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Over the last year, I have had the opportunity to build my department from essentially scratch, shaping our Key Stage 3 (KS3) curriculum in line with my vision for RE. After exhausting the Locally Agreed Syllabus, I went about ascertaining ‘priority’ topics for our pupils. Prior to the re-sequencing a student could complete secondary education spending only one one hour studying Judaism. Exploring Judaism was then my priority. However, I was stuck as to how to do justice to this extremely rich and diverse religion and tradition. Luckily, a PGCE peer came to my aid and allowed me to borrow her Scheme of Work (SOW), from which I drew much inspiration, adapting it to suit our school and pupils.

To promote religious literacy, we begin examining the notion of identity, particularly diverse identities within the Jewish tradition. The ‘Do Now’ starter task invites pupils to note what makes them, them; exploring their own identities. It is really important to start the SOW exploring the multiplicity of identities within the Jewish tradition, because if pupils’ have any knowledge of Judaism prior to the unit, it is overwhelmingly based on overgeneralized, single-lensed stereotypes, often images of Haredi Jews. Many are simply unaware that there are varied identities within Judaism and believe they do not know anyone who is Jewish, which isn’t true; they just didn’t know any Haredi Jews as they believe all Jewish people to be like.

We look at Orthodox, Liberal, and Secular identities and expression in daily and yearly life. I try to stress that Liberal and Orthodox Jews are no less ‘devoted’ or believe any less, but simply express faith differently. This provides a sustained reference point throughout the SOW. While exploring Kosher, Shabbat and Passover we refer back these and how expressions are varied in divergent Jewish tradition communities. For example, with observance of Shabbat, we suggest Orthodox Communities may avoid all work: light switches, cars, and mobile phones. Whereas some Liberal or Reform Jews may observe in adapted, often more modern ways, such as using cars to drive to Synagogue, allowing some electrical appliances (ovens, kettles) or, as one student offered from her own life observing when with Grandparents and using her phone (Instagram!) throughout.

Most effective for religious literacy is drawing on those with personal experience. I was fortunate to have Jewish pupils who offered their worldviews and traditions. This enabled students to connect ideas to varied interpretations and individuals they knew, bringing their learning to life and allowing them to interact positively with various worldviews. In addition, we invited in our local Liberal Rabbi to speak to the whole cohort about her faith, worldview and traditions. This was an incredible experience! It shocked the pupils to learn that, as part of her Liberal Jewish identity, she did not ‘keep kosher’ – for she could not then eat and celebrate with non-Jewish neigbours, and that she had had a scientific career in the traditionally male-dominated field of Chemistry prior to becoming a Rabbi, another traditionally male-dominated vocation. They were full of questions about her experience as a female faith leader: the reaction of Orthodox Jews to her position as Rabbi, her favourite parts of Shabbat – community worship, foods, time to pause and reflect on life, the week, and faith – and her experiences of Anti-Semitism. In particular, her family’s connection to the Holocaust and the inspiring journey of her Grandmother across Europe during the War, including liberation at Mauthausen in 1945 and her return to Prague, where she had fled 6 years prior. These personal experiences held the key to unlocking my pupils’ religious literacy about the multiplicity of Jewish traditions and worldviews, how lived faith was so different to the strict, traditional and ‘textbook’ religion many had expected from a Rabbi and leader in their local Jewish community – shamefully, far greater than I could achieve teaching in the classroom.

I understand this is not possible for all schools in all areas, my hometown wouldn’t have such a luxury of a nearby Liberal Rabbi however there are many websites and services online that would willingly engage in a dialogue, whether it be a prerecorded Q&A session, or even a live virtual meet, as we have all become accustomed to since the start of the pandemic! However, with certainty I say it was by far the best way of promoting religious literacy around the multiplicity of lived Judaism and real-life Jewish worldviews. I would advise starting with the basics – bust the myths, dispel stereotypes and open eyes to the diverse identities within the Jewish tradition, this will allow for more effective personal dialogue further into their learning.

Each day I face the challenge of how to sell an abstract idea to pupils who struggle with concrete ideas. You want them to walk on a path that they cannot see when they can only just comprehend a path that they can physically walk on. Recently as a link to the term’s theme of ‘Light Fantastic,’ I wanted the pupils to engage with the Christian creation story, (God said on day one, ‘Let there be light.’) The approach I took allowed pupils to glimpse the abstract through learning activities that they were easily able to access and understand.

