November's stories that can be used to teach kids about religion come from the Sahih al-Bukari. This collection is one of the six major ‘hadiths’, the stories denoting the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad in Sunni Islam. The hadith is generally accepted by Muslims as a secondary source of Islamic law after the Qur’an. These Muslim Foundations were collected by a scholar after being transmitted orally for generations. When raising interfaith children, you can use this craft to deepen the meaning of the traditions.
Giant Ship Engine that Failed
The following is an incident about an engine failure in a giant ship. The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.
Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.
"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"
So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."
The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap $ 9998.00
When using this craft to teach kids about religion, you must remember to share the message that effort is important but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference.
The following is an incident about an engine failure in a giant ship. The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.
Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.
"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"
So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."
The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap $ 9998.00
When using this craft to teach kids about religion, you must remember to share the message that effort is important but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference.
