Enlivening the Quran at home: Raising kids in a Quranic Sanctuary

In this article, insya-Allah I will share with you some practical ways we as parents can transform our homes into a “Quranic sanctuary”, where the guidance of the Quran is not just taught, but lived daily. 

Leading by example is an important aspect in parenting. Children tend to imitate and follow what we do instead of what we say. Actions speak louder than words.

Daily Quran recitation.

There must be an effort to form a habit of reciting the Quran regularly until it becomes a routine that makes you feel like your day is incomplete without it. During pregnancies until now, almost every morning, my children have been listening to the voices of us as parents reciting the Quran after fajr(subuh) prayer, for a good 10-15 minutes. This has become our family morning routine, and we hope to continue this habit as long as Allah wills it to be, insya-Allah. 

Embedding Islamic values in everyday routines.

Values are embedded over time with consistency. This can be as simple as reciting bismillah every time before eating, before reading, before doing anything. There is a wonderful book for children about the importance of saying bismillah before doing everything from Homely Hammock, titled ‘Basma Bear Loves Bismillah’.  

Another good Islamic value that we want to inculcate in our children is to always pray to Allah before doing anything. This act instils an attitude of total reliance in Allah SWT (tawakkal) and the trust and confidence(yaqin) that He is the one who provides and enables us to achieve anything good in life and He is the one who protects us from danger and harm. This can be done by consistently reminding and reciting prayers together with them. For instance, reciting prayers before entering the toilet or prayers before sleep such as Ayatul kursi and 3 qul(Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq & An-nas).

Another important value that we need to inculcate in our children is the love for the five daily prayers. The culture of performing daily prayers must be established since our children are very young. When they are small, our children will always watch us as parents performing prayers daily while they play around us. This makes prayer times feel fun and special for them. We can purchase prayer mats or prayer gears for our children so that they can feel like they are part of the congregation (Jemaah). Hopefully these constant little efforts will make them love prayers as prayer times are deemed as fun and happy moments. When the time comes for them to really establish prayers for themselves, it will feel like second nature and easy for them insya-Allah. As parents, we must pray to Allah to make us and our children from those who perform the daily prayers like how Nabi Ibrahim ‘alaihissalam said the prayer,

“My Lord, make me an establisher of prayer, and [many] from my descendants. Our Lord and accept my supplication.” (Surah Ibrahim, 14:40)

Asking Allah to take care of our worries for our children.

As parents, especially of small children, we may have our worries & fears about their future; whether we will be there with them and for them or not. Hence, it is important to place our utmost trust in Allah SWT and to pray to Him for guidance & care for our children in His best ways as we are told to leave our affairs to Him after we have done the best that we can.

“And I entrust my affair to Allāh. Indeed, Allāh is Seeing of [His] servants.” (Surah Ghafir, 40:44). 

One of my prayers is to ask Allah to guide and care for my children in His best ways & may whatever weaknesses my husband and I have as parents, do not hinder them from receiving the best in this world & the hereafter. This makes me remember the story of the orphans in Suratul Kahfi where Allah SWT took care of their welfare by preserving the wealth that was left by their late father for them, and He stated the reason for His care; because their late father was a pious man. This is an important lesson where we must understand that Allah sees and appreciates every little effort that we put as His servants to bring ourselves closer to Him. The people who believe in Allah put their trust in Allah. As they plan and prepare for the future, they leave their worries and fears in His care as Allah is the One who will provide and sufficient Him as the best & ultimate provider.

“Say, indeed, my Lord extends provision for whom He wills of His servants and restricts [it] for him. But whatever thing you spend [in His cause] – He will compensate for it; and He is the best of providers.” (Surah Saba’, 34:39)

Allah is teaching us to be patient through our children.

It is indeed a real and tough test at times, especially when we are handling their tantrums during moments of tiredness & stress. We must try our best not to lose our cool & not to leash out at them out of anger. We need to learn how to pause & breathe, and if there are others around, it is ok to ask for help to take over while we try to regain our composure & collect our thoughts. Our children learn to be patient and forgiving towards themselves and others through us and our reactions. If any small mistake is reciprocated with harsh words and acts, soon they will learn that that is the only way to go. We certainly do not want to raise harsh and unforgiving people, do we?

Praying to Allah so that our children become good Muslims.

We can learn from Nabi Ibrahim ‘alaihissalam who prayed to Allah to make him & his progeny from those who submit to Allah.

“Our Lord and make us Muslims [in submission] to You and from our descendants a Muslim nation [in submission] to You. And show us our rites [of worship] and accept our repentance. Indeed, You are the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:128)

Another beautiful prayer that Allah taught us in the Quran is,

“And those who say, Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us a leader [i.e., example] for the righteous.” (Surah Al-Furqan, 25:74)

May Allah ease and bless us in guiding and nurturing our children and may we be gathered in Jannah as a family as how we are gathered as one in this world. Aamiin.