S16 E14: The One About GCSE RE Islam beliefs Predestination and Life After death

GCSE RE Islam beliefs Predestination and Life After death

4-markers

Explain two ways that a belief in predestination influences Muslims.
One influence is to trust Allah's plan.
This is because Muslims believe that the Allah may have a better plan than one of the ones that made for themselves.
Another influence is to remember that nothing can happen without Allah's permission.
When they make a plan, they may use phrases like inshallah, if Allah wills, to show that Allah has ultimate control.

Explain two ways that a belief in human freedom influences Muslims.
One influence is to be accountable for the actions.

This is because they'll be judged alone for their deeds in the Akirah.

Another influence is to remember Judgement Day.

This will make them feel responsible for their actions as they all know they'll need to answer for them.

Explain two ways in which belief in Akirah influences Muslims. 

One influence is to do good actions because Muslims believe their actions will be judged in the afterlife..
For example they will pray their daily prayers
Another influence is to avoid sin because they would not want to be punished for going against Allah's teachings.
For example they will try and avoid anything which is Haram

Explain two ways in which a belief in human responsibility influences Muslims.
One influence is to be accountable for their actions because they'll be judged alone for their deeds
This will be written down in the book of deeds
Another influence is to remember Judgement Day.
This will make them feel responsible for their actions as they will know they need to answer for them.

6-markers

Explain two Muslim teachings about predestination. Refer to sacred writings or another source of belief and teaching in your answer
One belief is that everything happens that happens is decided by Allah already
It's one of the six articles of faith in Sunni Islam.
Another belief is that Allah knows the future, but we have free will.
Many Muslims believe that Allah does not force us to make any decision even though He knows what we will choose.
The Quran says  “Indeed, all things We created with predestination".
This shows Allah is all knowing and has a plan for everything

Explain two Muslim teachings about human freedom. Refer to sacred writings or another source of belief and teaching in your answer

One belief is that humans have control over their thoughts, feeling and actions.
Muslims believe that Allah has given us this so that we can be free to make our choices.
Another belief is that human freedom shows Allah's justice.
The Quran says; 'let whoever wants to believe and let those who wants to disbelieve.'
This shows a lot allows humans to believe or not because for a lot of judge humans fairly on judgement day there needs to be human freedom.

Explain two Muslim teachings about the resurrection. Refer to sacred writing or another source of belief and teaching in your answer.
One belief is that it is one of the six articles of faith in Sunni Islam and five roots of a Usul Ad Din in Shia Islam.
It is the belief that every human will be raised from the dead on judgement day
Another belief is that Allah will raise the dead, all the dead.
This will happen on Judgement day, which will be marked by angels blowing the trumpet.
The Quran says; 'Allah will raise up all those who are in the graves.'
This shows that Allah has the power to bring the dead back to life.

Explain two beliefs about heaven. Refer to sacred writing or another source of belief and teaching in your answer.
One belief is that it's a place of reward.
Muslims believe if you are righteous and have lived a life accordin

