Eid-e-Ghadeer Fair
For the Eid of Ghadeer, one community held an awesome fair. Not only did this fair have the usuals like a bouncy castle, lucky dips, yummy food and decor, it also had some very meaningful activity stations for children to go round and do. Here is a round up, with the hope that it can be recreated in your communities, inshallah!
This was the layout, and the kids each got a checklist as they entered
Below is a script for each of the stations, and here is the document that covers all the key learning objectives and brief overview of each activity:
- Puzzle perfection Welcome to the ‘puzzle perfection’ station!
So I have a question for you… How does a puzzle look when there are pieces missing? Does it look complete? What if there is just one piece missing? Is it complete? Is the picture perfect? No it is not.
In the same way, Allah (swt) has made our religion like a beautiful puzzle. We must make sure that we believe and do all the things we are meant to do, otherwise the puzzle will not be complete. Do you know when Allah (swt) perfected it and added the final piece? It was on the day of Ghadeer! In the Holy Qura’n in Surah 5 verse 3, Allah said to his Holy Prophet, ‘Today I have perfected for you your religion’.
So what happened on that day for Allah to say that the religion is now perfect? What was the final puzzle piece? It was when the Holy Prophet declared to the people that Imam Ali (as) was to be the Imam after him and that he is our ‘mawla’! Without this final beautiful piece, our religion would have not been complete.
Your task now is to find all the puzzle pieces in the sand and complete this beautiful verse of the holy Qura’n.
How will you learn from your mawla and try to keep your faith perfect and complete?
- 5:55 Aqeeq ring tossDid you know, there is an ayah in the holy Qur’an which talks about a very special person who gave sadaqa to a poor man whilst doing ruku?? The ayah says that this person is a very loving and important leader for us and that whoever this person is, we need to follow and obey him. Do you know who this special person is? Well, let me tell you the story. One day a poor man came into the mosque asking for help as he had no money. Everyone was praying so nobody responded to him. He asked again and again, no one said a word. The man then complained to Allah (swt) that he was in a mosque and yet no one was helping him. At that moment Allah inspired Imam Ali (as) to hold out his hand while he was doing ruku. On his hand was a ring that the poor man then took! So now we see, that special person in the ayah was our beloved Imam Ali (as)!
Allah (swt) has made this ayah very easy for us to remember.. it’s in Surah 5 (Surah Maida), verse 55!! All we have to remember is 5:55!!
At this station we will be remembering this story and this ayah by trying to throw a ring onto pegs with the number 5:55 on them! Can you throw it over the number 5?
What can you do to be your mawla Imam Ali (as) and help those in need?
- Hand of Bay’ah pop upLet’s take ourselves to the day of Ghadeer.. imagine you can see the shining faces of Rasulullah (s) and Imam Ali (as) right in front of you on a stage made of saddles. You see the Holy Prophet raise Imam’s hand high so that everyone could see saying ‘man kuntu mawla fa hadha Aliyyun mawla!’ Whoever believes that I am his loving leader, Imam Ai is now their leader too! All around you see hand raised as people congratulate Imam Ali (as) and give their bay’ah, their promise to always follow him.
At this station we will be making a pop-up hand of bay’ah. When we see it we remember the day of Ghadeer and we make a promise to Imam Ali (as) and to the Imam of our time that we will always flow them and say ‘Labbayk ya Imam!’
How will you show your ‘Labbayk’ to your mawla?
- Hook a deed We all know that our beloved Imam Ali (as) and all of our holy Ahlul Bayt had the best character and beautiful akhlaq. Anyone who met them knew they were special people of Allah because of how they behaved and the good deeds they did. If we want to be like our mawla and like the Ahlul Bayt, we need to try our best to do things like they did.
At this station you are going to try and ‘hook a deed!’ Underneath some of the little duckies there will be a good deed, something you can do that will help us to become like our mawla.
How will you be like your mawla?
- Two weighty thingsOn the day of Ghadeer, Rasulullah (s) gave us the hadith of thaqalain… Thaqalain? Wow that’s a big word.. what does that mean? Well, it just means 2 things which are heavy or weighty or very important. On that day, Rasulullah said he was leaving behind, 2 weighty and important treasures for us to hold on to when he left this world. These 2 treasures would keep us safe on the path of Allah (swt). So, the question is, what were these heavy, important, weighty things? Shall I tell you?… they were the Holy Qur’an and the Holy Ahlul Bayt (as). The Holy Qur’an teaches us about our faith and guides us through the words of Allah (swt) and the Ahlul Bayt teach and guide us through their actions! They are even called the walking talking Qur’ans!
Both of these together make the thaqalayn, the 2 weighty things. They are equally important and need to be used together for us to stay on the right path.
Your mission at this station is to find the two weighty treasures! In front of you, you have a set of weighing scales and lots of different weights. To find the 2 weighty treasures of the Qur’an and the Ahlul bayt (as), you need to keep trying the different weights on the scales to find the ones that are the heaviest and that weigh the same. Remember, both are needed to balance the scales, just like both are needed to for us to be balanced on the straight path!
How will you be like your mawla and be balanced on the straight path?
- Mubahila Buzz QuizDo you know the story of Mubahila?
Test your knowledge of this beautiful event at this station by having a go at the buzz quiz! Connect the question to its correct answer and you will see the light bulb come on! You will see a few books about the event of mubahila so please have a look through them to help you with the quiz!! Remember, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the answer at the beginning. Inshallah by the end you will know all about the event and become a Mubahila Master!
How will you be like your mawla and shine your light like the holy personalities of Mubahila?
- Magnetic Guidance RaceAllah (swt) has created us out of his love and has placed us in this world, so that we can be the best we can be and be happy in this world and in the next world, the akhira. But do you think our loving lord would have left us here without guiding us and showing us how to do this? Not at all! He is so kind and fair. He has sent us our beautiful Ahlul Bayt (as) as guides. They are the best people to ever walk this planet and if we try and do what they do and stick right close to them and behave like them, they will guide us, in the best way, all the way to Jannah inshallah.
At this station, use the stick with the magnet to guide the car all the way to the finish line. The car is guided because it sticks so tightly to the magnet; wherever it goes the car will go too. In the same way if we stick to the Ahlul Bayt (as) and let them guide us in everything we do, we will also make it quickly and safely to our finish line.. Jannah inshallah.
How will you stick to your mawla?
- ‘Be like the Imams’ golf Are you brave like Imam Husain (as), patient like Imam Kadhim (as) or generous like Imam Jawad (as)?
We all know that the holy Ahlul Bayt (as) had the most beautiful akhlaq and character. Everyone who met them would love their excellent behaviour and many people became followers of the Ahlul Bayt (as) simply because they had the best character.
We all love the Imams, but part of that is to try and be like them too. Can you be like them?
At this station, use a golf club and try and get the ball into one of the 12 holes that represent the 12 Imams. Each hole you get, have a look at the quality of that Imam ansd make a promise to try your best to be like that from now on. Inshallah with their help and the help of Allah (swt) you can be a leader like Imam Ali (as), smart like Imam Baqir (as) and kind like Imam Hassan (as).
How will you be like your mawla?
- Imam Ali scavenger huntThe beautiful event of Ghadeer was when our holy Prophet (s) announced to the people that Imam Ali (as) was now their mawla. He is our mawla and so special in our lives. We want to be like him in everything we do!
To help us know more about Imam Ali (as) and help us be like our mawla, look around you, use your awesome detective skills, and try and find all 12 pictures about him. With each picture, there is a letter… when you find all the letters, unscramble them to find the mystery words!!! Good luck detectives!
What have I learnt about my mawla Ali (as)?
