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Explore the five pillars of Islam

Work together to answer questions about Islam in this quiz challenge. Can you collect all five pillars?
Plan a session with this activity

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You’ll need

  • Sticky labels
  • Pens or pencils
  • Scrap paper
  • Wooden building blocks or toy building bricks

Scouts is open to everyone. We don’t identify exclusively with one faith, and we welcome people of all faiths and of none.

We know it’s important for people to learn about each other, including understanding different faiths and beliefs. Scouts always respects people’s beliefs, faiths and cultures, and everyone should be open to learn.

As an inclusive and values based movement, we support our members to engage and learn about different faiths and beliefs in an exciting and meaningful way, even if they don’t have a faith themselves.  

Celebrating and understanding differences, including differences in faiths and beliefs, is an important part of our Scout values, which are:

  • Integrity: We act with integrity; we are honest, trustworthy and loyal.
  • Respect: We have self-respect and respect for others.
  • Care: We support others and take care of the world in which we live.
  • Belief: We explore our faiths, beliefs and attitudes.
  • Co-operation: We make a positive difference; we co-operate with others and make friends.

Our value of Belief and its exploration helps Scouts to learn from other faiths and beliefs. This encourages them to develop or build their personal beliefs and understand their shared values, whether faith-based on not. 

We know that learning about faiths, beliefs and different attitudes can help to break down barriers, helps us all to recognise what we have in common, and teaches us to value and respect other people. It also helps us to build up respect, acceptance and knowledge for each other, leading to a more co-operative and inclusive society. 

In our diverse society, people can sometimes feel cautious talking about  this sensitive subject. However, it's important that Scouts offers young people safe, exciting and open spaces to explore faiths and beliefs. They should be able to engage in personal reflection, as they question and develop their opinions and understanding of the world around them.

Making time for personal reflection and developing our beliefs means exploring the places, people, communities, celebrations or stories which hold meaning for us, and it may not necessarily mean exploring a faith. 

For example, someone’s shared values may be their Scout Values and that person may choose to reflect on them at important times, such as when they make their Promise. Others may choose to reflect at certain times of the year, such as a faith-based festival, birthdays, meaningful events or at New Year. Some people may still celebrate events, such as Christmas, but use it as a time to celebrate family, friends and loved ones, as well as for charity and giving.

Discover more about Faiths and Beliefs in Scouts.

 

Before you begin 

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers.

Setting up the activity 

  • Gather some rectangular building blocks or columns of building bricks to represent each of the five pillars. Use a different colour for each pillar if you can. 
  • Use sticky labels to add the name of the pillar. 
  • You’ll need enough for each group to be able to collect a set.  
  • Each group will also need a longer block or brick, to balance on top of their five pillars.  
  • We’ve shared some example quiz questions. You can adjust these according to the experiences of your group. Choose whether you use the multiple choice options. 

Talk about Islam 

  1. Gather everyone together in a circle and ask if anyone knows what Islam is.
  2. Explain that Islam is the second largest religion in the world, with over 1.8 billion followers, who are called Muslims. It’s also the second largest religion in the UK. The Muslim place of worship is called a mosque or a masjid. Muslims believe there is one true God, called Allah, which is the Arabic word for God. Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last prophet sent by Allah, and that the Qur’an, which is the holy book of Islam, was revealed to him.  
  3. All Muslims follow the Five Pillars of Islam. Ask if anyone heard of the Five Pillars of Islam. If not, can the guess what they might be and why they are called pillars? Think about what a pillar is on a building or monument. 
  4. Explain that the Five Pillars of Islam are core beliefs and practices. For Muslims, their faith is a way of life, and the five pillars provide a framework for their whole life. The Five Pillars of Islam are: 
    • Shahadah: the declaration of faith  
    • Salah: praying five times each day  
    • Zakat: giving money to charity or those in need 
    • Sawm: fasting during the month of Ramadan  
    • Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca  

Run the quiz 

  1. Explain that you’ll be doing a quiz. The aim of the quiz is to answer questions correctly to win a block. There are five blocks in total to collect, with each block representing one of the five pillars. Each question links to one of the five pillars and if you answer the question correctly, you’ll win the corresponding block. You’ll have multiple opportunities to win each one.  
  2. The winning team is the first to collect all five blocks. 
  3. Ask everyone to get into groups, then give each group a piece of paper and a pen or pencil to write down their answers.
  4. Read out the questions, plus the multiple-choice answers if you’re using those.
  5. Try to alternate between the different groups of questions, asking a question about a different pillar each time.  
  6. After each question, give groups time to discuss their answer and write it down. You may want to pause and reread the question during this time. 
  7. When everyone’s ready, ask groups to share their answer and give a block to each team with the correct answer. 
  8. Keep playing until at least one group have collected the full set. You can pick and choose from the questions, to give a good level of challenge or competition. You’ll find that some groups may end up with more than one block for the same pillar. 
  9. If two teams collect the same number of pillars at the same time, you could use the tiebreaker questions (with or without multiple choice answers) to determine a winner. 
  10. There could be a prize for the winning team, as well as for teams who worked well together, who included everyone’s thoughts and the best communicators. 

