Lesson video

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

Today we are going to use our theological brains to do some fantastic revision of everything that has been covered in the Islamic practises lesson.

So please make sure you've got four things with you.

You need to make sure you've got a pen, a different colour pen, some paper to work on, and of course your theology brains.

Now, if you need to go and get any of those things, please go and get them now, and rejoin me in just a moment.

So what are we going to revise today? Here you can see a list of everything that we have covered in this unit, and you can probably see that that's a lot, and it's no doubt too much to cover in just one revision lesson.

So in today's lesson, we're going to focus on the five pillars and jihad and focusing on those six areas, we'll also be covering half of the obligatory acts.

So we're going to focus on five pillars and jihad in today's revision lesson.

In particular, when we're focusing on these areas, we're also going to be considering how those practises that we're reviewing help a Muslim to submit to Allah in their everyday life.

So we'll start off with the five pillars.

Now, when we look at the five pillars, what we need to remember is essentially these are five actions which help a Muslim put their key beliefs into action in all areas of their life.

And you can see the first one here is the shahadah and the shahadah is the declaration of faith and it states that there's no god but Allah, and Mohammed is the prophet of Allah.

And in there, we see the two key beliefs of Islam, Tawhid, the oneness of God, and rusal, the prophethood.

The second pillar is prayer.

Remember, that's the requirement, to make five prayers to Allah each day, and the way that Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims fulfil that pillar is a little bit different.

Sunni Muslims make five separate prayers throughout the day at five separate prayer times, whereas Shia Muslims still make five separate prayers, but they do that over three prayer sessions combining the second and third prayer into one session, and the fourth and fifth prayer into one session.

You see the next pillar there is Zakah.

Now remember, Zakah is a charitable payment, and the charitable payment is 2.

5% of your idle wealth above nisab.

Idle wealth being the money you have left at the end of the year after you've taken care of your basic necessities and nisab being a savings allowance on which you don't have to pay Zakah, which you can have within your idle wealth.

Sawm, fasting throughout daylight hours in the Islamic month of Ramadan, and Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca in which Muslims follow in the footsteps of the prophets Ibrahim and Mohammed.

Now before we do any writing to explain these in a little bit more detail, we're just going to make sure we can recall these accurately.

We're going to do that with some quick fire questions.

So on the screen now, you can see that there's a list of the five pillars, but one of the definitions is missing.

So say it to me now, please.

What definition is missing? What is Salah? Well done, it is prayer.

Next question.

What definition is missing now? What is Zakah? Well done, it's charity payment.

Right next one, let's go.

What's a Shahadah, please? Well done, it is indeed the declaration of faith.

Next one, sawm.

Brilliant, well done, it's fasting.

Next one, key term for prayer.

Well done, that is Salah.

Next one, let's go.

Charity payment, what's that, please? Well done, that is Zakah.

Next one, what's the key term for the pilgrimage to Mecca? Brilliant, it's Hajj, fantastic.

Next one, what is the key term for fasting in the Islamic month of Ramadan? Well done it is sawm.

Next one, what is the key term for the declaration of faith please? Well done, it is the shahadah.

Next one, what is Salah again? Remind me.

Well done, prayer.

Next one, what's Zakah? Brilliant, well done, that is the charity payment.

Remind me what Shahadah is again.

The declaration of faith, well done.

Remind me what sawm is again.

Fantastic, fasting throughout the entire month of Ramadan.

Well done.

Excellent, good work there.

So what we're going to do next is get some of that information down.

So I'd like you please to draw this table and this table should be across a whole page.

Once you've drawn the table, just fill in the definition column to give a simple definition of each of the five pillars.

Once you finished that, unpause the video and join me for some quick feedback.

So hopefully your table looks like this.

You've just noted down shahadah, declaration of faith, salah, prayer, Zakah, the charity payment, sawm, fasting throughout the Islamic month of Ramadan and hajj being the pilgrimage to Mecca.

If you need to pause the video now to check, amend or add anything to your work, please do that.

