Makings

So, look anywhere in the animal world

and you will see creatures making things.

They take lots of little things that are often not much use on their own,

and put them together to make bigger things that can be very useful indeed.

So, birds will take little bits of stick or mud,

and make nests to be homes for their families.

People make homes for themselves in the same way,

using bits of wood or mud or stone,

which they put together in shapes that will shelter them and their families from the sun, wind or rain.

But the places where people live around the world can be very different from each other.

So just as the climate and the landscape are very different around the world,

the buildings that people make are also very different.

But buildings are not the only things that people make out of bits and pieces.

They make tools and machines

to make it easier to pick things up, and move things,

and measure things, and shape things.

And they use their machines to explore the world around them

and make more new things.

So people shape and decorate these things in the way that they agree is best and beautiful,

and they learn their way of understanding what is best and beautiful from their families and friends

and the community around them.

In our community we learn to like the same tastes in our food and drink,

the same sounds in our language and music,

and learn to see beauty in the same shapes and patterns.

Now when a community share a language

and a way of understanding what is right and proper,

tasteful and beautiful in their world,

we call that shared approach to the world their culture.

And the world of Islam has had many different cultures in the past,

and still has many cultures today,

and some of those cultures may seem very different,

yet they all have the same message at their heart.

They just show it in different ways.

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