polite when speaking with others.

Emphasise that a good dialogue is one where:

both parties are listening to each other
there is due respect and each person is given the time to finish their point
both parties are polite to each other.

If both parties cannot agree on something, then they agree to disagree and respect each other's opinion.

Remember that, although you may have disagreed on an issue, there are many more issues where you would be in agreement. Take collective feedback.

Suggested Follow-up Work

Give instructions for follow-up work:

Next time you want to shout back at somebody or quarrel, stop yourself and think: 'Is this the Islamic way to respond?'

Make a poster of what makes a good dialogue.