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

[Kitkat189]

My child’s teacher asks the class to always say ‘peace be upon him’ if the prophet Muhammed is mentioned in RE, for example. Used in a sentence it would be something like ‘Muhammad peace be upon him is the founder of Islam’

The teacher explained that this is to show respect to the Muslims in the class.

This is the first time I’ve ever heard of this. Is there an expectation that non Muslims use this expression? Or is it more of a courtesy? I am guessing the latter?

And if it’s the former, should people be compelled to utter this phrase out of respect? To literally wish peace upon a prophet of a religion they don’t belong to? I realise this is not a problem for the majority of people but out of interest, would a devout follower of another religion have objections to this?

(This is year 6, teacher is not Muslim, there is one Muslim in the class whose family are pretty secular, he told the teacher he doesn’t use this expression himself.)

@suburburban "I wouldn't be happy saying it"

Why not?

For me it would be laziness and the attention span of a newt, so I'd always be forgetting, rather than a real opposition to it.

I remember this from school 25 years ago! We had to write PBUH in our books, too. It was weird. And the Muslim children (there were 5 or 6!) also found it weird, said it was over-demonstrative.

Funny, isn't it? In the past I have said on here that I don't like my atheist children being expected to actually pray in school and I'm told that it's just words and it's important for them to learn. But the same people are objecting to children being asked to use a respectful title for Mohamed.

So teacher should ask the dc's in the class for each RE class and then teach the class? hilarious.

It’s performative coercion imv. Like having to clap madly when the Dear Leader’s name is mentioned. I’d be furious if I was expected to do this at work, why put children through it? I suppose on the plus side, if the children think it’s nonsense and cross their fingers when doing it, that is a plus for independent thinking

nothing against you, but I wonder how we assume our children are athiests too when we are athiests.

@BlueSilverCats

It's not a religion I follow and something I want to say

I wouldn't expect other religions say something like blessed be the name of the lord or Amen itms

I've never heard of school children who are atheists being forced to pray.

RE is to learn about religion. Not to coerce children to follow religious practices, my children would be withdrawn from that class.

But @Anonym00se who are you praying to? Religion is about sincerity, not pretending. I think of it as being disrespectful and insincere to go through the motions.

Is it religious education or religious indoctrination?

This is unacceptable and I would speak to the school to nip this in the bud now.

When did freedom of religion tip over into compelled speech for the rest of us?

Has there been any confirmation of coercion?

I’m praying to God, or whatever you want to call him/her/it. I believe there’s something more powerful than myself, but I don’t think I need affiliate myself to any church or organised religion to have a relationship with God.

Yes it’s an issue. You say it. Knock yourself out. My kids won’t be told by anyone to utter words they don’t align their faith with.

Ask questions, discuss it. No falseness though. That’s disrespectful.

This will be all over The Mail tomorrow.

What's wrong with the teacher simply saying that Muslims say this after they say the name of their prophet. Why force children from other religions or none to say it - it's not necessary for them to enact an element of belief which they don't subscribe to in order to learn about any religion and it is actually disrespectful to force someone to do so. Or do you support compelled speech?

@MellowCritic we should all be respectful when speaking about any person in religion

Respectfully silent, arguably. But taking part in the conventions and rituals? No.

I was brought up in the church, and I decided against it. Some of my family are still part of it. I respect their views, but I don't take part in their rituals.

How does that work in practice? Well, if there's something going on at a church, I don't kneel. I don't say Amen. I sing the hymns if I like the tune. At a meal, if they say grace, I do nothing much. We don't say grace at my house, and they respect that. I'm not respecting the religion, by the way. I'm respecting people I care for.

So, the point is - respect is not expressed by compliance. It's expressed by tolerance.

Also, why do you specify that we should be respectful to 'any person in religion'? Surely we should be respectful to any person by default. Religion's got nothing to do with it.

Not quite the same, I know, but quite often when I go into a dark room and switch on the light, I say (to myself),

"Let there be light, and there was light."

and, I have to admit that inside, I feel quite pleased with myself. 🤫

I was just having visions of what RE class would look like if every time any religion was mentioned they acted briefly like a devout observer.

Edit - sorry no idea how I quoted the wrong post! Was replying to pp talking about pupils crossing themselves.

Maybe at some schools but we absolutely didn't learn this at my school. The GCSE was very new at my school too (we were the first year able to take RE at GCSE). Plus I remember doing a lot more about the moral than the religious side. It is possible for the curriculum to change.

How is it disrespectful to show respect? Losing the will to live here. I have Buddhist friends do from other countries who out their hands together and pray in an Anglican Church a s a sign of respect that they acknowledge Christian’s’ belief. I taught RE thirty years ago and pbuh was standard. nothing new here.

Totally agree

It is not appropriate. Just like it wouldn’t be appropriate to make kids say amen or similar if not a religious school.
RE should be about teaching what people believe and how they worship etc. you should not have to participate in any aspect of any persons religion. If a kid in the class wants to say it then that’s absolutely fine imo.

A thoughtful and considered response.