Islam: The Mosque – Section C- Junior Certificate Religious Education

The mosque is the sacred worship place for Muslims.

I made this lesson on teaching practice last year. It went really well. All of the students’ loved it and they had a great understanding of the mosque after it!

Learning outcomes

1. The students will be able to describe what a mosque is.
2. The students will be able to name and illustrate their understanding of the main features inside and outside of a mosque.
3. The pupils will be able to discuss how Muslims portray respect in the mosque.
4. The pupils will be able to name the first mosque built.
5. The students will be able to discuss why mosques are important for Muslims

Assessment of Learning outcomes

1. The students will describe what a mosque is on a post it.
2. The students will and illustrate their understanding of the main features inside and outside of a mosque by working in groups and making a mosque.
3. The pupils will discuss how Muslims portray respect in the mosque by completing a worksheet about a video clip on mosques.
4. The pupils will be able to name the first mosque built as I will ask the students ‘What was the first mosque built called?’ so the students can portray their knowledge.
5. The students will be able to discuss why mosques are important for Muslims by completing a worksheet about a video clip on mosques.

Homework task will be:

Convert a local building into a Mosque.

Include designs of the building (for example birds eye view) of the different rooms or different features.

And show the changes required to make the building more suitable for a mosque.

 Mosque lesson

Phase 1: Introduction

Phase 2:  Powerpoint and handout

I will show the students a power point of the mosque. I will go through the power point with the students.  The students’ will take down the notes and copy the diagram of the features of a mosque into their copies. The power point will heighten the students understanding of what a mosque is, why a mosque is important, how Muslims show respect in a mosque and the different features of a mosque.

Click here for the power point –   The_Mosque

Phase 3: Group work- Make your own Mosque

I will put the students into groups.

I will give each group a card of a mosque layout. The students’ use their understanding to work together and make the Mosque and also label the correct features.

I will give the groups four minutes for this task.

I will use a countdown timer to time the groups and also motivate them.

After the time is up, the groups will present their mosques to the class.

 Mosque template

Phase 4: Video clip and worksheet

Truetube is an excellent resource for all sections of the Religious Education syllabus. They have fantastic videos. I have chosen one of their video clip’s for this lesson.

https://www.truetube.co.uk/film/holy-cribs-mosque?qt-film_tabs=2#qt-film_tabs

I will then show the students a video clip about the mosque.

I will give the students a worksheet.

I will read the questions on the worksheet with the students’.

The worksheet will ask the students questions about the video clip.

I will then start the video clip.

The questions on the worksheet are are in a link below. I have written the answers here for you. I always watch a video clip and write down the answers before I show any video clips to my students’.

1. What do they use in modern day to call Muslims for prayer? (Speakers)

2. What type of clothes should be worn to a mosque? (Modest, head scarf for women and if wearing a skirt. It must be long.

3. How many times do you rinse your mouth in the wudu? (Three times)

4. Write down one of the reasons for mosques having domes? (Beauty and to keep the mosque cool and  mosques had no speakers in the old days so had domes so the sound would travel around)

5. Why do women pray in a different section to men in the mosque? (To avoid distraction)

6. What sort of books is in the library? (Qur’an, books about the Qur’an, books about maths, science and languages)

Click here for the worksheet – Mosque worksheet for video clip.

Phase 5- Conclusion

Baitul Mukarram is the national mosque of Bangladesh. It is located in the heart of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, the mosque was founded during the 1960’s. It is pictured below.

The features of a mosque:

The Sheikh Zayad Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

The interior of the Sheikh Zayad Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

The Islam Ireland website: http://www.islamireland.ie/ (Islam Cultural Centre)

Another activity to do with your class is to teach your students’ about respect mosque as it is a sacred place of worship. You can have a class discussion about celebrities that have caused controversy when they visited a mosque. It is very disrespectful to take selfies and pictures posing inside/outside a mosque as it is a sacred place.

Some examples are:

   

Rihanna at the Sheikh Zayad Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. She was asked to leave the Sheikh Zayad Grand Mosque after she started taking a series of photographs of her posing. She did not ask permission to take photographs. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is the largest in the country and a popular tourist attraction that welcomes millions of visitors each year. The mosque is open to non-Muslims but the body in charge, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, ask visitors to respect religious sensitivities. This includes women wearing an abaya and shayla, which Rihanna did not wear. Some argued that Rihanna was merely covering her hair as a fashion statement and not out of respect for Islam.

