School is asking children to say ‘peace be upon him’ anytime Mohammed is mentioned

I'm not 'enraged' but I do question religions

They have good parts but also damaging parts and I wonder if we get the balance right for dc

The reason they last as much as they do is because it's normalised for children

I'm sure people can think of harmful aspects of religion

Well, I'm using the title he is known by. As I would be if I said the Prophet Muhammad. Or Jesus Christ.
I suppose it's a slight difference but I see a difference. Like if I asked them to say "may his name be praised" every time they mentioned God.

Tbh I thought it was common knowledge and I’m surprised that anyone isn’t aware or is bothered about their kids saying/writing it for a few lessons.

I wonder if there’s a link between those who learned it at school and those who are less enraged by understanding, tolerating and respecting others.

Forced how exactly? Please expand.

We were taught to use it when doing school work on this particular topic.

As others have said, it’s the same as using words like Guru, or capitalising Him/He when writing about God.

It’s not about trying to make kids worship a certain religious icon (and it’s certainly not a chant) generally it’s about teaching them the correct way to refer to certain things.

I suppose it was required for the topic in school, and any test answers, to show understanding.

I didn’t look much further into it as it didn’t really impact my life beyond a few RE lessons a couple of days a year and maybe once a year one question on a RE test.

TBH it’s never come up since school. I have Muslim friends, I expect if I ever spoke to them about their religion specifically I would probably ask whether they’d prefer I use PBUH in conversation or if it’s something they think only members of the faith need to do.

My kid wouldn’t be doing this lesson! No way would they be being forced to say that. It’s a load of shite

We were taught it’s not respectful to say or write the name without adding (pbuh) and that’s still the case now.

I wasn't taught this, in fact I only knew of it from this thread

Do you mean all children had to say it or they were taught some might say this?

@soupyspoon was it present in the teaching materials/resources though?

Ive never heard of it needing to be said by children in RE. No.

No only then referring to the prophet

You’re proving my point slightly , by saying Guru Nanak, you're already signifying him as more than any Sikh or human down the street. You’re acknowledging his status and significance in Sikhism, which is directly influenced by the religion. You’re showing him respect. Why not just call him Mr Nanak or Nanak or Nanak Dev Ji?

I teach children about this but I don't expect them to say it and I don't say it myself. There are similar phrases or respect for Guru Nanak, for example, and I don't expect pupils to use those or to cross themselves if we're learning about prayer.
I think it crosses the line into worship, to be honest and I think as RE teachers it's very important we don't do that (in a non dom school).

Oh hell no.

I went to a Roman Catholic school and pupils were expected to bow their heads when they said the name "Jesus". In practice the most perfunctory nod sufficed, and this only happened in the context of a prayer, not if He* was mentioned in the context of a class discussion etc. I suspect most people would think bowing every time Jesus' name came up was a bit daft and excessive. The thing in the OP is no less so.

*Old habits die hard - I forgot we were also taught to capitalise pronouns referring to Him, but then my typing fingers did it just there!

@SerendipityJane fair enough.

There's quite a few prophets (and numerous profits) in Islam, including Jesus. They all get the courtesy pbuh.

15 yo Jesus from Brazil tho? No need.

But I don't believe in prophets.

Now profits on the other hand ....

I recall a story about a hand dipped in honey and then into the sand ?

Obviously not it's only when referencing the prophet.

Just to help muddy clear the waters a bit ...

Is it any mention of the name "Mohammad" that requires the extra ink "PHUH" ?

According to Sikh belief there is no difference in spirit between such a Guru and God. “The Guru is God and God is the Guru; there is no distinction between the two” says Guru Ram Das

Sikhism was established by ten human Gurus. Usually means a teacher of religion. In Sikhism, it also refers to the ten human messengers of God

The guru is seen as the one who "dispels the darkness of ignorance."

It is not a neutral term.

Well , they actually can't as guru has a specific (special and religious) meaning in Sikhism. A meaning that is explained and taught to them , so they understand it's not his (first) name. There's no option of not using it or any asking either , they're just taught the full thing. Somehow no one has ever complained about that .

Nevermind all the sentences like Jesus loves us because, Jesus saved us because or activities like making birthday cards for Jesus and thanking him for sacrificing himself and what not.

BlueSilverCats · Today 14:17

MrsSkylerWhite · Today 14:00
TwinklyRoseTurtle · 15/02/2025 17:21
I don’t see the issue, would it be such a problem for you if it was a different religion 🙄

Would be a major issue for me, whatever the religion , because I’m atheist.
**
So when teaching sikhism teachers should say Mr Nanak instead of Guru Nanak?

They can call him what they like just as long as the kids aren’t instructed to heap praise upon him out loud.

That’s super inappropriate. I’m Jewish and went to a Church of England school with chapel and so I just didn’t say the parts of prayers I didn’t agree with. No one would ever have insisted I say them.

Interesting that OP never came back to clarify exactly what this asking/compelling/forcing consists of. What the consequence of not doing it, is.

What I imagine happening would be teacher showing/reading a PowerPoint that included Muhammad(pbuh) bla bla bla.

Kid: miss what does pbuh means?

Teacher : it means peace be with him. That's how muslims refer to him as a sign of respect every time they speak and write his name. I've added it /it's on the PowerPoint (teacher didn't actually make it) as it's a common expression that you will encounter in the future and to show how important he is to muslims.

Kids picking up bits and pieces as they normally do. "ohhhh if we want to be respectful we have to use pbuh."

Have you been teaching(or TA'ing) RE , particularly Islam ?