Lesson video

Hello there.

My name is Mr. Robertson, and I love RE.

It's so exciting to see you today, and I can't wait for us to begin learning.

Today's lesson is all about how the world began.

And we're going to learn about Muslim ideas of creation.

I can't wait to get started with you today.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain some Muslim beliefs all about creation.

We have three keywords today.

All of these words are going to come up through the lesson, so by the end, you will be able to use them really well.

Why don't we start by practising these words.

I'll say the word and then I want you to repeat it back to me.

Does that make sense? Let's begin then.

Our first word is creation.

(gasps) Amazing.

Our second word is Allah.

Perfect.

And our third word is Qur'an.

Yes, that's brilliant.

Hmm, what do these words mean? Okay, creation is the act of making something.

Allah is the Arabic name for God.

And Qur'an is the holy book for Muslims. I know you're going to be able to use those words.

Brilliant speaking, everybody.

So this lesson is all about Muslim ideas of creation.

And the first question we're going to ask in this lesson is, what is the Muslim story of creation? Shall we go, RE explorers? Let's make a start.

This is Aisha.

Hi, Aisha.

Aisha is going to explain why we learn about words and stories in Religious education.

Aisha says, "We can better understand people's worldviews by listening to their important stories and thinking about the deeper meanings of the words they use.

We can also look at the difference these words and stories make to people today." So we're going to be learning about some stories and what they mean.

And in this lesson, we're going to be using words and stories about creation from the Qur'an to help us understand Muslim worldviews.

Thanks, Aisha.

We're going to bear this in mind as we go through our lesson.

So Aisha and Alex are talking about creation stories.

Alex says, "I like reading and hearing different creation stories about the beginning of the world.

There are some creation stories about giants and others about gods and goddesses." Aisha says, "I've been learning about creation stories in Religious education.

I'm interested in what is the same and what is different about the stories people tell." Hmm, do you know any creation stories? I wonder if you were learning about any at school.

I wonder if you've read any creation stories or maybe you go to a place of worship and you've heard some.

Maybe you'd like to turn to someone next to you or talk to someone else about that.

Ooh, now we're going to meet somebody.

This is Meryem.

And Meryem has a Muslim worldview, which means that she's a follower of the religion Islam.

She reads the Qur'an.

Can you see a photograph on the screen there? That's the Qur'an.

And look, it's written in a different language, isn't it? It's written in the language of Arabic, because the Qur'an is the sacred text for Muslims. I wonder what Meryem thinks about the Qur'an.

Let's hear.

Meryem says, "The Qur'an has lots of words and ideas about how the world came to be.

These can be put together to make a story about creation." Ooh, thanks, Meryem.

So we've learned that in the Qur'an, there are lots of ideas about how the world began, and we call this idea creation.

Meryem's going to explain a little bit more about creation in the Qur'an.

Let's hear then, Meryem.

"Some words in the Qur'an tell the same story as the Bible and the Torah.

Some parts are different." Ooh, that's interesting, Meryem.

So the Bible is a book that Christians read, and the Torah is a book that Jews read.

And that same story its got is in the Torah, the Bible, and the Qur'an, but in the Qur'an some parts are different.

We're gonna be finding out about that a bit later.

Meryem says, "The Qur'an teaches me that Allah created the heavens and the Earth because he is so powerful." Thanks, Meryem.

So we've learned then that Muslims believe that the world was created by Allah because he's so powerful.

Let's just check our understanding here.

I've got a true or false question for you.

The Qur'an has the same creation story as the Qur'an.

Is that true or false? Let's put our thinking caps on.

Pause the video.

Have a think.

Ooh, what did you think, Religious Education people? It's false.

Good, well done.

Why is it false? Because Meryem said some of the words about creation are the same, but some are different, so it's not exactly the same story.

Well done if you got that right.

What an amazing photograph.

What can we see here? Yes, it's a picture of the world, isn't it, the globe.

Look at the oceans and the clouds.

What an amazing world we live in.

The Qur'an says that God, Allah, created the heavens and the Earth.

God, Allah, is so powerful he could create the universe just by commanding it.

That means speaking or making the world come into being.

He said, "Be," and the world began.

So when Muslims read the Qur'an, they can see that they believe that God, Allah, created the world just by speaking it.

Let's hear the story of creation in a little bit more detail.

We can see a picture there, can't we, of the world, and the moon, and the sun.

God, Allah, made the sun, and the moon, and the planets.

He created night and day.

What can you see in this picture? Hmm, can you see some trees? Can you see some clouds pouring rain down into the sea? Looks like quite a nice place there, isn't it? Allah sent down water onto the Earth.

