Lesson video

Hi there, scholars of religion.

My name is Ms. Marx and I'm going to be your religious education teacher today.

And today we're going to be learning all about the role and importance of the prophet Ibrahim, who's also known as Abraham.

And he's sometimes called the father of all the prophets, and he's very important in the story of Islam.

So when you're ready, let's go.

So by the end of the lesson today, you'll be able to explain the role and importance of the prophet Ibrahim in Islam.

So let's start with our key terms. Hajj, a pilgrimage in Islam where many of the steps of Ibrahim are followed.

Idolatry, the worship of idols, forbidden in Islam.

Ismail, son of Ibrahim who rebuilt the Ka'aba with him.

Ibrahim, important prophet in Islam, also known as Abraham.

Ka'aba, a sacred cube-shaped building in Makkah.

So our lesson today will have two sections, Prophethood and the oneness of Allah, and the Role importance of the Prophet Ibrahim.

So let's start with our first section, Prophethood and the oneness of Allah.

If everyone around you was doing something wrong, would you do it too? If everyone was doing it and it felt normal and that's just what you did, would you do it even if you thought it was wrong? So pause the video and have a think about that.

You could talk to the person next to you, or talk to me.

While for Muslims, they believed the prophet Ibrahim knew it was wrong to worship idols and gods, and he should only worship one God.

Even though he lived at a time when everyone did, and it was very normal.

And that's just what you did.

You worshipped many gods and performed idolatry.

Ibrahim knew that it was wrong, and he didn't do it.

That story of prophet Ibrahim influences Muslims today.

So in the Qur'an, there are many different prophets who are mentioned by name.

Some Muslims believe there are more prophets than this in Islam, but in the Qur'an we have 25 that are mentioned.

And actually, some of them are named more often than others.

And here I've got a chart showing the frequency of when different prophets are mentioned by name.

And Musa we've got here who's mentioned the most, but the second most-mentioned prophet in the Qur'an is Ibrahim, and he's mentioned 69 times.

He is the second most-mentioned prophet in the Qur'an.

And a belief in the oneness of God was a very important part of the message he was given for humanity.

So many of the prophets mentioned in the Qur'an are connected through family lines.

Ibrahim is an important prophet who's seen as the father of many others.

So he's the direct father of two of them we're going to think about now, but he's also seen as the father through being an ancestor to others that came along from that line.

So Muhammad, for example, was born from the line of Ibrahim's son, Ismail.

So Ibrahim's the literal father of Ismail, but he is also seen as the father to Muhammad, because he is his ancestor through that line.

Musa, Dawud, and Isa, all born from the line of Ibrahim's son, Ishaq.

So Ishaq was the literal son of Ibrahim as well.

And from his line, were born other prophets here that we've got, Musa, Dawud, and Isa.

So let's do a quick check.

Which two of the statements about Prophet Ibrahim are correct? Ibrahim is the second most-mentioned prophet in the Qur'an.

Ibrahim was the first prophet and first human on earth.

Ibrahim worshipped many idols and gods.

And Ibrahim was the father of Ismail and Ishaq.

Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, it was A and D.

He was the second most-mentioned prophet in the Qur'an, after Musa.

And also he was the direct father of Ismail and Ishaq.

He wasn't the first prophet and first human on earth, that's believed to be Adam.

And he didn't worship many gods and idols, even though people did at his time.

So why is there a need for these different prophets in Islam then? There's 25 that are mentioned the Qur'an, and some Muslims believe there was even more than that, that aren't mentioned.

Why the need for these prophets then? Well, each prophet is given a revelation for humanity.

So a message from Allah to give to humanity, so that we can understand and know Allah, and know the right actions to do to please Allah through the revelations given to these prophets.

And that starts with Adam, and goes down the line of the 25 mentioned in the Qur'an.

So this is how Allah communicates with us as humans, through the messages given to these prophets.

Each of those prophets was given the message of the oneness of Allah, sometimes called Tawhid, and submission to Allah.

And the word Islam actually means to submit, so submission to God.

So, each prophet is given that message.

