Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to another religious education lesson with me Mr. Green.

Today we are going to learn all about Islamic festivals so before we do that please make sure you're ready.

So please get a pen, a different colour pen, some paper to work on and of course, your theology brains.

If you haven't got any of those thing please go and fetch them now and join me in a moment.

So let's focus on Islamic festivals.

Today we are going to define three Islamic festivals.

They are Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr, and Ashura and we're going to have a really close focus on the historical events between two of those festivals, Eid al-Adha and Ashura.

And we're going to explain why these three festivals are really important and explain how Muslims celebrate these festivals.

So start off with let's just make sure we understand what we mean by Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr and Ashura.

So Eid al-Adha is the festival of sacrifice, and it's celebrating the sacrifice Ibraham, Abraham was prepared to make.

Eid al-Fitr is a celebration of the end of fasting after Ramadan, it's known as the festival of breaking the fast.

And Ashura in a Shia Islam, Shia Muslims mark the death of Imam Hussein, Muhammad's grandson in the Battle of Karbala.

Now, when you have a look at the two definitions of Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr, you can see I have highlighted some letters.

And those letters are used to remind myself which Eid is which one.

So Eid al-Adha, Adha starts with an A and that immediately reminds you of Abraham so then really easily able to identify, ah yeah, this is sacrifice, this is about the sacrifice Ibraham was prepared to make.

And Eid al-Fitr has an F in it so that reminds me of fasting and then I'm easily able to remember that it's the festival is breaking the fast.

And before we move on, you can see when you look closely at the sheer, am sorry, at the Ashura definition, there are only talks about Shia Muslims. And we're going to focus mainly on the Shia Islamic understanding of Ashura today.

But I also want to add in that for Sunni Muslims Ashura has a different meaning to this.

In Sunni Islamic it's used to remember Moses freeing the Israelites from Egyptian slavery and Ashura in Sunni Islam is a time to recall about Allah's role in helping Moses to free the Israelites.

But as I said, mainly going to be focusing on the Shia Islamic understanding of Ashura today.

Let's do some quick fire questions and to make sure we can remember all the important details of those definitions of these three festivals.

So which celebrates Ibraham's actions, Adha, Eid al-Fitr or Ashura? Well done, hope you're pointing to Adha and you remember the A's Adha, Abraham and then Ibraham.

Which celebrates the end of fasting? Point it now for me.

Well done, Eid al-Fitr, hopefully remember the Fs go together.

Eid al-Fitr celebrates the end of fasting.

Which commemorates a death? Eid al-Fitr or Ashura? Excellent, well done, it's Ashura.

Which celebrates a sacrifice? Excellent, well done and it's Eid al-Adha, remember Abraham sacrifices and so the As but Ibrahim within Islam.

Is celebrated at the end of Ramadan? Remember what the Muslims do during Ramadan? That's right, they fast and because it's fasting it must be Eid al-Fitr.

Well done.

Will involve mourning, which is grieving a death? Ashura, well done.

Which is celebrated during Hajj, where an animal sacrifice is made, sacrifice is important word there.

Go on, you can do this one.

Well done, it's Eid al-Adha.

Which will involve recollecting the event the Battle of Karbala? Battle, someone might have died in the battle, it might be a day of mourning.

Ashura, well done.

Celebrates an act involving Ishmael? Ishmael remember Abraham's son, Ibraham's son.

Eid al-Adha, well done.

Is linked to the fourth pillar of Islam, Sawm? What the Muslims do during Swam, oh its fasting, isn't it? So because it's fasting it's Eid al-Fitr, well done.

Recalls the actions of Hussein, who is Muhammad's grandson? Ashura, well done.

Mark the death of Imam Hussein in the Battle of Karbala? It's Ashura, well done.

Is the festival that celebrates the end of fasting? Again, we've got the fasting word, the F.

So it's Eid al-Fitr, well done.

Is the Festival of sacrifice? Who made the sacrifice, who made the sacrifice? That's right, it was Abraham but Ibraham, so Eid al-Adha.

We are now, hopefully, in a position where we can summarise everything we have learned so far.

Before we start though, I'd like you to make a big table.

In particular, the historical events, significance and celebration columns they're all going to have to be fairly big.

So I'd recommend over two pages if you can.

So two pieces of A4, side to side.

Make sure that historical events, significance and celebrations section is really quite big so you can fit in lots and lots and lots of wonderful theological detail.

So pause the video now please, and draw this table for me.

