We know that Ramadan provides us with boundless opportunities to gain endless rewards, be it through feeding the poor, refraining from sinful vices, or spending long nights in prayer. But we can reap even greater returns by helping our communities at large understand why Ramadan is special to Muslims and how we make that "specialness" count in our lives and in the life to come.
Ramadan offers the very best time to get our communities better oriented to our religion. While all the media is busy focusing on Islam and the many lifestyles of the Muslims around the world, it is wise for us as Muslims to take advantage of this specific time to introduce the real Islam, and our blessed month.
Here's a plan to acquaint your local elementary school with Ramadan. This 10-step process gives good advice about what you and your family can do to make your presentation effective. But it is not complete, nor can it be. Islam is about making your own judgments, and that is something you must do here. So consult the experienced about your Ramadan seminar, talk with your neighbors about what they'd like to see, and use common sense.
For all you parents out there with children in grade school, our kids usually go to school in Ramadan. Not only do they face the everyday challenges of being a Muslim at a non-Muslim school, but they are usually confronted with even more tests, or even dilemmas, in the month of fasting.
It is immensely important for you to talk to your children's principals, teachers, and classmates in order to help your children feel less awkward when it comes to identifying themselves as Muslims. Take the initiative in meeting with all of the above. Create a Ramadan orientation day, and here's a little advice that, Allah willing, will go a long way:
1. Start early: Calling your child's teacher in the middle of Ramadan is just too late. Call teachers early, as much as six weeks in advance, to ask to meet with them about the upcoming Ramadan, and to do a class or school presentation. Experience indicates that teachers need at least three weeks of planning time to incorporate a special lesson. They have packed schedules and need proper time to make fruitful adjustments.
2. Get permission from your child's teacher: Parents normally have a lot of influence when it comes to the school system. But this doesn’t give them a license to show up unannounced on Monday morning to do a Ramadan presentation for their child's class. It is much more appropriate to send a letter giving a general idea and indication of your intentions. Then it’s best to wait for the teacher to call (make sure you provide ready contact information). If you don’t get a call within a week, give him or her a follow up call.
3. Select the right period for your presentation: Does your child have Social Studies? Try to suggest a class in which Ramadan best fits in, a Religious Studies period, for example, if it is a private school. You can always ask the teacher about which time would be best for your seminar.
4. Be polite and confident: Speaking kindly to people is part of our religion. So focus on the fact that the presentation’s purpose is to not merely educate students, but to make a good impression on the teachers, as well, with good manners. Courteous behavior enhances your talk and doesn’t indicate any weakness to your desire to present. Rather, it will help build bridges and encourage communication, and could ensure future presentations on other Islam-related topics, opening doors to further teacher-parent cooperation.
5. Ask the teacher how long the presentation should be and which areas to discuss: Tailor your presentation to the age level of the students. This will help them to understand as well as connect it to what they are already learning. This does not mean you can’t bring in other types of information, but knowing what to cover from the teacher will help you hone in on what needs to be said. It will also enable you to develop your points fully, and touch on others that are topically related. Knowing how long your seminar can be will help you decide what is most important to include in it.
6. Read, ready, review, revise: These four “R” –words are at the very core of a successful talk and performance. Once you’ve gotten the teacher’s permission, your work has just begun. Do not sit back and wait till the night before the presentation to put it all together.
Remember, if you want your presentation to be appealing to student eyes, especially younger ones who need "attention getters," you are going to need to do more than just talk. Visuals are a great help. You can search for a Ramadan banner picture of Muslims fasting, and even show part of a video aimed at children about Ramadan. It might take a couple of weeks to round up this material. Again, starting early is imperative.
Preparing is your most important task. And even though you may have fasted all of your life and think you know all about Ramadan, it behooves you to get a children’s Islamic book and read what it says about Ramadan. Go online and read a couple Ramadan articles written by a teenager. This will also help you better understand which points to emphasize to the young crowd in your presentation. Studying up on Ramadan from reliable sources will enable you to distinguish any cultural practices that may have seeped into Ramadan’s authentic traditions, some of which, by the way, you yourself may not have been previously aware of. Talking to knowledgeable Muslims is key when in doubt.
7. Talk to your child about the presentation: Who knows better the mindset of the kids in class than your own child? Sit with him or her and ask about what to include, what the kids like, and what they seem most misinformed about. This will do more than improve your talk, it will also make Faatimah and `Umar feel their real worth and make them more confident as individuals, and as Muslims.
8. A few days before the seminar: Call the teacher to reaffirm the date and time of the presentation. This will remind the teacher about your visit and prepare the class accordingly. It will also help you to ensure the formal inclusion of the seminar in the class plan.
9. Write highlighted presentation points on note cards: Reading off a paper about Ramadan will not hold the interest of most people, especially young ones. Instead, writing brief notes on note cards that you can occasionally glimpse at, so as to not miss topic, is more befitting. This technique will also help you avoid straying from the subject while allowing you to make eye contact with your audience and maintain a conversational style presentation. If you use a Power Point presentation instead of note cards, keep yourself between the students and the slides, without getting in the way of their line of sight. People are more interesting than slides.
10. Make Du`aa` (supplication)! As with all things in life, your success in this project is in the Hands of Allah. So turn to Him and be sure to make lots of supplications, to loosen your tongue and keep relaxed. If you want to heighten the trust of your audience in you, heighten your trust in Allah. Invoke His blessings at the beginning, and ask Him to make the presentation fun and likeable to the children.
By Jacqueline Musallam