From Karbala to my Salaa

Imam Husayn (as) lived by all the beliefs and values salaa teaches. His connection with Allah through salaa was so strong that it gave him strength to stand for what is right and made him the incredible personality that he is. 

This Muharram we want to focus on understanding salaa so that we can strengthen our connection with Allah and live a Husayni life, making the right choices and behaving as God's ambassadors every day.

Lesson 1: Introduction and importance of Salaa

Lesson 2: Allahu Akbar – God is the #1 Priority

Lesson 3: Niyyah – Connecting to Allah

Lesson 4: Surah Fateha – A guide to the straight path

Lesson 5: Sajda – Obedience to Allah

Lesson 6: Astaghfar – Returning back to Allah

Lesson 7: Qunoot – Calling upon Allah

Lesson 8: Salaam – Living in peace

Lesson 9: Tasbeeh – An attitude of gratitude

Lesson 10: Jama’a – Unity in the community

Download complete lesson plan booklet: From Karbala to my Salaa

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The Importance of Salaa

Learning Objective:
To understand the importance of salaa, why we pray and three key benefits.

Quran Verse:
Akimis salaata li dhikri
Keep up the the salaa for my remembrance 20:14

When we understand why we do something, it helps us to do the action better. We may not like brushing our teeth but we do it 2x a day because we understand why it's important. If we don't our teeth will fall out! We understand that it's for our own good.
When we understand what salaa is and why it’s important, we can change the way we look at salaa not as a chore that we have to do but rather as an amazing blessing that Allah has gifted to us for our own benefit and when you understand what the benefits are you will want to rush to pray salaa in the best way that you can.

Benefit 1: Salaa connects us to Allah and gives us peace 13:28

The word Salaa comes from the word silaa which means connection. Salaa is our connection to Allah. To go to the shops round the corner, you could walk. To get to town, you’d probably go by car. To go to another country you’d go by plane, to the moon, you’d need something much more powerful, a spaceship or rocket...and to get to Allah? We need the most powerful mode of transport – Salah! To reach Allah, we need salah!

Hand sign: Interlink a finger from each hand and pull apart to show a connection.

When you connect to Allah and fill your day with His remembrance, it reminds you that you not alone. There is someone who loves me 70x more than my own mother. What a peaceful feeling!

Hand sign: Make a heart touching the tip of two thumbs/fingers and place on chest.

Activity: Salaa Lifts Us Higher
Use an egg to describe and talk about a scenario of a time when you're feeling sad and alone and everything is getting you down. Place the egg into a glass of water and watch it sink to the bottom. Recite the Quranic verse 13:28 and talk about how at such a time we can connect to and reach Allah with salaa. Add tsp salt water to represent each salaa into another glass of water. Stir and leave to settle for a few mins. Place the egg into the glass and watch it rise. Salaa lifts us higher, it makes us feel close to Allah and gives us peace in our heart.

Benefit 2: Salaa strengthens our taqwa and keeps us away from doing wrong 29:45
During the day we become busy eating, playing and working. You may have spent the morning arguing with your siblings, lying to the teacher about our why we haven't done our homework, being mean to your friends. But then adhan comes, it's time to stop and pray. The salaa helps to bring Allah back into your life, it helps you to refocus and put you back on track to do what is right and stop doing what is wrong. The salaa becomes a way to become more mindful of Allah. When you are aware of Allah it is called having taqwa. Taqwa, comes from the word waqia, to protect. Having Taqwa protects you from doing what is wrong.

Hand sign: Make two strong fists and cross both arms across the chest.

Activity: Wearing Taqwa
By praying salaa and increasing our remembrance of Allah, we strengthen our taqwa and protect our soul by not looking at, listening to, saying or doing what is wrong.

Benefit 3: Salaa gives us success 62:10
When we are not remembering Allah all the time, we are not protected with taqwa, we sink and drown in the confusion of the world. There’s so many things pulling us down, so many choices to make, and we feel confused, what do I do that’s right, what do I do that’s wrong.