Excellent,, so now you've got your table drawn.

Our job is to fill in the first row and the first row is for our definitions.

So you can see some trigger words I needed to put in your definitions.

So write out the definitions in the top row of your table, making sure you include those pink words.

Pause the video now and then unpause it once you've done it.

Excellent, so hopefully, these are the definitions that you have in your table.

Eid al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice.

Celebrating the sacrifice Ibraham was prepared to make.

Eid al-Fitr, the celebration of the end of fasting after Ramadan.

It's known as the festival of the breaking of the fast.

Ashura, Shia Muslims mark the death of Imam Hussein, Muhammad's grandson in the Battle of Karbala.

So if you need to just pause the video quickly to check and add or change your work, please do that now for me.

So the next thing we're going to look at is the origins of the festivals, in particular two festivals.

We're going to look at the story of Ibraham, remind ourselves of that, because it will then be able to tell us why it's such a significant festival.

We're also going to look at the Battle of Karbala to understand why that might be a day of significance within Shia Islam.

So Eid al-Adha, hopefully, we can remember that Ibraham had a son.

And Muslims believe the son to be incredibly important.

It was a son that Allah had promised to Ibraham.

The son is important as it was through Ishmael that Ibraham would become a father of many nations.

And Ibrahim had a dream where he had a clear vision that he offered Ishmael in a sacrifice.

And Ibraham told Ishmael about this dream, and both understood there was something that Allah wanted them to do.

And even though it was incredibly difficult, they knew that it to be done.

They had to follow Allah's instructions, as ultimately submitting to Allah is the most important thing.

It wouldn't have made much sense to Ibrahim and Ishmael as Ibraham knew that Ishmael was really important for God's plan, but they still knew they had to put trust in God's instruction.

So nevertheless, Ibraham did put trust in God's instruction and began to prepare the sacrifice.

Now, the devil tried to tempt Ibraham not to follow Allah's command, but Ibraham was steadfast, he rejected the devil and continued to prepare the sacrifice.

When God saw that Ibrahim was willing to go through with the sacrifice he stopped him.

He had seen the Ibraham was a truly loyal servant, and instead provided an animal to be sacrificed in stead.

So there we have the story of Ibraham and Ishmael that lies behind the festival of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha.

I'd now like you please to fill in the historical events box next to Eid al-Adha to explain that story.

Also you can use the picture clues to help you there.

So please pause the video, have a go at that and then join me again once you've completed that.

Well done, so hopefully your summary looks like this.

Ibraham had a son, Ishmael.

Ibrahim had a vision that he was to offer Ishmael in a sacrifice.

Ibraham knew that he had to trust Allah's instructions and Ibraham prepared the sacrifice.

The devil tried to tempt Ibraham not to follow Allah's commands, Ibraham rejected the devil.

Allah saw Ibraham was willing to go through with the sacrifice, so stopped him.

Allah had seen that Ibraham was a truly loyal servant and provided an animal to be sacrificed instead.

If you need to pause the video now to have a look at some of your work and compare it and check it and amend it, please do that, and then unpause it once you're finished.

So we're going to move on now and have a look at the story of Ashura.

Remember, Ashura is a really significant event within Shia Islam that we're looking at today.

And we saw in the definition, it's recalling events of the Battle of Karbala, so we're going to have a look at that.

Now, the story starts a bit before the Battle of Karbala.

After Mohammed died, a division appeared within the Islamic community and became a fairly significant division.

Some thought that Ali, Mohammed son-in-law, should have been the rightful leader after Mohammed but others felt It was Abu Bakr, and it was Abu Bakr that became the first leader or caliph.

And the disagreements didn't really go away with leaders on both sides of that debate killed until there was a point where one group, who had now identify themselves as Shia Muslims, identified Imam Hussein as the rightful leader, and another group who had now identified themselves as Sunni Muslims, identified Yazid, as the rightful leader.

So we have this conflict involving Yazid and Hussein, with groups claiming loyalty to both.

Yazid was a lot more powerful than Hussein, however, Hussein and his followers did not think that he was fit to be a ruler of an Islamic community.

They essentially thought that he was a brutal dictator.

Now, Yazid, demanded Imam Hussein's loyalty and Imam Hussein flatly rejected to give his loyalty to Yazid.

This is because he didn't think there was any way that Yazid could be an appropriate representative or leader of the Islamic faith.