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

This episode of the Army Podcast is sponsored by Reimagining Education, an organization dedicated to making learning inspiring, relevant, and future focused. Just like this podcast, they're passionate about exploring life's big questions and helping both students and teachers thrive. Find out more at reimaginingeducation.uk. A huge thank you to Reimagining Education for supporting the podcast. Welcome to the RE Podcast, the first dedicated Re podcast for students and teachers. My name is Louisa Jane Smith and this is the RE Podcast. The podcast for those of you who think RE is boring, which it is, and I'll prove it to you. In this series, I am taking you through GCSE RE, focusing on AQA, Islam and Christianity. We are looking at key content and key exam skills you need to be successful in teaching GCSCRE or sitting and examining it. So if you are a teacher of GCSC RE or a student of GCSC RE, I hope this is helpful to you. As a teacher, you might be new to teaching GCSCRE or just new to this spec. You might be returning after a break, or we might just need a little bit of a refresh or reinvigoration. Or maybe you are a teacher from a different subject area and want to feel more confident. As a student, you might use this series to consolidate what you've already learnt in lessons, or help you prepare for some exams that are coming up, or maybe you've moved schools or had a period of absence and want to catch up with what you've missed. Maybe you're a parent and want to support your child in their revision. Whatever your reason for listening, I hope this is helpful for you. I've already done a series on Christian beliefs as well as one on Christian practices. Now we are moving on to Islam beliefs. If you have listened to my general introduction to Paper 1, you know that you will have to do an entire question on Christian beliefs, including a multiple choice question, a short one-mark answer, a four-marker, a six marker, and a twelve marker. And then another entire question on Christian practices, and you'll have to do one of these entire questions on Islam beliefs. Now we've already done an episode on the six articles of faith and the five roots of a Suladin, the nature of Allah, Prophethood, Imamate, Belief in Angels, their nature and their role, specifically Jibril and Mikhail, holy books in Islam, the revelation and authority of the Quran, the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospels, the Scrolls of Ibrahim, and their authority for the Islam belief section of the GCSE. This episode is going to focus on predestination, human freedom, the day of judgment, aqrah, the belief in life after death, human responsibility and accountability, and heaven and hell. Whew! And I want to make sure that we have two key ideas, a couple of quotes, and some influences on these key beliefs. So let's look at the first word, predestination, as a key word. This is the belief that everything that happens has already been decided by Allah. And it is one of the six articles of faith in Sunni Islam. So it is a key belief in Sunni Islam specifically. It's one of the things you have to believe in to be a Muslim, some would say. So let's look at two things about predestination. So one belief about predestination is that many Muslims believe that they can't choose to do something if Allah has chosen a different path for them. So many Muslims do believe that if Allah has decided something, then they can't change that. It is something Allah has chosen for them. So if Allah has destined for me to be a teacher, then I'm going to be a teacher. I can't change that destiny because Allah knows a future and He's someone who's planned the future. So therefore I can't escape that plan. But I've got to do the best to make the most of that plan. A second belief that Muslims have about predestination is that Allah knows the future, but they still have freedom to choose. So even though Allah knows what they're doing, they still have the choice to make their decisions and their choices in terms of the path they end up on. Just because God knows the future doesn't mean he controls it. By the way, this is a really, really big discussion in the Muslim world and it has been for centuries, but also it's actually a discussion that happens in many religions. Does God know the future? And if he does, can humans really have free will? So you can see here the two beliefs that there are in Islam. There is one belief or one school of thought that says if Allah has decided something, then we can't change it. We just have to go through with Allah's plans. And another school of thought that says that we still have quite a lot of freedom to choose what we want to do. Just because Allah knows the future doesn't mean He controls the future. It's still in the hands of human decision. So if a Muslim has this belief in predestination, how could it influence them? Well, the first influence would be to trust Allah's plan. If Allah's got a plan for a Muslim, they should trust it. So if, for example, they plan to do something, but that plan never happened, a Muslim would acknowledge the fact that actually maybe their plan wasn't actually good for them. Allah's plan is going to be much better for them. And secondly, a Muslim would remember that nothing can happen without Allah. And that's why you might find that when Muslims speak to each other and make their plans, it's a really common phrase for them to say, I'll see you tomorrow, inshallah. Because inshallah means with Allah's will or with Allah's permission. So