I began with a sensory story. A sensory story makes the whole tale more real and although at times pupils can be shocked, that sense of awe and wonder is more likely to end up with them remembering what they have been listening to. When God made the oceans, I sprayed water in the pupil’s faces, when God made the trees, I threw leaves all over the classroom, when God made animals, I jumped around the room pretending to be a gorilla. The end result of this, my pupils were able to recount most of the things that God created.

To tap into the imagination, I followed up the sensory story with an animated story. I have not taught a pupil at our school yet that does not enjoy a cartoon. The screening of the animated story gives the pupils an alternative opportunity to encounter and engage with the story of creation.

Most of our pupils use some kind of AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication Aid.) This takes many forms from PECS, (Picture Exchange Communication System) books to intuitive I-Pad software that uses a symbol to speech engine. Somewhere in between these is the POD, (Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display) board. Throughout every lesson on creation I had on display a set of picture prompts that utilised coloured semantics and contained all of the necessary information required. I referred to this during each lesson and it acted as a constant prompt for the pupils.

The final activity tapped into a different sensory approach. At the beginning of this unit of work the pupils were all given a blank A2 sheet of card. This card was white. I explained to them that this represented the light that Christians believe God brought to the world. As we experienced each day of creation, the pupils completed another piece of their creation pictures. They painted the sky, the land, they painted trees, they glued on animals, they filled the seas with life and used paint and glitter to make the sun, moon and stars. By the end of the unit of work they had created the world just as God had created the world.

By using a multi-sensory approach, the pupils were able to fully engage with the creation story and had multiple opportunities to experience, understand and recall the required information.

On my first day in my current post as class teacher and R.E. lead in a school for pupils with S.E.N aged 4 to 16, I tried to find details of the current R.E. curriculum, only to find that it did not exist. I urgently needed to write one from scratch, a daunting prospect. Fear soon turned to excitement as here was an opportunity to write a curriculum that was accessible and meaningful. However, cracks soon appeared in my enthusiasm.

Religion is an abstract concept, the idea of a God even more so. I spend a lot of time working with pupils on object permanence, things exist even when we cannot see them. A pupil arrives and their coat is taken and hung up, they then move into class. To that pupil the coat now does not exist. At the end of the day when they return to the cloakroom to find that their coat is there, it is like you have performed a miracle! If pupils cannot recognize that the coat is always there, finding a way for them to understand a God that they cannot see would be tough.

‘Hey, people believe there is a God who has powers beyond measure, who knows and sees everything. They believe he is looking at you right now!’ At this point there is pandemonium in the classroom as the pupil runs around the room trying to find the God that is looking at them. I continue, ‘Do not worry, he is not really here looking at you.’ The pupil is now confused, ‘But you said he sees everything?’ Another pupil offers another opinion, ‘Does God know when I am on the toilet and am I being watched because that is just weird?’ Finding a way to promote these concepts was a challenge.

Another hurdle was how to embed the locally agreed syllabus into the curriculum. The current syllabus has scant guidelines on how a school like ours should incorporate the agreed content.

After a term of work, I came up with a curriculum that had clear intent: Our pupils will benefit from learning opportunities which allow them to engage with and retell religious, moral and spiritual stories and describe the key figures, symbols and practices of a variety of religious, humanist and secular beliefs. They will be encouraged to develop their understanding by asking questions about religious beliefs, religious practices and on a variety of world views.

The curriculum also had to be implemented: Pupils will be provided with varied, dynamic and differentiated learning materials that encourage them to explore a range of beliefs. The work produced each week will be evidenced through pupil’s files of work, annotated photographs and learning journeys. Content of individual lessons will be observed on a regular basis through the school provision monitoring system.

Most important of all, the curriculum would need to have an impact on the pupils: Pupils will know about and understand a range of religions and worldviews. Pupils will be able to express their own views on religion and worldviews and empathise with other’s beliefs and practices. Pupils will have the spiritual, moral, social and cultural knowledge needed to allow them to become resilient, respectful and to feel valued.

Our pupils benefit from a kinesthetic approach. When learning about the ten plagues of Egypt, I gave my pupils buckets of plastic frogs and we spent ten minutes throwing them about, covering everything in sight. This physical representation of the plague was great fun to do and allowed the pupils to gain understanding.

Visual resources are available for all content. Our pupils struggle to absorb and recall written information, so our learning uses a range of media including animations, pictures and storytelling.

This approach has enabled all of our pupils to access R.E. This work is ongoing, we try to maximize cross-curricular opportunities and my colleagues are always coming to me with fantastic ideas of how to differentiate content, this has enabled me to build an accessible curriculum.

