Day 3
Islam - UPDATED!
Our committee picked the dates of our VCS early in our preparations, before we had really figured out what else was going on or how we were going to run things. By the time we really understood what it meant to have this during Ramadan, we had already begun to advertise the dates in such a way that we didn’t feel like we could walk it back. Instead, we worked with our Muslim friends to do something meaningful that worked well for them, too.
Decorations
Some of these decorations can be hung near where the large group presentation is being made, so that presenters can refer to them as they discuss the five pillars.
Calendars
Because Islam follows a lunar calendar, the months of the year move through the seasons. Ramadan may be in the middle of summer right now, but by the late 2020s it will be in midwinter. Finding or making a calendar to show this is not only helpful but also gives an opportunity to show off the beauty of Arabic script. We made a lunar calendar from a model we found on Pinterest, and printed off the names of the months in both Arabic and an English transliteration.
Prayers
Muslims observe 5 prayer times each day. Fajr is at sunrise; dhurh is at midday; asr is in mid-afternoon; maghrib is at sunset; and isha’a is before bed. We had our artists in residence (my 15-year old daughter and her best friend) make paper plate clocks set to the times for the day of our event. Times can easily be found online by searching for “Muslim prayer times.” They also drew a little picture of a house with the sun in the sky for each of the times, showing what time of day each one happens.
Prayers
Prayer in Islam is a full-body expression of devotion to Allah. The prayers follow a formally prescribed format of movement combined with words. There are many websites that can demonstrate the proper way to pray, but your Muslim guests are your best resource. If they are comfortable doing so, ask them to share their own prayer experience. They may be willing to describe the movements, paraphrase the words, or explain what they do and why. Be careful not to make their sacred practice into a spectacle. As with everything, allow the practitioners of each faith to be your guide in what is appropriate and respectful. Pinterest led us to this website, with printable pictures of each of the prayer positions: https://ummabdulbasir.wordpress.com/tag/free-islamic-coloring-for-kids/. We downloaded the “salaat positions” file from there and printed it at a 150% scale increase to fit a large piece of paper. We colored the printouts and hung them on the wall near the presentation, so that they could be used to describe the prayer positions. One thing we learned: the prayer positions are not obvious to those of us who do not use them! When we hung them up, we had a couple of them oriented wrong. Our very gracious guests gently corrected us and we fixed the mistake during the presentation, and everyone had a good laugh together.
Arabic script
Arabic writing is an art form in itself, and holds a sacred place in the hearts of Muslims. In Islam, a Quran that is translated into English or any other language is not the same as one that contains the original Arabic. And since Islamic art often (though not always) avoids images of human figures, one common artistic expression has been through elaborate calligraphy. A basic Arabic alphabet poster (we found one on Amazon) makes a nice addition to the meeting space. We also found a lovely calendar that showed both the Muslim and Gregorian calendar on the same page, and was decorated with beautiful Arabic calligraphy. There are many other artistic prints available, and your Muslim guests may have further suggestions for ways to share this beautiful art form.
Clothing
Many Westerners are familiar with the debates over head- and full-body-coverings for Muslim women. However, they may not be aware that not all Muslim women cover their heads. In fact, of the four families that attended our event, none of the women were in hijab or any other kind of head covering. However, they all wore beautiful clothing from their countries of origin (India, Pakistan, and Morocco, in our case). Several of the men also wore clothes from their native lands. If possible, it is nice to have some clothes displayed somewhere. This opens several lines of conversation, including the variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds in Islam; the cultural role of hijab, burka, chador, etc.; and requirements for specific religious purposes, such as the Hajj pilgrimage.
Suggested Schedule
6:30-6:45 - registration, gather, move into main gathering room
6:45-7:15 - welcome, recap of the week for those who are new tonight,
introduction to the evening's theme and of the guest presenters
videos
7:15-8:15 - Break into 3 age-groups
younger kids do mini-hajj while older kids do craft;
switch after 1/2 hour
adults stay in large-group space for question/answer
8:15-8:30 - gather back in one group; final remarks and invite everyone back for tomorrow! but first, a meal!
8:30-finish - Iftar meal, or just a potluck!
