How To Instil The Love Of The Prophet (PBUH) In Our Children
There are a number of ways to instil love of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the hearts of our children, such as:
1. The parents can tell stories that have been narrated about the children of the Sahaabah at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), how they fought those who tried to harm him, how quickly they responded to his call and obeyed his commands, how they loved that which he loved and how they memorized the hadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
2. The parents should help children to memorize as much hadeeth as possible. One of the things that was narrated concerning this was the words of al-Zubayri: “Maalik ibn Anas had a daughter who memorized his knowledge – i.e. al-Muwatta’. She used to stand behind the door and if a student made a mistake she would knock on the door, and Maalik would be alerted and would correct him.” It was also narrated that al-Nadar ibn al-Haarith said: “I heard Ibraaheem ibn Adham say: ‘My father said to me, O my son, seek hadeeth, and every time you hear a hadeeth and memorize it, I will give you a dirham, so I learnt hadeeth in that way'.”
3. They should teach the child according to his or her level of understanding about the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the lives of the Sahaabah, both men and women (may Allah be pleased with them). Inshallah they will then grow up loving these noble people and be influenced by their behaviour and will also be sincere and keen to strive in correcting themselves.
4. The Sahaabah and the salaf (early generations) were keen to teach their children about the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and they would do this alongside teaching the Qur'an because his seerah is the interpretation of the the meanings of the Qur'an. As well as stirring up emotions and demonstrating true Islam and having a wondrous effect on the soul, it also carries the meanings of love and saving mankind from misguidance and bringing them to guidance, from falsehood to truth, from the darkness of jaahiliyyah to the light of Islam.
5. When telling their children about the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the lives of the male and female Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them), the father and mother must tell them about things that children can relate to, such as the childhood of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), some stories about his life with (his wet-nurse) Haleemah al-Sa’diyyah and how Allah bestowed goodness and blessings upon Haleemah and her family because of him (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Other stories which demonstrate how Allah helped him can also be told such as the night of the Hijrah and how Allah covered the eyes of the mushrikeen. Thus the child’s heart will inshallah be filled with love for Allah and love for His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
It was narrated from ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“Train your children to acquire three characteristics: love of your Prophet, love of his family and reading the Qur'an, for the bearers of the Qur'an will be in the shade of Allah on the Day when there will be no shade except His, with His Prophets and His chosen ones.” (Narrated by al-Suyooti in al-Jaami’ al-Sagheer, p. 25; classed as da’eef by al-Albaani in Da’eef al-Jaami’ al-Sagheer, p. 36, no. 251).It would be a good idea if the parents devote a suitable time for teaching about the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) during the daily family lesson, when the children can read about seerah in simplified books or the father or mother can tell them these stories in a manner that is appropriate to the child’s age.
