← The Hajj: one journey that links communities across the world ·
The Hajj: one journey that links communities across the world
Grade 6 · Social Studies, Grade 6 (G6-SS) · Strand A · A2, A3 · 60 min
Mapped by the museum, not endorsed by the Ministry.
A Grade 6 lesson on the Hajj as a global network: what pilgrims do in Mecca, where they have come from for centuries, and how a Muslim community in Canada today is linked to the world through this journey.
Lesson goal
Students explain the stages of the Hajj and show how one journey links communities in many countries, including their own in Canada.
What the lesson does, in the museum's words
The lesson supplies the historical and geographical matter of a practice that defines a contemporary religious community in Canada: the Hajj. The museum provides the journey, its stages and its history; the teacher adds the experience of a local Muslim community (a neighbourhood mosque, a family, a guest), so that students investigate that community's perspective and aspects of its life, as the strand asks.
The Ontario Curriculum: Social Studies, Grades 1 to 6; History and Geography, Grades 7 and 8, 2023 (dcp.edu.gov.on.ca)
Sixty minutes: fifteen for the stages on a map, twenty for the two historical steps, twenty-five for the local-community step and the worksheet. The museum has no records yet on Muslims in Canada; that step belongs to the teacher and the guest.
Lesson steps
- What is the Hajj? — A journey to Mecca once in a lifetime for those who are able, on set days of the year. · Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca)
- Mecca and the Kaaba — The city Muslims face in prayer, and the House they walk around. · Mecca · The Kaaba
- Tawaf, circling the Kaaba — Seven circuits around the Kaaba: what the pilgrim does and says. · Tawaf (circling the Kaaba)
- The day of Arafat — The most important day of the Hajj: standing on a wide plain from noon to sunset. · Arafat
- Mina and the Eid — The tent days at Mina, and Eid al-Adha, which Muslims across the world celebrate on the same day. · Mina · Eid al-Adha
- A king from Mali goes on Hajj — Mansa Musa travelled from Timbuktu to Mecca in 1324 with a great caravan: the Hajj seven centuries ago. · Mansa Musa
- A traveller from Morocco — Ibn Battuta set out for the Hajj and travelled the world for thirty years, writing down what he saw. · Ibn Battuta, Muhammad ibn Abd Allah
- A calendar the world keeps — The Hijri calendar fixes the days of the Hajj and the Eid for every Muslim in any country. · The Hijri calendar
- From Canada to Mecca — The teacher's step: how does a Muslim community in your town prepare for the Hajj and the Eid? Invite someone to tell it. · Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca)
Worksheet
Answer in your own words after each step; every question points back to a museum page.
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Draw the route: from the pilgrim's home to Mecca, then Arafat, then Mina. What happens at each place?
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Mansa Musa and Ibn Battuta: where did each come from, and in which century?
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Why do Muslims in Canada, Indonesia and Egypt celebrate the Eid on the same day?
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Write one question you would ask a pilgrim from your community.
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What links your local community with a city thousands of kilometres away?
Answer key
Each worksheet question is answered by one step; the number points to the step.
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Draw the route: from the pilgrim's home to Mecca, then Arafat, then Mina. What happens at each place?
1 What is the Hajj? — A journey to Mecca once in a lifetime for those who are able, on set days of the year. · Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca)
3 Tawaf, circling the Kaaba — Seven circuits around the Kaaba: what the pilgrim does and says. · Tawaf (circling the Kaaba)
4 The day of Arafat — The most important day of the Hajj: standing on a wide plain from noon to sunset. · Arafat
5 Mina and the Eid — The tent days at Mina, and Eid al-Adha, which Muslims across the world celebrate on the same day. · Mina · Eid al-Adha
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Mansa Musa and Ibn Battuta: where did each come from, and in which century?
6 A king from Mali goes on Hajj — Mansa Musa travelled from Timbuktu to Mecca in 1324 with a great caravan: the Hajj seven centuries ago. · Mansa Musa
7 A traveller from Morocco — Ibn Battuta set out for the Hajj and travelled the world for thirty years, writing down what he saw. · Ibn Battuta, Muhammad ibn Abd Allah
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Why do Muslims in Canada, Indonesia and Egypt celebrate the Eid on the same day?
5 Mina and the Eid — The tent days at Mina, and Eid al-Adha, which Muslims across the world celebrate on the same day. · Mina · Eid al-Adha
8 A calendar the world keeps — The Hijri calendar fixes the days of the Hajj and the Eid for every Muslim in any country. · The Hijri calendar
-
Write one question you would ask a pilgrim from your community.
9 From Canada to Mecca — The teacher's step: how does a Muslim community in your town prepare for the Hajj and the Eid? Invite someone to tell it. · Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca)
-
What links your local community with a city thousands of kilometres away?
9 From Canada to Mecca — The teacher's step: how does a Muslim community in your town prepare for the Hajj and the Eid? Invite someone to tell it. · Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca)
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