So, why do we need so many of these prophets to have come then? Well, over time people who had that message who may have accepted it at first, they actually start to sin, and forget it, and corrupt it, and change it.

And we'll see this time and time again in the story of Islam.

Particularly, we can use the example of the Ka'aba, and the idea of worshipping one God is kind of corrupted over time, and what it means to submit to God.

So it gets changed and corrupted over time.

So then Allah needs to remind humanity again of the oneness of Allah, and the idea of submitting to God with a message.

So a prophet is then sent a message to remind everybody of that original message, of the oneness of Allah.

Now the final one of those prophets was Muhammad.

So Muslims believe Muhammad was the final prophet.

But before that, there were these different prophets that came with that message, reminding people after things had been corrupted and people had started sinning again.

So let's see where Ibrahim fits into this then.

So at the time of the place where Ibrahim lived, people had stopped worshipping one God.

So that idea we had that people had been given that message, and Muslims believe it goes back to Adam, that message of there being one God, but the people had lost their way and were worshipping many gods.

They were practising idolatry, creating idols and worshipping them, and they were polytheistic.

Well, let's understand what this word polytheistic means then.

We can break it down into its parts, poly and theistic.

And poly means many.

So if you think of polystyrene, it's like that plastic with lots and lots of little tiny bits.

And theistic comes from a word theis, which means a belief in god or gods.

So a polytheist believes that there are many gods.

A polytheistic society is where people are worshipping many gods.

Monotheistic, on the other side, means one god.

So, mono means one.

If you think of a monocle being a glass that you might wear on one eye, or a monologue where someone is speaking on their own.

And then you've got theistic, again, belief in god or gods.

So a monotheist believes in one God.

Monotheistic societies and religions have a belief in only one God.

Ibrahim didn't worship many gods, so he was not polytheistic.

He believed he should worship only one God.

That means he was monotheistic.

So Ibrahim is often seen as a very important figure in helping to spread this message of monotheism, or just worshipping one god.

In Islam, it's seen as a great sin to commit shirk.

You might have heard this word before.

So, shirk is a great sin within Islam.

And shirk is an Arabic word, which means to worship anything other than Allah, or compare anything else to the greatness of Allah.

So the idea is that God is separate, unique, incomparable, the idea of the Tawhid, and the oneness of God, only God is worthy of our worship, and there's nothing like God.

There aren't other gods that we should be worshipping alongside God.

And that's what shirk is.

If we start to associate things with God, or split God up into different parts that we're worshipping in different ways.

Shirk is in contrast with Tawhid.

Tawhid means to believe and worship in one unified Allah, So the oneness of God.

Shirk is in contrast to this, when you're worshipping many different gods.

So the idolatry that was happening in Ibrahim's time as an example of polytheism, is also an example of shirk.

Whereas Ibrahim, in worshipping only one God, was practising monotheism, and here he's supporting that belief in Tawhid, the oneness of God.

So what about a source of authority we could go to to understand this a little bit more then? Well in the Qur'an, have this passage which really helps us understand prophecy, but also Ibrahim's role in this.

So this passage uses the English version of the names of the prophets here.

So we've got Abraham instead of Abraham, and Ishmael instead of Ismail.

"We believe in God; and in what was revealed to us; and what was revealed to Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the patriarchs; and in what was given to Moses and Jesus; and in what was given to the prophets - from their Lord.

We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we surrender." And that's in Surah 2:136.

So, what could this tell us about prophecy and the oneness of Allah? And particularly, what could it tell us about Abraham or Ibrahim? Pause the video and have a think.

And you can speak to the person next to you, or talk to me.

Well here, I've highlighted Abraham, to remind myself this is talking about Ibrahim, and also this idea of not making any distinction between them.

And here we've got listed quite a few of those 25 prophets that are mentioned in the Qur'an, all in one verse here.

So it's listing all these different prophets who were all sent with this message of God, and there's no distinction between them.

So perhaps they've got an equal message, equal importance.

So I put here Ibrahim.

Abraham was one of many prophets of God, and there's no distinction between the prophets.

So perhaps they've got the same message, or their messages of the same importance.

