Event Category: Prophet Muhammad's Birthday
Shia // Sunni – What are the differences between Shia and Sunni Muslims? When Fatimah (a Shia Muslim) stops to help Abubakr (a Sunni Muslim) recover from his asthma attack, they get talking. Then the argument begins.
Curriculum Mapping
TrueTube films are designed for use in a number of ways. Some ideas of where this film could link to your curriculum are below:
AQA
Component 1: The study of religions: beliefs, teaching and practices –Key beliefs - Islam - Sunni and Shi’a core beliefs - The six articles of faith in Sunni Islam and five roots of Usul ad-Din in Shi’a Islam, including key similarities and differences.
Edexcel
Section 1: Muslim Beliefs - Islam -The six Beliefs of Islam: their nature, history and purpose including Kitab al-iman 1: 4; how they are understood and expressed in Sunni and Shi’a Muslim
communities today; the importance of these principles for Muslims.
OCR
Component Group 1 - Islam - The importance of practices • Islam as a way of life, lived in total submission to Allah • The importance of the Five Pillars of Islam to Sunni Muslims • The meaning of the Five Pillars: •• Shahadah: sincerely reciting the Muslim profession of faith •• Salat: performing ritual prayers in the proper way five times each day •• Zakat/Zakah: paying an alms (or charity) tax to be nefit the poor and the needy •• Sawm: fasting during the month of Ramadan •• Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca • The analogy of the house and pillars • The importance of the Ten Obligatory Acts to Shi’a Muslims • The meaning of the Ten Obligatory Acts: •• Salat Prayer •• Sawm: Fast •• Zakat/Zakah: similar to Sunni Islam, it applies to money •• Khums: an annual taxation of one-fifth of gains in a year •• Hajj: Pilgrimage •• Jihad: Struggle •• Amr-bil-Maroof: commanding what is good •• Nahi Anil: Munkar forbid what is evil •• Tawalla: expressing love towards good •• Tabarra: expressing disassociation from evil
Eduqas
Component 1 (Route A) Religious, Philosophical and Ethical Studies in the Modern World - Theme 2: Issues of Life and Death - Beliefs about death and the afterlife - Diversity of views between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims regarding worship at graves. Theme 1: Issues of Relationships -Relationships - Diversity of beliefs between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims regarding temporary unannounced marriage Component 3 (Route A) Option 3: Islam -Beliefs and teachings - Angels (Malaikah) ➢ The significance of angels in Islam: Qur’an 2:97-98,Qur’an 2:285 ➢ Diversity in belief between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims regarding angels and free will
Transcript
Shia // Sunni
Fatimah You need to sit up straight.
Abubakr Salaam alaikum.
Fatimah Alaikum salaam.
Abubakr Forgot mine. Thanks.
Fatimah No problem.
Abubakr Oh, sorry.
Abubakr Are you on your way to the mosque.
Fatimah Yeah. We're gonna be late.
Abubakr Oh, yeah. Oh.
Fatimah It's okay, just wait.
Abubakr I don't know you. What's your name?
Fatimah Fatimah. You?
Abubakr Abubakr.
Fatimah Oh.
Abubakr Wait. Are you Shia? You're Shia, innit? I'll see you later.
Fatimah What?
Abubakr I'm only messing with you, man.
Fatimah What's your problem?
Abubakr No, no, there's no problem. Hey.
Fatimah If you've got something to say, then, then say it.
Abubakr No, I mean, well, it's like you've all got chips on your shoulders.
Fatimah What?
Fatimah No, it's a chip on your shoulder, and I haven't.
Abubakr You have.
Fatimah I haven't.
Abubakr So why are you all up in my face then?
Fatimah You're always making out you're better than us.
Abubakr Who?
Fatimah Sunnis. You're always making out that Sunnis are better than Shias.
Abubakr That's because we are better than you.