All living things were brought to life from the water.

Allah made all living creatures, and the rain allowed the plants and trees to grow.

And you could see those trees growing there, can't you, as the rain comes down and creates this beautiful world we live in.

Hmm, what an interesting photograph.

I wonder what you think might that be? Can I see different rocks? I can see different colours and textures.

Let's find out.

Allah created human beings from different kinds and colours of soil.

He used dust, and clay, and mud.

And you can see there are lots of different soils.

Have you ever been for a walk and seen different colour soils? Sometimes soils can be really red, can't they, or really dark brown.

I wonder what different colour soils you've got in your school.

Allah made the first man.

He called him Adam, and he (blows) breathed life and power into him.

Allah made a woman to be a helper for Adam.

Hmm, we've got a question here, RE experts.

What did God use to create humans? A, he created humans from nothing, b, he used plants and leaves, c, he used different kinds of soil.

What did the story say? Pause the video.

Have a think.

Talk to the person next to you if you want to.

What did you think? It's c, isn't it? He used different kinds of soil.

Do you remember that picture in the last slide, with all the different textures of soil? Muslims believe that Allah created humans from different kinds of soil.

Well done if you got that right.

Ooh, look at that beautiful picture there.

What can you see? Can you see a tiger, an elephant? (Mr. Robertson imitates elephant roaring) I love elephants.

And some human beings.

Allah placed the humans into a beautiful garden in paradise.

He wanted them to enjoy everything he had created, this beautiful world with fruits and animals and a great sun and plants.

Let's check.

Which part of the creation story is found only in the Qur'an? Is it A, the sun and moon, b.

plants and trees, c, different types of soil.

Hmm, pause the video and have a think.

What did we put? Yes, it's c, the different kinds of soil.

That's found in the Qur'an.

Brilliant if you got that right.

So I've got a table for you here.

And this table compares some Muslim and Christian ideas of creation.

We're going to find out, first of all, who made the world.

Now Muslims believe God, or Allah, created the world, and so do Christians.

How many days? Well, Muslims believe that it took six days to create the world, but there wasn't a rest needed.

The Christians believe that God took six days to create the world, and on the seventh day he rested.

But Muslims and Christians both believe the first human was called Adam.

Aisha and Alex are talking, wondering about creation.

This is going to be our first task.

Alex says, "I think the Muslim story of creation is exactly the same as the creation story in the Bible." Aisha says, "I think some parts of the Muslim creation story are the same as the Bible story, and some parts are different." Do you agree with Aisha or Alex? Which one is right? Who has understood this properly? I'd like you to pause the video and have a think.

You might want to write a sentence about this or you might want to talk about it, but I'd like you to give your reasons.

Is Alex right or is Aisha right? And why are they right? Can you remember from the story and that table we looked at? Is the creation story exactly the same or are some parts different? Pause the video and have a think.

Off you go.

Well, I've heard some really interesting discussions there.

You're doing such amazing talking and thinking.

Let's see.

You might have said Aisha is correct.

Some parts of the creation story in the Qur'an are the same, for example, Allah made the sun and the moon.

Some parts are different.

For example, the Qur'an says that God, Allah, made human beings from different types of soil.

It says he didn't rest after creation.

For the second part of the lesson, we're going to be asking this question.

What deeper meanings do Muslims find? So we're going to be thinking about this story and finding out what Muslims think about it.

Oh, what an amazing photograph there.

What can you see? I can see a huge sun in the middle and some planets as well.

I can see Saturn with its rings and Jupiter.

Now many Muslims believe the teachings of the Qur'an that Allah created the heavens and the Earth.

Muslims might reflect on the deeper meanings of words in the Qur'an to help them understand more about the very beginning of the universe because lots of religious people think about the deeper meanings of something, not just the story as it is.

Let's meet Iqbal.

Iqbal has a Muslim worldview, and he's going to explain his beliefs about creation.

Hello, Iqbal.

Iqbal says, "The Qur'an says that Allah created the heavens and the Earth in six days.

The Arabic word for day could mean a long period of time.

Many Muslims believe the world was created over many thousands of years." Ooh, isn't that interesting, Iqbal? So when the Qur'an says day, it doesn't necessarily mean a day like you and me, where we (yawns) get up in the morning and go to bed at night.

It might mean a long period of time.

So actually Muslims think it took thousands of years for the world to be created.

Thank you, Iqbal.

Iqbal is going to explain a bit more about creation.

Iqbal says, "Some of the words in the Qur'an sound like the things scientists say about the Big Bang at the beginning of the universe.

