A (synonym)
UNIT 4 UNIT 4
| Muhsinin 40
Main Aims:
to develop students’ reading comprehension skills and strategies using an authentic reading materials related to birth
of a prophet..
Objectives:
By the end of this session students will have:
practiced scanning practiced skimming
identified words related to Islamic history practiced setting reading purposes
identified and practiced present continuous tense
Reading for Islamic Higher Education | 41 A. Get Ready to Read
1. Build background knowledge
a. When was the prophet Muhammad born?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
b. Where was he born?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
c. Why was the time of the Prophet’s born named the time of jahilliyah?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
d. As the tradition of the people at that time, a new born baby was breastfed not only by his own mother but also by other women. Mention some of the Prophet’s breastfed mothers.
1. _____________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________________
2. Set purposes for reading a. Author’s objective
Based on the title, the writer intends to inform readers about:
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
b. Your reading purposes
Based on the title of the text, write down your purpose (s) of reading.
When I finish reading the text I will get information about:
| Muhsinin 42
1. _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
3. Vocabulary Preview
Use the words from box A and box B to fill in the synonyms and the meaning of the words taken from the text in the following table.
No Words Synonyms Meaning
1 entrusted
2 ddiscounts
3 circumstances
4 reputed
5 successor
6 recounted
7 portents
8 solitude
9 shield
10 transpired
B (meaning)
mengabaikan, keadaan,
dipercayakan, penerus, diceritakan, isyarat, melindungi, terjadi, sendirian, dikenal
A (synonym)condition, intrusted, known, narrated, ignore,
happened, sign, protect,
alone, inheritor
Reading for Islamic Higher Education | 43
4. Write your Sentences
To make sure that you know and understand the list of words above, please write a sentence using each of the words. You may change the tenses. Don’t worry to make mistakes.
1. entrusted
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. discounts
_______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3. circumstances
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4. reputed
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
5. successor
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
6. recounted
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
7. portents
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
8. solitude
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
9. Sield
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
10. transpired
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
| Muhsinin 44 B. While Reading
1. 1st Reading
Read the text for the first time as quickly as possible (skimming) and underline the word or groups of words discussed in the vocabulary preview and some Islamic terms used in the text.
2. 2nd Reading
` Read the text for the second time (scanning) to find out the main idea of each paragraph.
Birth of a Prophet
According to tradition, Muhammad ibn Abdullah was born in Mecca around 570 c.e. His father Abdullah ("Abd Allah) belonged to the Quraysh tribe of the Hashim clan and died a few days before Muhammad’s birth. Muhammad’s mother Aminah died when he was only six years old. Two years later, his grandfather "Abd al-Muttalib, who was taking care of him, died too. At the age of eight, he was entrusted to his paternal uncle, Abu Talib, who was the head of the clan.
If one discounts the anecdotal details characteristic of many pious traditions, then little is known with certainty of the early life and circumstances of Muhammad. He is reputed to have accompanied his uncle Abu Talib on trading journeys to Syria. At the age of twenty five, he was in charge of caravan transshipment of the merchandise of a wealthy widow named Khadijah, of the Asad clan. So impressed was Khadijah by Muhammad’s moral qualities that she offered herself to him in marriage, even though she was fiffteen years older than he was. Muhammad accepted the offer.
They had two sons who died young and four daughters, of whom the best known is Fatimah, the wife of Muhammad’s cousin "Ali, regarded by the Shi"is as Muhammad’s divinely ordained successor. Until Khadijah’s death in 619,
Reading for Islamic Higher Education | 45 Muhammad took no other wife. His marriage gave him financial independence, since by Arab custom Muhammad as a minor had no share in the property of his father or grandfather.
A traditional account in the life of Muhammad that is recounted by millions of Muslims is worth noting here. One version of the story involves Abu Talib and an adolescent Muhammad. It recounts an incident that happened during a caravan trip to Syria in which Muhammad, then twelve years old, and his uncle Abu Talib traveled. The caravan stopped at the rest house of the Christian monk Bahirah, who saw portents that led him to recognize Muhammad as the prophet to come.
Another version describes Muhammad’s caravan trip to Syria, accompanied by Khadijah’s slave, Maysarah. When the caravan stopped at the rest house of Bahirah, Muhammad sat under a tree in solitude. The monk wanted to know who the man sitting under the tree was. Maysarah replied that he was one of the Quraysh tribe, the people who guard the Ka"bah. “No,” said the monk, “no one but a prophet is sitting under the tree.” Later, on the return journey, Maysarah, who was riding behind the Prophet, saw two angels appear above Muhammad and shield him from the sun’s harmful rays. When they returned to Mecca, Maysarah told Khadijah everything that transpired during the trip.
