Children's faith education

Educational skills

Faith education for children

It takes a lot of our effort to care for our children; We choose the best schools for them, provide them with the best health care, take them to the most skilled doctors, and bring them the best programs and games that modern technology has to offer. Many of us try to be the ideal parent who provides our children with everything they need to succeed in their lives. But we have to wonder: What about faith education? Does it receive from us the care it deserves? Do parents realize when and how to start providing this type of care?

Educational and psychological knowledge has developed and we now know a lot about the development of our children in terms of psychological, social, mental and physical aspects and the care it entails. However, the scientific facts about faith education and spiritual growth are still below the required level, and from here it is worth starting by presenting some facts about the nature of spiritual growth. In childhood, before we move on to the methods that can be followed to nurture this growth. One of the most prominent of these facts is that God Almighty has deposited in man characteristics that serve as raw material for receiving faith education, such as fascination with existing things, the desire to contemplate them and know their source, and the need for security and knowledge of refuge from everything that frightens or harms.

 We notice that children, from the beginning of their lives, look with amazement at everything around them, and at the end of their second year, when their linguistic skills grow, this appears in their verbal expressions. I went through a funny situation one day. While I was walking in a crowded market, my attention was caught by the voice of a child shouting, calling for his mother, in a tone of astonishment and astonishment. He said to his mother: Mama, Mama, say Glory be to God, repeating it out loud, and I heard the mother say to him: Glory be to God. I turned around and was driven by curiosity to see the strange thing that aroused the child’s wonder. He was pointing to a new red car with a beautiful color. It may not be one of the wonders of the world for adults. But it is the same for a three-year-old. Children at the age of 4-5 years show interest in the unseen, asking about God, and about life and death. “Why does God kill people?” “Mom, when will you die?” My daughter asked in her fourth year. She was not afraid of death, but she wanted to know about death. This characteristic of children at the beginning of their lives is what makes early childhood a very important stage. In fostering spiritual growth and a golden opportunity to pay attention to faith education. The materialism that has dominated the way of life attracts us to its path, and the older the children grow, the more they become absorbed in their studies, their friends, television programs, the computer, games, browsing the Internet, and other distractions of daily life. During adolescence, when mental development is expelled, the child’s perceptions expand, and thinking skills develop, he aspires to know the wisdom behind the things that he accepted as granted when he was young, and then the teenager’s need for faith education increases that addresses his open mind and accommodates his bold questions. If he does not find this type of care, his questions may become transformed. To confusion and doubt, his soul becomes distressed and he feels guilty as a result of his doubts and confusion.

God has provided us with great seasons in which to stop the panting of the world and turn to our souls and give them a share of attention. The month of Ramadan and the Hajj season after it is a golden opportunity to teach our children and train them in behaviors that build the foundations of faith in their souls and establish its foundations in their hearts, with the spiritual atmosphere it contains that prayers inspire. And fasting, remembrances, and alms in the month of Ramadan, and then come the rituals and atmosphere of Hajj. Blessed be the one who takes advantage of these seasons and invests them in getting closer to God and protecting himself and his family from the dryness of the soul and the hardship it brings to a person despite all the components of material happiness.

Whoever misses this during the great seasons, every Friday, or even every day and hour, the Muslim has ample opportunities and appropriate situations that require vigilance and a desire to meet the aspirations of the soul. Among the important methods of faith education are:

1. Paying attention to the spiritual aspect early. Among the Islamic directives is the call to prayer in the ear of the newborn, and teaching him the word “Oneness” when he first pronounces it, which indicates to us that the child’s channels of reception open from the beginning of his life, even if we do not realize the nature of the influence that occurs in the early stages.

2. Training in contemplation and contemplation of God’s creatures. Among the specific methods: The areas of entertainment for children should not be limited to amusement parks and games. Attention must be given to nature and its beauty.

• Paying attention to the beauty of the world around us: the colors of roses, the beauty of the moon, the babbling of children, the fragrance of flowers, the waves of the sea, the sands of the desert.

• Going out with the children to hear the birds singing in the early morning or at sunset, through which they learn that the universe is an interconnected whole that praises God.

• Paying attention to developing taste and art, practicing it with children, and providing them with what encourages them to enjoy it, such as drawing or reading some simple poems or chants in the moonlight. The person with good taste and artistic sense is the one who can recognize beauty and can enjoy it.

3. Establishing the child’s faith by linking the pillars of faith to daily life. The following methods can be used:

• Introducing him to God Almighty through His names and attributes. When we see the son hugging his brother and kissing him, we say to him: How do you love your brother? God loves you more than you love him. And when he asks to provide food for a hungry kitten, we remind him that God Almighty is the Most Merciful of the Merciful.

• Observing God, sensing His closeness and presence, and that He sees us everywhere, “even when we eat sweets behind the door,” and when we browse the Internet behind computers, and we affirm that God knows the deceitfulness of the eyes and what the breasts hide, so that they may be a deterrent in the various fields whose malice abounds these days. .

• Sensing the presence of angels day and night, to guard us, write down our deeds, and pray for us.

• Talking about the Last Day and focusing on describing Paradise and bringing it closer to them according to their age, as Paradise contains sweets and games and everything that the child remembers that he loves, and beware of frightening young children with Hell or saying, “If you do that, God will put you in Hell,” as this gives the opposite results.

• Paying attention to the intention and purpose behind the actions we perform (why we give a gift, why we eat, go out for a walk, endure illness).

4. Helping children realize their identity, belonging, and the nature of life around them, by developing their pride in their religion, reading the biography of their Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the stories of the prophets, informing them of the most prominent news and learning about the conditions of Muslims around the world, contemplating the daily events that they go through, and sitting with them for some time. In the evenings, each one remembers an event or situation that makes him happy, another that he regrets, and a third that he hopes to achieve tomorrow. This can be done in a tent set up in the garden or on the roof, as such arrangements attract the children and make them accept and participate.

5. Instilling humility, love, and servitude to God, Lord of the Worlds. Among the methods that help with this are:

• Connecting every beautiful thing to God Almighty and directing the child to praise and remembrance of God, as the origin of creativity comes from God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth.

• Showing feelings of fear and crying, and not hiding them from the child.

• Encouraging children to participate in worship, such as fasting for periods of time according to their age and health condition, providing a beautiful prayer sheet for the girl, and placing the young child in the lap when reciting the evening remembrances so that he can hear them, while explaining that protection and protection are from God and that He is with us wherever we are, so that the feeling of security that It is the foundation upon which a healthy personality is built.

• Instilling a lack of God Almighty in every matter (and directing the child to supplicate for him and seeking his help) “Let us collect these toys and let us ask God for help first to make the task easier for us.”

Finally, developing the spiritual side and faith education requires a combination of knowledge and behavior. We must give children information that helps them love, know, and fear God, then train them to apply it by practicing worship and contemplating the creation of the heavens. If we want these efforts to bear fruit, we must be role models for our children and We constantly pray to God to make faith beloved to them, beautify it in their hearts, and make disbelief, immorality, and disobedience hateful to them. God is the Guide, and from Him is success.

Dr.. Sahar bint Abdul Latif Kurdi

Family and child counselor