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.)

No idea.. OP didn't bother to answer that question.

The comparison to Guru Nanak is different in that, while saying his name does not require one to adopt Sikhism, the act of saying "Peace be upon him" feels more tied to religious practice.

Guru Nanak is the equivalent to St Catherine. Or Dr John. Guru means teacher. PBUH is a completely different kettle of fish.

But others will object to saying this, or having their DC compelled to say it (for either person) so the teacher ought not to be mandating it. Ignorant, anyway, not all Muslims say either of these things.

I came across it in the 80s with an RE teacher who used it (not Muslim - far from it) but the students were not required to say (or write) it and I certainly did not say it when in the class (support teacher i.e. not a TA).

Should not be banned (except may Holy crap and Oh, my God, since they are swear words) but not expected either. My preference in ref to Jesus is to say 'Jesus, called the Christ' since 'Christ' is not a name but a status (e.g. all annointed kings are 'Christs').

I do realise. You do realise we are talking about school children though.
RE lessons teach children how to correctly / respectful write about other religions.
That’s all.

Adult atheists may not use “He” but they likely know that Christians do. Probably because at some point they were taught that fact.

I really don't think we should be pushing children to recite 'peace be upon him' at every mention of the Prophet Mohammed. It's meaningless to most people, and even a lot of practising Muslims don't do it apparently. It is NOT the same as saying Guru Nanak, or Saint Peter, or Pope Francis, or Mahatma Gandhi. It would be compelled speech. We need to encourage kids to think for themselves.

Certainly it's not necessary to 'show respect' in this way by mindlessly copying a phrase recited by some followers of the religion. I feel that some RE teachers have got this wrong.

It's never any other religion, is it?

Not in my Church of England School....

Except for those who will use He when writing for a mostly Christian audience and G-d when it's Orthodox Jews/about Judaism.

Quite happy to switch from Jacob to Yaqub, Isaac to Ishak and Abraham to Ibrahim, too.

Not believing there is a deity and prophets doesn't entail any commandment (ironically enough) to follow saying 'You must seek to show distain for the linguistic and typographical preferences of all major world religions at every opportunity and then bleat on about Free Speech, innit?'

Daft, and a couple of kids in DD's class at primary school were called a version of Mohammed anyway.

I don’t know, but this is what we were taught in Rs levels in school in 1998.
Teacher was not a Muslim and neither were any of the students as far as I remember.

Lessons!

No one should be compelled or even expected to reference a deity as an actual entity. Even children faced with adults trying to indoctrinate them into thinking religion deserves special treatment can get creative with their speech and writing to simply avoid ever using names or pronouns.

Nope. Absolutely no need. Think the teacher is trying to be respectful and inclusive but going over the top.

I read that as sarcasm in relation to the post it was quoting.

Bit like "they" say that poppies are going to be banned, as are easter eggs, etc. etc.

A school near us actually did ban poppies last year because the head said ‘in the current climate I don’t think it’s appropriate to wear them’ he genuinely nearly got knocked out in the playground by a dad, then there was a petition on our village Facebook page for him to resign, he apologised in the end and kept his job

the same school also have a ‘spring disco’ and the PTA organised the Easter bunny to come and he wasn’t happy lol

Not repeating a phrase is not showing disdain.