Alamut Monopoly – Instructions

1. Set up the Monopoly Board in a square along the periphery of the room – move desks out of the way so that all the blocks of the board will fit against the wall. (The boards will look like the block illustrated on the right and are all connected in order by string connectors. There are 70 blocks.)
2. Place the students into groups of five by randomly distributing the following five extracts from poems by Nasir-I-Khusraw to the class – the underlined phrase will be the group name:

Your soul is an alien stranger here it told me – do it a favor, pay it some care, for after all your body s quite at home and can fend for itself. In philosophic terms the body garb is accidental but the soul is essential; cleanse your soul with fine bleach, the soap of religion then robe it in the robe of knowledge (for ignorance is the cause of unbelief).

The elephant the lion, the camel are mightier than man - why did God not send a prophet to the camels? To him tomorrow belongs that world who today has patience in obedience. If you want to dwell in the pasture of mercy graze today in the field of knowledge, tomorrow in that of action. Moisten the seed of action with knowledge - the seed does not grow by itself.

You might hide your connivance even from yourself, but not from God. Wake up! Recite a chapter from the Qur’an and breathe it into your body and soul. The devil’s cheated you. You say you’re enjoying yourself, but from where I stand your festivity looks like a funeral. Lost in a salt desert, you imagine it an orchard. This world is a dark and vacant haaway not a true house. Detach your heart, free your soul. You are human, my son, and must repent of your sins, like Adam.

The poplar is sterile because it has chosen fruitlessness; if you turn away from Wisdom how will your head be exalted? Trees which do not produce are burned for fuel, which all they deserve. If your tree bears the fruit of knowledge you can govern the stars yourself. Don’t go running after the pleasures of the flesh like a mangy cock after a hen.

Do you not fear some day the shark may kiss you between its teeth? If you’ve a shred of brain turn your face from the Big Lie of the Time. My son, the world is your adversary and in you covets nothing but your soul. For you it wears a silk brocade which swarms beneath the sleeve with scorpions. You sought refuge at its gate but it sharpens its razors on the strop of your throat. You’re like a fly who boasts about his tailor - the Spider.

3. Review the questions, which the students will be asked, ahead of time so that they are familiar with them. The class before, perhaps, distribute questionnaires in which the questions are asked and give them the resources with which to answer the questions. Then allow them to bring in the answers they have come up with in the actual monopoly review.

4. Review any questions the students may not have been able to answer immediately prior playing the game.
5. Take the students (in the groups) into the classroom and ask them to sit in their groups.
6. Each group receives an artifact, which will be their placeholder in the game. For example, an Niaz bottle, a Ginan Book, a Tasbih, a Maxims of Ali books, and, a Du’a Book. All the artifacts are placed at Go – the first block.
7. Each group also receives 500 Dinars (as per the first block’s instructions.)
8. Sequence of the Game:
1. Each group is asked a question from the question set and is given 30 seconds to discuss and come up with an answer.
2. If the answer is correct, the group may roll the dice (2 dice) but if the answer is incorrect, the next group is asked a question.
3. After having rolled the dice, the group’s artifact is moved a corresponding number of blocks and must follow what the block says (i.e. they receive or must give the banker a certain number of Dinars.) Please note that the student may also miss a turn or be asked to roll again.
4. Next group is asked a question and the sequence restarts.
9. After the first round there is no stealing; however, in following rounds, if a group cannot answer their question correctly, another group may answer it and receive 20 Dinars for answering it correctly.
10. After the game is complete, the students may trade in their Dinars for chocolate coins depending on the exchange rate the teachers decide.

Please note that the teachers can give hints or whatever aid they feel is required and the questions sequence, the questions themselves and the instructions are subject to the teachers discretion.

ENJOY PLAYING!