Islam: When We Lead By Example

What can we do to make sure our Muslim children learn Islam and most importantly love Islam Read our blog article and find out 6 tips to instill the love of Islam in your children s hearts, insha Allah!

As parents or caregivers, we all care about teaching our kids the Islamic religion and strengthening their bond with it and its studies, worships, and morals, but we also wonder how to teach them all they need to be strong Muslims in simple ways without pressure.

The best way to teach Islam to your kids is by acting upon the deen yourself: lead by example, focus on your actions rather than on your words, and make sure to be a positive role model, not one who forces or uses threats and other negative language or behaviors to make their children do something they don’t want to do.

Here are some practical tips that will insha’Allah guide your children to strengthen their bond with their Creator, with their deen, and even with you, their parent.

1. Pray and make dua for them, especially at night

There are so many narrations and verses that emphasize the importance of worship at night. Do not underestimate the power of your nightly prayers, supplications and dhikr. Similarly, do not think that night prayers and duas are only reserved for desperate situations: we should all build a habit to worship at night, to the best of our abilities, especially when we don’t feel like we need that much help because that’s certainly when we need it the most.

2. Start with yourself

When your kids see you care so much about your deen, from praying on time and serving your parents to giving time and money for worthy causes and being on your best behavior, they will witness what Islam truly is and they will find congruence between what you tell them about Islam (or what they might hear from their teachers, friends, etc.) and how you are living it.

3. Pray together as a family

Prayer is the second pillar of Islam, so make sure to build a family habit around it. It will not always be possible to pray together, especially as the kids get older and various responsibilities will keep them outside of the home for most of the day. If your kids are already teenagers, or even adults living on their own, it’s not too late to start this beautiful habit. Whenever they are home and it’s time to pray, make sure to suggest praying together. You can make it more exciting by giving each family member a specific task (getting the prayer rugs, setting the prayer space, calling the adhaan and iqaamah, etc.), or offering to do a fun family activity right after prayer (board game, special sweet treat, family movie night). Build positive associations with this special, bonding time.

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