Articles about Islam
For the staffroom
Faith questions
Communication, understanding and expression: how do traditions go beyond words?We asked people from different faith traditions to talk about their experience of words, ideas and meaning. The pages that follow are their...
For the classroom 11-16
Engaging with Quranic narratives
Adeel Khan uses an interpretive method to look at the Qur’an in the RE classroom, occupying both an ‘insider’ and scholarly stance. As his students make sense of the text and explore layers of meaning, Adeel learns...
For the classroom 11-16
This article is for paying subscribers Working with history in RE
Many of my students have misconceptions about Muslims coming to the UK to force their faith on others. I have never researched into the roots of Muslim communities in the UK, so I decided to find out how Islam came to...
Opinion
Home, belonging, culture, difference:
do these words always mean the same? Suhaiymah is in her 20s. A third-generation Pakistani Muslim born in Bradford and schooled in Leeds, she studied History at Cambridge University and Postcolonial Studies at SOAS. She...
The big picture
This article is for paying subscribers THE BIG PICTURE The Hajj
The huge tower of Makkah’s newest hotel seems to dwarf the minarets of the Haram Mosque. As pilgrims approach for the night prayer, what impact might this view have upon their spiritual thinking? RE teacher Aysha...
For the staffroom
Wisdom Ancient and Modern: seven different perspectives
We asked members of different religions and beliefs to answer some questions about their own sense of what is wise, whether ancient or modern. A Christian View Rev Tracy Swindells, who is also an RE teacher, begins the...
For the staffroom
This article is for paying subscribers A Muslim perspective
A big idea from Islam: be a witness
Theory and practice
This article is for paying subscribers The future of Islamic education: a case for reform
Muslim communities are currently a focus of much general and political debate. Politically, there has been a tendency to respond to a fear of extremism through legal, security and intelligence measures. Abdullah Sahin is...
For the classroom 7-16
Should Muslim pupils fast during exams?
Zameer Hussain wanted his pupils to think about the wisdom of flexibility in religions. You can follow his example for learning about Ramadan, which this year is likely to be between 6 June and 4 July. Critical...
For the classroom 5-11
Better RE through A big event!
Before our RE week began…Last year, I was observed when teaching a lesson about Easter, where children were arguing for and against the Christian notion of Jesus as the Son of God. It went well, but made me think about...
For the classroom 5-11
This article is for paying subscribers RE at the synagogue and the mosque
Victoria McDowell explains why a small, rural primary school chose to visit a mosque and a synagogue, a journey which took over two hours To put it simply, first-hand experience is everything for our pupils. If we could...
For the staffroom
This article is for paying subscribers A Muslim perspective
Basma Elshayal is a researcher at the University of Warwick
For the staffroom
This article is for paying subscribers The beginning and the end – Five different views
We asked people from a number of different worldviews to comment on the big issues of the theme of this term’s REtoday, and some treasure emerged. Use these short articles with your 14–19s by all means, but any...
Reviews
This article is for paying subscribers Reviews – My way: A Muslim Woman’s Journey
Mona Siddiqui, My Way: A Muslim Woman’s Journey (I B Taurus 2015), 222pp, hardback, £20.00, ISBN 9781780769349. This fine book, one of a large number written by this well-known British Muslim scholar and...
Events and resources 7-11
Resources
Edited by Jane Brooke What is Humanism? How Do You Live Without a God? And Other Big Questions for Kids Age range: 7–11s Authors: Michael Rosen and Annemarie Young (Wayland, 2015), 48pp, hb, £13.99,ISBN...
For the staffroom
A Muslim response to the evil of IS
Kate Christopher explores issues every teacher of RE has to think about. As a teacher, how do you manage questions about Islamic State (IS) when teaching Islam? Indeed, how do you manage questions about IS at all? You...
Editorial
This article is for paying subscribers Memorable experiences in RE
So there we were, some 30 or so years ago: the Gent family (me, my wife and two small children), our heads covered, bare-footed, standing on the cold roof of a newly built two-storey Sikh gurdwara in West Bromwich. As a...
Instant RE
A Muslim visitor making a difference
Staff at Selby Community Primary School wanted to deepen their pupils’ understanding of Islam, so they invited Imran to come and run some workshops there. We asked how it went.
For the staffroom
‘Religion: All in the mind?’
Our theme this term is ‘Religion: All in the mind?’ We asked five members of different communities to respond to some questions about this, and their thinking follows. We used these seven questions. a. What does your...
For the classroom 7-14
This article is for paying subscribers Three stories of animals and religion – and what to do with them
Story is a key way in which religions communicate attitudes, virtues and ideas. So it is unsurprising that the great religions all tell stories with animals in them. Retell and work with these kinds of story in...