Introducing Islam to Children in Their Early Years
As Muslim parents, our number one concern when raising our children should always be “How can I ensure I raise good Muslims?”. But before we delve into this, we should remind ourselves that even if we do everything “right”, ultimately it is Allah who guides whom He wills, and we can only do our best to be good examples and educators to our children on Islam.
In the early foundational years, it can be easy for parents to get carried away with consumerism as a form of “parenting”, even when it comes to Islam. For example, if I just read this particular book, or get this specific toy or activity for my child, then I will fulfill their educational needs in regards to deen. When in reality, the best thing we can do to educate our children is to model to them the behaviors that we want them to learn.
For example, it was only at about 1-year-old that our children first started imitating us performing salah, or 1.5 when they started picking up some of the words from Surah Fatiha or the 3 Quls. Most of their early Islamic knowledge was never intentionally taught but rather copied from witnessing our actions. After all, we can’t expect our children to learn or appreciate things that we do not. Even in traditional parenting models, such as teaching emotional regulation, it is to be modeled by the parents versus explained to the child through words or other means.
Our children in these precious formative years are like sponges - absorbing everything they hear and see around them. So it is up to us to provide them with stimuli that are beneficial and that will provide them with a sturdy foundation. We cannot hide our own Islam from them (or not practice at all), and expect them to happily get up and start praying when they turn 7 years old.
So what are some practices we can implement in our daily lives for our children to start learning the deen today?
1. Ensure we are praying our 5 daily prayers - regularly and on time in front of our children
2. Reading Quran
3. Doing regular dhikr
4. Reciting Ayatul Kursi and the 3 Quls/other evening athkar before bed 5. Reciting morning athkar
6. Teaching them other functional daily duaas
7. Being kind to each other and others, and showing good character traits
Of course, as our children age, these methods will change and we can introduce more proactive methods of teaching such as telling the Stories of the Prophets, teaching them Arabic if it isn’t already spoken in the home, etc. As my children have gotten older I’ve gotten more creative with how I teach them Islam, and there are plenty of resources out there, but those foundational years of parental modeling are key to planting that seed of love for Islam within your children.