3. Meaning Focus.

A. True/False Statements.

Read the text quickly and look at the following statements. Do you agree with

these agreements? Why\ Why not?

1. Abdullah did not fight in the Battle of Uhud.

2. Umar, Abdullah’s father, taught him all there was to know about Islam.

3. Abdullah turned down the job of qadi at first because it did not pay well enough.

4. Abdullah once gave away 4,000 dirhams to a man called Ayyub.

5. Money was not important to Abdullah.

b) Information Search.

Answer the questions using information from the text.

1. Although Abdullah memorised many hadiths, he did not like to repeat them. Why?

2. Why did Abdullah refuse to become a qadi at first?

3. Why did Abdullah become a qadi in the end?

• He was cautious in making legal judgements.

• It was a well-paid job.

• The job brought him glory and honour.

• The caliph persuaded him to do the job.

4. Why was it strange that Abdullah should buy food for his camel on credit?

• Abdullah did not think money was important.

• He would spend his money on the poor.

• He had just received 4,000 dirhams.

• He was a successful and trustworthy trader.

4. What did Abdullah mean when he said that money should be a servant, not a master?

c) Information Management.

In the text, it is said that Abdullah was known for his knowledge, humility, generosity, piety, and truthfulness. Complete the chart below by providing exaihples from the text which illustrate the five characteristics described.

CHARACTERISTIC	SUPPORTING EXAMPLE
knowledge
humility
generosity
piety
truthfulness

d) Learner Activity.

1. Work in pairs. Write a dialogue between Ayyub bin Wa'il Ar-Rasi and Maymun bin Mahran in which they discuss Abdullah’s attitude towards money and the luxuries of life.

2. Role play your dialogue for the class.

3. Listen to the other pairs' dialogues. Note the similarities and differences.

e)Vocabulary in Context.

Match each word from the text with the correct meaning.

1. turned down a. telling about something one should not do

2. truthfulness b. an error, something not quite accurate

3. perfectly с. honesty

4. mistake d. buying now and paying later

5. wording e. a soft, thick cloth made of cotton or silk

6. cautious f. crying

7. legal g. referring to people who share a common

8.performing interest

9. weeping h. exactly

10. warning i. refused, not allowed to do something

11. velvet j. careful

12. blanket k. related to the law

13. on credit 1. doing or completing a task

14. necessities m. the way words are arranged

15. fellow n. basic needs or requirements

o. a warm bed covering

f) Semantic Cloze Task.

Use some of the words from the previous task to complete the passage below. Use the words in their correct form.

Abdullah bin Umar was a very humble and (1) ……….. man. He was so (2) ……….., that he refused to repeat the sayings of the Prophet (SAAS) which he had learned in case he made a (3) ………. .He was also very careful about the (4) . ………..of (5) ………… documents. He was very pious and often (6) …………salat all night, (7) ……….., seeking forgiveness, and reading the parts of the Qur'an which (8) ……….. against evil. He was so humble that, despite being a successful trader, he only kept for himself the (9) ………. of life and gave the rest away to the poor, even buying food (10) ……….. as he had no money left to pay for it.