Dear All,
When teaching your children about different religions of the world, please be sure to include the pheonomonal and accurate PBS documentary entitled Islam: Empire of Faith.
Below is the description and link for the 1/18 episodes:
Islam - Empire of Faith (PBS)
Islam - Empire of Faith is a documentary series, made in 2000, that details the history of Islam, from the birth of the Islamic Prophet, Muhammad to the Ottoman Empire.
This three episodes series covers more than a thousand years of Islamic history and culture, with emphasis on the contributions that Muslims have made in science, medicine, art, philosophy, learning, and trade.
The first episode (“The Messenger”) introduces the story of the rise of Islam, and the extraordinary life of the Prophet Muhammad. It covers the revelation of the Qur’an, the persecution suffered by the early Muslims, the first mosques, and then the rapid expansion of Islam.
The second episode (“The Awakening”) examines the growth of Islam into a world civilization. Through trade and learning, the Islamic influence extended further. Muslims made great achievements in architecture, medicine, and science, influencing the intellectual development of the West. This episode also explores the story of the Crusades (including stunning reenactments filmed in Iran), and ends with the invasion of Islamic lands by the Mongols.
The third episode (“The Ottomans”) looks at the dramatic rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire.
Islamic leaders who viewed the documentary expressed appreciation for “the network’s efforts to offer a balanced and accurate portrayal of Islamic history” (CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad). Series producer Robert Gardner was responsive to Muslim concerns about specific aspects of the film, particularly an artistic image of the Prophet Muhammad which was later removed.
The first episode of 18 is above and located in the Video Gallery: Teaching Your Child Encyclopedic Knowledge section. To access the rest of the series, please remove the “spaces” that I intentionally put in the following link > http://www.you tube.com/view_play_list?p=514C39785844AF6B
And below the PBS webpage for the video series with many beneficial resources:
http://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/
Happy Learning!
Ayesha