Fatimah We're all Muslim. Just because there's more of you doesn't mean you're more right.
Abubakr Well..
Fatimah We do everything you do. We believe the Qur'an is Allah's words, we believe in the same prophets, we eat Halal, we give to charity, we fast during Ramadan, we say the five prayers every day.
Abubakr Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, that is just so wrong that I can't even begin to explain.
Fatimah What?
Abubakr First of all- Man, I don't even know where to begin. First of all, Shias only pray three times a day. That's just wrong.
Fatimah No we don't.
Abubakr Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said that we should be praying five times a day.
Fatimah We say the five prayers, we just pair them up. We do dhuhr and 'asr together in the middle of the day and maghrib and isha in the evening. Sunnis are allowed to do that too.
Abubakr Yeah, but that's totally different.
Fatimah How is that totally different?
Abubakr Because we don't do that all the time. We only do it when we miss one. And you do that thing with a brick.
Fatimah What brick?
Abubakr You know, the brick, the brick. The brick that you pray on. When we pray, we put our heads to the floor. You put your heads on a brick.
Fatimah It's not a brick, it's a-
Abubakr What?
Fatimah Okay. Okay. It's a brick. But it's because Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam prayed on the ground and not on a carpet.
Abubakr Yeah, okay.
Fatimah Other than that, we pray exactly the same.
Abubakr No you don't. We cross our arms whilst we pray. You guys just put your hands by your sides.
Fatimah Right? Apart from that.
Abubakr You fast wrong in Ramadan.
Fatimah We fast wrong?
Abubakr Yeah. Why do you always start a day after us?
Fatimah Why do you always start a day before us?
Abubakr The month of Ramadan starts, yeah, when we see the new moon in the sky, so it should be the same for every single Muslim.
Fatimah Sunnis don't all start on the same day, some of you start when Pakistan says so, some of you start when Saudi Arabia says so. We always start when Iran says so.
Abubakr Yeah, but what about at sunset? You know, when you're allowed to eat, you lot just take it a little bit further. What are you trying to prove, that you can fast longer than us?
Fatimah No. We just want to make sure the sun is definitely set. We don't want to cheat.
Abubakr Cheat? So I'm a cheat now am I? Getting a little bit personal? Are we? Why? Because you're losing the argument.
Fatimah Oh, you're such a man. Not everything has to be a competition.
Abubakr Okay, sister, whatever you say, yeah.
Fatimah Don't sister me. I'm not your sister. And we're not children. I told you my name, so use it.
Abubakr Okay, sister.
Fatimah Stop it. Stop picking on me.
Abubakr I'm not picking on you. It's just a bit of banter. Don't be a martyr about it.
Fatimah That's not funny.
Abubakr What? Woah!
Fatimah I'm so sorry. Are you okay?
Abubakr Do I look okay?
Fatimah Come on. Don't just stand there.
Abubakr Okay, where were we?
Fatimah What? You need to go get dry.
Abubakr If I go now, you've won. I can't let you win by pushing me into the pond.
Fatimah I saved your life. No. Before with the inhaler.
Abubakr How did you clock me as a Sunni, anyway?
Fatimah Your name?
Abubakr Oh, yeah.
Fatimah You wouldn't be Shia with that name.
Abubakr Oh, you want to go there, do you? Abubakr, Muhammad's best friend. Right.
Fatimah Well...
Abubakr No, no, no, no, no, we're sorting this out. Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was the last and greatest prophet of Allah, right?
Fatimah Yeah.
Abubakr Yes, so when he died, the first Muslims had to decide on a new leader, right?
Fatimah Yeah. But they-
Abubakr No, no, no, hear me out. You pushed me into the pond, yeah? Now hear what I got to say, the first Muslims had to decide on a new leader, and they had to choose somebody who was good at it, somebody who was there from the very start with Muhammad. Abubakr, who ended up becoming caliph, the successor.
