Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Clinton and I'm excited that you've joined me for our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called "Recitation in Islam," and it's from the unit "Spirituality: How do music and silence express beliefs?" And today, we're going to be looking at how human voices are used in Islam.

Sometimes, learning can be a little challenging.

But that's great, as we can work hard together and find our way through.

And we're going to learn lots of new things, I'm sure.

And I'm looking forward to doing the lesson with you.

We have five keywords today for our lesson.

So let's have a look at those.

First of all, we have Qur'an, and that is the Muslim holy book.

We have the word recite, which means to say something out loud from memory.

We have melody, which is the rise and fall of the voice.

We have muezzin, a man who calls Muslims to prayer from the minaret of a mosque.

And we have cadence, which is the rhythm and quality of the voice.

And we have two learning cycles in our lesson today.

Learning cycle one.

Why is the Qur'an recited? And learning cycle two.

How is the call to prayer chanted? So let's start with learning cycle one.

Why is the Qur'an recited? Aisha explains what we mean by theology in religious education.

And she says, "Theologians are interested in stories, texts and traditions.

We can better understand people's worldviews by examining the deeper meanings of these stories, texts and traditions.

We can also look at the difference they make to people today." Thank you, Aisha.

So in this lesson, we'll be exploring Islamic traditions of recitation and the call to prayer to help us understand Muslim worldviews.

The Qur'an is the holy book for Muslims and it is written in Arabic.

In fact, it's written in Ancient Arabic.

Many Muslims learn to recite the Qur'an.

This means that they learn to speak the words out loud from memory.

The Arabic word "Qur'an" means "the recitation." So it's all there in the name.

So this picture shows inside of a mosque.

And it's a really large mosque, isn't it? What can you see? Look for the Qur'ans there on stands.

And can you see there are lots of people reciting the Qur'an? Well done if you found both of those.

Iqbal has a Muslim worldview, and he explains the origins of the Qur'an.

"Muslims believe that the Angel Jibril revealed the words of the Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad hundreds of years ago in Mecca.

Although the Prophet Muhammad could not read or write, the Angel Jibril commanded him to recite." To repeat and to say out loud.

Which of these is not true of the Qur'an? It's written in Arabic.

It's recited by Muslims. It is the Muslim place of worship.

It is the Muslim holy book.

So, I'd like you to pause this video to give you time to think about your answers, which of these is not true? And then you might want to discuss that with the person next to you, and come back and start this video again when you're ready to continue with the lesson.

Welcome back.

So which of these is not true? It's answer C.

Well done if you got that correct.

Iqbal explains more about the Qur'an.

"The Qur'an has been memorised and recited by Muslims ever since the Prophet spoke the words and passed them on to others.

I recite words from the Qur'an each day to keep them fresh in my memory.

The familiar words help me feel close to Allah." And remember that's the Arabic word for "one God," "the one God." So Muslims learn to use their voices correctly when reciting the Qur'an.

There are ways to change the rhythm and the pitch of the voice at different places in the text.

This is called cadence and it makes recitation of the Qur'an sound melodic.

So let's have a listen to an audio recording to hear some of the Qur'an being recited.

(reciter speaks Arabic) (reciter speaks Arabic) (reciter speaks Arabic) (reciter speaks Arabic) <v ->So Iqbal says, "The Qur'an is recited using rhythm</v> and melody to make the words sound beautiful." Ahmed has a Muslim worldview, and he explains about recitation of the Qur'an.

"I've been learning to recite the Qur'an since I was little.

I used to listen to my mum reading her Qur'an.

Her voice sounded lovely so I wanted to learn too.

She taught me the Arabic alphabet, and then little by little, I learned to read and recite the words." Thank you, Ahmed.

And Ahmed uses cadence in his recitation to help him remember the words.

"I can already recite 13 chapters of the Qur'an.

I'll keep practising until I can recite every word.