Food
Ramadan
Ramadan is a month of fasting in the Muslim tradition. This means that adult Muslims who are healthy enough neither eat nor drink between sunup and sundown. Because the Muslim calendar is a lunar calendar, the month of Ramadan moves through the Gregorian calendar (see decorations, below), making a full circuit every 30 years or so. At the time of our first VCS, Ramadan coincided with the middle of the summer and the longest, hottest days of the year. This makes it very tiring for those observing the fast. As it happened, completely due to poor planning on our part, the evening we had set aside for learning about Islam was also the summer solstice, which meant that the adult Muslims we invited went for almost 15 hours without food or water. While we were not sure what to do about this, the Muslim community is quite adept at adjusting their lives around the fast. It was their idea to move our start time back an hour and invite everyone to join them in breaking the fast at 8:30. So that’s what we did. Instead of the 5:30-7:30 schedule we used on other days, we met on Wednesday from 6:30-8:30. Everyone was invited to bring a dish to share (no pork or alcohol), and we had a potluck. As our program ended, we moved to the kitchen area, and handed out small wax paper bags with dates in them. Dates are a traditional way to break the fast (the breaking of the fast is known as iftar) for several reasons, not least of which is that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was said to break his fast with dates. More practically speaking, dates are a quick and ready source of carbohydrates, fiber, potassium, and magnesium, all of which are depleted during fasting. Our Muslim guests were pleasantly surprised that we knew about the dates, and gratefully accepted them as the sun set. Others, especially kids, were less enthusiastic, but most people were willing to at least give them a try.
The iftar meal was a wonderful way to build community in the middle of the week. Most everyone brought a dish and stayed after, so that we had a good hour or so of just chatting and enjoying time together. The kids had been getting to know one another with structured activities and now they had a chance to just run around like kids do. Discussion topics ranged from the variety of foods to the beautiful clothing people were wearing to the hows and whys of Ramadan observances. The informal gathering time helped to create more long-term relationships.
Craft
Quilt Blocks
As with previous nights, we had people make quilt blocks. For Islam, we gave them a choice between two possible designs: the five pillars/prayer times, or the crescent moon and star. For the five pillars, we had them trace their hands onto the fabric square using fabric markers. They then labeled each finger, either with the five pillars of Islam (see Teaching, below) or the five prayer times (see Decorations, above). They then used the fabric markers and/or fabric paints to decorate their square. The other option was to trace a cardboard cutout of the crescent moon and star, which has developed into a widely recognized symbol of Islam, though it did not come into popular usage until the Ottoman Empire of the 18th century.
Teaching
The 5 Pillars
There are five basic religious acts that are widely agreed upon as required for every Muslim. They are Testimony (shahadah); Prayer (salat); Charity (zakat); Pilgrimage (hajj or umrah); and Fasting (sawm).
Testimony is the recitation of the basic creed of Islam, the belief that “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” This confession is part of daily prayers, and forms the foundation on which all other practices rest.
Prayer is done five times a day (see Decorations, above), and is done in Arabic, with prescribed movements for those who are able to perform them. Prayers are done facing Mecca, or more precisely, facing toward the kaaba. Prayers can be done either in community or alone.
Charity requires those who are not themselves poor to give 2.5% of their assets to the needy each year.
Pilgrimage to Mecca in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah (hajj) is required once in a lifetime from every able-bodies Muslim who can afford to make the trip. The hajj includes a specific procession of rituals commemorating the life of the Prophet Abraham (PBUH). (see Game/Teaching, below) A pilgrimage to Mecca at other times of the year is called umrah.
Fasting (see Food/Teaching, above) is done during the month of Ramadan to remind adherents of their reliance on God, to atone for past sins, and to encourage a sense of compassion for the poor.
We introduced this using a very simple, kid-friendly video from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikVGwzVg48c.
Teaching
Q&A
While the kids worked on quilt squares and did the mini-hajj (below), the adults stayed in the large gathering space and had a question/answer session. This is best arranged with your Muslim guests, to suit their comfort. Depending on their own traditions, they may have different needs regarding how the space is arranged and who sits where. Be as accommodating as you can. If possible, invite a local imam to join you, since they will be able to answer some of the more difficult questions. But, as noted elsewhere, one of the things that made this so successful was that people were able to meet everyday people like themselves, who just happened to be Muslim. We found that most of them were very well-versed in their theology and traditions, and there were no questions asked that they could not answer. Having families from a variety of countries, none of which happened to be Arabic (we had Pakistani, Indian, and Moroccan Berber families), also made for an interesting perspective. One of the main learnings for us was the diversity within the Muslim community, as traditions changed quite drastically with culture.