S1 But that's not what Muhammad wanted. He said that Ali should be the new leader after he died. Ali, what?
Fatimah But that's not what Muhammad wanted. He said that Ali should be the new leader after he died.
Abubakr Ali.
Fatimah What?
Abubakr You lot are all so obsessed with Ali. Like he's important, yeah, but he's not that important. He's quite important. But he's not the most important. He's important yeah but-
Fatimah What are you talking about?
Abubakr You think he was a prophet? That's just wrong.
Fatimah No we don't.
Abubakr Yes, you do.
Fatimah Don't tell me what I believe.
Abubakr You add his name to the call to prayer. It should be (says call to prayer in Arabic). What do you say?
Fatimah The same.
Abubakr And
Fatimah (speaks in Arabic)
Abubakr Exactly. That's just wrong.
Fatimah It's not. Wrong. It's just different. Ali wasn't a prophet, but he was married to Fatimah, Muhammad's daughter. He was a son in law and his cousin, his closest relative. That's why Mohammed chose him to be the new leader. Abubakr took over, while Ali and the rest of the family were still at the funeral.
S1 Wrong. It's just different. Ali wasn't a prophet, but he was married to Fatimah, Muhammad's daughter. He was a son in law and his cousin, his closest relative. That's why Mohammed chose him to be the new leader. Abu Bakr took over, while Ali and the rest of the family were still at the funeral.
Abubakr You make it sound like it was some sort of conspiracy theory, like it was our plan to cut Ali out, Abubakr was chosen. Yeah, because he was the best man for the job, end of.
Fatimah Ali should have been the new leader. Mohammed chose him, end of.
Abubakr No, he didn't.
Fatimah Yes, he did.
Abubakr He didn't.
Fatimah He did.
Abubakr He didn't!
Fatimah Did!
Abubakr But, Ali got to be caliph later anyway. So, what's your problem?
Fatimah You murdered Hussein.
Abubakr Oh, I haven't murdered anyone.
Fatimah Hussein? Ali's son, Muhammad Alaihi Wasallam's grandson. He was murdered at Gobela by Sunnis.
Abubakr That had nothing to do with us. The guy who killed him wasn't even Muslim. But you guys won't ever let that go. And every year on the day that Hussein died, you do that wailing and that grieving, whipping your own backs, cutting yourselves with razors. That's just crazy, man.
Fatimah We don't all do that. I don't do that. Does it look like I do that? That's just.
Abubakr That's what I'm saying.
Fatimah Yeah. What? I'm not disagreeing with you.
Abubakr Oh.
Fatimah Aren't you cold?
Abubakr No.
Abubakr My granddad says when he first came to the UK, Sunnis and Shias used to live on the same streets and go to the same mosques. You don't call it a mosque, though, do you? What do you call it again?
Fatimah Imambara.
Abubakr Even though you're wrong-
Fatimah I'm not.
Abubakr You are. This has been good, right? I haven't had a proper discussion like this, like, ever. Never got this at Koran school. Man, them days were long. Coming home from school, running over to the mosque.
Fatimah Learning the prayers, learning the Arabic, reading the Qur'an.
Abubakr Over and over and over again.
Fatimah I liked it. I thought it was pretty easy.
Abubakr Yeah, you would, wouldn't you? Uh, okay. Uh, I should go.
Fatimah Yeah. You're gonna get ill.
Abubakr Yeah. My mate lives just there so I can get some clothes off him.
Fatimah Good.
Abubakr It was nice meeting you.
Fatimah You too.
Abubakr Thanks for saving my life. Yeah.
Fatimah No problem. You have to sit together. Asthma sufferers.
Abubakr Salaam alaikum.
Fatimah Alaikum salaam.
Abubakr I gave you your inhaler, didn't I?
Fatimah Yeah, yeah. Thank you. I better head off to mosque. I'm gonna be late.
Abubakr Which way are you going?
Fatimah That way.
Abubakr Oh, I'm going that way.