So, time for another check.

Give two beliefs about prophethood shown in Surah 2:136.

Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, Ibrahim was one of God's prophets.

Yeah, we had Ibrahim listed there along with many others.

And two, there were many prophets sent by God.

So they were each sent by God with a message to humanity.

You could have also put something about there being no distinction made between them.

Well done.

So, time for a practise task to see what we've learned.

In the table below, we've got two points here made about the prophethood and the oneness of Allah.

For each point, you're going to give an example, evidence, or explanation.

And the points are, the first point, Muslims believe Allah sent many prophets with a message to worship only Allah.

And secondly, Muslims believe Ibrahim was one of these prophets.

So for each of those, give an example, evidence, or explanation.

Pause the video, off you go.

Well done.

And you could have used the source that we had earlier of Surah 2:136.

So the first point is, Muslims believe Allah sent many prophets with a message to worship only Allah.

And your evidence, example, explanation could be this is because people had lost or corrupted their messages and needed to be told again.

The second point, Muslims believe Ibrahim was one of these prophets.

And your example, evidence, or explanation could have been in the Qur'an, it says, "What was revealed to Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob from their Lord.

We make no distinction between any of them." Well done.

So onto our second section then, the Role and importance of Prophet Ibrahim.

So here I've got a map showing the part of the world that we're talking about when we talk about the story of Ibrahim.

And the place where he's said to have been born is Ur, which is here on the map showing, it's about where modern day Iraq is today.

Ibrahim came from Ur.

And he's believed to have lived around 2000 B.

C.

E.

So, about 4,000 years ago.

And at this time, people worshipped many gods and idols.

People were making idols, and people were worshipping the thing that they've made.

And Ibrahim's message helped to establish monotheism across a large area.

So if you remember, monotheism is a belief in only one God, rather than many gods.

And he actually helps to establish this in a large area that we're going to learn about in today's lesson.

So according to the Qur'an and Muslim traditions, Ibrahim was born into a society where people widely practised idolatry.

In fact, Ibrahim's own father was an idol creator.

He made idols out of wood and stone, which people could worship.

And Ibrahim didn't believe these idols had any powers, or should be worshipped , or prayed to.

People also worshipped the sun, the moon, and the stars during Ibrahim's time.

He challenged this through talking to people, and trying to help them see that these manmade creations and parts of nature were not something they should be worshipping or praying to.

One way that he challenged this was through breaking some of the idols in his father's shop.

He left an axe with the biggest idol.

And when people found the broken idols, he told them the largest one had done the damage.

When the people said the idol couldn't have done that damage, Ibrahim used this to prove his point that these idols were not worth worshipping.

The people were so challenged by Ibrahim's views, that eventually he was sentenced to death, and by being burnt alive.

When the time came, Allah miraculously kept Ibrahim alive and feeling cool, which was a reward for his faith in the one true God, rather than worshipping idols.

So after that incident with the fire, we read that Ibrahim had two wives.

So Ibrahim has two wives, Sara and Hagar.

And with Sara, Ibrahim has a child called Ishaq.

And with Hagar, Ibrahim has a child called Ismail.

And it's believed that Ismail was born before Ishaq.

Ismail and Ishaq are both prophets named in the Qur'an, as we had their names earlier on, and they're half brothers, and Ismail is the older brother.

So we've got Ismail and Ishaq, same father, different mothers, so they're half brothers.

But they're both prophets that are mentioned by name in the Qur'an.

And the prophet Muhammad is an ancestor of Prophet Ismail.

Remember, we said that so many of these prophets link their line back up to Ibrahim as the father of all prophets.

When we get to these two prophets, then we have different lines that come from them.

And from Ismail, we have Prophet Muhammad.

From Ishaq, we have prophets like Dawud, Musa, and Isa.

But what matters is they all trace their roots back to Ibrahim, as the father of all prophets.

According to the Qur'an and Muslim traditions, Ibrahim was told in a dream to sacrifice his son.

Whilst the Qur'an does not mention which son it is, Muslim traditions state this was Ismail.