Whichever version one tends to accept, the point of the story is quite clear: Muhammad is recognized as a prophet.
S. A. Nigosian. 2004.
| Muhsinin 46 3. 3rd Reading
Read the text for the third time. This time you have to read more carefully to find out the answers to the following comprehension questions:
1. How old was the Prophet Muhammad when his grandfather died?
A. 2 years old.
B. 6 years old.
C. 8 years old.
D. 12 years old.
E. He was not born yet.
2. According to tradition, Muhammad ibn Abdullah was born in Mecca around 570 c.e. The word tradition here refers to … A. custom
B. hadits C. Arab people
D. the prophet’s family E. history
3. If one discounts the anecdotal details characteristic of many pious traditions, then little is known with certainty of the early life and circumstances of Muhammad. This sentence implies that …
A. The little knowledge that we know about the early life and circumstances of Muhammad is accurate.
B. We know all about the early life and circumstances of Muhammad from pious tradition.
C. What we know about the early life and circumstances of Muhammad is little and might be not true.
D. It is important to know about the early life and circumstances of Muhammad.
E. It is necessary to know about the early life and circumstances of Muhammad.
Reading for Islamic Higher Education | 47 4. How old was Khadijah when she got married with the
Prophet?
A. 15 years old.
B. 25 years old.
C. 35 years old.
D. 40 years old.
E. 45 years old.
5. Who was claimed to be the inheritor of the Prophet Muhammad by the Shi’i?
A. Khadijah
B. Ali bin Abu Thalib C. Fathimah
D. Abu Thalib E. Abdul Muttalib
6. How did the Christian priest Bahira know the prophetic signs of Muhammad?
A. Maysarah told him.
B. Abu Thalib told him.
C. Muhammad told him.
D. He knew them from his dream.
E. He knew them from his holy Book.
7. How long did Fathimah and the Prophet Muhammad live together as a wife and a husband?
A. 24 years.
B. 26 years.
C. 28 years.
D. 30 years.
E. 32 years.
8. The information about the marriage of the Prophet Muhammad can be found in
A. paragraph 1.
B. paragraph 2.
C. paragraph 3.
D. paragraph 4.
| Muhsinin 48
E. paragraph 3 and 4.
9. His marriage gave him financial independence, since by Arab custom Muhammad as a minor had no share in the property of his father or grandfather. The word since can be best replaced by …
A. when B. for C. and D. because E. although
10. “No,” said the monk, “no one but a prophet is sitting under the tree.” This sentence means that …
A. Nobody is sitting under the tree.
B. The one who is sitting under the tree is not a prophet.
C. Nobody is sitting with the prophet under the tree.
D. The one who is sitting under the tree must be a prophet.
E. The prophet is sitting under the tree alone.
C. After You Read
1. Checking Your Purposes a. Author’s objective
Look back at the author’s objective you have stated. Can you prove it? Which part of the text support your proof?
b. Your reading purposes
Check your reading purposes. Do you think you get your purposes?
2. Grammar Practice
A. The following sentence is taken from the text. Please work with your partner or groups to add more sentences which have the same constructions.
1. No one but a prophet is sitting under the tree.
2. ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Reading for Islamic Higher Education | 49 3. ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
4. ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
5. ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
B. Write other examples using your own words.
1. _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
5. _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
3. Write your reading
In Indonesia, culturally, the birth of the Prophet Muhammad is celebrated as Maulid Nabi. However, some argue its practice and considered it to be an invention in religion (bid’ah) which is forbiddance and has to be avoided. Please write your ideas whether or not you agree with the celebration of the Prophet Muhammad birthday. Do not forget to support you ideas with some reasons.
1. I agree with the celebration of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad for several reasons. First,
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
| Muhsinin 50
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
2. I do not agree with the celebration of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad for several reasons. First,
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Reading for Islamic Higher Education | 51 Main Aims:
to develop students’ reading comprehension skills and strategies using an authentic reading materials related to
prophetic call.
Objectives:
By the end of this session students will have:
practiced scanning practiced skimming
identified words related to Islamic terms practiced setting reading purposes
identified and practiced future tense with will