But when we pray salaa and remember Allah, we strengthen our taqwa, the coat of protection around us. It doesn’t matter what pulls you down, it doesn’t matter what distractions are around you, your taqwa, your remembrance of Allah will help you make the right choices and stay away from wrong. Your taqwa keep you afloat and you will be successful.

Hand sign: Two thumb up!

Activity: Power of Taqwa

Key Learning: 
Allah doesn’t need our salaa, We need salaa! Allah gave us the opportunity 5x a day to connect to him, reach him and feel peace in our heart. He gave us an amazing tool and weapon to protect us from doing what is wrong. He gave us salaa, to help us to be successful.

Download complete lesson plan: Importance of Salaa

Additional Resources: My Salaa Fun Book by Tahera Kassamali

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Encourage Salaa through Love

A short 2 minute reminder on the importance of encouraging little ones to pray through love. 

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Power of Taqwa

Learning Objective:

- To understand taqwa as a covering protecting the soul 

- To know that taqwa is strengthened with the remembrance of Allah.

- To know that taqwa leads to success

Qur'an Verse

Wa libaasut taqwa dhalika khayr

The clothing of taqwa is the best 7:26

Watch the Power of Taqwa

Download Complete Lesson Plan: Taqwa: Protecting Your Soul

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Niyyah

Learning Objective

To explore the meaning of niyyah, intention

Learning Outcomes

- To understand that every action must be accompanied by the correct niyyah, ‘qurbatan ilallah’ for the sake of getting closer to Allah

- To know the correct pronunciation of ‘qurbatan ilallah’

- To understand how the value and acceptance of all our actions depends on having the correct niyyah

- To know ways in which niyyah can become invalidated

Qur'an Verse 

Lillah, For Allah 6:162

Niyyah is an intention. It tells us what we are doing and why we are doing it. Niyya is so powerful that the value and reward of our actions will depend on having the correct niyyah which should always be ‘qurbatanillalah’, to be close to Allah. When we start our salaa the first wajib action is to make our niyyah. We have to be very careful that our niyyah does not change from beginning of salaa until the end as this could break our salaa.

Activity: Lillah Song

Song to the tune of Freres Jacques

‘Lillah lillah, do it for Allah, do everything, only for Allah’

Story: QFatima Excellent Stories

It was just after midnight and the man was alone in the masjid. He had just begun his Salatul Layl when he heard a noise behind him. Immediately, he started praying slowly. He recited lengthy duas in a beautiful voice. After he finished he turned around to see a dog who had come in to take shelter from the rain outside. The man realised that he had prayed only for a dog and not for Allah.

Activity: Scenario Questions

Present the following statements and ask whether the niyyah is ‘qurbatan ilalah’. Have the children move to one side for yes and the other for no. Have them explain their decision.

I better pray quickly, football match about to start.

I must be extra careful with my salaa at madressa today because the teacher is going to check us.

I am all alone, only Allah is watching me.

 I recite Quran everyday otherwise I won’t get my pocket money.

I love reciting dua at mosque because everyone tells me how well I did and it makes me happy.

Its fajr I wake up to pray because it will make Allah happy

Activity: The Right Intention

Use the balloon analogy to review the effect of having the incorrect niyyah on the value of the action.

Extension
Allah has said in the Qur'an 6:162 that everything we do should be for Him. Think of a few daily activities and write down a niyyah that will make that action for Allah. E.g I brush my teeth because Allah loves cleanliness.

Download lesson plan

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Duas for Wudhu

Lesson Objective:

- To know that there are duas to be recited at every stage of wudhu. 

- To know how recitation of the specific duas helps you become more mindful of the process 

- To know which dua to recite for the washing of each part.

Wudhu is one of the key ways to help us prepare for salaa. The Ahlulbayt have taught us beautiful duas to recite at every stage of wudhu. Even if you don't know the exact words, it is important to try and think with each part that you are washing, 'how can I use this part of my body to do good?' The actions of wudhu remind you to obey Allah from head to toe!

Activity: Obey Allah from head to toe!

Draw a person and label the parts we wash in wudhu. What can you think of with each washing?

Mouth: Speak good and truthful words, not mean, rude, lying.