Ibrahim was willing to do this, but he discussed it with his son, who was also willing.

Ibrahim went to Mount Arafat, outside of Makkah, to perform the sacrifice, but Ismail was replaced by a ram, which is a male sheep, and that was sacrificed instead.

Ibrahim and Ismail's obedience to Allah had been tested, and they had passed the test.

This is celebrated today by Muslims with Eid al-Adha.

And some time after this, Ibrahim and Ismail built a place to worship Allah in Makkah, which is the site of the Ka'aba today.

Many Muslims believe that Adam had worshipped Allah on the same spot.

Some Muslims believe there had already been a damaged Ka'aba at this site, and Ibrahim and Ismail were rebuilding it.

If they built it, or rebuilt it, it's an important part of the story that after a time of polytheism and shirk with Ibrahim's people, this site was now dedicated to worshipping the one unified Allah.

So we can see from this story that the Ka'aba is a very important site for Muslims, and we are often looking at it as an example of pilgrimage that might happen.

It's the direction that Muslims pray towards whenever they pray.

It's a very, very important site within Islam.

And you can see this image here, the Maqam Ibrahim, which is a small square stone.

And it's believed to contain a footprint of Ibrahim from when it was rebuilt.

So some people believe that the Ka'aba was built by Ibrahim and Ismail, others believe that it was rebuilt by them.

Either way, it was regiven over to the worship of only one God, which is Allah.

And this here in the image you can see a small gold dot, which is the Maqam Ibrahim.

So as part of pilgrimages, when people go there to this site, they can actually see this spot, and think of Ibrahim and what him and Ismail did.

Let's do a quick check.

Which of these events in the story of Prophet Ibrahim came first? Ibrahim was willing to sacrifice his son.

Ibrahim was thrown in the fire.

Ibrahim was rebuilding, or building the Ka'aba.

Which one came first? Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, what came first was Ibrahim being thrown in the fire, because he was challenging the polytheism of the time.

So the Qur'an is a really important source of authority for Muslims to go to to understand the story of Ibrahim.

We've said he's mentioned 69 times in there.

Here's one example.

In Surah 21, it says, "He [Ibrahim] said, "Do you worship, instead of God, What can neither benefit you in anything, nor harm you.

And they said, "Burn him".

We said [Allah] "O fire, be coolness and safety upon Abraham." So this section of the Qur'an is telling us about Ibrahim challenging the idolatry of the time where he lived in his society.

And it was such a challenge that he gave to them that they wanted to burn him.

They didn't want to hear his challenge anymore.

And the way he's challenging them is by using reason, and having a debate or a discussion with them.

He's trying to help them to see that these things that can't harm them or benefit them are not worthy of their worship.

And this is what they're finding such a challenge.

So what can this quote show Muslims about Ibrahim challenging idolatry then? Pause the video and have a read through.

And then you can speak to the person next to you, or speak to me.

Well, I've got here that Ibrahim's challenging them about why they're not worshipping God, why they're worshipping these things that can't harm them or benefit them.

And then the challenge he gives is so great that they want to kill him, and they burn him.

But then Allah rewards him for his steadfastness and refusing to worship many gods, and ensures that coolness is upon him and he doesn't burn.

I've got that Ibrahim uses questions to challenge them.

The idolaters wanted to punish Ibrahim.

And then Allah miraculously saves him.

So the Qur'an is also a source of authority for Muslims to know the story of Ibrahim and his son.

And the Qur'an doesn't state which son it is, but it's generally believed to be Ismail.

When the boy reached the age to work with him, Abraham, remembering this is Ibrahim, said, "O my dear son! I have seen in a dream that I must sacrifice you.

So tell me what you think." He replied, "O my dear father! Do as your commanded.

Allah willing, you will find me steadfast." So this passage is talking about the fact that Ibrahim was willing to sacrifice his son, and his son was willing to be sacrificed.

It doesn't mention that it's Ismail, but Muslims generally believe that it is.

So what does it show us about Ibrahim and his sacrifice of his son? Pause the video and have a think.

And you could talk to the person next to you, or talk to me.