A few years ago, I was browsing in a bookshop for inspiration (something I won’t take for granted after the lockdown!), not necessarily for teaching ideas but just looking for something new. I happened across a small book called ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ by Danny Wallace. The book had a short introduction which included the following simple message ‘undertake a random act of kindness for a stranger when you can’… I bought the book and read it quickly, instantly realising that I could use this in my Key Stage 3 RE lessons….

The book was originally written in 2004 and some of the things suggested might not be welcomed perhaps as much now as we have become a more suspicious and cynical society – so the suggestion to ‘Hug an estate agent’ or ‘smile at the person in the car next to you’ might lead to interesting conversations with law enforcement, however many of the other simple suggestions struck a chord including ‘Bring a Friend’s pet a treat’, ‘Ask someone more questions than you answer’ ‘take your glass back at the bar’ and ‘anonymously pay for someone’s food in a café’. I started to think that taken in isolation these events may seem daft but what if the person who benefits was having a bad day? Would this little act help restore them a little?

I started to think about my students who were often needlessly picky with each other, I would spend far too much time asking them not to do something when I could in fact now encourage them to do something positive – I taught my next lesson to a particularly unpleasant Year 8 group (unpleasant in the fact that they just seemed to loathe everyone and everything even sometimes RE!) using examples from the book and challenged them to take a look at their lives. This led me to set them a task – by the time I next saw them they must have attempted a random (safe) act of kindness for someone at home and someone in their class who they didn’t usually bother with.  I also encouraged them to be kind to their maths teachers who had a daily battle with them.

I waited until the next lesson rolled round wondering if they had indeed had a go or whether they would be unaltered – I was amazed. We spent half the lesson sharing stories and ideas, recalling the reactions from those they helped and reflecting on how these acts made them feel. I also had several maths teachers asking what had happened as the class were unusually responsive

Since then I built a ‘random acts of kindness’ lesson into each year and tied it in with other areas like charities and environmental action campaigns… we went on to look at the work of charities and how money was spent, what we could do locally and how/why helping people we don’t know is an important part of human life

When I rolled out some of these ideas at teacher networks and conferences we decided to look at a variety of organisations committed to raising awareness and improving the lives of others both locally and around the world. One we looked at was ‘toilet twinning’ and how much we appreciated having our waste removed!

We then recognised that many of the major faiths and worldviews encouraged followers to look after those around them and around the world, we looked at key texts that encouraged kindness and considered why these might have been necessary at the time of writing – this helped to draw links between the context of when the words were written and the need for these to be acted upon today, recognising that although times may change, the need to look out for others remains, this starts small in our own area and ripples out to reach a wider audience.

Such a small book which included small achievable kindnesses left a mark on me and hopefully on many of my students who will have benefited from making and receiving such kindnesses. Sometimes we wait for others to lead us when in fact we can do a lot to improve the lives of those around us with small acts. As Gandhi said, ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’. It starts with us.

I recently began tutoring on the Teach RE course for Culham St Gabriel’s. I felt honoured to be asked and, finding out about the required time commitment, I felt it was something I could do outside of my usual work commitments without it becoming too onerous. In reality, it means a couple of hours each time a new assignment comes in so you can read it and assess it, plus dedicated time for mentoring meetings and reassuring phone calls.

I always enjoyed having student teachers when I was in the classroom and so I had a sneaking suspicion I would enjoy this role and I was not disappointed. It feels good to have an avenue to channel all your accrued knowledge and experience so that somebody else can benefit, and, as is so often the case, there is that opportunity to learn from someone else, especially somebody looking at the world of RE with fresh eyes. I so often found what my tutee was writing about in her tasks interesting and inspiring.

The other plus point as a tutor is that you get to do the background reading too. Some great articles are made available through the Teach:RE modules and I found myself looking forward to reading these and how they would be put to use by my tutee in her latest assignment. Reading them yourself means you can ask pertinent questions and support your tutee in making links across their different avenues of study.

It was definitely one of the perks to see how the quality of work done by those undertaking the course develops as they move through the programme. But one of the greatest rewards is witnessing the development of confidence and encouraging your tutee to extend their reach of influence through engaging with local and national RE groups, attending SACRE meetings and sharing their own research further afield through various possible publication routes e.g. RE:OLINE blog, RE Today article, etc.

