Lesson video

Hello, my young scholars of religion.

My name is Ms. Marx and I'm going to be your religious education teacher today.

Today we're going to be doing all about how and why Muslims perform salah, but think about why there are five daily prayers that are set, as well as why Muslims might greet angels on their shoulders after they've prayed.

So when you're ready, let's go.

So by the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain why there are five daily prayers and why Muslims greet the angels with salam during prayer.

So let's start with our key terms: adhan: the Islamic call to prayer, announcing it's time to pray.

Deeds: the actions a person does, good or bad.

Salam: Arabic term meaning peace, and it's a greeting in Islam.

The Night Journey: the miraculous journey of the Prophet Muhammad to Jerusalem.

So look out for those in today's lesson.

So our lesson today will have three sections: the Night Journey, Five daily prayers and Salam to the angels.

So let's start with our first section, the Night Journey.

What could be a very special journey to take? Can you think of one? Pause the video and have a think.

And you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Could it be travelling to university? Going on a honeymoon after marriage? Maybe visiting family? These are all examples of very special journeys somebody could take.

Within Islam, the Prophet Muhammad had a miraculous journey that shaped how and why Muslims pray, and this is known as the Night Journey.

The Night Journey is an intense religious experience that the Prophet Muhammad had around the year 621 CE.

Muhammad was at the Kaaba in Makkah when a winged creature, sometimes described as a horse, appeared and carried Muhammad to Jerusalem.

When Muhammad arrived in Jerusalem, he was met by the previous prophets of Islam, including Ibrahim, Musa and Issa, and he led them in prayer.

He then ascended into the heavens accompanied by the Angel Jibril.

When he was high in the heavens, he was given the command from Allah that the Muslim community, the Ummah, should pray 50 times a day.

As Muhammad descended back to earth, he met Musa and told him what the Muslims had been commanded.

Musa encouraged Muhammad to go back to Allah and ask for less prayers as 50 would not be manageable.

Muhammad did this several times and finally the number was reduced to five daily prayers.

Let's do a quick check.

At which site did the Prophet Muhammad ascend to the heavens to lead the other prophets in prayer? Was it Makkah, Madinah or Jerusalem? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

Well done.

It's Jerusalem, Laura and Andeep are discussing why the Night Journey was so important.

Laura says, "For Muhammad to lead the other prophets in prayer during the Night Journey must have felt very special.

I think it shows a link between Muhammad and the other prophets, especially Musa." And Andeep says, "This story also shows the special role that Muhammad had in pleading with Allah to lower the number of daily prayers for Muslims. I think it shows the mercy and beneficence of Allah too." Thank you Laura and Andeep.

Let's look to a source of authority for this then.

We have got the Hadith, which is the narrations and sayings about what the Prophet Muhammad did and said.

And we've got here in the Hadith, "Allah enjoined 50 prayers upon my Ummah and I passed by Musa who said, 'Go back to your Lord for your Ummah will not be able to do that.

' So I went back to my Lord and he said 'There are five prayers but they are 50 in reward.

'" Where does this Hadith show that five daily prayers are commanded for Muslims? Have a reread, pause the video and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well done, we've got it here that there are five prayers but they are 50 in reward.

The amount of prayers was reduced to five, but the reward of those five prayers is worth 50.

Well done.

Let's do a quick check.

Which prophet encouraged the Prophet Muhammad to ask Allah to reduce the number of prayers for Muslims to less than 50? Who was it that did that? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

It was Musa, also known as Moses.

Let's do a practise task to see what we've learned.

Use the image as a prompt and write an explanation for what the Night Journey was and how it relates to the five daily prayers for Muslims. You should include: the miraculous journey, Muhammad ascending to heaven, and prayers being set at five a day.

Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

Some great thinking.

So I asked you to write an explanation for the Night Journey and you could have said: The Night Journey was a miraculous journey that Muhammad took from Makkah to Jerusalem.

In Jerusalem, he led the other prophets of Islam in prayer and then ascended to the heavens.

Allah told him that Muslims must do 50 daily prayers, but Muhammad pleaded for this to be lowered.

Allah reduced the amount of prayers to five daily prayers, but they are still worth 50 in rewards.

Well done.

Let's go to our second section then, five daily prayers.

The Qur'an is the ultimate source of authority for Muslims and within it we have got support for the five daily prayers.

Muslims complete these daily prayers at set times and this follows an instruction in the Qur'an, and then also it follows the example of the Prophet Muhammad.

So let's have a look at this source then.

So in the Quran, it says, the prayer is obligatory for believers at specific times.

So we know there are set times because the Quran says this.

And then it says, "So glorify God when you retire at night, when you rise in the morning.

His is the praise in the heavens, on earth, and in the evening and when you reach midday." So there are different times given here for when people should be glorifying and worshipping God.

