Public Library - Hajj Presentation for Children
At the public library, we invited our children, and asked them in turn to invite their non-Muslim friends to the library. We transformed the room into a plane as they were pretending to travel to Hajj. As the children arrived, they were given their ID tags. We wrote their names and made a fake visa stamp. As they boarded the 'plane' we had a volunteer pretend to be an air hostess and act on departure protocol. We then watched a 'movie' (the air 'hostess' went through a powerpoint) and taught them about the different rituals of hajj. We also gave them the opportunity to wear real ihrams. When we landed, the 'pilgrims' completed the rituals with the models we made of each stage. Ihram / Tawaf / Safa and Marwa. For Mina, we asked to think of one bad deed that they could try not to do again and hit the pillar with 'foil' stones, trying to promise Allah that Shaytaan will not overpower them again and that they will try their hardest to fight him. Lastly we celebrated Eid with cupcakes and a party, boarded the plane again and were back home with zam zam water! :)
Library Event Agenda
Greet Children at the Door!
Fatema: Salaamun Alaykum, Thank you for joining the ALI OUTREACH Hajj Group Please take a seat in the Airplane...
(Arrange chairs to look like sitting on a plane - give out ID TAGS - downloadable here)
(Hajj Rhymes being played in the background)
Fatema: I am your pilot Fatema, Salaamun Alaykum
Children will reply: Alaykum Salaam
Fatema: Does anyone know what Salaamun Alaykum means?
(ask the audience, anyone can answer. Answer then recapped)
Yes, it's the way Muslims great each other whenever they meet . It's said in the Arabic language and it means "Peace be upon you" and the other person replies Peace be upon you two, so basically you are wishing good to the other person from the very start.
We would like to thank everyone for coming today for ALI OUTREACH's Pilgrimage to Mecca: A Journey of a Lifetime. We are very happy that you have joined us today and hope that you have a great experience learning about the Muslims Holiday.
Now, I know you all are very smart and know that we aren't on an airplane, but we need to pretend and use our imagination and pretend we are on an airplane and we are flying to the city of Mecca. Can you do that for me? Yeahhh!! I knew you would!!
I see that our Group Leaders have already given you your ID Badges. You know there will be more than 2 million people there so it's really important that you wear the ID badge at all times and please make sure you don't play with them while we are on our journey. Please remember to listen to your Group Leaders and also if you have any questions to raise your Hands. We really would love to answer all the questions at the end.
I am so excited to be flying you all today, I hope you have a lovely flight, and will travel ALI OUTREACH Hajj Airlines again! Before I go start the engines, can we please fastened our seat belts, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK and here are your group leaders ! I shall see you again in the Land of Mecca! Happy Flying!!
Sehrish: Salaams and Hello Everyone I am Sehrish
Zainab: And I am Zainab and we are going to be your group leaders today.
Zainab: While we fly to Mecca, let's watch a little movie (a powerpoint - downloadable here) about the Hajj, the holiday that teachers you become better, so you can learn all about it. Here is a map of our Journey. Do you see city of Mecca. That's where we are heading to.
We are going to Mecca to learn all about the Hajj. You know every year millions of people prepare for this journey. Every year Muslims travel to Saudi Arabia for about 10 days and do some special prayers and some special actions. They travel from all over the world, some go by bus, some go by plane and some even walk!! The people who travel to Hajj are known as Pilgrims.
Sehrish: As a pilgrim nears the city of Mecca they change their outfits to wearing white. Why do you think everyone wears the same colour and a very simple outfit?
The very first thing you learn from this special journey is to forget about it being me, me, me, me! How many of you love to wear your favourite colour or dresses or shirt? Why does it make you feel special?
Imagine if we took all the specialness from everyone and put it together while wearing the same thing, we would have a lot of specialness right! That's why we wear white, so that we are all together as one huge group.
This special clothing is called Ihram. Can we say Ihram,. Men wear two pieces of simple unstitched cloth, something like this.. What does this look like? Yes, it is a towel. Our Group Leader, Swaleha will show you how the men wear the Ihram. You just wrap one around your waist and another around your shoulders. Women can wear anything long and long sleeves and wear a white cloth or chaadar around them covering their heads. Group Leader Rumina will show you how women wear their Ihram. I see that you all have worn white as well!! Great job!
Zainab: Next, after wearing the Ihram Muslims go to the Kaaba. That's a picture of the Kaaba, and the white things around it are people. There are so many people who go to Hajj 2 million!! The Kaaba is a cube made of stones and is the House of God for the Muslims. Muslims believe God asked Prophet Ibrahim and his son to build the Kaaba. If you look at the Kaaba really closely you will see a black stone, that's a special stone that was sent from Heaven to be placed on the Kaaba. While walking towards the Kaaba all the people chant in a loud voice, tell God Here I am! Let's listen to it in Arabic! Once the Pilgrims arrive at the Kaaba they will have to work around it 7 times. While walking people recite different prayers.
Next to the Kaaba is a Gold Monument. Inside the monument you will find the footprint of Prophet Abraham that was taken when he was building the Kaaba.
