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.)

Yes and as I said, I find that very odd.

As I'm quite sure you're aware, it's a controversial topic.

And the fact you've thrown in that there's only one Muslim kid in the class and even they don't say it, just makes it odder 🤷‍♂️

Completely inappropriate, but who'd be an r.e teacher nowadays? Holy shit, it should come with danger money.

I've not known a primary that doesn't ban those phrases - other than the first one, they wouldn't be particularly acceptable at secondary, either, albeit they'll also be dealing with teenagers cunting and bloodclarting all over the place, so in the great scheme of things, there are only so many seats in detention.

But it’s not disrespectful to write God unless you’re Jewish, is it?

How old are kids in year six? I couldn’t get worked up about this really. Bigger things to worry about.

Or any religion, but you're right, Abrahamic religions are all misogynistic.

That's where you're wrong. It IS.

Absolutely not! I would be speaking to the head about that. It ridiculous.

Oh possibly. Tbh I can’t remember now what the lesson was about, it might have been Judaism. Sorry!

Or mindless pantomime when done by someone who doesn't believe, that when done by a believer is important to they're expression of beliefs

Catholics don’t make the sign of the cross when they mention Jesus

Out of interest could Christian children choose not to say this? Only reason I ask is I know Muslim children are allowed to be kept back from Christian -led assemblies in primary, I just wonder if the same option to opt out would apply here?

No. I’d be raising this with the head. Inappropriate and unnecessary.

No one is paying lip service.

I include it on PowerPoints because the Muslim children in my class are as importnat as the non Muslim children and because it's part of the religion and so, when we teach about the Prophet Muhammed, we teach how Muslims refer to him and why.

And because other children do believe and their beliefs are very important to them and their families and we don't set out to intentionally antagonise or upset someone just because we don't share their beliefs.

I've already explained that only the Muslim childen say it so I can't see what the problem is.

And as for speaking respectfully about someone you don't respect, it's not about showing respect to him but to the children who do.

I imagine this has been taken out of context. Possibly the teacher asked the children to do this as part of the lesson. I've taught lessons about prayer in RE before and the children have all gone through the motions of praying ( Islam) not because I'm indoctining them but because it's active learning. I'm not expecting them to go home and pray or expecting them to pray ever again, it just makes for a more interesting activity than watching a video of a Muslim praying.
The teacher was probably following the lesson plan.

I was raised a catholic. This is not a ‘thing’.

This. my child bring in lot of christianity home , how it is possible without school reinforcing it time to time. I am fine with it.

Just because I don’t believe in something, doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t grant something with respect when in the presence of those who do.

As mentioned in a previous post, I was brought up in a very religious household. My Dad is a Reverend - we were brought up to respect everyone else’s religious beliefs, regardless of whether we believe it or not.

It’s something that is not a big deal to someone not religious, but shows respect and tolerance to those that do. Especially as the latter appears to be lacking a lot these days.

Absolute hard no from me. I'd write to the Head and probably the school governors as well. Stop this absolute nonsense.

Yes, because Jesus is considered a prophet in Islam. It’s not the case the other way round.

It’s not a Christian or UK custom to do anything even for Jesus name. Some Christians mainly in the past used to bow their head at the name of Jesus.

You can respect without 'going through the motions': personally, I think not just going through the motions us more respectful

Well Muslims can if they want, in fact anyone can if they want. No to compelled speech.

Surely this is ok, isn’t the UK tolerant of the Muslim community? Our children say this in their school as the schools population is over 52% Muslim, it’s actually a Catholic school. They have been doing this for years or am I missing the point entirely??

I'd find it really odd, possibly even disrespectful, if my non Christian friends crossed themselves. Mind you, I'm a life long Christian and I don't ever do it because it's not generally a thing in the CofE. At least, not the ones I grew up attending.

I've been told by Muslim friends that they don't expect non Muslims to say PBUH when mentioning Muhammed.

Absolutely, playing at faith isn't respectful. Forcing people to play at faith isn't respectful.

I was an atheist at a CoE school, I just sat quietly through the prayers and didn't make a big fuss.