Muslims, by using that phrase, are acknowledging the fact that they might plan to do something tomorrow, but that plan can only happen if Allah wills it to happen. And a quote from the Quran that you could use is this Indeed, all things we created with predestination. So the Quran speaks about this idea of predestination, that Allah has created everything, and everything has got a perfect predestination. So Allah knows a plan of each creation and each human and at what will happen in their lives. But again, Muslims differ on whether we can change any of these plans or whether we do have lots of freedom. Another key aspect that you have to know in the topic of predestination is human freedom, also known as free will. And this is the idea that humans have control over their thoughts, their feelings, and their actions. So let's have a look at two key beliefs about human freedom. The first belief about human freedom is that humans are responsible for their actions. A second belief is that what humans do will be judged in the afterlife or in the akrah. And akira we're going to look at in a little bit more detail later in the episode. If a Muslim believes in human freedom, how might this influence them? So, number one, they will be responsible for their beliefs and actions. Because if you're free, you've got to be responsible for your choices, i.e. whether you have chosen good or chosen bad. And the second influence would be to remember that on judgment day you will be judged based on those actions. And the Quran says, let whoever wants to believe, believe, and let who wants to disbelieve disbelieve. So the Quran is quite clearly giving humans the freedom to choose to believe in whatever they want or to disbelieve in whatever they want. We've got the human freedom to choose. Allah is not going to force us to believe in something or to disbelieve in something. It's our choice. And this is because Allah is fair, and that's something that we had a look at in our first Islam episode. So when you think about the topic of predestination, you have to link it to the afterlife. So if Allah is going to judge you in the afterlife, that means He has got to give you some element, if not a lot, of freedom. Because it would not be fair of God to judge you if you had had no freedom. Otherwise, if God punishes a Muslim for a bad action, they could just turn around and say to God, God, but I wasn't free to do that. You chose for me to do bad. So therefore, why are you punishing me? So for God to be fair, he has to give Muslims elements of freedom so that when he does judge them and reward them or punish them, it's entirely their fault and they can't blame anyone else for their good actions or bad actions. That's what human freedom means under the topic of predestination. So let's have a look at some four mark questions. So you could be asked in your four mark question about two ways predestination or two ways human freedom influences Muslims today. So have a go at one or both of those questions, giving yourself a time limit of about three or four minutes. I'm going to provide a model answer to the question explain two ways that a belief in predestination influences Muslims. And here's my model answer. One influence is to trust Allah's plans because Muslims believe that Allah may have a better plan than the one that they made for themselves. So the first mark is for saying trusting Allah's plan, and then I have developed it further for the second mark. Another influence is to remember that nothing can happen without Allah's permission. That becomes my third mark. Let's develop that now. When they make a plan, they may use phrases like, inshallah, if Allah wills, to show that Allah has ultimate control. So there are two clear influences of predestination on the life of a Muslim, and both have been developed to get a maximum four out of four marks. What about human freedom? How does that influence a Muslim? So if a Muslim believes in human freedom, how might that influence them? So the question would be explain two ways in which a belief in human freedom might influence a Muslim. So our model answer could be one influence is to be accountable for their actions. This is because they'll be judged alone for their deeds in the Akirah. Remember, Akira means life after death, which we will look at later in the episode. And that would be my development. Another influence is to remember Judgment Day. That's my third mark. This will make them feel responsible for their actions as they'll know they'll need to answer for them. And that becomes four marks out of four. Two clear influences on the idea of human freedom, which have both been developed. So four out of four. When it comes to six mark questions, there are two main things you could be asked about this on the exam. So we could say explain two Muslim teachings about predestination, or explain two Muslim teachings about human freedom. So you have to know about both. And obviously, for each of those, you have to refer to sacred writings or another source of belief and teaching in your answer. So again, give yourself a time limit of about five minutes per question. Give the episode a pause and have a go at one or both of them yourself. I'm now going to model an answer to the question explain two Muslim teachings about predestination. Refer to sacred writings or another source of belief and teaching in your answer. One belief is that everything that happens is decided by Allah already. It is one of the six articles of faith in Sunni Islam. That becomes two marks for a developed point. Notice how, on nearly