Unit 4:
Religion & Life based on a study of
Islam
S1: Believing in Allah
S2: Matters of Life and Death
S3: Marriage and the Family
S4: Community Cohesion
Unit 4: Section 1: Believing in Allah
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Believing in Allah Spec
• The main features of a Muslim upbringing and how it may lead to belief in
Allah.
• How religious experiences, as seen in the numinous, conversion, miracles
and prayer, may lead to belief in Allah.
• The argument from design and how it may, or may not, lead to belief in
Allah.
• The argument from causation and how it may, or may not, lead to belief in
Allah.
• Why scientific explanations of the origins of the world may lead some
people not to believe in Allah.
• How Muslims respond to scientific explanations of the origins of the
world.
• Why unanswered prayers may lead some people not to believe in Allah.
• How Muslims respond to the problem of unanswered prayers.
• Why evil and suffering may lead some people not to believe in Allah.
• How Muslims respond to the problem of evil and suffering.
• How two television and/or radio programmes and/or films about religion
may affect a person’s attitude to belief in Allah.
Unit 4: Section 1: Believing in Allah
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Section 4.1: Believing in Allah
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agnosticism - not being sure whether Allah exists
Atheism - believing that Allah does not exist
conversion - when your life is changed by giving yourself to Allah
free will - the idea that human beings are free to make their own choices
Miracle - something which seems to break a law of science and makes you
think only Allah could have done it
moral evil - actions done by humans which cause suffering
natural evil- things which cause suffering but have nothing to do with
humans
Numinous - the feeling of the presence of something greater than you
omni-benevolent - the belief that Allah is all-good
Omnipotent - the belief that Allah is all-powerful
omniscient -the belief that Allah knows everything that has happened and
everything that is going to happen
Prayer - an attempt to contact Allah, usually through words
Unit 4: Section 1: Believing in Allah
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S1: Features of a Muslim upbringing
• As soon as they are born when the head of the family whispers the call to
prayer (adhan) into the baby’s right ear and the command to worship (iqama)
into the left ear. So the baby is immediately welcomed into the ummah of
Islam. followed a week later by the aqiqa ceremony when the baby is named
and its head is shaved and a donation given to the poor. These birth
ceremonies encourage Muslim parents to bring up their children as Muslims.
• Parents are teach their children prayers. Salah will be preformed as a family
five times a day – this makes the children believe that Allah exists because he
listens to their prayers. If Allah did not exist, they and their parents would not
waste their time praying to nothing
• Make sure that their children go to madrasah from the age of four or five to
learn about Islam and to learn to read the Qur’an in Arabic - Going to madrasah
would support belief in Allah because children would learn why Muslims
believe in Allah and what they believe about him
• Fathers will take their sons to jumu’ah prayers at the mosque on Fridays When boys go to mosque they see lots of people praying to Allah and
worshipping Allah and this is bound to make them think that Allah must exist
because all these people believe he does.
• Celebrate the Eids and observe fasting in Ramadan as a family
Unit 4: Section 1: Believing in Allah
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S1: Religious Experience
• conversion when your life is changed by
giving yourself to Allah – You may revert to
Islam
• miracle something which seems to break a
law of science and makes you think only Allah
could have done it – Having your life saved or
being cured of incurable cancer.
• numinous the feeling of the presence of
something greater than you – feeling Allah’s
presence in a time of need, it makes you
stronger and gives you comfort.
• prayer an attempt to contact Allah, usually
through words – Allah listens to your prayers
Unit 4: Section 1: Believing in Allah
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Causation argument
• Everything in the world has a cause
• Nothing is the cause of itself
• There has to be a first cause to start the chain
of causes
• This first cause we call God
Unit 4: Section 1: Believing in Allah
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Paley's Design Argument
• William Paley developed this argument to try and show that the
world was created by God:
• If you were walking along a heath and found a watch you would
assume it had been designed by an intelligent designer
• In the same way the world is so complicated it seems to be designed
• Therefore there must be a designer
• That designer is God
Problems with design argument
Why did God create a world where people
suffer
Q: Why does William Paley believe
God might not
have
been
the designer
that
God
exists?
Why did God create a world where people
suffer
Unit 4: Section 1: Believing in Allah
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The problem of evil & suffering
Maybe God doesn’t
care about or human
suffering or causes
human suffering
People
suffer
Maybe God can’t
do anything
about human
suffering.
Maybe God
doesn’t know
about human
suffering.
Maybe God
isn’t all loving
Maybe God
isn’t all
powerful.
Maybe
God
doesn’t
exist
Maybe God
isn’t all
knowing
Unit 4: Section 1: Believing in Allah
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Reasons for Evil and Suffering
Qadr
• The concept of
Qadr
(predestination) –
everything that
happens, including
suffering, is part of
Allah’s plan.
Free will
• Every person has free will to
choose whether or not to follow
Allah
– Good in that people are not robots
– Bad in that, although some people will
choose to follow Allah, some will not,
with dire consequences both for
themselves and for others.
• Life is a test and we are
judged on our actions on
Judgement day
Unit 4: Section 1: Believing in Allah
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TV or film affecting belief in Allah
Encourage belief in Allah
Discourage belief in Allah
Documentaries that help you
understand more about Islam like
documentaries on Hajj
Documentaries about people who
revert to help Islam may help support
people who want to revert
Some films may show Islamic festivals
and family life that help people to
understand Muslim belief
Some films or TV programmes maybe
biased against Islam and portray Islamic
belief as supporting terrorism or being
against women's’ rights.
Scientific programmes may teach about
the big bang theory and that there is no
God.
Unit 4: Section 1: Believing in Allah
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