Questions and answers

  1. True or false: Muslims believe in more than one God.
    1. True
    2. False. Muslims believe in one God called Allah.
  1. Who is not a prophet of Islam?
    1. Muhammad
    2. Moses
    3. Guru Nanak
  2. The holy book/scripture is called the:
    1. Torah
    2. Qur’an
    3. Bible
  1. How many times a day do Muslims pray?
    1. Once
    2. Five times
    3. Seven times
  2. What direction do Muslims face to pray?
    1. North
    2. Towards the holy city of Mecca
    3. Towards the moon
  3. True or false: A mosque is used for prayer only.
    1. True
    2. False. Mosques are also used as spaces for learning and activities to support the community. From coming together to celebrate festivals, to hosting food banks, to running youth clubs.
  1. Zakat is the third pillar of Islam. What’s it about?
    1. Not eating certain foods
    2. Donating to charity
    3. Praying every day
  2. Muslims donate at least what % of their money to those in need?
    1. 1%
    2. 2.5% - Muslims who can afford pay 2.5% of their yearly savings to charity. This is called Zakat.
    3. 5%
  3. As well as Zakat, Muslims are encouraged to give their money and time to charity throughout the year. This is known as:
    1. Sadaqah
    2. Ramadan
    3. Dana
  1. Ramadan starts on the sighting of what?
    1. Full moon
    2. Crescent moon
    3. Venus
  2. What’s the name for the daily breaking of the fast during Ramadan?
    1. Breakfast
    2. Iftar
    3. Eid
  3. How long does Ramadan last?
    1. A week
    2. 3 weeks
    3. A month
  1. The fifth pillar of Islam is called Hajj, and it's a pilgrimage to:
    1. The river Ganges
    2. The holy city of Mecca
    3. The holy city of Jerusalem
  2. What country is Mecca in?
    1. Saudi Arabia
    2. India
    3. Israel
  3. True or false: All Muslims are expected to complete Hajj at least once in their lives, if they’re able to.
    1. True
    2. False
  1. Nadiya Hussain is a well-known British chef. She’s also Muslim, but which TV show did she win?:
    1. Masterchef
    2. Great British Menu
    3. The Great British Bake Off - Nadiya Hussain was the winner of The Great British Bake Off in 2015. She's now a television chef, television presenter, newspaper columnist and author. 
  1. The first mosque in the UK was built in:
    1. 1880s - The UK’s first purpose-built mosque was built in 1889 in Woking in Surrey.
    2. 1980s
    3. 1990s
  1. Mo Farah is one of the most successful British Olympians and is also a Muslim. In 2012, Mo observed his Ramadan fast later in the year, so he didn’t fast during the Olympics. What Olympic sport did he compete in?
    1. Long jumper
    2. Long distance running
    3. Triathlete

Reflection

This activity was an opportunity to explore the Islamic faith and belief system. Why is it important for people to learn about other's faiths and beliefs, even if they themselves don't follow a particular faith? It can help us understand, respect and relate to others, and it also gives us opportunity to reflect on our own personal beliefs and values. 

Although the main message of Islam is believing in the one god and following the teachings of his last messenger, Prophet Muhammad, Muslims also believe in others' rights to their own beliefs.  The Qur'an says that "there is no compulsion in religion" (Qur'an 2:256) and "to you your religion and to me mine" (Qur'an 109:6). 

Islam also teaches its followers to respect others and treat them with loving kindness, regardless of their personal beliefs. 

What do you think our Scout values and the Muslim faith have in common? They have a lot in common, such as caring and respecting others.

People can think about their own personal beliefs and values. What's important to you? Can you think of five things that guide how you live your life? For example, you may believe in kindness or value honesty and compassion.  If you’re Muslim, think about how you follow the five pillars of Islam in your daily life.

In this activity, did any groups end up with more than one of the blocks? What did they do with it? Did any groups choose to donate it to another group, or do a swap? This could be an opportunity to reflect on how showing care and helping others is a key part of Islam, as well as how problem-solving, good communication, sharing and teamwork can help us to tackle a shared task.

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You can make the questions easier or more difficult by deciding whether to use multiple choice answers. If you add any questions in to the quiz, make sure they are accurate and from a reliable, reputable source, such as BBC Bitesize.

For anyone who may not be able to hear the questions, consider printing them a version that they can read at the same time, but make sure not to include the answers.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

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You could invite someone who’s Muslim to your session to share their own insights into the five pillars and how they put their faith into practise.  

Get in touch with the Muslim Scout Fellowship (MSF), one of our National Scout Active Support Units, and see if there are any nearby predominantly Muslim Scout groups that you could link up with to run this activity together. You can also find your nearest group on the MSF website.