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Key Stage 3Lesson 14

Living and Working with Others

This document contains lesson plans, activity sheets, and resources for teaching students about living and working with others in Islam.

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Living and Working with Others

Suggested Duration: 60 minutes

Learning Objectives

  • To understand that Islam teaches tolerance and respect towards people of all faiths and those of no faith
  • To examine the multi-faith nature of the UK population

Key Words

  • Respect for people, multi-faith community, people of the book (Ahl al-Kitab), the Constitution of Madinah

Islamic Values

Islam teaches us to respect people of all faiths and of no faith.

Citizenship Values

Citizenship encourages us to respect peoples' freedom, choice of different beliefs, backgrounds and traditions within a changing democratic society.

Resources

Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.1401: Lesson Objectives Pupils' Activity Sheet: 3.1402: Word Search Pupils' Activity Sheet: 3.1403: Did You Know? Invite a local priest/rabbi or any other religious minister

Activities

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

A Starter Activity

Ask pupils to carry out the word search activity, which contains six major faiths in the UK – Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism.

B Development

Activity 1: Did You Know?

Distribute Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.1403 to the pupils, and read out the ten facts. The aim of this exercise is to show the similarities between the world faiths, in order to increase the pupils' level of respect for people of other faiths.

Under British law citizens are allowed to practise their religion freely and are encouraged to live and to work alongside people of other religions.

Activity 2: Guest Speaker

If you are able to, bring in a guest speaker from a different faith/school of thought and give them an opportunity to speak to the pupils about their faith.

Pupils should be given the opportunity to question the guest speaker at the end of the session. Invite the speaker to remain and observe the whole lesson. If it is not possible to bring a guest speaker, then move on to the next activity.

Activity 3: Islamic Guidance

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

قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ تَعَالَوْا إِلَى كَلِمَةٍ سَوَاء بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلَّا نَعْبُدَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ وَلَا نُشْرِكَ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضًا أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْا فَقُولُوا اشْهَدُوا بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ

'Say, O People of the Book! Come to a word agreed upon between us and you, that we worship none but God and that we do not associate anything with Him, and do not take each other for lords, besides God'; and if they turn their backs, say, 'Bear witness that we have submitted (to God alone).' (Surat Alee Imran 3:64)

This verse shows that God is encouraging us to listen and talk to people of different faiths and work together on things that unite us rather than divide us.

  • Question: Who are the People of the Book?

  • Suggested answer: Jews, Christians and Muslims

  • Question: What do you think are the commonalities that God is talking about in this verse?

  • Suggested answer:

    • Belief in God
    • Belief in the hereafter
    • Belief in the revealed books
    • Belief in the messengers of God

لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ

You have your religion and I have my religion.' (Surat al-Kafirun 109:6)

  • Question: What does this Ayah tell us?

  • Suggested answers: The Qu'ran tells us that we can co-exist and can have our own religions.

وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ خَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافُ أَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَأَلْوَانِكُمْ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّلْعَالِمِينَ

'And from His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the differences in your tongues (language) and your colours (race), indeed in that are signs for the whole universe.' (Surat al-Rum 30:22)

  • Question: Why do you think God did not make us all the same?

  • Suggested answer: So that we can know each other and can learn from each other.

In life we always need individual people with unique and different skills and abilities.

By making us different, God is testing us to see how we treat people who are different.

  • Question: What can we learn from people of other faiths and of no faith?

Resources

Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.1404: Islamic Guidance

Activity 4: Stories from the Sirah

Tell pupils the following stories.

Story from the Sirah – 1

'Once Prophet Muhammad asked for some water and a Jewish person gave him some. The Prophet prayed for him.'

  • Questions: What do we learn from this story? Are we allowed to pray for all humanity?

  • Suggested answers: At the time of the Prophet people of various faiths lived together peacefully.

As Muslims, we are allowed to pray for health and prosperity of all humanity.

Story from the Sirah – 2

'In a place called Ta'if, the people treated Prophet Muhammad very badly, so much so that he was hurt physically. The angel Jibril (Gabriel) came to his aid and asked him to give the command and he would destroy the whole valley. The Prophet refused. Instead he forgave the people and prayed for them, hoping that good would come out of their future generations.'

  • Question: What do we learn from this story?

  • Suggested answers: Prophet Muhammad loved to forgive; he could easily have taken revenge but did not.

When you are attacked verbally or physically, you should try to respond with patience, wisdom and forgiveness.

C Plenary

Sum up and stress that Islam teaches us that people of all faiths and of no faith should be respected.

Invite pupils to fill in Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.1405.