I try to make the melody as beautiful as I can." Now, Ahmed has taken part in Qur'an recitation competitions.

Yes, that is a thing.

"It's fun to challenge myself," he says, "to learn a chapter and recite it perfectly.

The judges are checking for accuracy.

They listen for the cadence and the melody in our voices as we recite." So I have a question for you.

Is this true or false? When the Qur'an is recited, only the accuracy of the words is important.

You might like to pause this video to give you a moment to think about your answer or maybe to discuss it with the person next to you.

Come back to me and start the video again when you're ready to continue with the lesson.

Welcome back.

So you're going to show me with your thumbs is this sentence true or false? When the Qur'an is recited, only the accuracy of the words is important.

Show me with your thumbs.

It's false.

Why? The recitation of the Qur'an has to sound beautiful and melodic, as well as being accurate.

So we need both those things happening.

Well done if you got that answer false.

I have a task for you.

Alex is wondering why some Muslims learn to recite the Qur'an.

Aisha tells him it is because they want to make the words of the Qur'an sound beautiful and melodic.

Can you give Alex another two reasons why some Muslims learn to recite the Qur'an? Pause this video to give you time to work on your answer, maybe on your own, with a partner, or in a small group.

And then come back to me when you're ready to have a look at the answers.

Welcome back.

Can you give Alex another two reasons why some Muslims learn to recite the Qur'an? You might have said, Muslims learn to recite the Qur'an so that they can remember the words given to the Prophet Muhammad.

Some Muslims enter recitation competitions so that they can recite the Qur'an as accurately and as beautifully as possible.

Well done if you had either of those answers in your answer.

Did you have anything else? Well done if that's drawn from material that we've used so far in this lesson.

Now we're going to go on to the second part of our lesson today.

How is the call to prayer chanted? Have a look at this photo.

What can you see? What do you think it is for? Now, this is a tall tower on a mosque and it's called a minaret.

Traditionally, the muezzin sings out the call to prayer from the minaret.

And in fact, if you look to the top of that tower, you can see there's a platform going round it, and that is traditionally where the muezzin would stand and do the call to prayer, so that they're high up, their voice carries, and everyone would know this is the start of one of the five times to pray collectively together for Muslims. Now Muslims are called to pray five times a day, and the muezzin gives the call to prayer a few minutes before every prayer time starts.

And this is to remind people that it's time to come and pray.

Muslims repeat some of the words quietly to themselves as they hear the call.

And in that picture, you can see the muezzin's microphone.

That's a picture taken in a British mosque, and we tend not to have the muezzins outside but inside.

Let's have a listen to that call to prayer.

(muezzin recites Arabic) (muezzin recites Arabic) <v ->So we've listened quickly</v> to an audio recording of that call to prayer.

I wonder if you noticed any specific words that you could recognise.

So, we're going to have a listen again, and this time, see if you can listen for the Arabic words "Allahu Akbar," which translates as "God is greatest." (muezzin recites Arabic) <v ->Well, well done if you were able to hear</v> those words "God is the greatest" and this call to prayer starts with that.

And in the UK, the muezzin sings out the call to prayer from inside the mosque.

That's why we can see that microphone there ready for the muezzin in this mosque to sing that out.

Let's check your understanding.

What is the job of a muezzin? Is it A, to clean the mosque? B, to give the Friday sermon at the mosque? Or C, to call Muslims to prayer? You might like to pause this video to give you time to think about your answer and maybe to discuss it with a partner.

Come back to me when you're ready to continue the lesson.

Welcome back.

So what is the job of a muezzin? Was it A, B, or C? The answer is C.

Of course, it's C! I'm sure we all got that right.

So here are the words of the call to prayer in English.

"Allah, God, is the greatest.

I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah.

I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.

Come to prayer.

Come to success.

Allah, God, is the greatest.

There is none worthy of worship except Allah." What Islamic words do you notice in here? You might like to pause the video to give you time to think about your answer, or maybe to discuss it with the person next to you.

