TEACHING HOW TO WORSHIP

In religious terms, faith means believing in the existence, unity and the names and attributes of Allah, believing that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is His servant and His messenger, believing in all the messages sent by Allah through the prophets and accepting the authenticity of these messages.

Teaching the principles of faith means teaching the issues mentioned in the above definition, and raising children according to these. Teaching the principles of faith involves children understanding Allah in accordance with their levels of comprehension and being able to gain an understanding of the relationship between Allah and the universe, ranging from the simplest relationship to the most complicated.

When we look at how Prophet Muhammad dealt with the children in these terms, we can state that he tried to place Islamic faith in their innocent hearts, and he even uttered words that were related with faith to small children who were only learning to speak. Some of these words are as follows:

"Allah has no children and He has no partner."

"There is no god but Allah."

"I believe in Allah, and reject evil" (Ibn Abu Shayba, I/348).

It can be understood from such phrases that the Prophet tried to teach the principles of faith to children. When necessary, Prophet Muhammad also called small children to the faith. As a matter of fact, we can see from historical accounts that the Prophet invited Ibn Sayyad, who was on the threshold of adolescence, to Islam with the following words: "Do you bear witness that I am the Messenger of Allah?" Prophet Muhammad also visited a Jewish boy who worked for him when he was unwell and he invited the boy to Islam; the Jewish boy accepted Islam with the permission of his father.