← The five pillars in daily life ·
The five pillars in daily life
Grade 11 · World Religions and Belief Traditions in Daily Life, Grade 11, Open (HRF3O) · Strand D · D3, D1 · 60 min
Mapped by the museum, not endorsed by the Ministry.
An HRF3O pathway on the five pillars as they are lived day by day: the shahada, wudu and prayer, zakat, fasting in Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, the Hajj and Eid al-Adha, and the calendar that orders the year.
Lesson goal
Students describe the function and meaning of the daily and yearly observances in a Muslim's life, and distinguish what the individual does from what the community does.
What the lesson does, in the museum's words
The lesson describes a Muslim's daily observances (the shahada, wudu, the five prayers) and explains their function and meaning, then the yearly festivals and occasions (Ramadan, the two Eids, the Hajj) and their role in the community's life, in the language of description, not ruling, and in the named Sunni frame.
The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 to 12: Social Sciences and Humanities, 2013
Sixty minutes. The pathway is descriptive: the museum issues no rulings and never says what anyone must do; differences between the schools on details are named, not settled. A guest who tells their own day works well.
Lesson steps
- The five pillars — Five acts that unite Muslims: what they are and why five. · The five pillars of Islam
- The shahada — One sentence by which a person enters Islam and which is said every day. · The shahada
- Wudu — Water before prayer: purity as a daily habit. · Wudu (ablution)
- Prayer — Five times a day: the times, the movements, the mosque and the home. · Salah (the prescribed prayer)
- Zakat — A share of wealth each year for those entitled: worship as economics. · Zakat (obligatory alms)
- Fasting in Ramadan — A month from dawn to sunset: the day, the iftar, the night. · Fasting in Ramadan
- Eid al-Fitr — The morning of the Eid after the month: prayer, charity and visits. · Eid al-Fitr
- The Hajj and Eid al-Adha — The journey of a lifetime for those who can, and a festival for those who stay at home. · Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca) · Eid al-Adha
- The Hijri calendar — A lunar year that moves through the seasons: why Ramadan falls in summer one decade and in winter another. · The Hijri calendar
Worksheet
Answer in your own words after each step; every question points back to a museum page.
-
Draw the timetable of one day for a Muslim: where do the five prayers fall?
-
What is the function of wudu before prayer, and what does it say about the meaning of purity?
-
How does zakat join worship and society?
-
Describe a day of Ramadan in a Muslim home from dawn to night.
-
Why does Ramadan come in different seasons from year to year?
Answer key
Each worksheet question is answered by one step; the number points to the step.
-
Draw the timetable of one day for a Muslim: where do the five prayers fall?
4 Prayer — Five times a day: the times, the movements, the mosque and the home. · Salah (the prescribed prayer)
-
What is the function of wudu before prayer, and what does it say about the meaning of purity?
3 Wudu — Water before prayer: purity as a daily habit. · Wudu (ablution)
-
How does zakat join worship and society?
5 Zakat — A share of wealth each year for those entitled: worship as economics. · Zakat (obligatory alms)
-
Describe a day of Ramadan in a Muslim home from dawn to night.
6 Fasting in Ramadan — A month from dawn to sunset: the day, the iftar, the night. · Fasting in Ramadan
7 Eid al-Fitr — The morning of the Eid after the month: prayer, charity and visits. · Eid al-Fitr
-
Why does Ramadan come in different seasons from year to year?
9 The Hijri calendar — A lunar year that moves through the seasons: why Ramadan falls in summer one decade and in winter another. · The Hijri calendar
Free and open: print, quote and adapt, with no account and no student data.