Sometimes the turn-around can be challenging if your own workload is heavy. There is the expectation that you respond to submitted assignments within 2 days. However, this isn’t much of a challenge if you plan in the time you want to spend on tutoring alongside your usual timetable. Using online platforms such as Teams or Zoom has made the ongoing mentoring aspect so much easier than face to face meetings requiring travel.

I feel that I have gained a lot from engaging with current practice and research as a tutor on this programme. Keeping yourself up to date with national developments in RE is certainly an advantage when tutoring, so you can signpost relevant, new things for your tutee. I think you need to be well-organised and passionate about RE, with a desire to help others flourish. You also need to be good at written and verbal communication, as you will be directing adults, making corrections and suggested amendments to assignments where needed and encouraging tutees to meet deadlines and push themselves where necessary. It all takes diplomacy but with a warmth that encourages the tutee to really explore the best they are capable of, and I guarantee you will learn from them along the way. It is a mutually-beneficial way of working with colleagues.

I would like to continue tutoring on the Teach:RE course, and, where possible, share some of the expertise I have developed, such as my work on Theologies of Reading. For now though, I am just grateful to have been given the opportunity to be part of the pilot and to have helped nurture my tutee towards the excellent outcomes she achieved by being part of this great programme.

Of the many great speakers at REXChange this year, the moment that inspired me the most was Dr Richard Kueh’s “Religious Education and Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework.  It was great to see knowledge, especially building knowledge of the complexities and diversity of Religion & Worldviews, being promoted alongside the importance of impact on the child’s personal worldview.

As quoted in the presentation, “good readers of texts are self-aware of their assumptions”. Our pupils can come to learning in RE with many assumptions beyond texts; be it from home, society, media or past misconceptions.  How can we make pupils self-reflective and self-aware? How do we get them to leave their own assumptions at the door? One approach I took in recent lessons to counter this was asking children to define or reflect upon the key concept for the lessons right at the beginning.

“Who is God to you?” I asked. From these personal definitions we were able to engage prior learning from the year before; unpack misconceptions; and, most importantly, delineate between what was prior learning and what was personal worldview or belief. Of great discussion was do you need to believe in God to learn about Christian ideas of God? As one child eloquently put it “you don’t need to support a team to learn about football in PE, so why is it any different in RE?”. To be fair on my unwitting students, I had deliberately posed the question to see if it would cause an academic or personal/emotive reaction. Taking time to reflect upon and then put aside the personal helped students to be open minded about the aspects of God seen in the Bible and what these mean in context.

This leads me on to the second point of the presentation that got me excited and thinking in equal measure. As part of the RE inspection, “Personal Knowledge” will be investigated. How are students reflecting upon learning in light of their own personal worldview? Does learning fit in with their worldview or is this new learning helping to shape it? At my rural Norfolk school, we are 95%+ White British and Christian or of Christian heritage. Therefore, promoting diversity and understanding of the complexity of the world is a core theme of our curriculum. We aim to negate children seeing RE as “learning about our stuff and their stuff” as one child put it.

I am still working on ideas to evidence this second point. How can you measure a change in personal worldview in an 8-year-old? Maybe through discussion of contentious issues? Possibly through exploring the Civil Rights movement and reflecting upon why others would want to oppress others?

My hypothesis is that it will be measured over the long term, with teachers seeing more open minded students. Children who have learnt to appreciate the filter their own personal worldview brings to their learning and how that learning in turn alters that filter. Lots to investigate and lots to think about and even more to be Inspired by.

The last few years have been an interesting journey for me, not only in terms of my career, but also in terms of my thinking. When the Commission on RE’s Interim Report came out in 2017, I admit to being rather sceptical about a change of name for RE. However, I reflected, read and reflected more. I used to find the train or car journey’s useful for thinking about these matters!! Now I have to carve out time in the week to do this. It is important, because I believe what is being suggested in the Final Commission on RE Report (2018) regarding Religion and Worldviews is a vital paradigm shift, and not just a name change, and a potential game-changer for our subject.

On a personal level this has been a challenging and enthralling journey so far, and it is not at an end. My thinking is fluid, I am trying to see possibilities, to continue to read more and to learn from others across the diversity of our Religion and Worldviews community.  At the launch of a recent Theos report Dr Lois Lee talked about being part of a meaningful process. For me, this described not only my personal journey, but also what I think is happening in our subject community at the moment.

This is why I welcome two recent reports. The first is a literature review entitled ‘Worldview: A Multidisciplinary Report’.  This review was commissioned by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales working in partnership with TRS-UK. It aims to provide clarity as to the historical and contemporary use of the term ‘worldview’ in a number of disciplines. This report raises questions and at the end there is an invitation to engage; to be part of the conversation.