all of the Muslim beliefs that fall under the six articles or the five roots of Shia Islam, if you just acknowledge the fact that they're on those lists and define them, that is worth a mark. And it's really worth knowing that. Another belief is that Allah knows the future, but we have free will. Many Muslims believe that Allah does not force us to make any decisions, even though He knows what we will choose. And that is a further two marks, another developed point. All we need now is a source and an application. The Quran says, indeed, all things were created with predestination. This shows that Allah is all-knowing and has a plan for everything. And this becomes a perfect six marks out of six. And likewise, here for the second question regarding human freedom, this is more about free will. So again, I have to explain two points about this from a Muslim perspective, and then I have to have a quote and I have to apply the quote to the question. So here would be my model answer for explain two beliefs about human freedom, refer to sacred writings or another source of belief and teaching in your answer. One belief is that humans have control over their thoughts, feelings, and actions. Muslims believe that Allah has given them this so they can be free to make their own choices. That's worth two marks. Another belief is that human freedom shows Allah's justice. The Quran says, let whoever wants to believe, believe, and let those who want to disbelieve disbelieve. This shows Allah allows humans to believe or not, because for Allah to judge humans fairly on Judgment Day, there needs to be human freedom. So in that paragraph there, I've got a developed point where the development comes in the second part. I've got scripture there with a source which is also worth one mark. So I've got three marks altogether in that paragraph. And that last bit I've got an application as well. So essentially in those last two lines, I've got my development and application in the same place. So again, even though it's a different order other than our usual formula, it's still hitting the criteria of the exam specification and mark scheme, which will get me six out of six. So let's move on to Akura. Akira means belief in a new stage of life after death. So the first thing that Muslims believe is that life after death is eternal. So the life we have on earth is not the only life we'll live. In fact, that life is limited, it ends. But the afterlife is one that lasts forever and is eternal. And secondly, Muslims therefore also believe that the actions that you do in this life will affect your afterlife. So if they do good in this life, it will affect them in the afterlife in a positive way. If they do bad in this life, it will affect them in a negative way in the afterlife. If they believe in the akrah or the afterlife, how might that influence them as a Muslim? So a Muslim will of course obey Allah, because if they obey Allah, it will mean that their afterlife will be a positive experience. So they will stay away from sin, because otherwise the opposite will occur. If they stay away from sin and stay away from evil, they will ensure that in the afterlife it is not negative and they're not punished in the way that Islam teaches that people may be punished. And a quote in the Quran speaks about to him we shall return. So the Quran acknowledges the idea that Muslims come from God and they'll go back to Him in the afterlife. Another key aspect of the afterlife is human responsibility. And this is the idea that humans are responsible for most of what they do because they have free will, and so they must take responsibility for their actions, be accountable for this, and there'll be questioned on it on the day of judgment. This is linked to the idea of human free will, which we looked at in the first half of the episode. So let's have a look at two beliefs about human responsibility. The first belief is that humans are responsible for their actions. So Muslims believe that they are responsible for their actions. Why? Because what humans do will be judged in the Akira. So Muslims have to have responsibility in order for there to be a fair judgment in the afterlife. If they believe in human responsibility, that would make a Muslim be actually responsible for their own beliefs and actions. So they'll take accountability and think about what they do. And if they are good, that is their decision, and whatever they do that is bad is also their decision. Secondly, they'll also remember that they'll be judged in the afterlife because they have responsibility. And the Quran talks about that. This is the reward for what your hands have done. There's no blame on any other people on judgment day or in the afterlife. If you're rewarded for good, it is in your hands, and if you are punished for bad, it is in your hands. It was your responsibility because you had the free will to do good or to do evil. One of the main stages of the afterlife is resurrection. Resurrection is the belief that after death all people will be raised from the dead and face judgment. And this concept you can find both in the six articles of faith in Sunni Islam and in the five roots of Shia Islam. So it's the idea that all humans will be raised by Allah on Judgment Day. Let's have a look at two key beliefs about resurrection. The first one is that the angels will blow a trumpet on Judgment Day. And when they blow the trumpet, every human being to ever have existed will be raised from the dead to be judged on Judgment Day. And again, if a Muslim believes in judgment and the resurrection of human