7 Dealing with Racism
Suggested Duration: 60 minutes
Learning Objectives
- To understand that Islam and citizenship condemn all forms of racism and teach equality for all humanity
- To examine Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ sermon (at Arafat) as a perfect vehicle for these teachings
Key Words
- Equality, racism, prejudice, discrimination
Islamic Values
Islam encourages acceptance of all differences as part of God's design, regardless of race. Supremacy is based soley upon righteousness.
Citizenship Values
A good citizen respects differences among people and their opinions, regardless of their race, colour, religion or ethnicity.
Resources
Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.0701: Lesson Objectives
Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.0702(a): Faces of Islam
Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.0702(b): Faces of Islam
Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.0703: Racism Scenarios
Activities
Ask some quick questions to recap the last lesson.
Share the lesson objectives.
A Starter Activity
Ask pupils to stand up and find someone to sit with who they have never sat with before. (Note: You may wish to direct this, and encourage people of different backgrounds to sit with each other.)
Give pupils three minutes to find out three things about their partner that they did not know before.
Take feedback.
Ask pupils: What have you learnt? Do you have friends who are different to you? Have you ever been to their place of worship?
Emphasise that the point of the exercise was to get to know each other, to move away from their normal comfort zones, and to speak to someone they may not have spoken to before. One way of combating racism is to remove misconceptions. This can be achieved through the Islamic concept of ta'aruf, which means to introduce people in a friendly way.
B Development
Activity 1: Faces of Islam
Hand out Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.0702(a), with six pictures of different people; some look 'Muslim' but are not, and others look 'non-Muslim' but they are Muslim. Ask pupils to identify who are the Muslims and who are not.
Take feedback.
Ask a few pupils to share their answers and emphasise that assumptions should not be made without knowing the facts.
Now give them Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.0702(b).
Ask: What have you learnt?
Suggested answer: Don't judge people by their appearance.
Emphasise that we should accept people's differences.
Activity 2: Racism Scenarios
Give out Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.0703 and ask pupils to think about their immediate response to each scenario. They must not fill in the second box.
Scenario 1: You are shopping in a supermarket with your mum and a group of youths start calling you names and saying: 'Go back to where you came from!'
Scenario 2: You are walking into school and somebody shouts out: 'Oi. This school is not for you lot.'
Scenario 3: Your school is largely Muslim and your friend John is walking with you and some of your other friends shout: 'This school is for Muslims only.'
Activity 3: Islamic Guidance
Ask a pupil to recite the following verses. Explain the meaning.
Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.0704: Islamic Guidance
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى جَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ
'O mankind! We created you from a male and a female and We made you into nations and tribes so that you may know each other; the most noble of you in the sight of God is the one who is the most righteous. Indeed God is All-knowing, All-aware.' (Surat al-Hujurat 49:13)
This verse states that the reason for differences is to allow people to get to know each other and the only way you can be better than anyone else is if you are more righteous.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا يَسْخَرْ قَومٌ مِّن قَوْمٍ عَسَى أَن يَكُونُوا خَيْرًا مِّنْهُمْ
‘O believers! One group must not make fun of another group, perhaps they may be better than them!...' (Surat al-Hujurat 49:11)
Question: How can they be better than you?
Suggested answer: Perhaps others have better manners and are more honest.
There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab; nor for white over the black, nor for the black over the white except in righteousness. Indeed the noblest amongst you is the one who is the most righteous.' (Last Sermon at Arafat)
A believer is one who gets on well with others and there is no good in one who does not get on with others.' (Mustadrak Hakim)
'God has revealed to me that you should be courteous to one another. One should neither hold himself above another nor misbehave against another.' (Muslim)
‘One who has in the heart a grain of arrogance will not enter Jannah. Someone said: how about a person who likes to wear beautiful clothes and shoes? The Prophet, said: all of God's affairs are beautiful and He likes beauty; arrogance means ridiculing and rejecting the truth and despising people.' (Muslim)
C Plenary
Revisit the racism scenarios. After going through the Islamic guidance, ask pupils to look again at their responses and give the Islamic response in the 'Second response' boxes.
Sum up and stress that Islam teaches us that all people are equal and should be respected and treated fairly.
Invite pupils to fill in Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.0705.
Suggested Follow-up Work
Tell pupils that Malcolm X was a Black American Muslim leader, whose experience on Hajj of various Muslim communities forced him to rethink his previous negative views towards white people. Ask pupils to research Malcolm X's letter to his friends in Harlem, USA, while on Hajj.
Ask pupils to visit another mosque and/or a different religious place of worship.
Ask pupils to report back using Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.0706.
Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.0705: Feedback
Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.0706: Follow-up Worksheet