Sehrish: After walking around the Kaaba, you than will have to go between the Hills of Safwa and Marwa. You see a long time ago Prophet Ibrahim's wife Hajarh and his baby son were in the dessert. Now you know the dessert in really hot and there's no water there. The baby started getting thirsty and there was no water in site! So Hajarh started running in between the two mountains looking for water. All of a sudden she saw a gush of water coming out from under the heels of the baby as the baby was hitting the ground. She said Zam Zam in her language to make the water stop because there was so much. Today the water is still gushing out and Muslims believe it is special water, they drink it there and they bring some back for others to drink. Does anyone know what lesson we learn from Hajar? It teaches us not to just sit and cry but to work hard for what we want in life. Think about it if your mom said if you clean your room you can earn money towards a toy you really want. Are you just going to imagine your room being cleaned up? Or are you going to do it? You have to work hard to achieve your goals!
Zainab: After going to Safwa and Marwa the next day you go to the land of Arafat. Arafat in Arabic means to know. In this land it's just desserts and so many tents. Here you just sit and meet people and you think about yourself and all the good and bad things. You think about what good habits you have and how to make them stronger and what bad habits you have. After sitting in the tents and getting to know more about yourself you travel to the land of Muzdalifah wear you pick up pebbles. After picking up about 70 pebbles you than go the land of Mina.
Sehrish: At Mina you use the pebbles collected to throw at the three walls. You see a long time ago, when Prophet Abraham was alive Allah SWT wanted to test him. Allah loved him very much and wanted to see how much Prophet Abraham loved him back so he asked him to give up something that he loved very much. Prophet Ibrahim loved Allah so much that he said ok to Allah on his way to giving the thing up, Satan tried to stop him THREE times and told him not to do it, but Prophet Abrahams love for Allah SWT was so much that he said no to him all three times, so here we try to do the same thing we try to fight Shaytan. Remember when you were sitting in the land of Arafat you were thinking about the bad habits you have, well here think about what's stopping you from loving Allah and you throw the stones hoping that you too can fight the whispers of Shaytan.
Zainab: After you throw the pebbles and due 2 more actions, your hajj is over and YOU CAN CELEBRATE. This celebration is known as EID-ul Adha or Eid ul Hajj!!
Sehrish: After the Hajj pilgrims usually visit the Mosque of the Holy Prophet in Medina. The Holy Prophet Muhammad was a very peaceful man who always helped everybody and taught good manners, and was always kind. He had the best manners ever. He was known by Muslim and non-Muslims as truthful and everyone trusted him.
Fatema: Group Leaders, this is your Pilot Speaking please prepare for Landing to the Jeddah Airport!
Zainab: Now, your group leaders Swaleha and Rumina will take you to the places. Remember to use your Imagination!!
Rumina and Swaleha will take them to each model and make them a do a small ritual there. Sehrish and Zainab will also join.
(BELOW ARE NOTES. WE FURTHER EXPLAINED EACH POINT IN OUR OWN WORDS HAVING PREVIOUSLY READ ABOUT IT.)
Rumina: Hajj: Walk around 7 times without pushing shoving... (if there are too many kids we can just do it a few times.) Explain that Tawaf teaches us to work together. Remind them they can't talk to each other but need to work together.
Swaleha: Safwa and Marwa: These are the two hills that Prophet Ibrahim's wife ran between looking for water. We do this in Hajj to remind us to always work hard for what we want and not just sit and cry. Can anyone share some examples of what they are going to work hard at? Or examples of what we can do to make ourselves hard workers.
Rumina: Arafat: Tell everyone just to sit down on to think quietly about their good deeds and bad deeds. After one minute as them to share their thoughts. What are some good things they do, what are something they would like to change.
Swaleha: Muzdalifa: Here tell them to pretend to be picking up pebbles to help throw their bad deeds out of them.
Rumina: Mina: Tell them to think about those bad deeds and try to make a promise not to do it again. Tell them to throw their imaginary pebbles at the pillars to get rid of their bad habits. Remind them to keep their promise.
Now that you have already made friends, worked together as a team, promise to work for your goals and know what bad habits you are going to change, you make a promise to God that you will change them and you are going to celebrate WHOOHOOO party time!! Let's wish everyone a Happy Eid
Happy Eid!!
Swaleha: Let's get back on the plane.
Sehrish: As we travel back Orlando, let's share our experiences. So how did you like your trip? What did you learn? That's great, we enjoyed having you join the ALI OUTREACH Pilgrimage to Hajj and we hope you had a great time. Don't forget to draw pictures of your trip inside your ID Badge/ Book! When you get off the plane we will be giving you a goody bag and please exit the building with your parent!
Fatema: Thank you all for listening. Here are your goodie bags for being such good listeners. From all of us here at ALI OUTREACH HAJJ AIRLINES we would like to wish everyone a very happy holiday season and awesome new year!! Pass out goodybag and say Happy Eid Happy Eid... Happy Holidays!
