The importance of introducing Allah to children and teaching them religion

A child growing up without knowing that Allah exists and uneducated about the teachings of religion, will undoubtedly face many obstacles in his lifetime. He will try to challenge and resolve his problems by his own desires, due to the absence of love and fear of Allah. He will easily fabricate lies in order to exonerate himself from the consequences of his actions, and will seek to gratify his self-centred interests through deceptive and unfair means and view this as an outright part of normality. He will choose to be aggressive and selfish rather than caring and gentle. Most importantly, he will be exposed to harm and constant deficiency; likewise, the same can be said about the life he faces in the hereafter. The heathenish life he chooses to live will reflect on the indefinite loss of the opportunity to enter heaven infinitely.

For this reason, it is imperative for the mother and father of the child for his or hers fineness, to teach them at a young age the importance of having love of Allah, and for fear of Allah as well. Initially, it should be taught to their young ones that Allah has created him or/her and clarify to them that everything they observe in the entire universe is the creation of Allah. It should be explained to them that Allah is Sublime, hence He is the most powerful and nothing can deny or challenge His loftiness. All strength comes from Allah. Allah The Supreme, sees, knows, and hears everything (even the deepest of secrets within us). Allah is very compassionate and judicious to all people. They should teach their children that an individual should be very thankful to Allah for all the wealth, health, and talents and abilities he or she possesses, and acknowledge the absolute existence of the beyond (the hereafter) and educate them on the certainty that one day he or she will pass away and be brought to the presence of Allah, to be summoned for justification by their own actions and deeds on earth. A child should be taught that everything they see is a manifestation of the creation of Allah, the colorful flowers, animals, plants, deliciously tasty and fragranced strawberries that flourish from underneath the soil, apples, oranges, pomegranates, bananas, all bear witness to the sublime creation of Allah. Their child should be taught that when he or she falls ill, the granter of the cure is Allah, teach them that Allah loves and cares for them very much and can hear all their prayers, and that their only companion and helper is Allah. All these lessons to go by should be taught to them at a young age.

Furthermore, a child should be taught fine social ethics in the manner described in the Holy Quran. Indeed, a child brought up in a family obeying and implementing the exemplar morals as described in the Quran, will naturally develop and attain fine social ethics. A child will rapidly show a path to virtue from their observations of their elders, that is to be loving and caring for Allah, to share their belongings with others, to pronounce kind and pleasant words whatever the circumstance might be, to help those in need, not to mock people, not to be egoistic, but to be altruistic, elegant and humble.

To summarize in brief, the greatest assistance one can give to their child is to give them the sense of belief that all power belongs to, and comes from Allah, and to teach them to acquire Allah as their friend. A child will attain a solid character if they are brought up having belief and trust in Allah. On the other hand, if the child isn’t taught that all power comes from Allah, throughout their lives they will be anti-social, having only a fear of people, they will try to ingratiate (gain favor) themselves with others, and hope for their constant advice and guidance. Just to add, a submissive and faithful child will truly have the foundation to live a completely peaceful and comfortable life. So any child, of any age, will exhibit the similar maturity of a grown up, intelligent and virtuous Muslim. In their life experiences or situations of hardship, they will not be distressed and depressed in respect to emotions and resort to tears and complaints. Therefore, they will perceive that all events, good or bad, and that all challenges happen under the control of Allah; hence they will display discernment and good manners, and have faith in Allah. It should not be forgotten that our religion is clear and simple; so clear and simple that even a child may grasp and embrace it. For this reason, by all means the Quran should be recited to our children, the meaning of its verses explained and applied to our lives, and we must educate our children of our Prophet’s (saas) manners and his virtues, and to inform them as to the real aspect and cause of everything in creation.