Comparing Ramadan and Diwali 

What are their similarities and differences? 

Your Group has been invited to investigate this topic and create a presentation appropriate to be shown in a Museum of Islam. Are you up for the task? 

Task One: 

Read the Background below together as a group to get a general overview of Islam. 

Overview  Background

     In 610 CE, a merchant trader from Mecca made one of his frequent visits to a cave on nearby Mount Hira. For Muhammad ibn Abdallah it was a time to pray, to get away from the scramble for money and wealth he felt was causing his people to lose their way. According to Muhammad, it was on this visit to Mt. Hira that the archangel Gabriel squeezed him hard and cautrosed words to flow from his mouth. The words said that Allah was the one God. No doubt a bit shaken, Muhammad reported the event to his wife and her cousin but otherwise stayed silent.The words continued to come.

     In 610 Mecca was a bustling Arabian trade town with camel caravans arriving regularly from points north and south. It was also the site of an annual pilgrimage where Arab pagans came to perform rituals at the sacred Ka'ba (the holy shrine in Mecca). The Meccan population included a number of Jewish families and some Christians. There may have been a feeling among the pagan Arabs that their religious world was less sophisticated than that of the Jews and the Christians. They had nothing to match the Torah and the Bible. They had no Abraham or Moses or Jesus. But all that was about to change.

     After receiving Allah's words for two years, Muhammad decided it was time to talk. Encouraged by the support of close friends and his wife, Kadija, Muhammad began to recite the received words in public. He spoke of the one god, Allah, and the importance of charity -sharing wealth with the weak and poor. Together these teachings would be given the name Islam, the Arabic word for "submission." A follower of Islam was to be called a Muslim, meaning one "who submits to the will of Allah." After Muhammad's death in 632, Allah's words that Muhammad was reciting would be written down and called the Qur'an.

     At first, many in Mecca resisted Muhammad's preaching. What would happen to idol worship? Surely pilgrimages to Mecca would stop. Business would suffer. By 622, resistance was so strong that Muhammad decided to leave. Together with 70 families, he migrated 250 miles' north. There, in the town of Medina, he established a new base. He also made a symbolic break with the past. Muhammad had respect for Jews and Christians, "people of the Book," as he called them.

     However, at a prayer session in 624, Muhammad symbolically turned his body to the south ─ away from Jerusalem and toward Mecca. It was as much as saying that a new religion had been born.

     In 628, Muhammad made the hard decision to return to Mecca. Despite opposition, he was allowed back in the city. He soon had enough support to order that the idols in the Ka'ba be destroyed and the shrine dedicated to Allah. Pilgrimage to the Ka'ba became one of the Five Pillars, or essential duties, of Islam. These duties ─ confession of belief, prayer five times a day, Ramadan, an annual month-long fast, giving alms to the poor, and the pilgrimage to Mecca ─ would become the bedrock practices of Islam.                                                                                                                                     

     From this modest beginning in west-central Arabia, Islam exploded in size. Within 100 years of Muhammad's death, it had reached Europe and Asia. The question before us is why.  Why did Islam spread so quickly?  As you research your particular topic, keep this question in mind.....

 Task Two: 

Your group now needs to divide up and research Ramadan and Diwali.   Below are websites that you should assign to each other to go to individually and take notes.  Then compare your notes with each other and discuss the likenesses and differences between these two holidays.   Be sure again  to include major vocabulary words in your notes that you feel are key words.  Define these words. 

 Here are your websites to collect your notes and MAJOR VOCABULARY WORDS.  

 Your group will need 3 devices  so all three of you can investigate and share your notes to plan your presentation.

Brainpop:   https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/culture/ramadan/   – Ramadan

Brainpop: https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/culture/diwali/  -Diwali

*website for Diwali: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/diwali/#diwali_candles.jpg

* website for Ramadan:  http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/holidays/themonthoframadan.htm

*website for Ramadan:  http://pbskids.org/arthur/holiday/scrapbook/ramadan.html#pg-ramadan1

Task Three:

After sharing your findings, you will  create a paper slide presentation that your classmates can learn from.  

**Include major descriptions of each of these holidays within your presentation in your own words and style. 

**Include the major similarities and differences. 

**Include why both of these holidays are important. 

**Include pictures, text, etc., in creative ways to keep your audience engaged. 

**Include narration

**Every member of the group should equally share in the "load". 

**Include essential vocabulary (5-10 words) in your presentation.