Fatimah Right then.
Abubakr Yeah.
How Islam began in under ten minutes? Not a problem. The turbulent tale is told against the clock, with all the names, dates and events on a timeline. Animation by Ceiren Bell.
Curriculum Mapping
TrueTube films are designed for use in a number of ways. Some ideas of where this film could link to your curriculum are below:
AQA
Component 1: The study of religions: beliefs, teachings and practices- Islam - Practices, Duties and Festivals. Tawhid - (the Oneness of God), Qur’an Surah 112 Hajj: the role and significance of the pilgrimage to Makkah including origins, how Hajj is performed, the actions pilgrims perform at sites including the Ka’aba at Makkah, Mina, Arafat, Muzdalifah and their significance.
Edexcel
Transcript
How Islam Began – In Ten Minutes
How Islam began in under ten minutes. Not a problem. We've started. Okay, so travel back in time with me to a land far, far away. And long, long ago. Mecca and Arabia, but the year 570. Makkah is important for two reasons. One, the Kaaba is there, an ancient temple built to worship God, and two, Muhammad, peace be upon him, was born in Makkah. Now, problem, I can't show you Muhammad because it wouldn't be right. I'll tell you why in a bit, but in the meantime, here's his name in Arabic. Nice.
Back in the day, Makkah was a lawless place. The only way to be safe was to have backup. Lots of rich big brothers who'd beat up anyone who got in your way. So the place was ruled by the most powerful families who could do pretty much what they wanted. And religion didn't help. By this time, the Kaaba had been filled to overflowing, with 360 idols that did nothing to help anyone. So it was a tough place to grow up if, like Muhammad, you were a poor orphan and believed in just one God you couldn't see, like the Jews and the Christians. He called him Allah, the God, in Arabic there.
Muhammad's dad died before he was even born, and his mom died when he was just six. So he was brought up by his grandfather, Abdul Muttalib. And then when he died too, by his uncle Abu Talib, who had the respect of the city's ruling families, so Muhammad was safe, for the time being. Muhammed started out as a shepherd and then became a businessman, travelling about, buying and selling stuff for rich clients. When he did some work for a rich widow called Khadijah, she was so impressed by his honesty and skill that they ended up getting married, and for a while it looked like Mohammed was going places, well he was, but not how you think.
Every year in the month of Ramadan, different calendar, different names for the months, there was a big party around the Kaaba. When people made sacrifices to the idols, Mohammed hated it, so he'd get out of town and sleep in a cave he'd found on top of a nearby mountain. One night, Mohammed's praying to Allah when, wham, there's the angel Jibril, you might say Gabriel, standing right in front of him. 'Read' says the angel, but Mohammed couldn't read, no schools, you see, Jibreel keeps on at him. Three times he says 'read'. Then he grabs hold of Muhammad and wham! Again, it's like Muhammad's learnt the words off by heart. So he recites the message out loud, read in the name of your Lord, who created man from a drop of blood. Read, for your Lord is most generous. He who taught by the pen taught man what he did not know. It was a message from Allah. God was speaking to him just like he'd spoken to the prophets in the Jewish and Christian holy books, which meant he was a prophet too.
The messages continue for the rest of Muhammad's life. Allah gave him the words to say and the prophet recited them. The words were written down by his friends, and years later they were collected together and became the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an, which means recitation because Muhammad recited it, you see. Anyway, that was much later, so back to the night of power. Muhammad tells his family, then his friends, and eventually everyone about Allah that he's a one and only God, that he wants everyone to be treated fairly, and long story short, it didn't go down well with the ruling families of Makkah, who liked things just the way they were, thank you very much. You see, Islam means obedience to Allah and Muslim means someone who obeys Allah. And the ruling families didn't want anyone obeying anyone else but them. So the people who believed in Muhammad's message, the Muslims, were given a hard time. Some were even tortured and killed. A few of them managed to escape to Abyssinia, Ethiopia, but most were stuck in Makkah.
