Surah Lahab 111

Download and Print Summary Sheet

Lesson Objectives:

- Surah background

- Wealth and power in the world are temporary and can not save you from Allah’s punishment

- Only actions done for Allah can help you in the hereafter.

- To become familiar with the meaning of surah Lahab through key Quranic vocabulary

Quranic Verse:

Surah Lahab 111

Activity: Surah Summary Sheet

Activity: Will your deeds reach Janna?

Have the children standing in pairs to face each other a small distance apart.

Give one child labelled up as 'Earth', some balls to throw across to ‘Jannah’.

Actions and deeds which are done to please Allah, will last forever and benefit us in the hereafter.
Have the children continue, naming an action which will benefit us in the hereafter, before each throw. E.g. Charity, kindness, listening to parents, learning useful knowledge.

Next give ‘Earth’ some bubbles to blow across for ‘Jannah’ to catch. They will pop!

Actions and deeds which are done to build a good life only in this world, are temporary and will be left behind on Earth when we die. They will be of no use to us in the hereafter.
Go through a list of actions and deeds which are done to build a good life only in this world. E.g. having lots of money, having a fast car, lots of toys, watching tv, eating delicious food.

For older children:

Discuss the concept of intention and how sometimes even good actions can become bubbles and pop – why? If an action is done to show off etc, not only to please God, even if it is a good deed, will not reach Jannah. Similarly, an action may appear a waste of time like watching tv, but if done in moderation and with the intention to relax and refresh ourselves so that we can serve God better, it becomes beneficial. Use the activity as a self reflection tool - How many balls and bubbles have I thrown across today?

Download Complete Lesson Plan: Surah Lahab

Book: Quranic Treasures: Surah Al Masad 
Part of an enlightening series which helps children to understand the story and context behind the surahs. It ends with a section on practical lessons which can be learnt and applied to our own daily lives.

Book: Yasser and Zahra Discover Surah Lahab
Join Grandfather, Yasser, Zahra, and their friends on a journey through time as they learn lessons from Surah Lahab!

See Also: Juz Amma Rescources

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Time On Earth Is Short

Lesson Objective:
- Understand how short our time on Earth is compared to the Hereafter
- Reinforce how we must use our time on Earth 

Qur'an Verse:
wal aakhiratu khairun wa abqa
The hereafter is better and more lasting'. 87:17 

Activity: Live For Allah
Imagine this rope goes on forever. Imagine that this rope is a timeline of your existence. The small red part at the beginning, represents your time on Earth. You've got a few short years here on Earth and then you've got the whole of the rest of your life somewhere else. 

Allah teaches us in the Qur'an that what we do in this little time we have on Earth, this small red part of our timeline existence, is what determines how we will live for the whole of the rest of our existence forever! The deeds we plant on Earth, will determine how and what kind of life we live, for the the whole of the rest of our lives. So would you spend the red part, the time on Earth, to be as comfortable as possible, enjoying yourself as much as you can and forget about the time that will come after?! 

We must use our time on Earth, the only one small chance we have, to make sure we have done everything we can, filled our life with all the good we can, so that when we face Allah on the Day of Judgement, He can reward us with goodness that will never end, for us to enjoy forever and ever! There are so many things around us that tempt and take us away from living the way Allah has said, but we must remind ourselves all the time, 'wal aakhiratu khairun wa abqa, the hereafter is better and more lasting'.

Watch: Video Clip Illustatration

Activity: Will your deeds reach Janna?
Actions and deeds which are done to please Allah, will last forever and benefit us in the hereafter

Activity: Sweet Choices

Lessons from Karbala:
On the night before Ashura, Hurr could hear the children crying of thirst. He walked up and down and could be seen to be in a worried state. When one of the soldiers asked him why, Hurr replied, “What answer shall I give to Allah when He will ask me about the grandson of His Prophet being thirsty?” Hurr believed in Allah and knew that his responsibility was to obey Allah and serve His creation. Hurr knew that he would return to Allah and be accountable for his actions. He had to make a choice; Obey Yazid and gain power and wealth which he would enjoy only for a short time in this world or obey Allah and be rewarded with endless treasures in the hereafter.

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The Soul

Lesson Objectives:

- To understand that we are a soul and have a body

- To understand how every action impacts our soul

- To know Allah has given us instructions how to look after our soul

- To understand that our aim is to return to Allah with a clean soul

Quran Verse:

Man amila saalihan, falinafsi
Whoever does good, it is for his own soul 45:15

Key Learning Point:

Each of us is a soul. It is the soul which gives life to the body. Allah put the soul inside the body, so that we could come to Earth and do as many good deeds as we can.

Allah out of His love and Kindness has given us instructions on how to look after the soul. Everything we do, has an affect on the soul. You can keep it clean and become close to Allah, by following Allah’s rules. When we obey what Allah has said, it doesn’t affect Allah, but rather it benefits our own soul. 