The second report, alluded to above is an independent academic report authored by Cooling with Bowie and Panjwani, entitled ‘Worldviews in Religious Education’ and published by Theos. One of the most powerful chapters in this report comprises three autobiographical reflections that illustrate the impact of worldview on academic development. The interaction between personal worldviews and what we might call worldview traditions in this section illustrates to me the educational potential of the worldview concept.

For me both these reports emphasise the fact that as a subject community we are in a meaningful process. These reports are not in themselves destinations; they are to be engaged with, discussed and reflected upon. They provide vital tools to help us work through what the new language means. Alongside these reports I have noticed  conversations opening up; I have observed and read about teachers sharing what a paradigm shift might mean for the curriculum; I have taken part in a media discussion where journalists asked questions about what Religion and Worldviews means; I have listened to Ofsted’s Dr Richard Kueh, talking about new ways of understanding knowledge within this paradigm shift…. All these moves are part of a meaningful process of engagement. The question is, will you be part of this process?

https://www.religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20-19438-REC-Worldview-Report-A4-v2.pdf Literature Review

https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/research/2020/10/21/worldviews-in-religious-education Theos Report

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAK1lCS2_y0 You Tube Recording of Theos Report Launch Event

https://www.reonline.org.uk/news/opening-up-conversations-about-religion-and-worldviews/ Includes teachers and other professionals discussing Religion and Worldviews in a series of blogs

One of the major things I use in the classroom is controversy. I don’t mean that I say deliberately offensive things to get my students angry, but I do pose difficult questions. I often play devil’s advocate and ask them ‘Big Questions’ that are usually reserved for adults or older children. I decided to do this after watching Mary Myatt talk about ‘High Challenge and Low Threat’. If they fail, they haven’t lost anything – it was a difficult question. If they succeed, then they have tackled something huge that adults struggle with.

So, when thinking about these huge questions, about life and death and the universe, we look at Phillipa Foot’s ‘Trolley problem’. This is the first thing we study in the year 5 RE Curriculum. I use it to get the children talking to each other and posing questions, knowing that it is a question given to Harvard Law students. The problem goes roughly like this:

There is a runaway train or trolley car that is hurtling towards a fork in the tracks. In one direction there is a person tied down who will certainly be killed if the trolley travels on that track. To make matters worse in the other direction there are, inexplicably, 5 people tied to the track! There is a person, looking rather glum at the junction box – they must choose which track to send the trolley. Herein lies the dilemma; which way should the lever be pulled?

The children often spend the first 20 minutes trying to ‘James Bond’ their way out of it by placing the lever in the middle, derailing the train and quickly running to untie everyone. After these possibilities are denied to them, as inventive as they are, they start to tackle the real issues and discuss the agonizing problem at hand. The unit itself is about Utilitarianism and before we look at the Trolley Problem the children are well versed in the principle of ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’. Because of this some of the children immediately make their decision based on this principle and save the 5 and let the 1 die. Once this has been discussed we talk about the complications:

‘What if the 1 was a doctor and she could save a million lives?’

‘What if the 5 were all murderous criminals?’

‘What if the 5 were very old?’

What if the 1 was the Prime Minister?’

All of these complications lead to wonderful discussions about the worth of people and what, if anything, makes some ‘worth’ more than others- and also if this is an acceptable position to hold. Some children are quite assertive that all people, no matter what or who they are, are of equal worth.

The final option we discuss is that of a ‘third way’, I let them know that the person at the lever can simply walk away, knowing that it was in a certain position before they got there and that they cannot be held responsible….But as one child countered recently;

‘Choosing not to act is still a choice.’

Starting the debate all over again…

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What possesses a madly busy Head of RE and SLE to take on extra work tutoring for Culham St Gabriel’s ‘Teach:RE’ course? Excellent question, especially in these Covid times.

The ‘passionate advocate of the value and relevance of RE’ reason. RE, done well, is essential if young people are to understand the world around them and interact positively with it. Most teachers come into the profession wanting to improve a young person’s life chances and yet many come with their own preconceptions of RE and fail to see how RE connects to this goal. Working alongside a HTLA or non-specialist teacher, primary or secondary,  as they encounter the aims of the subject over time and develop their own vision of RE and seek to implement it through planning and curriculum design.

