How to cultivate spirituality in our children?
How to cultivate spirituality in our children?
Every caring parent sooner or later thinks about the happy future of their child. Some see this happiness in a quality education, and some in material well-being. However, happiness cannot be bought for money, it is something more than wealth.
Happiness is a one’s inner satisfaction with oneself and one’s surroundings. One’s spirituality and commitment to his beliefs and faith – all this also makes a person happy. This is the spiritual wealth of the soul.
But how to enrich one’s soul? How to cultivate this kind of wealth in our children? Where does this spirituality lie?
Faith
Spirituality is not an amorphous, and certainly not an abstract concept. Spirituality is based on faith in something unworldly, inexplicable and secret. Faith in the Lord, the Creator and Maker of everything conceivable and inconceivable, also shapes the spiritual world of a person and, moreover, guides it and gives life its guidelines.
Faith is that very inner core of a person - his switch and indicator. The stronger and firmer the faith, the stronger the person is in every sense of the word. Faith keeps one from committing crimes against the Lord and against another person.
A truly religious person cannot be socially dangerous, a loafer and a slacker. A generation raised on the canons of faith cannot be a lost generation. Therefore, it is extremely important to instill faith from early childhood. This is, in modern trends, a spiritual vaccination.
The internal constitution of our child, student or ward should be the following ayah of the Koran (meaning), “Did he not know that Allah sees his situation, watches his actions and will certainly reward him for his deeds.” (“Safwat at-tafasir”, Sura Al-‘Alaq, ayah 14).
This ayah implies that there is a very internal camera that watches us 24 hours a day. If from an early age it is clearly explained to a child that Almighty Allah is constantly looking at him, then he will grow up with this thought and will be a true believer- naturally, with God’s help.
Namaz
Before telling one’s children about the importance of namaz, parents themselves must fully understand its importance. For parents, it (namaz) should be one of the most important pillars of Islam, which it essentially is.
If parents neglect prayer, perform it now and then or do not perform it at all, then one should not expect his children to become fervently praying people. Do not forget that children are a mirror, a reflection and an extension of their parents - the apple does not fall far from the tree.
There is no better way to instill a love for prayer than to show this love by one’s own example. And this should be done from an early age. The Sunna of the Prophet ﷺ indicates a specific age that should become the starting point for performing namaz - seven years.
It is known that what is learned in childhood is like something carved in stone. If we miss this crucial period, we may end up with a rebellious teenager or, even worse, a young man who has formed his own world view. And this world view, unfortunately, may not include namaz.
In addition, five times a day prayer is an inseparable connection between a person and his Lord. Every time he steps on the prayer mat, the child must understand who he worships and why. With this awareness, he will grow into adolescence and youth and then into adulthood.
Knowledge
According to a well-known proverb, a man is obliged to do three things: build a house, plant a tree and have a son. In the Muslim interpretation of this expression, there is a fourth action - teach the Koran. If the first three can be attributed to material values, then the fourth relates to spirituality.
Thus, through God’s scriptures, a strong spiritual foundation is laid in a child; favourable conditions for his or her further growth have been created. Our ancestors gave their children the obligatory minimum - in addition to the Koran, this included the basics of religion and even Arabic morphology.
A child’s further life was built on this basis. Some subsequently devoted themselves to science and some mastered other types of activities but they all had a spiritual beginning.
Faith, prayer, knowledge - these are the three foundations of the spiritual education of a child, which we undoubtedly wish for our children and society as a whole. The more perfect these foundations are, the more perfect our children will be. But remember, they are interconnected and go in the same harness, none of this can be missed. That is what they are foundations for.
