Exploring Islam at Clemente
According to CNN.com, “Islam is the second largest and the fastest growing religion in the world.” However, many people in the United States know very little about Islam. In World Religions, a pilot IB Diploma Programme course, juniors at Roberto Clemente Community Academy examine the key beliefs of Islam through the close reading of the Qur’an and select hadiths. Study focuses on what traditional Muslims believe, and where in the holy text these beliefs are supported. For example, students have investigated why the Qur’an is only the Qur’an when printed in Arabic, and why Muslims are to travel to Mecca at least once in their lives.
After thoroughly studying Islam, Roberto Clemente Community Academy juniors will apply their knowledge of the religion to the question, “Is ISIS truly Islamic?” Students will begin creating a summary about ISIS and current events related to this group. Afterwards, students will be assigned a specific role to appear as a guest on a mock student-created political talk show to debate the central question. Each student role will be a real-life person with an opinion on this issue, like Barack Obama and Bill Maher. Students must research the political beliefs of their assigned role and be prepared to represent that perspective. In addition, one student will also be assigned the role of the talk show host. This role will require the chosen student to summarize the issue, interview each guest, and moderate the debate. After the mock talk show, all students will complete an essay using what they learned about Islam as well as the information gained from the television talk show. Works Cited Burke, Daniel. “The World’s Fastest Growing Religion is …” CNN.com 2 April 2015. Web. 3 April 2015.