How do these passages support daily prayers? Pause the video and have think and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

We've got here that there are specific times and some of the times listed are at night, in the morning, in the evening and midday.

Prayers are obligatory at set times, at night, morning, midday, in the evening are all listed as times to glorify God.

So many masjids or mosques will call Muslims to come and pray at the right times.

So often you've got, not always, but often you have these features of a mosque or a masjid where you've got a dome and a prayer hall and a minaret.

And I'm thinking about the minaret here.

So this is a tower, and from the tower something is declared to ensure that people come to pray.

The call to prayer is often but not always recited from the minaret.

So there may be speakers or it may be, you know, obviously at the time of the Prophet Muhammad, it'd just be someone, calling out the call to prayer to encourage people to come and pray at those right times.

It might be amplified, it might be recited by someone who's got particular role.

So sometimes it's someone, that's their role within the mosque or the masjid is to do that call to prayer.

Sometimes they've got a beautiful voice because of the way that it's recited.

And the call to prayer is known as the adhan.

So we can look to the adhan also as a source of authority for showing us the importance of those five daily prayers.

And it says, "God is great, God is great, God is great, God is great.

I bear witness there is no God except the one God.

I bear witness Muhammad is the messenger of God.

Hurry to prayer, hurry to the prayer, hurry to salvation, hurry to salvation.

God is great.

God is great.

There is no God except the one God." So how does the adhan encourage Muslims to perform salah? What does it say to kind of encourage people to come? Remember it's a call to prayer, calling people to come and pray.

Pause the video and have a think and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well done.

We have this bit in particular: "Hurry to the prayer, hurry to salvation." So prayer is going to help with someone's salvation.

Remember earlier the five prayers are worth 50.

So there is some deeds that are being gathered by people praying.

It encourages people to hurry to pray, shows a link between prayer and salvation, also reminds them of the one God that they're praying to.

Let's do a quick check.

What is the call to prayer also known as? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've got in a moment.

Well done.

The adhan.

So the five daily prayers are known as: Fajr, Dhur, Asr, Maghrib and Isha.

Fajr is between dawn and sunrise.

Dhur is just after solar noon.

Asr is mid to late afternoon.

Maghrib is at sunset, and Isha is after twilight into the night.

So here are the five daily prayers that happen for Muslims. Remember it was going to be 50 and it got reduced down to five.

Now some of these can be combined if someone is travelling and they're a Sunni Muslim 'cause the prophet Muhammad did that.

Also within Shi'a Islam, these are often combined.

The five prayers are said, but maybe at three separate times.

So the one just after solar noon and mid to late afternoon, so kind of early afternoon can be combined and then also the ones in the evening.

So sunset and then twilight into the night can be combined.

Some are combined by Shi'a Muslims and sometimes they're combined by Sunni Muslims too, when they're on journeys.

Let's look at a source of authority for that, the idea of combining those prayers then.

What we have in the Hadith: "Allah's messenger, Muhammad used to offer the Zuhr and Asr prayers together on journeys and also offer the Maghrib and Isha prayers together." So the early companions of the Prophet Muhammad saw that sometimes he combined them and that's been passed down through these narrations for the Hadith, which is why it'd be permissible for some Muslims to do that today.

How does this Hadith support the combination of prayers though? Pause the video and have a think and we can see what you come up with in a moment.

Well, we've got here that Muhammad was known to combine the two afternoon prayers and the two evening prayers together, particularly on journeys.

So here we've got Rasool and Iqbal who both say five daily prayers for the salah.

We got Rasool who's a Shi'a Muslim and Iqbal who's a Sunni Muslim.

Rasool says, "Salah is one of my 10 Obligatory Acts and I usually say the five daily prayers at three different times.

The Prophet Muhammad allowed this and so I follow his example." And Iqbal says, "Salah is one of the Five Pillars and I usually say the five daily prayers at five separate times, and I would only combine them on journeys as Muhammad did.

So we have a slight variation here between Rasool and Iqbal, particularly how they are interpreting that Hadith.

So time for another check then.

Which two of the following statements are accurate about Sunni and Shi'a practises in relation to salah? Sunni Muslims always pray five prayers at five separate times.

Sunni Muslims usually pray five prayers at five separate times.

Shi'a Muslims do not say five day prayers, they say three.

Shi'a Muslims say five prayers, usually at three separate times.

Two of those are correct.

Which ones? Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

Well done.

It's B and D.

Usually Sunni Muslims say five prayers at five separate times, and usually Shi'a Muslims say five prayers at three separate times.

Well done.

Let's do another practise task to see what we've learned.

You're going to complete the table by developing each of the points relating to the five daily prayers.

You should develop each point with a source and an explanation.

First point: The adhan calls Muslims to pray at set times.

Second point: Sometimes Muslims combine the five prayers into three prayer times when on journeys.