Well, I've got here that it's connected to a dream, and that actually both Ibrahim and his son are willing to do what God has asked for.

Ibrahim is told in a dream to sacrifice his son, and he's willing, but asks his son, and his son is willing too.

So they're both willing to go along with what God has asked them to do.

And the Qur'an is also a source of authority, for the story of Ibrahim, and Ismail, and the Ka'aba.

So in the Qur'an, it says, "As Abraham", remembering it's Ibrahim, "Raises the foundations of the House, together with Ishmael, "Our Lord, accept it from us, You are the Hearer, the Knower." And that's Surah 2.

So, what does this show us about Ibrahim and Ismail and the Ka'aba? Pause the video and have a think, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

So yes, we've got here raises the foundations of the house, which is the Ka'aba.

And our Lord accept it from us.

So they're doing it for God.

This is no longer gonna be a place of polytheism, it's for worship of one God, Tawhid.

Ibrahim and Ismail built, or rebuilt, the Ka'aba together.

And this was built to be a place of worship to only Allah.

So Jun and Laura now are discussing how the Qur'an can support beliefs about the story of Prophet Ibrahim in Islam.

Jun says, "A Muslim might believe that Ibrahim had a message of Tawhid that challenged the idolatry of this time, because in the Qur'an it says, 'do you worship instead of God what can neither benefit you nor harm you'".

And Laura says, "A Muslim might believe that the Ka'aba was built by Ibrahim and his son Ismail as a place of worship to Allah because it says in the Qur'an that Ibrahim raised the 'foundations of the House, together with Ishmael, Our Lord, accept it from us'".

And what I really like about what Jun and Laura have done here, is they've both said the source that it's come from, and they both used the Qur'an.

Well done Laura and Jun.

So, time for a quick check.

Is this true or false? Muslim's believe that Ibrahim refused to sacrifice his son, and instead sacrificed a ram.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

That is false, isn't it? But why? It's false because Muslims believe that Ibrahim was willing to sacrifice his son, but that Allah replaced his son with a ram instead.

And this shows ibrahim's obedience to Allah.

Well done.

So if that's what happened in the story of Ibrahim and his son, and the Ka'aba, why is that important to Muslims? Well, we can think about this.

It's important to Muslims for many different reasons.

Number one, he refused to practise idolatry, even though around him at the time, this is what people did, and that was how society was.

He refused to take part in that.

He was obedient to Allah's will.

So he was obedient, even to the point of sacrificing his own son, if that's what Allah had wanted him to do.

He trusted in Allah.

Not only to do with the sacrifice of his son, but also earlier on in this story where he is threatened to be burnt by the people he was challenging to do with their idolatry.

And that trust is well-placed, because Allah has protected him.

He protected him when he was in the fire, and being burnt for challenging the idolatry at this time.

He protected him by making sure that he was cool and wasn't burnt.

And also Allah will provide.

So we have not only has Allah provided children for Ibrahim, in both Ismail and Ishaq, but also when Ibrahim was willing to sacrifice his son, Allah miraculously replaces his son with a ram, providing for him.

So how can we see the influence of this story to see how important it is for Muslims today? Well, one of these is through the festival of eid ul-Adha, which is a really important Muslim practise.

And this Eid celebrates the story of Ibrahim being willing to sacrifice his son.

So, that obedience he has to Allah.

An animal will often be sacrificed as part of the festival and shared between family, friends, and those in need.

And families may share in presence together too, and spending time with each other, and remembering this story of what Ibrahim was willing to do and how Allah provided for him.

What was the miracle that Muslims were celebrating at this festival then? Pause the video and have a think.

And you could speak to the person next to you, or speak to me.

So it was the miracle of Ibrahim's son being replaced by a ram at the last minute when he was willing to sacrifice him.

Another way we can look at the influence of the story of Prophet Ibrahim is by the actions that are taken as part of the Hajj ritual.

And Iqbal here has just completed the Hajj.

The Ibrahim is important and influences many parts of that pilgrimage.

And here, he's gonna explain how.

He says, "During the Hajj pilgrimage, I circled the Ka'aba, which reminded me of Ibrahim and Ismail building it, and their obedience to Allah.