Face: Shine with the beauty of goodness

Right Arm: Do the right actions that make Allah happy

Left Arm: Stay away from doing wrong

Head: Ask Allah to take away any bad thoughts, help you learn good things, take away distractions in your mind and help you focus on salaa.

Feet: Remain steady on the path that brings you close to Allah

Activity: Duas for Wudhu

The specific duas to be recited at each stage can be found and printed online here. 

Cut out strips with individual duas for each stage. Have the children select a dua at random and match it to the correct action at which it is recited. Go round the group again but this time mime the action of wudhu and have the children recall the dua to be recited. 

Download dua text to cut and paste

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The Act of Wudhu

Quran Verse:
Allahu yuhhibul muttahireen
Allah loves those who keep pure and clean 9:108

Wudhu is a special type of washing which Allah teaches us about in the Qur'an 5:6 (An easy way to remember the chapter number is that there are 5 prayers). The actions for wudhu were shown to us by the Holy Prophet when he returned from Me'raj.

Wudhu is a way to help us prepare us for salaa. But if we just blast open the tap and rush through the actions, it doesn't really benefit us in the same way. Every action must be done with care and remembrance of Allah.

If we were to stop and just think about the water we are about to use, it would remind us of Allah in so many ways!

The word wudhu comes from the Arabic word wada'ah which means beauty and purity. When we do wudhu properly and try to stay in wudhu as much as we can, it purifies our soul and makes it beautiful!

Activity: Qualities of Water

Brainstorm how reflecting on water helps us remember Allah. 

Watch the beautiful explanation What is Wudhu? 

Challenge
It is mustahab, highly recommended to try to be in wudhu all the time. To help you build up to something which may seem difficult at first, start by trying to make it a habit to do wudhu before you go to bed. Sleeping in wudhu earns you the reward of worshiping all night! Then start making wudhu every time you go to the toilet. Try to do wudhu before you go to mosque too.

Activity: Duas for Wudhu

Watch: 1. How to perform Wudhu 2. Animated Instructional video

Download: Wudhu Illustrated Steps Chart by Qfatima

Resources: Wudhu Assesment by QFatima

See Also: The Power of Wudhu

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Concentration in Salaa

Learning Objective:
To clearly illustrate the importance and need to concentrate in Salaa.

When our mind is distracted by what's happening around us or is busy thinking about things that have happened in the day or things we need to do, we are not concentrating on praying salaa properly. Our focus is not on Allah and we loose out on achieving the benefits that Allah has placed in salaa for us.

Once we recite the Takbiratul Ihram, we must take away our distracting thoughts and focus only on Allah and pray our Salaa with full concentration. Only then will we benefit fron the prayer.

Activity: Taste the Sweetness of Salaa
Fill a glass with juice. Place one straw inside the drink and another outside of the glass. Have the children try to drink the juice using both straws at the same time. They will only be able to suck up air! Only be removing the straw from the outside with they then be able to drink the juice.

When our mind is wandering with thoughts about everything around us, we may be going through the actions of salaa but we wont be able to benefit from the salaa properly. It is like trying to drink from both straws at the same time! But when we focus our mind and heart on salaa we remove the straw filling with distractions from the outside. We are able to focus only on Allah and taste the sweetness of feeling close and connected to Him. It is the salaa prayed in this way which will help us gain from the benefits Allah has placed for us in it.

If you sucked hard on both straws you may have found the effort helped you draw up some juice. You will have managed to taste some of the sweetness of the drink. But was it easy? Did you manage to drink up as much as if you'd removed the outside straw completely? It's very hard to benefit from the sweetness of salaa when our mind is distracted but with every effort we make to concentrate, we benefit more from our prayer.

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Blow Life into your Salaa

Activity: Blow Life into your Salaa 

Write the The 5Ps to Perfecting our Prayer on a rubber glove. Place the glove over a paper cup and secure with an elastic band, then tuck the glove into the cup. Make a small hole on the side of the cup through which a straw can be inserted. Blow into the straw to inflate the glove upwards. Explain how when we work on improving our salaa using the 5P tool, we blow life into our salaa! Only when our salaa has life can we benefit from it.

Watch how the 5Ps blow life into our salaa!