Come back to me when you're ready to continue the lesson.

Welcome back.

I wonder what Islamic words you noticed.

Well, we know "Allah" is an important word because it's "God." And we say "the one God" in English.

G-O-D, God.

Muslims will often use the Arabic word for "one God," "Allah." So, it talks about worship in here and it talks about Muhammad.

What Islamic words do you notice in the call to prayer, and what Muslim beliefs and values are suggested? You might like to pause this video to give you a moment to think about answers to that on your own or maybe with the person next to you.

Come back to me and start the video again when you're ready to continue with the lesson.

Welcome back.

So let's have a look at the meanings that are going on here in this call to prayer.

So the call to prayer reminds Muslims that they should worship God and listen carefully to the words of the Prophet Muhammad.

Well done if you said that.

And then these lines suggest that worshipping God, Allah, and praying will give Muslims success in life.

And that's because their life is focused on Him.

Very well done if you found those beliefs.

Nadia has a Muslim worldview, and she says to us, "The call to prayer begins with the Arabic words Allahu Akbar four times.

This means God, Allah, is the greatest.

I love to hear the voice of the muezzin chanting the words of the call to prayer.

It reminds me to stop and focus on Allah, God." And Ahmed talks about the call to prayer at his mosque.

"At my mosque, the call to prayer is given using a microphone and a loudspeaker.

It can only be heard inside the mosque.

When I visit my relatives in India, we can hear the muezzin giving the call to prayer from all over the town." So it's interesting, isn't it, how this works differently in different countries.

Nadia says, "The call to prayer is part of the rhythm of my day.

Prayer is a time to be quiet and thoughtful.

Muezzin's call to prayer reminds me that success in life is not about being very busy or earning lots of money.

It's about being connected to Allah." And Ahmed says that one day he'd like to give the call of prayer at his mosque.

He says that "it takes practise to learn the call to prayer.

The melody might sound different depending on which muezzin is giving the call, but all of the words must be heard clearly.

I would love to learn how to do this." So have a check on our understanding.

Is this true or false? There are no melodic sounds used in Islam.

You might like to pause this video to give you a moment to think about your answer or maybe to discuss it with the person next to you.

Come back to me and we'll continue with the lesson and the video once you've got your answer.

Welcome back! And the answer was false! Why? The call to prayer is recited in a melodic way with changes in pitch and rhythm and the rhythmic words.

So, it's very beautiful to listen to, and we've had good examples of that today in the lesson.

So I have a task for you.

Alex and Aisha are wondering about how Muslims use their voices.

"I've been told that Muslims don't use their voices to sing or chant at the mosque." And Aisha says, "I think Muslims use their voices in different ways at different times when they're at the mosque." Do you agree with Alex or Aisha? And give a reason for your answer.

So pause the video to give you time to work on your answer on your own, maybe with a partner or in a small group, and come back and start this video again when you're ready to look at some answers.

Welcome back.

So did you agree with Alex or Aisha? So, Aisha is right to say that Muslims use their voices in different ways at the mosque.

The muezzin's call to prayer sounds like a beautiful chant because it has melody and rhythm.

So when Muslims recite the Qur'an, they use cadence and melody to bring the text to life to help them remember the words.

Very well done if your answer had any of those points in it.

I'm very proud of your learning today.

So we've reached the end of our lesson, and let's look at our summary of what we've covered.

The Qur'an is recited with rhythm and cadence to make it sound beautiful.

Some Muslims try to recite the Qur'an from memory.

There are competitions in Qur'anic recitation.

The call to prayer is chanted from the minaret by a muezzin.

And the call to prayer uses melody and rhythm.

We can better understand Muslim responses to recitation by talking to different Muslims. So thank you very much for being with me on this lesson.

I hope I see you again in another lesson to do some more learning soon.

But I shall say goodbye from me.

Goodbye!.