Our body will die and be buried in the ground, but the real us, our soul will return to Allah. Allah tells us that those who choose to do good and purify their souls are successful.

Activities:

Allah is Al-Muhyi, The Giver Of Life

Who Am I?

The Soul Gives Life To The Body

Is It Good For My Soul?

Feed the Soul

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Death

Lesson Objective:

- To understand that the soul gives life to the body.

- To understand that when we die, our body is left behind and our soul returns to Allah

Quran verse:

Inna lillahi, wa inna ilayhi raajioon 2:156

To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return

Activity:

Show a balloon that hasn’t been blown.

Allah created our body out of clay. Then He blew into it our soul.

Blow up the balloon.
Even though we can’t see the air inside the balloon, we can see that it is the air that gives ‘life’ and form to the balloon, which otherwise would still be limp and useless, like one of the balloons that is still empty.

People only see the outside of the balloon or the outside of people, and they tend to think that’s the important part. What’s really important, however, is what is on the inside, because what’s on the inside creates the outside.


Just like the air gives shape to the balloon,

It is our soul, that gives life to the body.

What would happen if I release the air from the balloon? The balloon will ‘die’ but the air will simply  rejoin the air outside the balloon, which is where it came from in the first place!

When we die, our soul leaves the body and the body dies. Without the soul, the body is just an empty shell which we bury it into the ground. The soul lives on and returns back to Allah, where it came from.


Extension:
- To understand how our inner good qualities, make up who we are.

Just as it is important to look after our bodies, we must also take care of our soul which is the ‘real’ person. It is the soul which makes you a caring, kind, good person and not your outside appearance. We must focus on developing these good characteristics more than just caring about how we look on the outside. It is our soul that will return to Allah.

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Who am I?

Lesson Objective:

- To understand that we are a soul and have a body
- To understand the purpose of the body

Qur'an Verse:

Man amila saalihan, falinafsi

Whoever does good, it is for his own soul 45:15

Activity: Who am I?

Ask the child to point to himself. 

Label the body part being pointed at, stating, 'No that's your arm, that's not You. If you didn't have an arm or lost a leg, you would still be you, because the real you, is your soul inside your body.'

When Allah created Insaan, human beings, He created a soul. Our soul is who we are. It is the part of us that laughs, loves, feels happy or sad. We can’t see or touch our soul, it is inside and covered by our physical body.  

The body is just the temporary clothing of the soul.  Like an astronaut, who needs to wear a spacesuit in order to be in space, our soul needs a body to live on the Earth. Allah created our soul and put it inside a body so that we could come to this world and do as many good deeds as we can.

When our time on Earth comes to an end, we will no longer need our body. The body will die and be buried in the ground and the real you, the soul, will return to Allah, to show Him what you have done with your life.

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The Day Of Judgement

Lesson Objectives:

- Understand that the purpose of life is to follow Allah’s rules and do good deeds

- Understand the concept of Qiyama as a day when all our deeds will be weighed

- Understand that every good action is recorded and rewarded

Quran Verse:

Najzil Muhsineen
Allah rewards those who do good 77:44

Lesson Introduction:
Nobody can live forever. All of us will die one day. It is Allah who has created us and gives us life, and it is Allah who will decide when to end our life and take us back to Him.

So why did Allah create us? Did we just come into the world to have fun, go to school, get a job, do whatever we want, and then die? Is that it, or is there a reason?

Allah tells us in the Qur’an that He has created life and death as a test to see who is the best in deeds (67:2)

That means that life is like a competition. It’s a race where we must try to do as many good deeds as we can before our time is up and we are called back to Allah.

Allah has given us clear rules on how to live. He has explained which things we are allowed to do and which are not.

Allah tells us in the Qur’an, about Qiyama. The day of judgement, when Allah will bring us all back to life. It will be a very long and hot day. A recording of our whole life will be shown to us. All of our deeds, good and bad, will be weighed. It is on the day of judgement that we will get our results and find how well we did.

Allah tells us, ‘najzil muhsineen’, that ‘He rewards those who do good’. Every deed, however small you think it is, will be counted! Whoever’s scales are heavy with good deeds, will enter Jannah! 

Activity: Race to do good!

Place a 1 minute egg timer and count/write how many good deeds the child can think of. The winner is the one who can think of the most! Can also be played in teams.

OR

Set a digital timer and use it to play pass the parcel, with the timer symbolising the limited time we have on Earth. Have the children think of a good deed while they hold the clock and then pass it on. When the timer rings, the child left holding it is out. Every child is a winner as they all spent their time doing good deeds!

Fiqh terms worksheet

Camera Craft: Allah records everything

Good Deeds Scale

Download complete lesson plan The Day Of Judgement 

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