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The 5Ps to Perfecting our Prayer

Qur'an Verse:

Akimis salaata li dhikri, Keep up Salaa for My remembrance 20:14

Salaa is the main pillar of Islam. It is the action which must be given the greatest importance because the acceptance of all our deeds depend on the acceptance of salaa. Below are five areas we can work on to improve our salaa and fill it with the remembrance of Allah.

1. Prioritize

Be aware of the salaa times so you can schedule your day accordingly around salaa. Put Allah first when making other plans!
See also: Put God First

2. Prepare

- Think of Allah during the day not just at salaa time

- Wudhu with duas

- Adhaan

- Perfume/Clean clothes/Aqiq ring

- Understand meanings

3. Ponder

Pause and sit for a minute before you start salaa and think

- Why am I praying? 

- Who am I praying to? You are standing infront of your Creator. A greater meeting than with the Queen!

4. Pay Attention

Remove distractions: 

- sound: Close door/away from people talking/TV/phone on silent

- eyes: no people passing infront of/looking at 5 different points when praying
See Also: Concentration in Salaa

5. Pray for help

Even Prophet Ibrahim asked Allah to help him keep up the salaa! Learn the Quranic dua 14:40 and ask Allah to help you understand and give importance to praying salaa properly. 

Activity: The 5Ps to Perfecting our Prayer

Have the children illustrate the lesson by drawing around the hand and labelling each finger with one of the 5Ps. Have them brainstorm and add notes how each one can be worked on. Have them reflect, share ideas and write down one action point on how they will work on improving their salaa to implement the lesson. Explain how to make progressive goals and work through each one over time.

Watch lesson in action

Activity: Blow Life into your Salaa

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Make a Compass

UK Qibla direction found by using the compass to locate South East 

Quran Verse: 
Turn your face in the direction of the Holy Mosque 2:144

One of the ways we can find the Qibla direction is by using a compass. To use a compass, we need to know the direction of Makkah from where we live. For example, Makkah is approximately to the South East of the UK. Therefore, if we have a compass, we can find out which direction is South East, and pray in that direction.

Follow the Wiki How instructions for how to make a compass and use it to find the approximate Qibla direction.

1. Fill a large shallow bowl with water
2. Magnetize a needle by rubbing it in one direction across a magnet approximately 30 times.
3. Balance or thread the needle through some styrofoam or cork and place it on the water.
4. Watch it rotate as it locates north
5. Check accuracy with a compass to confirm direction.

Extension: 
Read the history about the Qibla direction from the Qur'an 2:142-150

Live it:
Having a Qibla reminds us that everything in our life must be focused and directed towards Allah. In the Qur'an, Allah tells us "make your direction the rushing to do good wherever you are". 2:148. Are we living a life in the right direction?

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The Position of Sajda and the Turba

Download and print worksheet

Lesson Objective:
- Understand how the position of sajda shows obedience to Allah
- Understand how we can use the lesson to help us focus only on Allah in the day.
- Understand the blessing of sajda in making dua
- Become aware of the physical benefits of the position of sajda.
- Understand how using a turba made from the soil of Karbala is a reminder of Imam Husayn (as) and the values he stood for.

Quran Verse: wakun minas saajideen, Be of those who do sajda 15:98

Key Learning Point:

Sajda is a position that shows our obedience. When I pray salaa and make sajda on the turba of Karbala, it reminds me how I must be like Imam Husayn (as) and give my bay’at only to Allah and the Ahlulbayt. Allah is my Creator and I am His servant. Unlike Iblis, I listen and do what Allah tells me and obey Him completely.

Lesson Introduction:

Sajda is a position when we bow down our heads onto the ground.

Allah tells us in the Qur’an 2:34 that when He created the first man, Prophet Adam, He asked the angels to ‘do sajda’ and bow down. The angels all listened to Allah and did what He said. They all obeyed Allah and did sajda, but Iblis did not. He thought he was better because he was made of fire and Prophet Adam was made of mud. Shaytan did not obey Allah and do what He asked him.

Putting our face on the ground, in a way that we can’t even see what is happening around us, would not be a position we would usually put ourselves in, but doing sajda is a way of lowering ourselves and remembering that Allah is the most High and we are his ‘abd’, we are His creation.