So we're now going to move on and have a look at these five pillars in a little bit more detail together.

And you can see we're going to start off with the first pillar, the shahadah.

And remember the shahadah is a key declaration of faith and it contains the two most important beliefs that Muslims need to submit to in their lives.

The statement is there's no God but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet of Allah.

And in there, we can see tawhid, remember tawhid is the oneness of God.

And that comes from that first little section.

There is no God but Allah, that shows that God is one and the only God is Allah.

So that links to that belief in Tawhid.

The second key term we can see in there which Muslims must submit to, the key belief is risalah.

Risalah means prophethood and in that second section to statement you can see a reference to the final prophet, prophet Mohammed.

It says Mohammed is the prophet of Allah.

So what I would like you to do now please, is summarise this information in the extra details column of your table and please make sure you use all the words which are in pink in your summary.

So pause the video now and have a go at that summary for me and then join me and we'll move on to the second pillar together.

Good work.

So now we'll have a look at salah together.

Remember salah essentially means prayer and it's the requirement to make five prayers to Allah each day and the way Sunni and Shia Muslims fulfil that pillar is slightly different.

You can see here it says Sunni Muslims five prayer times, Shia Muslims, three prayer sessions.

What that essentially means is Sunni Muslims make those five prayers over five separate prayer sessions.

Whereas Shia Muslims will combine the second and third prayer into one session and the fourth and fifth prayers into one session.

So they're still doing five prayers but they do that at three separate times in the day rather than five separate times.

And then one of the other things we looked at together was Adhan.

And you might remember that the Adhan is the call to prayer and this has both a practical and a spiritual purpose.

The practical purpose is the times of the prayer change, because they're set by the position of the sun.

So it can quite literally act as a call to prayer but it also has a spiritual purpose.

It reminds Muslims of the key beliefs, not least because it contains the shahada.

So it inspires them to pray, to show their submission to Allah.

You may also remember that we covered wudu together.

Now remember wudu is a ritual and that means it's an action which has a deeper significant religious meaning, and on the face value it's a physical cleaning but that physical cleaning does have that deeper religious meaning.

In physically cleaning themselves, muslims are getting spiritually ready to offer praise to Allah and also symbolically purifying themselves ahead of prayer.

And then we covered some of the things that Muslims say and do throughout prayer.

You can see here it says, look, prayer involves Rak'ahs, reciting certain segments of the Qur'an and bowing before God and facing mecca.

And the actions and words Muslims say and do during prayer are really deliberate.

The bowing and prostrating is a really clear sign of submission.

In a mosque Muslims will perform these Rak'ahs together to build a sense of the Ummah, remember that's the Islamic community and everyone doing the same thing together at the same time really helps to build that sense of community, and Muslims also face Mecca, both as a reminder of the origins of Islam and again, to build that sense of Ummah, Muslims worldwide all face the same location.

Additionally, it has another purpose and Muslims entire body is facing one physical location and that's symbolic of the entire mind should be focused on Allah.

So what I'd like you to do now, again for me please is to pause the video and then to summarise the information in the extra detail column of your table.

Make sure you use all the pink words again and then unpause the video and join me for the third pillar of Islam.

Good work.

So you can see here, we're now going to look at the third pillar of Islam, which is Zakah which is the charity payment.

And it's a charity payment that's made once a year and it's an obligatory charity payment on your idle wealth.

And the idle wealth is the money you have left over at the end of each year once you've taken care of your basic necessities.

So just imagine, for example you have 10,000 pounds in a year, and it only cost you 6,000 pounds to look after your basic necessities.

4,000 pounds would be your idle wealth.

Even if you spent some of that money on things like jewellery for example, that would still be classed as your idle wealth.

Now you do not have to pay Zakah on all of your idle wealth.

There is a savings allowance and that savings allowance is called nisab.

So what Muslims actually pays Zakah on is any idle wealth above that savings allowance and that savings allowance is quite technical.