The Qur'an says that Allah broke the heavens and Earth apart and turned the sky to smoke.

Isn't that interesting? So Muslims might think that some of the scientific ideas about the Big Bang are found in the Qur'an as well.

That's really interesting, isn't it? Thank you, Iqbal.

Let's just check what we've learned so far.

Got a true or false question for you here.

Many Muslims believe that God, Allah, created the world.

Is that true or false? Put those RE thinking caps on.

Pause the video.

Have a think.

Brilliant thinking.

What do we think? It's true, isn't it? Muslims believe that Allah created the world.

Why do they believe that? Because in the Qur'an, it said that God created the heavens and Earth.

Fantastic if you got that right.

Let's meet Meryem again.

Hello, Meryem.

She's going to think about the deeper meaning of the creation story in the Qur'an for her.

Meryem says, "I love the part where God uses soil and mud to create humans.

I imagine him using soil of different colours and types.

It reminds me that human beings are all different, and that is the way Allah wanted us to be." Oh, I love that idea, Meryem.

So do you remember we talked about when you might walk around in your garden or at school, you might see that soil has lots of different colours.

So some soils might be red.

Some colours might be dark brown.

Human beings are lots of different colours as well, aren't they? And Muslims believe that because humans were created from lots of different types of soil, that's why we get such a variety of human beings all over the world, and human beings can look very different, because that's the way that Allah wanted them to be.

Thank you, Meryem.

That's such an amazing and interesting idea.

Meryem's going to explain a bit more about her beliefs.

"One of my favourite lines in the Qur'an says that soil is a gift from Allah and that Muslims should walk gently upon the Earth.

I believe this means we should take care of the Earth and should not stomp about, causing damage." Isn't that an interesting idea? When we walk gently and put our feet down really carefully, we're making sure that flowers and plants aren't getting crushed.

But if we stomp around, we can really destroy and hurt things, can't we? Meryem thinks we should all walk gently on the Earth because this earth is a really precious gift.

I think that's a really powerful idea.

Thank you for sharing that, Meryem.

"The Qur'an says that Allah created the world in six days.

After that, he didn't need to rest or relax because he never gets tired.

I believe that Allah is always looking after his creation and making sure everything is as it should be.

We should look after the world too." So Meryem is saying here that God always looks after the world.

He's so powerful he doesn't need to rest.

But everybody needs to look after the world.

Thank you for sharing your Muslim worldview with us, Meryem.

True or false question.

Let's see how carefully you were listening.

Put those thinking caps on.

Muslims believe that Allah rested after he had finished his creation.

Pause the video.

Have a think.

Well, it's false, isn't it? Muslims don't believe that Allah rested after he had finished his creation.

Why? Because Muslims believe that God, Allah, does not need to rest.

He's always looking after his creation.

Did you get that right? Well done if you did.

We've got a task, our final task now.

Aisha and Alex are thinking about the deeper meaning of the creation story.

Who do you think has the best idea and why? Aisha says, "I think the most important part is that Allah did not rest.

He carried on caring for his creation, so we should care for the world too." And Alex says, "I like the parts in the story where God creates people using mud, dust, and clay.

I think it shows all people are different." Those are really important questions, aren't they? I'd like you to think what do you think is the best idea? What do you think Muslims might learn from this idea of creation? I'd like you to pause the video and have a think about it.

Ooh, I can hear that you've been having so many amazing discussions.

You might have put lots of things.

Maybe you thought that Aisha has the best answer because she explained that God, or Allah, keeps looking after his creation.

And that means people should also look after the world.

Or you might have thought that Alex had the best answer because he noticed how people are different from each other, just like the different kinds of soil in the Muslim creation story.

We've learned some deeper meanings of these stories, haven't we, that Muslims think that the world is a precious place and should be looked after.

And also, Muslims think that people look really different from each other, and that was how Allah wanted them to be, and that's why he used different soils when he created them.

Let's sum up what we've learned today about Muslim ideas of creation.

We've learned that Muslims discover how Allah created the world in their holy book, the Qur'an.

We've learned that Muslims share part of a story about creation with Jews and Christians.

We've learned that for Muslims, God does not rest in the creation story.

We've learned that some Muslims believe humans were created from different types of soil, such as mud, dust, and clay.

And we've also learned that many Muslims think humans should look after the world.

I've really enjoyed this lesson with you today.

I think we've learned so much about Muslim ideas of creation.

Thank you for learning with me today.

And I'm really looking forward to seeing you in another lesson soon.

Thank you very much.