KS1 Religious Studies: The Islamic Story of The Prophet and the Ants and 'The Crying Camel'

Welcome to Religions of the World. Islam: The Religion of Muslims.

Islam is the second biggest religion in the world. It began almost 1,500 years ago. The Arabic word for God is Allah, and this is what many Muslims call God. This is Amina. She is eleven years old. She lives in Glasgow with her parents and her younger brother, Rahib.

Amina and her family are Muslims, which means they follow the religion of Islam. Amina’s family keep a copy of the Quran, the Muslim holy book at home and Amina loves to sit down and read it. Her dad explained that it was the word of Allah that was spoken to the Prophet, Muhammad by an angel. These words were written down later by the Prophet’s friends.

As well as the stories and scriptures in the Quran, there are also other stories in Islam about the Prophet. Amina loves telling stories about the Prophet to her brother, Rahib. One of her favourites is The Islamic Story of the Prophet and the Ants.

One day as the sun went down, all of the ants were returning home after a very busy day collecting food for their nest. They were looking forward to a good night’s rest. Suddenly, they saw big clouds of smoke drifting closer and closer to their nest and the air was getting hotter and hotter. There was a fire.

All the ants began to run as fast as their little legs could carry them, so they could get out of the way of the fire and smoke. They heard a voice from above saying, “Look what you have done. You’ve built your fire too close to the ant’s nest. The poor little creatures will get burnt!” It was the voice of the Prophet.

He was camping near to the ant’s nest with some of his followers who had lit the fire. As soon as the Prophet had spoken, the fire was put out. The ants were saved. The Prophet said to his followers, “No matter how small or large the animals are, they are all important to Allah. Everyone should take care of them.”

The ants all hurried back to the nest and went to bed. They felt safe because they knew that the Prophet was looking out for them. “And that is the story of the Prophet and the Ants,” said Amina. Rahib giggled and said, “Can you tell me another one, please.” Amina smiled and started to tell another story.

The Islamic Story of the Crying Camel. It was a really hot day; so hot that everyone in the town was sheltering in the shade. The Prophet was walking through a garden when it sounded like someone was crying. There was a poor, overworked camel tied up to a tree with no shade.

The hot sun was beating down on the camel and he had nothing to drink. The camel’s owner was resting nearby in the shade. The Prophet walked over and said to him, “Your camel is just as much a part of God’s world as you or I. It is our duty to treat the camel well, to feed it and to make sure that it has enough to drink.”

The owner looked very ashamed and promised to take care of the camel properly from now on. Amina smiled at Rahib and said, “It’s really important we care for all of Allah’s creatures equally.” Rahib nodded and asked, “Can you tell me another story?” “Not tonight,” said Amina. “It’s time for bed.” Rahib hurried to bed, excited to hear what stories Amina would tell him tomorrow.