Game/Teaching
The Hajj
Pinterest gave us the idea of staging a mini-hajj for the kids to teach them a bit about Islam. (Please, please discuss this with your Muslim guests! All of ours thought this was a fun idea, and were excited to have their own kids do it, but not all may be comfortable with it.) After the video, kids went outside while the adults stayed in the large gathering space. One Muslim couple came with us outside where we had the hajj set up while the rest stayed inside to help answer questions from the non-Muslim participants.
We set up stations to simulate each of the main rituals of the hajj. We used stories from a book called Greatest Stories from the Quran (recommended by a Muslim mother of a 6-year old), reading the corresponding story at each station. See the bibliography for more information on the hajj.
Station 1: Ihram
When they arrive in Mecca, pilgrims prepare themselves by donning the appropriate attire and resting up for the days ahead. Your Muslim guests may have examples, especially if they have done the hajj herself. Ours brought small head-coverings, which the girls wore for the evening. The Muslim adults explained the purpose of the ihram garments.
Station 2: Tawaf
One of the first and last things pilgrims do is to circle the Ka’bah. The Ka’bah is a shrine located at the center of the Great Mosque in Mecca, toward which Muslims all over the world orient themselves when praying their daily prayers. The Quran tells us that the Kabah was built by Abraham and his son Ishmael, and tradition holds that it was originally erected by Adam. The small stone at the eastern corner is said to have been given to Adam on his expulsion from Paradise. The Ka’bah was once used to house pagan symbols, but Muhammad (PBUH) cleansed it of pagan idols when his forces took Mecca in 630 C.E.
For our mini-hajj, we had our art committee make a mini-Ka’bah out of a large cardboard box. We covered it with black and gold construction paper, to match images we found online. As the children walked counterclockwise seven times around the mini-Ka’bah, a volunteer read to them the story about how Abraham and Ishmael built it.
Station 3: Zamzam & Sa’ee
After they have finished their 7 circuits of the Ka’bah, pilgrims drink from the Well of Zamzam. It is traditional to drink as much as they can until they are full, and then to pour a small amount over their heads. They then reenact the story of Hagar in the wilderness. This is a story found in the Hebrew, Christian, and Muslim Scriptures. Hagar and Ishmael (Abraham’s son by Hagar) were forced out of Abraham’s camp. As they grew desperate for water, Ishmael began to cry. Hagar left him under a bush and ran back and forth searching for water. It is said that as he cried, Ishamel struck the ground and a spring of water, now called the Well of Zamzam, erupted. Pilgrims reenact this story by running back and forth between the two hills of Safa & Marwah. They do this seven times, beginning at Safa and ending at Marwah.
Because it was a hot day, we switched these two portions. We had two trees designated as Safa and Marwah, and hung signs on them to show which was which. The children ran back and forth and then came to the cooler (which we set up in the shade) and drank their fill of water. They loved dumping it over their heads when they were done.
As they drank, an adult read the story from the Greatest Stories from the Quran.
Station 4: Muzdalifah & Jamarah
The story that Christians and Jews know as the Near-Sacrifice of Isaac is told a little differently in Islam. According to the Quran, it was Ishmael that Abraham was ordered to sacrifice to God. Just as he was about to complete the sacrifice and kill his son, God intervened and spared the child’s life. The story goes that the devil appeared to tempt Abraham not to obey God’s command. Abraham is said to have thrown stones at the devil until he disappeared, thereby demonstrating his faith. Pilgrims collect small stones at Muzdalifah between Mina and Arafat, and then throw the stones at three large pillars to symbolize Abraham’s three temptations.
We used chick peas instead of stones, and spread them out on a large tarp in the grass. We had our art committee cover 3 cardboard boxes with brown paper and set them on top of one another in the shade under a tree. We had each child collect 7 chick peas and then throw them at the stack of boxes.
An adult read them the story from Greatest Stories from the Quran about the near-sacrifice of Ishmael.
Station 5: Mina
Several times during the days of the hajj, the pilgrims rest in tents at Mina, a 20 square kilometer tent city that these days holds 100,000 air-conditioned tents.
We set up a tent and the kids came in to rest and listen to one final story from Greatest Stories from the Quran.