bodies, then their first influence would be to do good deeds or to avoid evil acts. Because again, they're aware that one day they're going to be brought back to life and be judged. And secondly, a Muslim may constantly ask Allah to forgive their sins again, remembering that one day they'll be brought back to life. And I'm just going to do a little nod to when we do our episode on Hajj, because part of Hajj, they have the day of forgiveness. So I will link back to resurrection and judgment day and Akira then too. And the Quran speaks that Allah will raise up those who are in the graves. So it also shows God's omnipotence or God's power because He has the power to raise all human beings from ashes, from their state in the grave into a physical form again once the resurrection takes place and judgment day happens. Then Muslims believe that all human beings are sent to either of two places. The first place you could be sent is heaven, and it's referred to as paradise, or in Arabic it's jannah, and jannah means paradise. It is Allah's reward after death for those who have been faithful to Him and repented of their sins. So it's a place where Muslims believe that those who are good are rewarded for the life they lived in this world. So let's have a look at two beliefs about heaven, about paradise or jannah. The first belief is that it's a literal physical place. So it's actually a garden with rivers and a physical place that human beings will exist. But other Muslims believe it is symbolic, it's not a physical place. It's simply to be in Allah's mercy. So when the Quran speaks about or describes heaven as a physical place, it's just for our human understanding. But we will never actually know what heaven is like. So the Quran uses language that humans can understand. If a Muslim believes in heaven, how might this influence them? Well, the first influence is to of course do a good deed, so they can hope to go to this place. And secondly, it gives them hope in Allah's mercy, because by having hope in Allah's mercy, they'll keep their motivation to do good, and therefore perhaps enter paradise, enter Jannah. And the Quran says, For the righteous are gardens near their Lord. So again, notice from this quote there's a physical description there of gardens, but also it's symbolic. About being near the Lord. So again, it depends how a Muslim reads the Quran, whether they believe heaven is a physical space, or whether they believe it's a metaphorical or symbolic description of being near their God. The other destination that Muslims believe a human being can be sent to is hell, and it's known in Arabic as Jahannam. It is a place of great suffering after death for those who've rejected the Quran's teachings and have led a wicked life. And for some they believe it will last forever. So again, this is a place where the evildoers would go. It's a place that some Muslims believe is eternal as well, or it could be a place where someone might spend a portion of time and then eventually enter heaven. So again, two beliefs about hell that a Muslim might have. One, some Muslims may believe it's a literal physical place, so there's actually fire and boiling water hotter than the sun. All the descriptions you think of when we think of the word hell, those are physical things that actually will be there. But other Muslims may believe that hell is actually symbolic. Hell is just to be away from Allah's mercy. So in the same way heaven is to be in Allah's mercy, hell is to be far from Allah's mercy. So if a Muslim believes in hell, how could they be influenced to act? Well, the first influence would be to, of course, stay away from sin because they don't want to be punished in this place. And secondly, they'd fear Allah's punishment. So before they committed any action, they'd remember Allah's punishment, and it may motivate them to stop doing that act if it was something that was a bad thing. And the Quran has many verses about heaven and hell, and one of those verses about hell is that it says, those who reject our signs will soon be cast into the fire. So again, there's a warning there for people who reject Allah and reject his signs that they could be put in this place known as hell. Now the afterlife can come up in several ways in your four mark questions. As usual, again, it's about how it will influence a Muslim. So whether it is akhirah, human responsibility, resurrection, heaven or hell, all of these areas could be asked about in a four-mark question on how they influence Muslims. So take a moment to try some of these questions and giving yourself three or four minute time limit. So here's just one example of how you might answer the question, explain two ways in which a belief in Akura influences Muslims. Remember, Akura means the afterlife. One influence is to do good actions because Muslims believe their actions will be judged in the afterlife. That's my first mark. Let's develop that now. For example, they will pray their daily prayers. That becomes my second mark. Another influence is to avoid sin because they would not want to be punished for going against Allah's teaching. That's my third mark. Let's develop that now. For example, they will try and avoid anything which is haram. So notice that I'm speaking about akirah and the influence of the akhirah on a Muslim. And here I'm actually referring to heaven and hell without naming them because when I talk about the Akira, I can talk about any part of the belief in Akira. I can talk about resurrection, heaven, hell, judgment day, because the akirah covers everything about the