Go to develop it with a source and an explanation.

Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

Well done.

Some great thinking there.

So I asked you to develop each point with a source and explanation.

The first point is: The adhan calls Muslims to pray at set times.

You could develop this with: the adhan is called from the mosque five times a day to remind Muslims to come and pray.

The adhan says, "Hurry to prayer, hurry to salvation," reminding Muslims that prayers are good deeds which can build up rewards for them for the Day of Judgement.

Sometimes Muslims combine the five prayers into three prayer times when on journeys.

Shi'a Muslims usually combine Dhur and Asr prayers and Maghrib and Isha prayers to pray three separate times.

Sometimes Sunni Muslims also do this.

This is because the Prophet Muhammad allowed this for certain occasions, for example, on journeys.

A Hadith says that Muhammad used to offer the prayers together.

Well done.

So onto our third and final section then, Salam to the angels.

The Qur'an teaches Muslims that life is a test and at the end of life, humans will be judged by their deeds.

On the Day of Judgement , all humans will be handed their book of deeds.

And if they have more good deeds than bad deeds, they'll go to paradise.

And performing salah can count towards these good deeds in the book of deeds.

And we saw earlier that the five daily prayers count as 50 on that Hadith we had from the Prophet Muhammad after the Night Journey.

The Qur'an states that one role of angels is to record the deeds of humans for that book of deeds.

A Muslim tradition is that each human has two angels each, one on each shoulder.

So the angels are there watching and recording these deeds down.

When Muslims end their prayer, they move their head to either side and greet those angels.

So here I've got an image showing some women here praying at home and they're greeting the angels on their shoulders.

A greeting in Islam that's often used is, "As-Salam-Alaikum," and this means "peace be upon you." You might have heard this phrase before, heard the word "salam," meaning "peace be upon you." So why might Muslims want to greet the angels on their shoulders with salam, peace? Pause the video and have a think and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, let's see what Nadia says.

Alex asks her, "Why do you greet the angels with salam when you pray, Nadia? And Nadia says, "The angels are always beside me, which can be a comfort, but I also know they record all my deeds, not just the good ones.

I'm reminded of this when I salam them during salah.

The Qur'an warns me not to be hostile to the angels, so I greet them with peace." Thank you, Nadia.

So we've seen there can be different reasons why salah is important for Muslims. So let's together give the first of two reasons why salah is important for Muslims. Hmm, I think because it's following the example of the Prophet Muhammad.

So over to you then.

Give the second of two reasons why salah is important for Muslims. Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

We've got here that salah can remind Muslims that their deeds are being recorded and so make the right choices.

Well done.

So onto another practise task to see what we've learned then.

Here is a full evaluation question.

You are going to write a paragraph in support of this statement, making sure you include a source of authority, and there are some planning points on the next slide for you.

So what is the question? "Salah is the most important Muslim practise." And you would evaluate this statement and in your response, if you're doing the full answer, you would refer to Muslim teaching, give reasoned arguments to support this statement, as well as give arguments to support a different point of view and reach a justified conclusion.

But I'm just asking you to do one thing, which is to give one paragraph in support of this statement, but make sure you include a source of authority.

On the next slide, we have some planning points to help you with this.

You could say it shows commitment, it's instructed by Allah, helps towards the book of deeds, and it's an act of worship.

So you're going to write a paragraph to support the statement: "Salah is the most important Muslim practise." Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've come up with in a moment.

Well done for your hard work.

So I asked you to write one paragraph in support of this statement, "Salah is the most important Muslim practise." And your answer may look something like this.

Salah is the five daily prayers performed by Muslims and some Muslims would agree this is the most important Muslim practise.

This is because it shows daily commitment to Allah and because Allah instructed Muslims to complete these prayers in both the Qur'an and the Hadith, through the Night Journey.

In a Hadith, it says there are five prayers, but the reward is 50, showing that all five prayers are important.

Also, salah reminds Muslims their deeds are being recorded by the angels with them, when Muslims salam the angels on their shoulders during prayer.

Finally, salah reminds Muslims of the nature of Allah and is an act of worship of Allah.

Therefore it's the most important Muslim practise." And in here I've got that source of authority, "Five prayers are rewarded by 50." And I wonder what you would write if you had to do the counterargument.

Well done.

So let's summarise everything we've learned.

How and why Muslims perform salah.

Salah is one of the Five Pillars and the 10 Obligatory Acts.

The number of daily prayers for Muslims was set to five after Muhammad took the Night Journey.

Muslims are often called to pray at the masjid or mosque with the adhan.

Most Shi'a Muslims and sometimes Sunni Muslims combine the five prayers to be said at three different times.

Muslims believe that there are angels recording the deeds for Judgement Day and greet those angels with "salam" during salah.

So, well done for your hard work today and I hope to see you again soon.

Bye-bye.