It's not a fixed amount, it changes year on year and it changes year on year because the savings allowance is tied to a specific weight of gold and silver and because the value of gold and silver changes each year, likewise, the nisab savings allowance changes each year and it's 87 grammes of gold and 612 grammes of silver and a Muslim is required to pay 2.

5% on any idle wealth they have above nisab.

So again, please, I'd like you to pause the video use this information on your screens now to fill in the extra details column of your table and please make sure you use all the words that are in pink and then join me for the fourth pillar of Islam, which is sawm.

So sawm.

Sawm is fasting throughout the daylight hours throughout the Islamic month of Ramadan.

And remember there is a test to determine when the fast can be broken.

You hold up a piece of white string and a piece of black string and if you can tell the difference, it's still daylight but if it's too dark to tell the difference, it's no longer daylight and it is then permissible to break the fast.

And we must remember that fasting is denying yourself food for religious reasons.

It's an act of devotion to God.

It's not for any personal gains which people might have, for example, weight loss, it's purely to show your devotion to Allah.

Giving up something that's difficult to show that Allah really is your number one priority.

And there are also other exceptions such as alcohol, smoking and sexual relations.

Essentially the job is to try and live the perfect Islamic life throughout this month to show you fully submit to Allah.

And Ramadan is a really significant time within the Islamic calender.

It's a month when Muslims believe the Qur'an began to be revealed and that includes night of power when Muslims believe the angel Jibrail first approach Mohammed with this revelation from Allah.

So again, what I'd like you to do please is summarise the information in the extra details column of your table.

And again please make sure you use all the pink words in your summary.

So pause the video now, please and then join me for the fifth pillar.

So now we're going to review our learning on hajj together and you can hopefully remember from the activity we did earlier, hajj is the pilgrimage.

And it's a once in a lifetime obligation to undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca for all Muslims that are healthy enough and wealthy enough.

Now when Muslims pilgrimage to Mecca there are a number of places that they go to and they perform many rituals.

Remember rituals are actions or words which have a deeper religious meaning.

And you can see some of the rituals which are performed here at Mecca.

So at Mecca, they circle the Kaaba seven times.

They then visit the well at Zamzam and dash between the hills seven times and all of these actions are really significant.

Circling the Kaaba seven times is following in the footsteps of Muhammad and the visit to the well of Zamzam and dashing between the hills seven times.

That's recalling the story of prophet Ibraham.

In particular when Hagar had to dash between the hills in a desperate search for water before the angel Jibrail came to the rescue.

And where water was found is now where the well of Zamzam has been established.

After Mecca, they then travel to Mina.

At Mina it's a time for pause, reflection, worship reading the Qur'an and prayer.

Once they leave Mina, Muslims travel to Arafat and you can see here, at Arafat, something called Wuquf, the ceremony of standing takes place and it's also a place where Muslims ask Allah for forgiveness.

And Arafat's really significant.

Arafat is the place where Mohammed delivered his last sermon.

So they're standing in the plains as Muslims would have done 1,400 years ago and here Muslims will acknowledge their sins to Allah so it's possible for them to receive forgiveness.

This is a really crucial part of the hard pilgrimage.

Once they've completed their rituals at Arafat, Muslims then make their way to Muzdalifah.

At Muzdalifah Muslims collect 49 pebbles and this is really significant for their return to Mina.

When they return to Mina, Muslims stone the Jamarat pillars and also celebrate the festival of Id-ul-Adha and the stoning of Jamarat is incredibly significant within Islam and a really important ritual on hard.

It records the actions of Ibrahim who rejected the devil in order to submit to Allah and show his willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael.

And that then is celebrated with the festival of Id-ul-Adha, which is a festival of sacrifice.

Once they've completed their time at Mina, Muslims then return to Mecca before completing the pilgrimage by circling the Kaaba seven times once again.

So again, I'd like you to pause the video, please and summarise all the information again in the extra details column of your table.

Again, making sure that you use all the words that are in pink on your screen.

Excellent.

So, so far our table looks fantastic.

