Post-Ramadan’ life with our children.

Ramadan bid us adieu and just as we strive to remain steadfast, children need to be guided as we nurture the love of the Deen in them.

Like we stated in the previous blog post http://how-to-nurture-islam-in-children , our aim is to nurture the love of Islam in children in the long run.

The first is working on a self-designed ‘My Deen Tracker’ for the children. If your children are quite old, you will want to sit with them, design it with them, explain how it’s going to work and then the reinforcement to be given( not necessarily money or gifts).

Reinforcements are necessary because they serve to encourage the child to want to do more. And please, whatever reinforcement that is agreed on, make sure it is given. It builds some level of trust in the child. This tracker can be discussed each day so the feedback can be used to improve activities or routines for the next day.

Secondly, making the routines in Ramadan a part of their every day lives. Just as the name suggests, routines are actions that are done regularly. Consistency is crucial when we are trying to build a habit in children. It works better than living each day as it comes or having to deal with unplanned routines. These routines are prayers, Quran recitation, zikr, sharing, caring among others. Zikr is one important routine I think we should let our children become conversant with. Like I stated the other time, they could start with SubhaanaLlaah, wal Hamdu liLlaah, wa Laa ilaaha iLlallaah, waLlaahu Akbar. They could start with one and gradually become perfect with it. We could also tell the them the importance of Istighfar. And that, whenever they are sad, they could say that 😊.

To add to the above, developing a story time is a good way to go too. I agree to the fact that ,life can get hectic and enervating as adults. However, we shouldn’t let the pressure deny us the good times we should enjoy with our children. The bond, sense of belonging, laughter and touch does a lot to then than our eyes can see.

Now someone will wonder why this? Let’s remember we don’t want to forcibly teach or preach Islam to them. But rather allow the love and zeal grow naturally. And to achieve this, the right avenue needs to be created.

This story time can be used to read stories about the Prophet, women around the Prophet, life of the Prophet, stories about honesty, love, caring as a Muslim etc.
Occasionally, you can also task them to tell you a story about virtues, what they know about Isam etc. This can also serve as an avenue for you the parent to know the information they have about Islam or any other thing. Then you get to correct them where the need be and appreciate their perspective.

Lastly, we create a collage of what they did this Ramadan and those who are quite older can start journaling (probably to the next Ramadan In sha Allah). Imagine your child waking up every day to seeing a collage of Islamic stuff he/she does 🥰🥰. Honestly I imagine it to be a very cool idea.     

Remember, we want a generation that will fight a good fight for Islam, and present it in the right way everywhere they stand or go!

Let’s conclude with this hadith 👇

Abdullah ibn Umar reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock. The leader of people is a guardian and is responsible for his subjects. A man is the guardian of his family and he is responsible for them. A woman is the guardian of her husband’s home and his children and she is responsible for them. The servant of a man is a guardian of the property of his master and he is responsible for it. No doubt, every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6719, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 182

Don’t forget this reminder;

Spend time with children, engage them in daily routines during this period. More than anything else, your children are going to feel/remember the warmth and love of this time of the year. That’s where memory lives 🥰😇

Author: Hudayya A. Rauf