For those of you who are not married and dont have kids:

when you get married, will you make it a part of your duty as a parent to teach your children about prayers and how to pray?


as time goes on, less and less people are teaching their kids how to pray and they are becoming more distant and careless when it comes to religion. Some people don't even know HOW to pray. It's just sad :(

when you get married, will you make it a part of your duty as a parent to teach your children about prayers and how to pray?

Of course I will...Only if I get married and have kids :p.
I used to teach my little sister how to pray and now I'm tryna pray with her almost all prayer when I'm home.

I am married and about to have a kid .. so I dont know if this thread is addressed to me? :p

but yah, I would definatly make time to teach my kids how to pray .. I beleive it will come automaticly since they see thier parents pray .. my 3 years old nephew insists to make abuloution and pray whenever he sees us pray :)

^ awww..mashallah..that's wonderful. well yeah, that's good:) and congrats on the baby who's on da waaaay:p

mashallah FAITH86. Barak Allah feeki (god bless you):p

that's good to hear:)
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i would make it an importance to teach my children but it's also important to not force. they could go the other way and that would be wrong so better to teach them and talk to them and make them themselves want to:D

ofcourse im gonna ...
haha and like arabian princess said they would automaticly try learning .. babies are so cute :p

I think I will teach them how to pray... (Inshallah when I have kids)
I think another WAY to let them pray is make a thread in the FORUMS teaching them how to pray since people use the internet a lot these days! :D

^ lool kids search in forums about how to pray ?
when angel eyes said kids ..how old exactly does she mean ? :p

the right age to start TEACHING is at 7..

I think there is no specify age when HE/SHE wants to learn..
I remember wanting to learn when I was at 6 because I see my parents pray all the time..
But they have to start praying at the age of 9 i guess...

^ yeah your right
but as muslims we should know how to pray before ma we... ummm
you know before ma we get older .. xD

Teaching them how to pray, keep the holy quran by heart and know as much as they can about the Islamic traditions and rules from their early age is my priority. I want them to be much better than myself :cute:

I think the best way to teach them is by setting an example and taking an active role. If they see that praying is an essential part of your day, they will understand its importance. I also think that you have to take part in encouraging them to pray though. Setting an example doesn't seem to be enough for some kids. I would expect my husband to take my sons to the mosque with him. And I guess I'll make my daughters join me when I pray at home.

Even though my parents always prayed, I was still lazy and wouldn't get up and do it on my own when I was younger. I had to be told 3-4 times, and then eventually threatened that I'd be grounded. Only then would I stop what I was doing to pray! Some kids are difficult lol

What age do you think is appropriate to teach them?

I think I started praying every now and then when I was about 11 or 12. I never actually prayed all 5 and stuck to them until I was about 14 though. I had an "if I won't be punished for not doing it, why bother?" mentality.

Of course I will.. as kids, below 5 years old, when they see me and their father pray; they're imitate us.. and that's how I begin teaching them. I'll start teaching them how to pray at the age of 6 and they should master all prayers fully by the age of 7!

I learnt it through observing the elders. Children who are under 6 actually see it as a game. Whenever we pray, just like AP's nephew, they have to come stand next to us and imitate what we're doing, while giggling! :p

When they grow up they continue praying, but of course they learn how to do it properly, and also learn to have the intention before praying.

How do you all learn what to say then?
Believe it or not...
I have been lectured about my prayers 3 times..
And at 3 times I heard what I was doing was wrong..

Sometimes imitating is good BUT if you raise your voice while praying a bit is EVEN BETTER!
That is a good way to teach!

Personally it just depresses me seeing some parents bring in their little five-year-old kids to the Friday Prayer and ORDER them to stay still in the mosque. I mean, seriously, kids are just kids. They like to run around, play and they don't give two shits where and when. Teach them at home, make it something they enjoy doing and practising, make it something they do with you so that they are linked with it further.

It's what I'd feel I would do if I ever become a parent.

^ I think it's nice that they bring their children to the mosque so they could see people praying around them, and get used to it. But you're right, they shouldn't order them to pray.

My parents say that before, when they were little, no one was annoyed if children ran around the masjid. My mother told me that everyday they played Catch IN the masjid. Only now do they have these signs saying children under 7 are not allowed.

But Threadlike, when children get used to going to the mosque from an early age it becomes a part of themselves. I know people who have been used to praying at the mosque since they were little kids and now they go to the mosque every Thursday and Friday and I personally find that beautiful.
You can use other methods to encourage kids, not necessarily by force. At home, my elder sister taught my little brother and sister how to pray at an early age. At first they imitated her then started praying out loud and now they pray by themselves. You can give them rewards for example. You can have a poster stuck up at home and the kids would get stars for praying, and if they get a certain number of stars they get a present. After they start pray regularly stop using that method. They would hopefully know that it's the right thing to do. Their reward is much bigger now, it's heaven :).
So yeah, obviously I'm all for teaching kids how to pray.

It's a great thing when done properly. I don't object to that.
I'm just objecting to the way in which some parents expect their kids to act like adults the moment they enter the mosque. That's impossible. What I'm saying is that at least, they should be taught to pray at home first, they should be taught about mosques and going to the mosque would be a reward for learning to pray or really for any other thing. That way, going to the mosque won't be an obligation for the kid that he just wants to be done with it and leaves...It'll be something close to a parent-kid sort of thing.

But well, I'm not a parent. God help any kid I'm gonna have though :XD:

i like all your answers :) setting an example is the key. we will be held accountable some day so it is important to teach them and make them want to do it on their own rather than force.

UmKhalid as you said, taking a child to the Mosque is something great BUT if a parent forces his son to do it while he was at a young age then when he grows up it might give me a feeling of "hate" whenever he goes there.

ofcourse i will teach them.

the right age to start teaching is when some sort of understanding starts. like age 2. you can say grace before meals, and prayers before bedtime. over here we have special areas in churches so if kids become unruly or start crying, or need nursing/feeding, the parents can take them to this area which is soundproof from the outside but everything can be followed from the inside. at age 6 is when they they can join in mass, and at certain hours of the day (half hour before school starts, and after homework), they do a special mass for children, where all the prayers and preaching are done in simple language that is understood by them, and the readings are all read by children.
of course, there is the music in the church.....children's mass is done with lots of fun music, guitars, tambourines...and anything that kids like, to make their participation more active.
that's what happens in my religion.

I have to teach them how to pray. Our religion asked us to teach them at the age of 7 and hit them by the age of 10 if they didn’t pray. Naturally, kids like to copy what the elders do and so that would help teach them even before 7, at the age of 6 for example.

In addition to that I have noticed that the Islamic book for 2nd grade includes how to pray steps with pictures, so it is also something good but it needs parents follow up.

^yes, exactly:)

sure.. isnt that my job to be a parent anyway?

but the first thing the parents ( we ) should show that we pray n pray in front of them all the time.. so that its stuck in their heads n they then do it by themselves.. or when we encourage them to do.. they wont feel weird about it..

I really would say you do not need to teach them if the family members do pray. Kids are like free cassettes and they record everything they see or hear. Once they are old enough, 7 years or so, the only duty you have is to make sure that they do it properly and out of faith not just because the you are doing it.


It's always I good idea to buy your son or daughter his or her own praying rag and when it's praying time just say to him/her let's pray, the kid will just follow. Amazingly enough, one day that little kid who is barely 2 years old will alert you that it's praying time and you will just say ma sha Allah!! It's amazing.

^yes you are 100% correct:)