He thought it'd be blasphemy as he was a tyrant ruler and Hussein, essentially had no choice but to confront and collide with Yazid to protect Islam.

A battle ensued at place called Karbala, and Shia Muslims view this battle as a battle of good versus evil.

Hussein representing the good and Yazid representing the evil.

And Yazid demanded Imam Hussein's loyalty, but as I said before it was rejected because there's no way that Yazid, could represent Islam it would be seen as blasphemy in the eyes of Hussein and his followers.

After Hussein continued to refused to pledge loyalty to Yazid, Yazid began to cut off the basic necessities to the camp, including access to water.

And the camp consisted of Imam Hussein, his family, friends, companions, all of whom stood fast and firmly with him.

And these braves would actually rather face death for the noble cause of Islam than submit to the outrageous tyranny and the unIslamic ways of Yazid.

One by one, however, Hussein's family and companions were brutally killed by Yazid's army.

His half brother was killed as tried to get water for the women and children who hadn't had any for three days.

72 of his family died.

And finally, Hussein had no one left except his baby boy, who was then also killed by an arrow.

Hussein fought really bravely, but eventually he was gravely injured and about to have his throat cut, but just before his throat was about to be cut, Hussein asked, "Have you done your prayers today?" Hussein then began to do his prayers but just as he did this, his head was cut off and put on a pole.

So there we have the story of Ashura.

So what I'd like to do now is use the picture clues to fill in the Ashura historical events section of your table to explain the story that Muslims recall during Ashura.

Of course, please do use the pictures to help you.

Hopefully, then you have something like this.

Shia Muslims believed Hussein to be the rightful leader.

Sunni Muslims believed it was Yazid.

Hussein refused to pledge allegiance to Yazid as he thought he was evil.

Yazid and his followers surrounded Hussein and his followers cutting off their basic necessities.

Hussein's camp was killed one by one, including his baby son.

As Hussein was about to be killed, he began to pray, his head was cut off as he was praying.

If you need to please pause the video to check your work against that and add any corrections or amendments that you need to.

So the next we're going to consider now is why these events are significant and you have the information you need for this already, either through your knowledge on Sawm, that we've learned together before, the fourth pillar of Islam, or the two stories that we've just looked at.

So we're now going to go on to the next row of our table.

And on the board you can see there are, how many nine, nine different boxes, which give nine different reasons as to why these three festivals are significant.

So I'd like you please, to look at each box, and then place that in the corresponding column of your table to identify which festival you think that's talking about.

There are some which you can use in more than one column of your table.

So please have a look at that for me now.

Pause the video.

So your work should look like this.

Lots of reasons why Eid al-Adha is really, really, really important.

It gives a perfect example of submission to follow.

It reminds Muslims of the importance of following Allah's rules.

It reminds muslims to stay faithful in testing times, and it reminds them to reject the devil, evil, as Ibraham did.

And it reminds Muslims that submitting involves sacrifices.

For Eid al-Fitr, celebrates their own submission through Sawm, you've just fasted for a month.

It reminds Muslims of the rewards of obeying God.

And like we've just said for Eid al-Adha, it reminds Muslims that submitting to God involves sacrifices.

And for Ashura, it reminds Muslims to stand up against evil as Hussein did for, or against Yazid, as Hussein did against Yazid.

It shows the power of good over evil.

And it reminds Muslims that submitting to God involves sacrifices.

So we've got that in all three festivals there.

If you need to add to your work or change it then please pause the video and do that for me now.

We're going to look now at how these festivals are celebrated.

And we'll start Eid al-Adha.

So during Eid al-Adha festivities, family will meet and exchange gifts.

They'll also be an animal sacrifice relating to the sacrifice that Ibraham made.

And the animal is divided into three parts between the family and friends, the poor and also a third kept for the festival meal.

And there'll be a special Eid al-Adha prayer and Muslims may follow examples Mohammed by putting on their best clothes for the festival.

And let's just talk about this in a little bit more detail now.

So it is a festival that's celebrated with friends and family.

Gifts are exchanged and an animal is sacrificed.

The animal is divided up into three parts of the festival meal and before sacrificing the animal a prayer will be said and the animal is slaughtered according to Islamic law.

If you can't slaughter the animal yourself then it's taken to a slaughterhouse.

Then the Sunnah, it says that Mohammed made special preparations for the Eid al-Adha prayer, in that he wore best clothes and performed with voodoo.

See, Muslims will seek to replicate the example of Mohammed.

