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.)

During my teacher training, and in any 'off the shelf' schemes, teachers are instructed to say PBUH after the prophet's name when teaching Islam in RE. This is just a matter of respect and I think it intregues the kids to use it too. The need to do this applies to 2 or 3 lessons in the whole school year and I don't see why the students shouldn't do this too. You would tell children to capitalise God, Christmas and Easter in their writing, so why not ask them to write (pbuh) after the prophet Mohammed?

After complaining to the school and the board of Governors and this was not stopped immediately, I would have removed my child from the school.

This. Why is it a problem?

If they do the Lords prayer or any thanksgiving and say Amen, should that not be allowed either?

It's teaching a full understanding of the respect that Islam teaches.

It is after all the second largest religion in the world, with nearly 2 billion people practising this faith.

Learning about all religions and faiths will mean more acceptance rather than base tolerance.

I don’t see the issue, would it be such a problem for you if it was a different religion 🙄

Is this true though?

If it is, it is one misguided teacher, so just report.

But this does sound very unlikely.

Complaint to head, governors if not dealt with,and id pull child from RE until it stops as don't trust the teachers judgement

I suppose 'Mo' is out of the question then?...

I do tend to use 'Jeez' occasionately, but had one work colleague who is Christian jumped down my throat, and go all outrage and blasphemy on me, despite my lying and saying that I'd said, 'Cheese... I was just thinking that I need to buy some Camembert.' She didn't believe me and complained.

Fundamentally, you can't please all of the denominations all of the time, although I've found Jains to be pretty laid back...

If they do the Lords prayer or any thanksgiving and say Amen, should that not be allowed either?

”Amen” also shouldn’t be compulsory IMO

It's not inappropriate don't be so ridiculous. It's just a respectful way to speak and we should all be respectful when speaking about any person in religion or any person in general. Is it over the top, yes it probably is. I think rather then start a thread i would just ask the teacher why out of all the things we should be teaching kids this is on her list. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I bloody well hope so.

Absolutely not. This needs to be squashed straight away. You cannot compel people to say something to make others feel good.

Not right. Its OK to teach that some Muslims say that, but it should be known that many also don't to ensure they don't offend someone.
Absolutely not OK to force it. Equivalent to the rubbish of forcing children to say grace before lunch which thankfully isn't common any more. No religion should be forced on people.

"Actually, I think this kind of thing - albeit well-intentioned - can foster the very kind of division and anti-muslim prejudice it tries to avoid..."

This ^ except I don't even see it as well-intentioned, it's empty headed

They probably do. We were taught how to do that at primary school in the 90’s. In addition to paying respects to other religions.

My in-laws are Catholic and when I attend religious events with them, when prompted, I will make the sign of the cross. Literally seconds of my life to be respectful to someone else’s beliefs.

Exactly.. if op were saying the same about a Jewish prophet this thread would be shut down as anti semitic.

Fully agree. It achieves the opposite result forcing it. I went to a primary school which enforced it so I would mouth it to avoid saying it and it built a real dislike for Christianity to the point I ended up in trouble for pointing out logic in secondary school RE lessons.
Pushing something rather than education will easily turn people from learning about it to resenting it.

May the Lord open 😂

The teacher is asking them to say it. The reason I found out was that my child said the phrase in question the other day. We drove past a mosque and the conversation drifted into Islam, and dc said something about Muhammed, added peace be upon him, and carried on with the sentence. I asked where that came from and was told that their teacher has told them to. I’ve asked a couple of other parents and it’s true, it’s what they’ve been taught

Bullshit. It's not even a Muslim phrase.

If it really bothers you, I would first clarify with the teacher that what your child said is true, and not some kind of misunderstanding first.

I’d be making a formal complaint to the school.
This is completely inappropriate!

@Kitkat189 I’m 50 and work in the charity sector with at this point hundreds of Asians as leaders, volunteers and service users. At no point have any of them said this when discussing religion or the teachings of Mohammed. Did a 4 year degree with majority Asians, we visited Asian countries and charities. Again - never ever heard it done. I’d suggest to teacher that it isn’t mainstream nor current practice and if pushed I’d go to head of year.

out of interest, do you still say it if you mention Mohammed?

The teacher is attempting to brainwash the DC. I'd complain to Head and if they do nothing to stop it I'd complain to the Chair of Trustees.