Teaching about Islam

After studying Christian theology and a PGCE, I became a secondary RE teacher in the 1980s. That brought me to the study of Islam in order to facilitate a syllabus on the Abrahamic religions. Without knowing it at the time, that initial MA set me on the path for the rest of my life, studying different aspects of Islam and helping other people to understand it in its richness and diversity. Over fifteen years I delivered more than one hundred twenty-hour adult popular education courses on Understanding Islam around Birmingham and London. Since charitable funding dried up with the banking crash, I have concentrated on developing written and electronic resources for teachers and others who want to understand Islam and the theological interaction between Christianity and Islam.

The vehicle to deliver the electronic resources is my own website (chrishewer.org). A Muslim satellite TV channel asked me to deliver a weekly thirty-minute programme on Understanding Islam. This formed the basis for a comprehensive course in forty-six parts, which can be found on my website with the video recordings, each accompanied by a written article. Similarly, electronic material developed for an online distance learning course was incorporated alongside written resources tailored to fit the GCSE RS Islam syllabus. All these resources are made available without charge to be downloaded from my website. Together with in-service days delivered on request, the web-based materials comprise the principal means for assisting teachers in the classroom.

Few teachers have had the privilege of years of concentrated study of different strands within the complex web that is Islam. This can lead to a restricted menu in our teaching. To augment this, I have contributed material on the website on both Twelver and Sevener Shi’a traditions, the different schools of Sunni law, theological schools and the continuum between reason and tradition. Shi’a Islam is often less well resourced, so there is a new section on the website, ‘Hussain&Justice,’ exploring the circumstances leading up to the massacre at Karbala; which, in Shi’a understanding, is the most significant event in Muslim history after the life of Muhammad. This provides material not only for the discrete topic of Karbala and Ashura but also gives insights for reflection on many aspects of human living.

Islam understands itself to be something more than a religion or set of practices and beliefs. It speaks of itself using the Arabic word din, meaning a complete way of life both individually and collectively. The guidance of the Qur’an, embodied in the life of the Prophet Muhammad, is meant to speak to the human condition for everyone. This affects the way that I teach Islam. It should be presented in such a way that it resonates empathetically with students; whether they follow it or not. Material on the website on modesty, or economics, provides plenty for discussion at KS3 and thought-provoking content on relieving the sufferings of others is provided for KS2. Teachers often ask me how they can make Islam come alive; by putting the human condition at the centre, Islam provides relevant grounds for lively reflection.