When we do sajda, it makes us remember how we must ‘atiullah’, always listen and do whatever Allah says with all our actions. We must obey Him completely. When we make sajda, we aren’t distracted  looking at everything that is happening around us. We are focused just on Allah. In the day there will be lots of distractions and things that try to take you away from Allah, that make you want to do things that are wrong, but you must remember that your focus is to always follow and do only what Allah says.

Imam Husayn (as) lived his whole life obeying Allah. Everytime we make salaa and our eyes fall on the turba made from the soil of Karbala, we are reminded of this great Iman who showed so much love and obedience to Allah. He stood for the truth, refusing to agree to Yazid’s rules but gave bay’at only to Allah. It is a daily reminder to us of how we want to be like Imam Husayn and live in a way that we always do what Allah has said.

We have been taught by our Imams that the position of sajda is the best to make dua. Imam Zainul Abideen loved to be in sajda so much, he even became known as Imam Sajjad!

The sajda is the only position in which head becomes lower than the heart and so blood gushes towards the brain in full force. The increased blood supply to the brain helps with better memory, concentration and less headaches!

Activity: Download and print worksheet

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Salaa Lapbook

Learning Objective:

- To compile an introduction to the Salaa and it's prerequisites

Qur'an Verse:

Akimis salaata li dhikri

Keep up Salaa for My remembrance 20:14

Contents:

Steps in Wudhu

How to Pray

There is no falah without Salaa!

Times of Salaa

Adhaan

Qibla

Taqibaat

Getting ready to pray

Download template for inserts

Download Wudhu images

Download complete lesson plan: Salaa

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Put God First

Lesson Objective:
- To understand that to be successful we must put God first and give importance to Salaa.

Allahu Akber! Allah is greater than anything and anyone! We must make Him the focus of our lives and give more importance to the things that He has asked us to do, than what we want to do. We must always put Allah first!

Activity: 

There are so many activities we do each day. Scoop some rice into a jar as you name each activity that fills the day. Continue to add the rice until the jar is full.

Show some golf balls and explain how they represent the things which Allah has asked us to do Salaa, Qur’an etc.  – how will we fit these in now? If we're busy doing only what we want to do and haven't planned our day to do what Allah loves, then we haven't filled our day with what's truly important. 

Empty the jar and fill back in reverse order with the balls first followed by the rice.

But if we put God first and do what He has asked us to, He will bless our day in a way that it can be filled with true success!

Watch the visual lesson: Put God First

Download complete lesson plan: Salaa

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Salaa Chatterbox

Recap salaa learning in a fun way by making a chatterbox!

Mark up and write various salaa related questions under the flaps:

An example of a simple Salaa chatterbox with lots of movement!

1. Choose a number and count out

2. Which salaa has the chosen number of rakaats? 

3. Open flap to read question:

Show Juloos position
Show 4 parts you must wash in wudhu
Do press up the number of rakats in maghrib
Say the names of the salaa backwards
Show the actions for one rakaa
Do 5 star jumps and say the salaa names
Hop the number of rakaats in Dhuhr + Asr
Clap how many rakaats we pray each day

Download complete lesson plan: Salaa

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Qibla

Key Learning Point: 
Muslims from all over the world pray facing the same direction, towards the Ka'ba in Makkah. It is called the Qibla. Everyday when we pray, we remember that we are facing the House of Allah. It helps us to check if we are doing good deeds that are taking us close to Allah.

Quran Verse: 
Wa ahsin, do good 28:77

ACTIVITY: Qibla Arrow
Materials Needed:
Cardboard
Colour pens
Compass
Map

Use a map/globe to point out the locations of the home city and Makkah and have the children use a compass to locate the Qibla direction.
Decorate an arrow with a picture of the Ka’ba and stick it in bedroom.
Explain how it is good to try and face this special direction every time we do something. It reminds us of Allah and makes us think about whether we are doing something that would make Allah happy.

Other Resources:
Qibla and Cardinal Directions by Teaching Young Muslims

Extention Activity: Make A Compass

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