afterlife. Another question I could get is explain two ways in which a belief in human responsibility influences Muslims. So again, let's have a look at this one. One influence is to be accountable for their actions because they'll be judged alone for their deeds. This will be written down in the Book of Deeds. Another influence is to remember Judgment Day. This will make them feel responsible for their actions as they will know they will need to answer for them. So notice here that I've linked both of the influences to the idea of human responsibility. Again, emphasizing the fact that you have to answer the question and you have to make sure your influence is linked to the topic in the question. Here, the topic in the question is human responsibility. So I have to make sure my influences are linked to that, to being accountable. Remember to be judged, you're going to be judged alone. Remembering judgment day will make you responsible for your actions because you know you'll have to answer for them. For six mark questions, there can be several variations, and you could be asked about any topic from the specification. So you could be asked about Acura, human responsibility, resurrection, heaven, and hell. So again, you have to make sure that you can answer each of these questions. And the question will always be explain two beliefs about or explain why a belief in whatever is important to Muslims. And then it will always say refer to sacred writing or another source of belief and teaching in your answer. So you could get one about life after death in general or about the individual specific aspects of the afterlife. So again, we have to make sure we know about the belief in general as well as about the specifics on the specification. So have a go at some of the questions, giving yourself a time limit of about five minutes for your six markers, so you can pause the episode and have a go now. I'm going to show you how I would approach the question, explain two Muslim teachings about the resurrection, refer to sacred writing or another source of belief and teaching in your answer. One belief is that it is one of the six articles of faith in Sunni Islam and five roots of the Suladin in Shia Islam. It is the belief that every human will be raised from the dead on Judgment Day. So, two marks there for a developed point, acknowledging the fact that Sunni and Shia both believe in the resurrection and giving a definition of what it is. Another belief is that it will be Allah who will raise the dead. This will happen on Judgment Day, which will be marked by angels blowing the trumpet. The Quran says Allah will raise up all those who are in graves. This shows that Allah has the power to bring the dead back to life. The second paragraph becomes worth four marks, two marks for a developed point, one mark for a relevant source, and one mark at the end for the application of that source to the question, making the whole answer six out of six marks. And then I could also be asked specifically about either heaven or hell. In this case, I'm going to show you what you might answer if the question is about heaven. So explain two beliefs about heaven. Refer to sacred writings or another source of belief and teaching in your answer. One belief is that it's a place of reward. Muslims believe if you are righteous and have lived a life according to Allah's teachings, you will enter heaven. That's two marks for a developed point. Another belief is that heaven is not a physical place. The Quran says, for the righteous are gardens near their Lord. The gardens may not be literal, as some Muslims may believe this is symbolic to show they will be in Allah's mercy. Notice how in that second paragraph I've done it in a slightly different order. I've done the point, I've then put the scripture with the source, and then the last bit I explain it and apply it together as one sentence, but I still hit the criteria there. It's a developed point worth two marks. I can see a source there worth one mark, and I can see an application at the end, which is also worth one mark. So this would get you six out of six. Hopefully this gives you a little bit of a grounding in predestination, human freedom, the day of judgment, Acura, the belief in life after death, human responsibility and accountability, and heaven and hell, as well as how to answer some four and six mark questions. If you want to get some idea of some 12 markers, it could be something like belief in the Akura is the most important belief, or Allah decides everything that happens to a Muslim, something like that. Or it could be about the most important duty for a Muslim is to take human responsibility. So there's lots of options for the 12 markers. Take some time now, set a timer, have a go at some of those other four and six markers that we mentioned if you haven't had time to already. Take your answers into school for your teachers to mark. Next episode, we're going to start Islam practices, and we're going to start with the 10 obligatory acts, the five pillars, and the shahadah. Now, the ten obligatory acts is another one of those tricky topics that students often forget or that isn't taught particularly distinctly. So make sure you join me for the next episode. I can't wait. I hope you can join me. This podcast is supported by ReimaginingEducation at reimaginingeducation.uk. My name is Louisa Jane Smith and this is the RE podcast. The podcast for those of you who think RE is boring, which it is. I've just proved that to you. But thank you so much for letting me help you get an even better grade in GCSE REC.