بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم والصلاة والسلام على رسول الأمين نبينا محمد و على آله وصحابته أجمعين
Assalaamu Alaykum,
Our kids deserve to be illuminated by the light of Islam. It should be our main focus when we strive to make them better people. This light will guide them along their path in this life and the next, so what more can we hope for? This life is but a test, and only a fool would focus on the temporary and neglect the eternal.
So how can we teach our kids to love Islam like we do?
1. Love Islam Yourself First!
You can’t teach your kids to love Allah, His messenger, and the sahabas unless you yourself love them first. So the first step is acquiring knowledge and really getting to love Islam yourself. There are so many resources available online for free, and many courses being held all the time as well. If we make the extra effort to learn more about our deen, our kids will catch on as well!
2. Show the Love
If we want our kids to love Islam, then we can’t be rigidly teaching them it. We have to make it exciting and fun to learn. It has to be displayed at the level they can understand and appreciate themselves. We can constantly remind them of the favors Allah has given us, like our food, clothes, homes and even the love between the family members.
Bond with your children is part of showing the love as well. You can explain the relationship between family members, how much you should love your mother, the mercy and respect both should give each other. The goal of being with each other even in Jannah, and much more
3. Love in Media
There are many books and cartoons, geared for children, teaching them in a fun way different aspects of Islam. I would lean more heavily on the books than the cartoons, since books are more interactive. You can explain different aspects of it, and it builds their reading skills. Cartoons can be useful as a reward, or to learn songs that teach things like, the pillars, the 99 names of Allah, and so on.
4. The Sunnahs of the Prophet
Teach our kids the sunnahs of the Prophet. From waking up, to entering the bathroom, to eating, speaking, and more. There are plenty of sunnahs to fill the whole day with. This will show the love we have for the Messenger. We love him so much that he’s our example for everything we do in our lives!
5. Be Just!
Many kids when they grow up, feel their parents didn’t love them equally. This leaves a bitterness in the heart that may never go away. If the kids associated the parents as their connection to Islam, then out of anger they may turn away from both. So one of the most important things we can do is, treat our kids fairly, in a just manner. Even if we DO prefer one over the other, we can’t SHOW that preference. It can kill the self esteem of the child, break the trust with his parents, and slowly disconnect him from the love of Islam. May Allah protect us from that!
These five pointers are not an exhaustive list of ways to instill a love for Allah, but insha Allah can remind those who read it. Do you have any extra tips to teach the love of Allah to our kids? Leave them in the comment below!
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