Muhammad also had to cope with the death of his wife, and then just a few weeks later, his uncle too. Feeling very down, he went to the carpet to pray to Allah one night. Then the weirdest thing happened. Jibril turns up, sits him on a winged horse called Al-buraq and flies him all the way from Makkah to Jerusalem. He prays with all the prophets who have ever lived. Then he's taken up to the heavens to chat with some of the prophets, and then into Paradise itself, where Allah tells Muhammad to pray five times a day and to stay strong. He's returned to Jerusalem, and then flies back to the Kaaba in Makkah. We call it the night journey, and Muslims still argue whether it was a real experience or a vision, but whatever. It gave Muhammad a much needed boost, and just as well, because there were more tough times ahead. So there was this other city called Yathrib. The people there heard about Muhammad and his message and invited him and his followers to join them. A few at a time, the Muslims left Makkah and made a dangerous journey across the desert to Yathrib. It's known as the Hijra, which means migration, you know, like birds do.
Muhammad and a few of his friends stayed in Makkah until everyone had got away, and then made plans for their own escape. But, the ruling families wanted to kill Muhammad while they still could, so seven sons, one from each family, was sent in the middle of the night to stab the prophet while he slept. But he was way ahead of them, and when they burst into the house, Muhammad was gone. Trackers were sent out to hunt him down. Muhammad and his best friend Abu Bakr took a roundabout route to try and shake off the pursuit, but the trackers were too good and slowly gained on them, so Muhammad and Abu Bakr hid in a cave and pray that no one found them. The trackers found the cave all right, but they didn't bother going in to search. There was no way Muhammad could be inside they thought. There was a spider's web over the mouth of the cave, and a nesting bird at the entrance. He must have given them the slip, so off they went, leaving Muhammad and Abu Bakr protected by a spider and a bird.
Muhammad made it safely to Yathrib, which was renamed Medinat-ul-Nabi, the city of the prophet, but most people just call it Medinah, but Muhammad's worries weren't over yet. There were three big battles between the Muslims and the Meccans. First, the Battle of Badr, when Muhammad and just 313 men faced 1000 Meccan soldiers. Miraculously, the Muslims won. Then, there was a battle of Uhud, which didn't go so well. Some of Muhammad's men disobeyed his orders, and ran off during the battle to evade the Meccans camp, and so the Muslims were outmanoeuvred. Then, there was the battle of the trench. Medinah was protected on three sides by mountains, so when the Meccan forces advanced in the city, the Muslims just dug a deep trench. The Meccans made camp, but the weather was terrible. Pouring rain put out their fires and howling winds blew down their tents. Eventually they gave up, and went back to Mecca. It was all a bit embarrassing. They were losing the respect of the local tribes who were flocking to join the Muslims. So a peace treaty was signed at Hudaibiya, but it wasn't long before the Meccans broke it. Muhammad decided that enough was enough. By now he had over 10,000 men, so he led them across the desert to Makkah. The ruling families realised they'd made a huge mistake, but it was too late. All they could do was surrender and hope that the Muslim army killed them quickly. But Muhammad said there should be no more fighting. He rode into Makkah and went straight to the Kaaba. He circled it seven times anti-clockwise and smashed all the idols, rededicating the Kaaba to Allah, and that's why I'm not going to show you Muhammad. The Muslims wanted to make it totally clear that they only worship the one unseen God, so they didn't have any pictures of Muhammad in case anyone thought he was an idol and they didn't have any pictures of Allah because he's like nothing on earth, so it would be impossible to draw him anyway. So there you go, how Islam began in under ten minutes. How did I do?
Muslim Prayer
How do Muslims pray? A young Muslim woman explains how she prepares for worship and demonstrates the movements she performs during prayer.
