subject	Leadership
topic	Abraham
grade	Two
time	30 minutes
objective	To enable students to know how the Quran tells the story of the life of Prophet Abraham, and see him as an example of a true leader.
instructional material	Read “Prophets of Allah, Vol.2: Prophet Ibrahim” by Suhaib Ghazi and Mildred El-Amin Picture of the Kaaba in Mecca (from “Our Religion is Islam” by Labiba Hassan and Tasneema Ghazi

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Prophet Abraham was a leader and a Prophet.  He had great insight into the strength and beauty of God and His creations.  He tried to convince his people not to worship idols, but to no avail.  When they tried to kill him by throwing him into a fire, he was saved by God.

He was told to preach, so he went to Palestine with his wife Sarah and his nephew Lut (Lut also became a Prophet of God).  Then after some time, he went to Egypt, and there he married his second wife Hagar.  Hagar had a son named Ismail.  Later, he took Hagar and Ismail to Mecca and stayed for some time.  Then he had to return to Palestine without his wife and son.  After he left, the water ran out, and Hagar went looking for more water.  Back and forth she ran from hill Safa to hill Marwah, seven times before a miracle happened : water started to come up from the ground.  This place bacame known as “Zamzam”, and today when Muslims go for Hajj in Mecca, they run seven times back and forth between Safa and Marwah.

In Palestine, when Abraham went back, two angels came to see him.  They were in the shape of men, so Abraham treated them as such, at first.  Then they told him that they were angels, and that they had a message for him : Sarah was to have a son, and he would be named Isaac.  “Such is the will of your Lord.”.  They also told him that God would punish the people of Prophet Lut.

Time passed, and Ismail (Hagar’s son) became a young man.  Once, while Ismail and Abraham were together, Abraham saw in a dream that he was asked to sacrifice his son Ismail.  When he told his son of the dream, Ismail said “Father, do as you are told.”.  Just as Abraham was about to do it, a voice came to him and told him that he didn’t have to go through with it, since he showed his intentions, and to just sacrifice an animal instead.  It had only been a test from God.

Abraham was told to build the Kaaba; Ismail helped his father with the work.  The Kaaba became the first house built to worship God.

Three events that happened during Prophet Abraham’s life have special significance in Islam :   The building of the Kaaba, the sacrifice that Abraham was asked to make, and the running of Hagar between the two hills Safa and Marwa.  These events are remembered, namely during Eid-l-Adha, and Hajj.

 

DEVELOPMENT

 

Read Read “Prophets of Allah, Vol.2: Prophet Ibrahim” by Suhaib Ghazi and Mildred El-Amin.

 

REINFORCING ACTIVITIES

 

Let students colour in a photocopied page of the Kaaba (from “Our Religion is Islam” by Libiba Hassan and Tasneema Ghazi).