I also stood on the plains of Mount Arafat, which reminded me of Ibrahim being willing to sacrifice his son.

And when I threw the stones at the pillars representing Satan, I thought about how Ibrahim was strong against the temptation to refuse to obey Allah." So have a read through what Iqbal said here about his experience of pilgrimage.

Where does this link to the story of Ibrahim? And I think you could find four different things here to show how it links to the story of Ibrahim.

Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've come up with in a moment.

Well done.

So I've highlighted a few things here.

He circles the Ka'aba, which is what Ibrahim and Ishmael were involved with building, or rebuilding.

He also stands on the plains of Mount Arafat, which is where Ibrahim was willing to sacrifice his son.

And we've also got here about how Ibrahim was strong against the temptation to refuse to obey Allah.

Well done.

So the story of Prophet Ibrahim is also important for, and influences Muslims, in many other ways too.

Sarah says, "The story of Ibrahim influences my thoughts when I worry about the future, I think about how Allah protected and provided for him." Meryem says, "The story of Ibrahim influences my beliefs as I believe that Allah is all-powerful and able to perform miracles like keeping Ibrahim cool in the fire." And Rasool says, "The story of Ibrahim influences my actions every time I pray as I pray in the direction of the Ka'aba which he built with his son, Ismail." So we can see here that influence can mean thoughts, beliefs, and actions.

And the story of Ibrahim can have a really big influence on Muslim's daily lives today.

So we've seen that there's often more than one way that beliefs can influence believers.

And together, let's give one way that beliefs about Prophet Ibrahim could influence Muslims. Only worshipping one God, because this idea of Tawhid and one God, whereas Ibrahim was living in a society where people worshipped many gods and practised idolatry, he worshipped only one God.

So over to you then.

Give one way that beliefs about Prophet Ibrahim may influence Muslims. Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

So celebrating Eid ul-Adha.

This is a festival that celebrates that ram being miraculously placed where Ibrahim was willing to sacrifice his son.

And that's a big way we can see that it influences Muslims today.

You could have also put things like trusting that Allah will provide, circling the Ka'aba during Hajj.

Well done.

So onto another practise task to see what we've learned then.

So Jun, Sam, and Laura each have a question about the importance of Prophet Ibrahim in Islam.

Write an answer to each of their questions.

And their questions are: Yun asks, "How is the festival of eid ul-Adha connected to Ibrahim?" Sam asks, "Why is the story of Ibrahim important for the Hajj pilgrimage?" And Laura asks, "How does the story of Ibrahim influence Muslim daily prayers?" So for each of those questions, think of an answer, pause the video, have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, some great thinking there about the role and importance of Prophet Ibrahim.

So I asked you to come up with an answer to the questions from Yun, Sam, and Laura.

And their questions were: Jun, "How is the festival of Eid uh-Adha connected to Ibrahim?" Sam asked, "Why is the story of Ibrahim important for the Hajj pilgrimage?" And Laura asks, "How does the story of Ibrahim influence Muslim daily prayers?" And your answers may look like this.

The festival of Eid ul-Adha celebrates obedience to Allah and the miracle of the ram in the place of his son.

During the Hajj pilgrimage, Muslims circle the Ka'aba.

They also stand where Ibrahim was willing to sacrifice his son.

And every day, Muslims pray to Allah in the direction of the Ka'aba, which was built by Ibrahim and his son, Ismail.

So, well done for your hard work there.

So let's summarise everything we've learned today about the role and importance of Ibrahim.

The Qur'an names 25 prophets, and all of those were given a message of submission to the one God.

Ibrahim was living in a polytheistic society where people practised idolatry, and he was given a message of monotheism.

Ibrahim was obedient to Allah, and was willing to sacrifice his son, Ismail.

This is celebrated at Eid ul-Adha.

And Ibrahim and Ismail rebuilt the Ka'aba together.

Muslims pray towards the Ka'aba, and follow the footsteps of Ibrahim during the hajj pilgrimage.

So, well done for your work today.

I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Bye-bye.