Suggested Follow-up Work

Explain the suggested follow-up activities:

Download or read online the Constitution of Madinah from the ICE website at www.theiceproject.com and search for all the articles (statements) that gave protection and rights to non-Muslims. You should print/write your findings, using Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.1406.

Notes: The Madinah Constitution is a treaty of human rights in which Prophet Muhammad gave many rights to non-Muslims. It is considered to be the first written multi-cultural and multi-faith constitution.

Emphasise that, like Britain today, Madinah was also a multi-faith community.

The relevant articles that pupils should use are:

  • Article 20 - Non-Muslim minorities' rights
  • Article 30 - Guarantee of freedom of religion for non-Muslims
  • Article 40 - Equal rights for internal religious differences
  • Article 50 - Equal rights of protection of life guaranteed to everyone
  • Article 62 - All peaceful citizens will be safe and secure.

Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.1401

Lesson Objectives

  • To understand that Islam teaches tolerance and respect towards people of all faiths and those of no faith
  • To examine the multi-faith nature of the UK population

Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.1402

Word Search

Name:

Class:

Madrasah:

Find the six major faiths: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism.

| Y | | S | B | A | D | Y | M | H | M | | | --- | - | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | - | | T | H | A | U | | H | | C | H | S | | | | M | M | D | | | M | S | U | D | D | | N | M | B | D | A | | S | | Y | J | M | | A | D | | H | M | S | | H | K | | S | | | B | K | | L | L | U | | N | H | A | | T | M | | S | | A | D | U | J | U | U | | S | | M | M | K | M | N | U | A | D | D | | | | S | C | S | U | | L | J | | C | | R | A | S | | H | S | H | | M | A | R | | H | A | D | | S | A | S | B | M | S | | | C | R | U | J | | | | M | N | H | J |

Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.1403

Did You Know?

Did you know that...

  • Moses, Jesus, Joseph and Isaac are respected equally in Islam?
  • The Christian period of fasting is called Lent?
  • Jews don't eat pork?
  • Hindus pray in the morning before going to work/school?
  • Prophet Muhammad stood up to pay his respects when a Jewish funeral passed by?
  • People can have a meal (Langar) at any time of the day in a Sikh temple (Gurdwara)?
  • The Sikh phrase 'Ik onkar' means 'there is only one God'?
  • The Buddhist law of Karma teaches that if you do good you will receive good, and if you do bad you will receive bad?
  • Jews, Christians and Muslims are cousins in faith, as all three religions have roots with Prophet Ibrahim?

Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.1404

Islamic Guidance

قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ تَعَالَوْا إِلَى كَلِمَةٍ سَوَاءِ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلَّا نَعْبُدَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ وَلَا نُشْرِكَ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضًا أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْا فَقُولُوا اشْهَدُوا بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ

'Say, O People of the Book! Come to a word agreed upon between us and you, that we worship none but God and that we do not associate anything with Him, and do not take each other for lords, besides God, and if they turn their backs, say, ‘Bear witness that we have submitted (to God alone).' (Surat Alee Imran 3:64)

لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ

You have your religion and I have my religion. ' (Surat al-Kafirun 109:6)

وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ خَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافُ أَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَأَلْوَانِكُمْ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّلْعَالِمِينَ

And from His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the differences in your tongues (language) and your colours (race), indeed in that are signs for the whole universe.' (Surat al-Rum 30:22)

  • Story from the Sirah – 1 'Once Prophet Muhammad asked for some water and a Jewish person gave him some. The Prophet prayed for him.'

  • Story from the Sirah – 2 'In a place called Ta'if, the people treated Prophet Muhammad very badly, so much so that he was hurt physically. The angel Jibril (Gabriel) came to his aid and asked him to give the command and he would destroy the whole valley. Prophet Muhammad, refused. Instead he forgave the people and prayed for them, hoping that good would come out of their future generations.'

Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.1405

Feedback

Lesson Title: Living and Working with Others

Name:

Madrasah/Organisation:

Today I have learnt about:

As a result of this lesson I have learnt that a good Muslim should:

I am going to follow up this topic in my home/school/community by:

Pupils' Activity Sheet 3.1406

Follow-up Worksheet

Lesson Title: Living and Working with Others

Name:

Madrasah/Organisation:

Task:

Download or read online the Constitution of Madinah from the ICE website at www.theiceproject.com, and search for all the articles (statements) that gave protection and rights to non-Muslims.

Your answers:

Previous Lesson

The Constitution of Madinah: A Multi-faith Society

Next Lesson

British or Muslim, or British Muslim?