Turning Our Children Into True Muslims

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Allah Almighty says,

وَذَكِّرْ فَإِنَّ ٱلذِّكْرَىٰ تَنفَعُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٥٥﴾ وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ ﴿٥٦

And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the believers. (55) And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. (56)

[Qur'an Adh-Dhariyat 51:55]

Allah has equipped mankind the innate capacity to worship Him. Some use the capacity rightly and succeed, while others employ it wrongly in sinning and fulfilling their base desires, and thus destroy it.

Often children are exposed to many things but Islamic material. Many parents make the number one mistake of exposing their children with electronics and internet from an early age where they can play games and view non religious material day in and day out, and then they wonder why their children don't want to learn Qur'an, and why they are having such a hard time getting their children to wear hijab or fast or pray and so on at puberty.

No teenager would happily cover their heads, pray or fast when they had no practice when they were younger. No children would happily pick up a Qur'an, let alone read or memorize it if they were not accustomed to this from a young age. If you don't teach your children Islam and give them Qur'an at an early age, you are doing a disservice to your children and you have a lot to catch up and remedy it but inshaAllah it is not too late, if you start now.

The tarbiyah (cultivating and nurturing) of children starts from early age. If children can start pre-school at 3 years old, memorizing all the nursery rhymes and children's songs, there is no reason why you can't start them with memorizing Qu'ran at that age. Children have a fitrah (natural disposition) and it is our role to assist them to grow and build their Iman (Faith). It all boils down to what we choose to give to our children.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam, reported to have said: "Every child is born according to the fitrah (natural disposition) but his parents [cause him to deviate from the unadulterated propensity] and turn him into a Jew or a Christian or a Magian."

May Allah help us raise our children according to what pleases Him and grant us success. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. JazakaAllhu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam