Jaffari News

When we as followers of Ale Muhammad (saww) intend to have children, we wish to bring them up righteously. Preparations for raising righteous children begin with conception and continue into pregnancy and beyond.  

We have compiled a list of some of the things we can do to bring our children closer to Allah (S.W.T) and the Ahlul bait (a.s). Some of these we learnt from our parents, others from friends, scholars and personal experiences.

1. Follow the month to month Islamic guide for pregnant mothers to the best of your ability (www.Islamicentre.org/tarbiyaat ). Examples include: Reciting Ziarat Jameeah Kabeerah (narrated by Imam Ali an-Naqi (as), 40 times during the course of your pregnancy. In this ziarat, you are instilling in your unborn child as well as reminding yourself the basic tenets of our faith. Doing the Friday Ghusl. Hadith states that one who does the Friday Ghusl, their body will not rot in the grave.
2. Children have the ability to retain whatever they learn from as early as birth to six months and so teaching them things from that age is very beneficial.  Teach them while you are nurse or feed them.  You could recite to them various Surahs, Arabic alphabets, Imams (a.s) names, etc which will be retained all their life 
3. Recite adhan and salaat loudly so that your child can hear what you are saying. This not only allows them to familiarise themselves with the words, but its spiritual effect calms them and makes them patient.
4. Many of us keep a small prayer mat, turbah, tasbih and small hijab (for girls) for our children beside our own. When it is time for Salaat, tell them to open it and keep it ready while you get ready for salaat as well. It is all right if they don’t pray. It is the learning process that is important, not the product (final goal). By doing this, our children familiarise themselves with the words and actions of salaat - and in reality, for them, they are praying.
5. Associate good feeling with actions that bring us closer to Allah (S.W.T). Syed Mahdi Moderressi shared a beautiful example of how his father would wake them up to pray. “When my father woke us up for salaat as-Subh, the way he would do it was amazing. We’d wake up having these small, evenly-cut, sweet tasting, beautiful, delicious, succulent apples, in our mouths. And he put the apples in our mouth, while calling out: Asbahna wa asbahal mulku’ lillah. ‘We have woken up to see that the authority belongs to Allah (S.W.T).’ He would say this over and over, while feeding us these apples.”
6. Let your child watch you do wudhoo and let them do it themselves if they want to even though they may not do it right.  Talk to them about what you are doing. Again, with children, it is the process and not the final product that’s important at this point.
7. For younger children, recite small surahs and let them say the last word of each verse. Before you know it, they will have memorised the surahs.
8. At bedtime or naptime, say khudafiz to all your family members by name...then say farewell to the Ahlul bait (a.s) and Imams by name.  This way they get accustomed to hearing the names of these great personalities and know that they are an important part of our lives.
9. When putting on earrings for your daughters, tell them about the story of Bibi Sakina (a.s) and Bibi Rukayyah (as) and how their earrings were taken away.
10. Say Bismillah hir rahman nir rahim aloud every time you do anything for your child, e.g. dressing them, undressing them, taking their shoes on or off...anything.
11. When giving them water say or remind them to say “as salamu alaika ya aba abdillah....” This is an opportunity for you to share valuable stories with your children. Tell them about the thirst of Imam Hussein (as) and his children who were the same age as your own children. Teach them to thank Allah (S.W.T) for this wonderful blessing WATER!
12. Let your child put in a penny/nickel/dime as sadaqah for the safety of the 12^th Imam (as).  Tell them what its benefits are.
13. Teach them to put their hand on their head and bow down when saying Imam Mahdi (a.s)’s name.  Inshallah this will cultivate the importance and love of the Ahlul bayt (a.s) in general and the Imam of our time, specifically, in their hearts.
14. When they have a difficulty, ask them to ask their Imam (a.s), who is alive and lives amongst us, for help....or even say Ya Allah or Ya Ali when they trip or fall. Let them hear you thank Allah for all His blessings.
15. When they get hurt, recite a name of Allah when you are “kissing the boo boo away” or say Ash- shaffi (The Curer, The reliever), this will help them recognise that Allah (S.W.T) it the true healer.
16. Whenever there is a wiladaat or wafaat of one of our Aimmah (a.s), tell them about it. Share interesting stories about them. Bake a cake or put up balloons or black material if you can. Talk to them from the beginning of the day and as they grow older they will know that it is important to celebrate and commemorate the special days of our Aimmah (a.s.) 
17. Recite Surah Qadr whenever putting on a new outfit for them. Do this yourself too.
18. On Fridays after their bath, help them perform the recommended ghusl.  Tell them that this act is loved by Allah (S.W.T). Cut their nails - tell them that it is Eid and it is the day of Imam-e-Zamana (a.s) and that he (a.s) is watching us at all times.
Encourage and help them take out sadaqah (i.e. give them a penny/dime./nickel and ask them to put it in the sadaqah tin.) Do something on this day that you wouldn’t do on the other days of the week.

Most importantly, our children will learn more from us from what we do than what we say. So we must do everything we want them to do and refrain from everything we don’t want them to do. Living a righteous life is more than half the battle in raising a righteous child. Do not force these ideas or habit on the children. Make it part of their and your daily life and this in turn with Allah (S.W.T)’s help will create and strengthen their love for Him and the Ahlul bait (a.s.).

Along with the wajibaats, the sunnat acts help increase our faith. The spiritual effect of these is even greater though we may not see it. We all want our children to grow up with the love of Ahlul Bait (a.s) and remain on the path of Islam. Over time, these little actions will become good habits.  

May our deeds to raise better Muslim children be accepted by the Almighty and the Ahlul Bait (a.s)