So what I'd like you to do please is summarise this information in the final row of your table.

So just pause the video now please, and then summarise the information and unpause when you're done, thank you.

So let's look at Eid al-Fitr together now and how Eid al-Fitr is celebrated.

Eid al-Fitr celebrations last between one to three days and again, it's a time to celebrate with family.

The breaking of the fast we mark by having a small sweet breakfast, a charity payment will be made called Zakat al-Fitr and a special Eid prayer followed by a sermon where Muslims were reminded of their duty to help the poor and needy and end hatred and anger.

Now, as we've seen here the celebration lasts between one to three days.

And after a first daily prayer, which is just before sunrise on the day of Eid al-Fitr Muslims should then prepare for the festival by showering, putting on their best clothes and then they'll have their nice, small sweet breakfast.

And this will then be followed by a special communal prayer, the Eid prayer.

And this is immediately after sunrise but before the second daily prayer and it'll be in a public place, such as a mosque, so the Islamic community can come together.

And this special communal prayer, like other daily prayers will consist of rackers.

And after the prayer there'll be a sermon, and the sermon encourages Muslims to ask Allah for forgiveness for their sins.

It also encourages them to forgive others who have wronged them.

And the sermon also reminds Muslims, that is their duty to care for all living beings and end hatred and anger and also help the poor and needy.

And Muslims should go away from this sermon wanting to end suffering and wanting to end unfairness wherever they find it.

And during the Eid celebrations, there'll be a sadaqah payment.

Remember, sadaqah is the additional voluntary charity.

And as it says on your screens there, that's called Zakat al-Fitr.

The amount can vary, but typically the price of one meal for each member of the household is given.

And this money is used to help the poor celebrate the festival.

And also helps them to focus on what they've learned during Sawm, that month of fasting, where they would have felt hardship completing that pillar.

Obviously, the sadaqah payment goes towards helping people who might have to have days without food without making that choice.

And by completing the pillar, it will also remind them of that fact that hardship is not a choice for all people, but for some people, sadly, it's a way of life.

So again, I would like you please to pause the video and then summarises information in your table.

And you can join again after you've had a go at summarising the information.

So finally, how do Shia Muslims celebrate Ashura? Well, it's a day of mourning.

Remember, they're recollecting, aren't they? The death of Imam Hussein in the Battle of Karbala, and a very small number may actually cut themselves to show their willingness to have their blood spilled as Hussein was, but that's really strongly discouraged.

Instead, many will donate blood, so that the blood that's spilled goes towards helping and helping the Omar.

And they'll be lots of different opportunities to reach out or partake in the story of the Battle of Karbala.

So in Shia Islam, the Ashura celebrations, remember two things, the martyrdom and unlawful killing of Hussein and the struggle of Muslims against injustice and oppression.

So it's not really right to say that Ashura is celebrated and that's what that first bullet point on your screen talks about it as a day of mourning, a day of grief and a day of reflection on the virtues of Hussein.

And many Shia Muslims will take inspiration from that story.

The story is about a group of oppressed people, and it can encourage Muslims to stand up for any oppression they face in the same brave way that Hussein and his followers did.

And to mark the event of Ashura the following events might take place, as you can see on your screen.

They might take part in a morning procession, in some of these a replica coffin or body might be carried and again, the audience might even take part by crying or beating their chests.

A very small number of Muslims, very small number of Shia Muslims will make themselves bleed.

And that might include cutting themselves with a sharp blade or harming themselves with chains.

And the aim of that is to show that they too would be willing to shut their own blood if it was needed in order to submit to Allah and to defend the faith but Islamic scholars really strongly discourage that and instead suggest that people donate blood so that the blood they're spilling has a really good cause behind it.

And equally, organising or attending narrations so they re-hear the story of Karbala.

And during those re-citations discussions occur around the lessons that could be learned from a tragedy, and how they might be applied in people's everyday lives.

And people often cry out and beat their chest during the telling of the story.

So what I'd like you to do again here for me, please is pause the video and summarise information in the final row of your table and then resume the video once you are done.

So some really good work again, today well done.

If you wish to share your work you can do that with the National Academy by asking your parent or carer to find it on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, using the at symbol or the hash tag you can see on the screen there.

Please do not forget to take the quiz, it's really important to take on the quiz to show what you have learned and just double check that you've learned everything that you want to.

So it's been a pleasure spending this time with you again today.

I look forward to seeing you again shortly so we can do some more fine theology together.

Thank you very much.