It's really detailed.

It's got the name of the pillar it's got a simple definition and it's got lots of extra details.

What you need to do now is add into the final column of your table, some scripture references and you can see I've very helpfully put eight scripture references on the screen for you.

I'd like you please to read each of those eight scripture references and think which pillar is that scripture reference referring to? And then note it down in the appropriate row of your table.

Obviously there's five pillars and eight scripture references here.

So it's going to be the case that some pillars have more than one scripture reference.

So please pause the video now and then join me for some feedback in just a moment.

So your table should look like this in the final column, the final column next to the shahadah should have that shahadah statement written out.

"There is no God but Allah "and Mohammed is a prophet of Allah" In the salah column it should say, "Praise belongs to God." That's a clear instruction, isn't it? God is worthy of praise therefore you need to give God that praise.

For Zakah you should have that "Welfare funds, Zakat, are for the poor." It also explains that they're for the destitute and convert and you can see the spelling in brackets there is slightly different.

And that's just because there's a number of translations of Zakah and the version of the Qur'an I used there has a slightly different spelling.

You can also have the information there about Mohammed who instructs people to give five dirhams, which is money, to charity, if they have 200 and a year has passed on them.

So if they have 200 dirhams and a year has passed on them I.

e.

you've saved them, then you pay five and if you do the maths between that, five over 200 is 2.

5%.

The quotation you want for sawm is "Decreed upon you is fasting "so that you may become righteous." If it's something is decreed, it's an instruction.

We can see, look, fasting is an instruction from Allah to Muslims and the purpose is also made clear it's to help you become righteous, to help focus your mind on Allah so that you're able to follow all these instructions and live a life that demonstrates submission to him.

And then finally, you've got the pillar hajj.

So "Call people for hajj." The story of Ibraham and Ishmael being tested by Allah.

Those events are being recalled during hajj, and also the fact that Mohammed delivered his last sermon at Arafat.

That's what Muslims are seeking to take part in and recollect when they perform Wuquf, the ceremony of standing.

So we are now going to review our learning on Jihad together and the fine, wise and noble theologians will of course remember that there's a general key term for jihad and then there's two types of jihad, the greater jihad and the lesser jihad.

So we'll start off by reviewing jihad.

So jihad means struggle and Muslims need to struggle to stay on the straight path of Islam and fight against desires and temptations.

So let's think together.

What do we think is meant by the straight path of Islam? Well, the straight path of Islam is submitting to Allah and following his rules.

So what types of things might a Muslim need to struggle to do? Well clearly following Allah's rules are difficult.

We've actually just reviewed some really clear rules, haven't we? The five pillars.

And all of those involve a clear struggle, they aren't easy.

So one element of jihad will be trying to follow the five pillars day in, day out.

So let's remind ourselves of what the greater jihad is.

Now the greater jihad is the individual and personal struggle of all Muslims to follow all of Allah's teachings in their everyday life.

And this can include lots of different things.

So ensuring Allah is the number one priority.

Following the five pillars, which we've just reminded ourselves, overcoming feelings of anger, hatred and greed.

And that's a difficult thing for human beings to do all the time.

Forgiving people who wronged them, again a difficult thing so you can see why this word struggle is so appropriate and working for social justice.

Allah is fair, Allah is just, so if Muslims see in justice they'll seek to work against it to restore justice in the world.

And lesser jihad, lesser jihad too involves a struggle but the struggle is to build a good and fair Islamic society and protect the faith.

And this can allow, but does not demand the use of force including war in order to defend the faith.

It has to be possible for people to practise Islam freely and if the faith is under threat and at risk, then it would be acceptable, within the concept of lesser jihad, for a Muslim to use force in order to defend the faith so that people are able to freely and safely submit to Allah.

And this can include lots of different things.

Again, promoting peace and justice in society, standing up against hatred, standing up against depression and as I mentioned, being prepared to use force if necessary to defend the faith.

