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.)

It wouldn't bother me. But we're not religious. Maybe I'd feel different if we were, like we were betraying our God or something. But we're not. So we'll say whatever prayers, sing whatever hymns, accept blessings, follow other people's customs, acknowledge other traditions etc.

My school had the Lord's Prayer as part of the morning assembly. It always amused me when it got to the "For thine is the kingdom" part because all the Catholics went quiet. It was no big deal.

That’s a stretch. Jesus in Islam is also the Messiah so if anything, it shows the similarities between the religions, not Muslims denying Jesus as being Christian…

I think you mean "Jesus Christ Peace Be Upon Him on a bike"

One crucial difference is that your are an adult making a choice not a vulnerable child who has no right to refuse and will assume what the teacher says is important and correct.

That's because they believe Jesus was a prophet and he is an integral part of their faith, it has nothing to do with respect for Christianity. Mohamed on the other hand is not part of the Christian faith and it does not acknowledge him. Children should not be compelled to say something that doesn't apply to their own religion or lack thereof. Should Hindu kids be told to say pbuh after the names of Mohammed or Jesus, or to make the sign of the cross whilst saying "in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit"? This just wouldn't happen.

Good God. They are trying to indoctrinate our children in every way. This is completely insane. This needs to be stopped right now.

100% brainwashing and indoctrination hard no for me

Could your child have picked this up wrongly, sounds weird to ask everyone to do it?

Absolutely ridiculous and inappropriate, has nothing to do with the teaching of the material.

You either say it for all Gods, regardless of religion, or none. If you go to a religious school, I can see some argument for saying it for that religion and not others. But honestly if you want to promote equality and respect you should treat all religions the same. Treating them differently in a school learning setting is surely sending completely the wrong message.

I suspect three things.

1. this happened. - unlikely.
2. the RE teacher mentioned it and the op’s dc got the wrong end of the stick - possible.
3. the op is not genuine, had dropped this as a racist dog whistle, and run off into the the distance - most likely.

It's happening in a school.

The best chance we have of promoting a more tolerant and respectful society is through showing tolerance and respect and education.

No one is expected to convert to another religion or will be brainwashed just because they are taught what some other people believe and how they show respect in their religion once a week 🙄

This strikes me as another example of extreme bending over backwards to Islam. Why don’t we see the same towards Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Judaism, I wonder?

Say "Peace be upon Her" and stand back and enjoy the show.

Are they though? We've only got OP's word it's happening in that context. My OH is a primary school teacher and he says it just wouldn't happen in the way she's claiming. Instead she's got everyone wound up and expressing religious bigotry. Shameful.

OP's deliberately baity heading on the other hand is not. It's got posters frothing and disparaging another religion, like kids are being forced to say it in the dinner queue or during PE, when they clearly aren't.

While that may be true, hopefully some who engage here will learn.

I say hopefully against experience, admittedly.

I hope if it is true the teacher is told to stop doing this. The UK is only 6% muslim. Why would you wish peace upon something in which you do not believe? Saying "not that he exists today" might be more accurate after saying the name.

I vote #3.

RE teacher here. I tell the students they can say it or not. I will always put the Arabic when it's written (on a worksheet, PowerPoint or me writing it on the board). I do because though I am not a Muslim I will show respect to those who are. The pupils can choose for themselves whether they do. But I am secondary so the kids are more able to make their own choices, and I'm a specialist teacher. Primary teachers tend not to have a specialist subject, and it's rarely RE if they do. In fact trainee teachers for Primary used to get only one afternoon on how to teach RE, even though they should teach all subjects. Your child's teacher is trying their best

Don't take my word for it ask any Muslim. Jesus is not a god or the son of god to them so to them you're being foolish at best and blasphemous at worst to imagine otherwise.

And to a devout Christian that denial of his godhood would be distressing.

Fortunately Christianity doesn't do devout much any more.

Exactly, what's the actual problem here?
It's respectful to the Muslim religion, doesn't hurt or offend anyone else and is really not a big ask. Why would you be complaining on Mumsnet, let alone to headteachers and governors 🙄

I think it's more likely that she's right, rather than you are right that she is lying.

You have made a post about it on a public forum, the phrasing you have used such as ‘ to literally wish peace to a prophet of a religion you don’t belong too’ when it’s obviously being used in an educational setting
sorry I missed the part where you asked if it is normal to say ‘amen’ in assembly if you are not a Christian … oh wait you didn’t 🙄

My best friend is Muslim. If I said this she’d think I was taking the piss 😂

Raise it with the school. Your child has their faith or they don’t. That needs respecting.

My dh is Muslim as is obviously his whole family and I have never heard them do this. It's utter nonsense. It totally winds my dh up when extreme Muslims try to enforce their beliefs on other people.