To make sure that we affect them, we should follow the teacher of humanity, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), who was teaching his companions and the Muslims and directing them in many ways, such as (but not for limitation):
- Excitement by asking a question and then answering it: As prophet peace be upon him: (Do you know who is the bankrupt?)
- Attract their attention by a question, by using the opening: “Should not I tell you”: As prophet peace be upon him used to say:(Should not I tell you about the best people?), (Should not I tell you about the people of paradise?), (Should not I tell you by what Allah erase the sins?)…etc.
- Telling a story, as prophet peace be upon him narrated the story of the man who gave the dog a dose of water by his shoe so he entered paradise. And the story of the woman who was sent to hell fire because she had imprisoned a cat.
While taking him on a trip or a ride to a certain place, as Ibn Abaas may Allah be satisfied with them said: (I was behind the prophet of Allah one day, and he said: Oh boy, let me teach you some words: obey Allah, so He will protect you…) till the end of this Hadeeth (saying). And there is another hadeeth narrated by Abu thar may Allah be satisfied with him: “The prophet of Allah peace be upon him rode a donkey, let me behind him and said:“(Oh Abu thar, if people suffer a strong hunger to the extent you could not stand up and go from your bed to your Masjid, what will you do?” I said: Allah and his prophet know better. He said: “Have the chastity””- Take advantage of the occurrence of a certain situation as we saw in the hadeeth that was narrated by Omar Ibn Abu Salamah may Allah be satisfied with them: (I was a boy under the patronage of the prophet of Allah peace be upon him and my hand was improperly within the plate. So the prophet of Allah peace be upon him said:“Oh boy! … mention the name of Allah, eat with your right hand and eat what is in front of you.”
6. Telling him from time to time that we love him as prophet peace be upon him said to Moaz Ibn Jabal: “Oh Moaz, I swear by Allah that I love you” and to Sa’ad Ibn Abe Waqqas : “throw your arrow Sa’ad, I would sacrifice my father and my mother to protect you”.
And here are some things that make achieving this target easy:
- We should not talk with him in this topic while he is angry, after punishing him for any reason, while he is crying, or in an atmosphere that is full with depression or sadness.
- If we do not want to do something that he wants, we should not say for him: “By the will of Allah” in order not to teach him, from repeating that, that this sentence means: “I won’t do” instead we should say: “We will see, I will think, or according to circumstances” or any other similar phrases.
- If we want to punish him, we should not swear by Allah that we will punish him. It is enough to say: “You will see how I will punish you, or something like that” in order not to connect the name of Allah with the punishment in his mind.
- We should not repeat in front of him every time he does a mistake: “Allah will send you to the hell fire if you did that again” in order for him not to connect the name of Allah the Almighty with the hell fire since his childhood.
- If we were hitting him or about to punish him for any reason and he asks refuge from Allah the Almighty, we must stop directly and suppress our anger as much as we can, because Prophet Mohamed (peace be upon him) ordered us to do so .
7- What should I do if I have not started yet with my child?
Start directly but with a gradual steps that are proper to his age and his conditions; ask for Allah’s help and do not give up; “none despairs of Allah’s mercy except the unbelieving people.” (Surah Yusuf verse 87)
8- Experiences of some Mothers:
A mother talked about her father’s and mother’s experience in directing her and her sisters, saying that the father used to come from the prayer of Friday each week and talk directly to his wife saying: “This is what the Sheikh (preacher) of the Masjid said today….” So he tells her many stories then he comes out of it with advice’s and guidance while ignoring his children who are gazing at him and are listening with high concentration to the talk of (the adults). The story said: “When I grew up and remembered what my father was saying, I knew that some of his talk could not be said by the Sheikh, but it was directed to us: me and my sisters. The most surprising thing was that we were affected by this indirect talk, were respecting our lord a lot, love Him and fear from anything which may be called forbidden (Haram) because it makes Allah the Almighty angry, and now I am trying to follow the same way with my children”
Another mother talked about her three years old daughter who was the youngest between her siblings, who did not stop annoying her all the time. So she took the child with her to the lessons held at the Masjid to protect her from them. So this girl grew up, unlike her siblings, loving Allah the Almighty, fearing Him in the secret and public, and memorizing the information that she heard in the Masjid, moreover she was keen on praying, fasting and giving charity with happiness!!!
A third mother said: “My children were refusing to sleep alone in their room so I started to sit with them after each one goes to his bed, tell them an aimed story then shut down the room’s light, leave a faint light enters from the side opening. Then I open the cassette of the last chapter of Qur’an (Amma) which is recited by a sheik who has a sweet peaceful voice and leave the room. The children were interested in his voice and sleep before the first part of it finishes. By the passage of time, they have stopped fearing to sleep alone. Once I turned on the cassette, they tell me: “Go to your room, we are not scared”. More important than this that they have started to ask about Allah the Almighty, long to see Him, ask about the meanings of the words of the verses that they listened to, even love the talk about religion and accept the advice with satisfaction”
And finally:
The vast huge volumes do not extend for the “Love of Allah the Almighty” topic. The past rapid words are just a try on the road, may Allah guide us to help our children to feel of the Almighty’s’ love on which their success in this life and the hereafter is built.