A statement issued by the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre said: “The Centre strives to ensure that visitors enter the mosque in a decent fashion, and refrain from behaving in any way that is inconsistent with the sanctity of this religious place. In the event of behaviour that violates the moral codes of access to the mosque, or other visit regulations – such as taking inappropriate pictures, posing in ways that are improper in the context of sacred place, talking loudly, or eating – the violators are directed in a polite manner that reflects the tolerant attributes of Islam. Usually, the visitors are appreciative of that.

“Here, the Centre refers to a recent incident, involving a singer who came for a private visit to the mosque, at a gate that is not reserved for visitors, without prior coordination with the Centre’s management and without identifying herself.

“She was directed by visitor services to proceed to the visitors’ main gate and take the guided tour, according to procedure. She left without entering the mosque, after being asked to do so, due to the fact that she had taken some pictures that do not conform with the conditions and regulations put in place by the Centre’s management to regulate visits in a way that takes the status and sanctity of the mosque into consideration.”

“While the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre always welcomes visitors and tourists from all around the world, it also calls on everyone to adhere to the moral codes of access to the mosque and to its visit regulations, which the Centre always makes sure are clear to all its visitors throughout the day.

The images attracted condemnation and praise from fans.

One Twitter user, @NNTSHA_NAT, wrote: “I love Rihanna but then posing so seductively in front of the mosque is so disrespectful.”

Another tweeter, @Ahmedcarter, wrote: “Rihanna pics at Sheikh Zayed mosque are disrespectful to the place of worship.”

@BinttAlthee tweeted: “Rihanna modelling in the Sheikh Zayed mosque is just plain wrong. Who let her in?”

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is the largest in the country and a popular tourist attraction that welcomes millions of visitors each year.

The mosque is open to non-Muslims but the body in charge, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, ask visitors to respect religious sensitivities.

This includes women wearing an abaya and shayla, which Rihanna did not do.

“Rihanna may look gorgeous and all but she’s covering her head out of fashion not out of respect for the mosque,” wrote @NAUF_z.

But many fans backed the star, who visited the mosque on Saturday ahead of her gig at du Arena on Yas Island.

“I don’t see how Rihanna posing adjacent to a mosque in Abu Dhabi is disrespectful. If anything she’s showing respect by supporting the hijab,” wrote @mila_iggy.

Twitter user @TheDimeRamla619 also found nothing wrong with the photographs, tweeting: “I have nothing against Rihanna, I mean the mosque in Abu Dhabi is a tourist place so therefore I don’t see nothing wrong.”

User @NurulxxNisyaa wrote: “I totally respect Rihanna, though it’s not her religion she still wear a hijab to the mosque.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2470040/Rihanna-asked-leave-Abu-Dhabi-mosque.html

Selena Gomez, Rihanna, Gigi Hadid, Cody Simpson, Shay Mitchell pictured at the Sheikh Zayad Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. This image caused controversy over whether it was disrespectful or not. All of the girls in the group wore traditional abayas and hijabs to be respectful.However, they did take many selfies at this sacred place of worship.

But not everyone thought their selfie, which was posted on Gigi’s Instagram account, was ‘respectful’.

One user commented: “Covering your head at a mosque/covering up generally in Islam is for modesty, and to diminish vanity. Taking a selfie of you doing that is kind of defeats the point and is a bit disrespectful at a place of worship (sic).”

Another Twitter user wrote: “Kendall, Gigi, Selena and co. That is a Mosque NOT a tourist centre. Bunch of uneducated, disrespectful idiots.”

While another added: “I love kendall and gigi but this is totally DISRESPECTFUL. A mosque is a holy place for Muslims not a tourist centre.”

Selena Gomez also caused controversy during her visit by showing leg in a picture. She quickly deleted it off her instagram. The Mosque visiting rules strictly ban all ‘intimate behaviour’ including holding hands and kissing, and states that all skirts must be ankle-length.