Curriculum Mapping
TrueTube films are designed for use in a number of ways. Some ideas of where this film could link to your curriculum are below:
AQA
Component 1: The study of religions: beliefs, teachings and practices- Islam -Practices and Duties - Five Pillars of Sunni Islam and the Ten Obligatory Acts of Shi’a Islam
Salah and its significance: how and why Muslims pray including times, directions, ablution (wudu), movements (rak’ahs) and recitations; salah in the home and mosque and elsewhere; Friday prayer: Jummah; key differences in the practice of salah in Sunni and Shi’a Islam, and different Muslim views about the importance of prayer.
Edexcel
Area of Study 3 - Section 3: Living the Muslim Life- Islam - Salah as one of the Five Pillars, including reference to Surah 15: 98–99 and 29: 45: the nature, history, significance and purpose of Salah for Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, including different ways of understanding them; how Salah is performed including ablution, times, directions, movements and recitations, in the home and mosque and Jummah prayer.
OCR
Component Group 1–Practices - Islam - Public acts of worship - Salah as direct communication with Allah - The importance of practices - The importance of the Ten Obligatory Acts to Shi’a Muslims • The meaning of the Ten Obligatory Acts: •• Salat Prayer •• Sawm: Fast •• Zakat/Zakah: similar to Sunni Islam, it applies to money •• Khums:an annual taxation of one-fifth of gains in a year •• Hajj: Pilgrimage •• Jihad: Struggle •• Amr-bil-Maroof: commanding what is good •• Nahi Anil: Munkar forbid what is evil •• Tawalla: expressing love towards good •• Tabarra:expressing disassociation from evil •Different interpretations and emphases given to sources of wisdom and authority by different Muslim groups
WJEC
2.1 Unit 1 PART A - Part A Islam - Core beliefs, teachings and practices - Practices - The Five Pillars of Sunni Islam -Prayer/ Salat Adhan call to prayer, praying at mosque and Friday Jummah prayer (Qur'an 15:9899, 29:45) Praying at home, private prayer (Du'ah) The preparations and intention for prayer: wudu and niyyah The significance and symbolism of the different prayer positions that make a rakat (sequence of prayer) Obligatory Acts Shahadah: the Muslim profession of faith in Allah and the prophet Muhammad; occasions when the Shahadah is recited, e.g. aqiqah ceremony, conversion to Islam Zakat: paying an alms (or charity) tax to benefit others, what zakat tax may be used for, and additional charity (saddaqah) Sawm: Fasting during the month of Ramadan. How and why Muslims fast during Ramadan and rules about halal and haram diet (Qur'an 2:183)
Eduqas
Component 3 (Route A): Study of a World Faith: Option 3: Islam:Practices: The Five Pillars of Sunni Islam: practices in Britain and elsewhere:Salah: the practices of prayer in Islam in the mosque and at home, including Jummah prayer: Qur'an 15:98-99, Qur'an 29:45
Transcript
Muslim Prayer
S1 Muslims have five duties in life. They are called the Five Pillars of Islam. The second pillar is Salah, the duty to pray five times a day. Muslims say these prayers in Arabic and go through a series of movements called Rak'ah. The number of rak'ahs will depend on which prayer is being performed. Before Muslims pray, they must remove their shoes and perform a special wash called wudhu. Then they must make sure that their body is fully covered. Women should wear a headscarf. Finally, they need to find a clean space in which to pray. A prayer mat will do and must face in the right direction, the direction of the Kaaba in Makkah. This is called the qibla. Now let's see how the prayers are performed.
S1 (Prayer is said in Arabic)
S1 This series of movements is known as one rak'ah, and is repeated a number of times depending on the prayer. Then, the rest of the prayer is continued.
S1 (Prayer is said in Arabic)
S1 After the prayer is complete, it is common for Muslims to make Du'a to God, asking for forgiveness and blessings. The prayer is said in Arabic, but the Du'a be said in any language. And that's how Muslims perform their Salah.