There's an if there, isn't there, it doesn't demand the use of force, it allows the use of force if it is needed to defend the faith and protect Islam.

So we're going to do some quick fire questions again now just to make sure we can remember all the key details about greater and lesser jihad.

So you can see there's three options on your screen greater, lesser or both, and to help out to start off with I've also put the definitions of greater and lesser.

So all you need to do is point to your screens or say to yourself, "Which type of jihad are we talking about?" Involves a struggle.

Greater, lesser, or both? It's both well done.

Next one, involves attempting to follow all of Allah's teachings, which one is that, greater, lesser, or both? Well done, it is greater.

Which one can but does not demand the use of force, greater, lesser, or both? It is lesser, well done.

Which one involves fighting any inner feelings of hatred and anger? That is the greater jihad, isn't it? Well done.

Which one involves forgiving those who have wronged you? Watch your screens, it's the greater jihad, well done.

Which one involves standing up against oppression in society? It's both, well done.

Which one involves salah, remember salah, praying five times a day, greater, lesser, or both? It's greater, well done.

Which one involves promoting justice in society? It's both, well done.

Which one involves Zakah? That is the greater jihad, well done.

Which involves sawm? Again, that's the greater jihad, very good.

Which involves a struggle? It's tougher here, I've taken away the definitions.

Involves a struggle.

It's both, well done.

Which involves attempting to follow all of Allah's teachings all of the time.

It's the greater jihad well done.

Which can, but does not demand the use of force? Well done, that is the lesser jihad.

Which involves fighting any inner feelings of hatred or anger? Well done, that is greater jihad.

Which involves forgiving those who have wronged you, greater, lesser or both? Well done, it is the greater jihad.

Which involves standing up against oppression in society, greater, lesser, both? Well done, that is both.

Which involves Salah? That's greater, well done.

Which involves promoting social justice? That's both, well done.

Which involves Zakah? That's greater, terrific.

Which involves sawm? That's greater too, well done.

Excellent, well done.

So hopefully now we've reviewed those definitions and done some questions on it, you're in a really good position to be able to explain the different types of jihad.

I'd like you to make sure your answer does three things.

Defines jihad, defines the greater jihad and gives examples and defines the lesser jihad and gives examples.

And you can see there's two things I've put on your screens to help you out.

The first one is the sentence starters beneath each instruction.

So jihad is, the greater jihad is, this would include, the lesser jihad is, this would include and also some words or phrases which you can consider using in your answer.

I say consider, you should use, so please do make sure all of those phrases or words are in your answer.

So please pause the video now and have a go at that work for me.

Terrific job.

So hopefully you have managed to get an answer that looks like this.

You've defined jihad by saying it is the struggle and Muslims need to struggle to stay on the straight path of Islam and fight against desires and temptations.

Muslims need to struggle to fully submit to Allah.

And then you've defined the greater jihad and given examples of that.

And you've done that by saying the greater jihad is the personal spiritual struggle of all Muslims to follow all of Allah's teachings in their everyday life and this would involve in following the five pillars and overcoming feelings of anger and hatred.

And then finally you've defined the lesser jihad and given examples of that.

The lesser jihad is the struggle to build a good Islamic society and protect the faith.

This can allow, but does not demand, the use of force including war in order to defend the faith and that would involve or include promoting peace and standing up against oppression.

So if you need to pause the video to check your work now is a really good time to do that.

Make sure you got a different coloured pen.

Compare your work to the version you can see on the screen and make any important additions or corrections so that your theology is as wonderful as it possibly can be.

So you've done a lot of really good revision there today.

You've reviewed the five pillars and you've reviewed jihad and in doing that you've also covered five of the 10 obligatory acts.

So some really good work, well done.

What I'd like to do to finish off is make sure you take that quiz to demonstrate what you have learned.

If you wish to share your work with the Oak National Academy please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter using information you can see on the screen.

It has been an absolute pleasure spending this time with you again and I look forward to seeing you again shortly in order to continue a little bit more revision on Islamic practises.

Thank you very much.