The practical reason – secondary non-specialists find themselves teaching RE whilst a NATRE report revealed how minimal subject specific training can be as part of a primary ITT programme. Pressures on school budgets mean less SLE working 1-1 with a teacher and fewer training courses. Tutoring for, and recommending ‘Teach:RE,’ is one way I can help to upskill and boost confidence. Many schools will pay for modules to be completed although it has to be done in a teacher’s own time (unless they can secure extra gained time – nothing ventured, nothing gained if you don’t ask!).

Assorted selfish reasons – As an experienced teacher and trainer I am often running RE specific CPD and school-led CPD is often generic. Where do I go for my development needs? An in-depth study exploring aspects of Buddhism on death rituals

The ‘What’s going on in the wider RE world’ reason – focussing on the ‘bigger picture’ is inspiring and helps keep a broader perspective. ‘Teach:RE’ has allowed me inside schools and academies across the country, with different Locally Agreed Syllabi, giving me ideas to take back to my own school. As a teacher representative on my local SACRE it is crucial to know what is going on in schools and what teachers need – this course allows me to do so.

The ‘paying it forward’ reason – it comes as a shock to realise I am now nearer retirement than my NQT year! I have been very blessed to work with, and benefit from, many ‘movers and shakers’ within the RE world who have helped me to grow and develop my practice so how do I show my gratitude? ‘Paying it forward’ to the next generation by sharing my wisdom and experience.

To answer my own question – of course I will carry on as a tutor. If you also subscribe to the view that you are always learning and developing as a teacher think about becoming a tutor or taking a module as a stimulus to developing your own practice.

In the Shia tradition, arguably the most important commemoration is on the Day of Ashura (certainly emotionally), the 10th of Muharram. This was the day the Battle of Karbala took place in 680 where Imam Hussain, grandson of Prophet Muhammad, was brutally massacred alongside his family and followers by the controversial caliph; Yazid ibn Muawiya regarded by Shi’a Muslims and many Sunnis as a tyrant. Since this happened, devotees from different cultures mourn this tragedy annually in various ways. One of the most common ways that all cultures use is poetry, which is one of the original methods of expressing grief for Ashura and in line with the ancient Arab tradition of poetry.

In Shia teachings, the role of the poet is rather special, particularly a poet who writes or recites about the virtues and tragedies of Prophet Muhammad and his family (the Ahl-al-Bayt). It is difficult to compare the role to a similar one but perhaps akin to a Chazzan in the Jewish tradition. The job of the historian and journalist is to transmit the facts of what took place. However, the poet brings emotion and imagination lending to creation of hagiography. In Shia Hadith corpus, the divinely appointed Ahl-al-Bayt command poets to recite about what happened to Hussain on Ashura and also state that the one who makes people weep for Imam Hussain through poetry is guaranteed eternal Paradise. In Shia spirituality, crying and showing grief for Imam Hussain is a sign of the softness of the heart and is a means to atone for sins.

This brings me to Bassim Al Karbalai, an Iraqi reciter of poetry and a master of the art. He is referred to as the “Voice of Zahra” (in reference to Prophet Muhammad’s daughter, Fatima) as he transmits the tragedies that took place on the Ahl-al-Bayt through his recitations. He may not be a household name to many but has status of royalty amongst reciters and considered to have the greatest voice of all time by many. I have listened to his voice daily for most of my life, both externally and internally through my conscience. Although most of his poetry is written for him by poets, it is his voice that brings them to life and paint a picture in our minds of what took place to the Ahl-al-Bayt. Even though I cannot fully grasp the Arabic language, I understand what he is saying through the pain in his voice. I believe the language of Ashura is universal since grief is a common language all of humanity shares.

I have had the pleasure of listening to Bassim recite live in the last couple of years when he has come to London which was a dream come true in itself. However, I had the honour of meeting him recently through the kindness of someone who works with him. I got to meet the voice I listen to every single day, thank him and kiss his forehead (a customary way to honour someone). It remains the greatest moment of my life and inspired me to serve Imam Hussain further, the same way Bassim has for his whole life. Serving the cause of Imam Hussain is serving God, since Imam Hussain calls towards God. I choose to serve God through educating young people to practice wisdom and develop curiosity.

One of the 10 Obligatory Acts (Furu ad Din) in Shia teachings is Tawallah (to show nearness, love and devotion to the Ahl-al-Bayt) which is best done by remembering and honouring the memories of saints who have passed. Bassim is my means to performing this action daily – remembering the sacrifice of Imam Hussain which is what gives me life and motivation to educate others. Bassim inspires me because he delivers to me the beauty of Imam Hussain.