Westminster faculty who accompanied the students traded roles with the Jamat’s Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP) teachers. The day’s lesson plan incorporated social sciences and the humanities to learn about Islam and its historical and contemporary context. These concepts are at the core of the Institute of Ismaili Studies’ Secondary Curriculum, taught by STEP graduates.
Students toured the Social Hall examining paintings that illustrate diversity, and they read quotes from Mawlana Hazar Imam on diversity and pluralism. After students read about the four ways in which pluralism is much more than an appreciation of diversity, a discussion about how this field trip was reflective of pluralism ensued. Pluralism is active participation and engagement with diversity, learning instead of just tolerating, embracing differences and incorporating it into civil society, and ongoing dialogue to ensure continued understanding between people.
The students’ tour of the Prayer Hall began with the identification and discussion of geometry’s prevalence in Islamic architecture. They learned how Muslims use endless geometric patterns and symmetry to reflect the infinite nature of the Divine. Students explored prayers from different religious and humanist traditions, and discussed the commonalities among the prayers of different faith communities. They also wrote their own individual prayers and added them to a prayer tree. The activity symbolized the power of prayer and how a personal act can be multiplied when done in a congregation.
Browsing through books about history, philosophy, the arts, culture, as well as religious texts while touring the Jamatkhana library, students recognized how education is an important core value in Islam. Education is an avenue to discover God’s creation and to serve humanity. They engaged in activities that allowed them to take on the role of scholars, such as operating a makeshift camera obscura, similar to one built by al-Haytham, the father of optics. They also computed numbers the way mathematician al-Khwarizmi did, by developing a numeral system of his own. Learning about the contributions of Muslim scholars and scientists, the students discovered how knowledge has been shared among civilizations and how people of different faith traditions have worked together for the common good.
The Westminster field trip allowed the students to experience first-hand the values of Islam: prayer, community, knowledge, and service. Interactions such as these deepen knowledge and respect of the “Other,” and build a more pluralistic society.
