March 21, 2022
Ramadan is the most sacred month of the year for Muslims and takes place during the 9th month of their calendar. This period of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community doesn’t follow the western calendar. Instead, it follows the Lunar calendar meaning the month can change each year. This year the celebration starts on Saturday 2nd April and runs until Sunday 1st May.
Muslims believe that it was during this month that Allah revealed the first verses of the Quran, which is the Islamic sacred text to the Prophet Mohammed. This is known as ‘The Night of Power’ or in Arabic, 'Laylat al-Qadr.'
Every day during the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. This means that they do not eat or drink anything at all during daylight hours. Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. They take part in fasting as it is meant to be a time of spiritual discipline where they focus on their relationship with Allah, take part in extra prayers and increase their charity and generosity within the wider community whilst following an intense study of the Quran.
It is a time of joy and celebration, all spent with loved ones. At the end of Ramadan, there’s a three-day celebration called Eid where they break their fast.
We at 2Simple understand the importance of teaching Religious Education and therefore have highlighted some resources you can use within Purple Mash to teach your students about Ramadan.
During Ramadan, Muslims try to give up a bad habit. Why not set your students a task to see what bad habits they should give up with our template here? As with any of our template, simply choose to set the task as a 2Do, choose the class, groups or students you’d like to give it a go, and that’s it. Next time they login, they’ll be notified that the 2Do is waiting for them to complete.
You could also set them a task to write a plan for Iftar (the evening meal); what Asian dishes are going to be served tonight?
You could also use this opportunity to see if your students can research Ramadan and see what traditions they can find. Alternatively, there’s a task encouraging children to write a leaflet about the Five Pillars of Islam, fasting is one, but what are the others?
And no Ramadan would not be complete without Eid. We have several resources that explore the celebration. Use our Eid Descriptive Writing template for your students to use their senses to describe the celebration. You could also see if your students can write an email to their friend to explain Eid. Children can design their own cards to share with friends and family at this time using this printable template.
For the full collection of Ramadan and Eid activities, head to the Ramadan and Eid area of Purple Mash. All of these resources are available with a Purple Mash licence, which is available with a 14-day free trial. Try Purple Mash today.
Let us know how your class are celebrating Ramadan by sharing pictures with us on Twitter or our Facebook page.
