12 Easy Visual Steps to Teaching Salah for Kids
28/07/2019 Updated-25/06/2020
Teaching Salah for a girl or boy generally begins when the child reaches seven years. Many religious schools teach children as young as four to read the Quran or to pray using corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is mostly banned in developed western countries but in the Muslim world, the ultra conservative upbringing of many Muslims have given the impression that corporal punishment should be given to a child who does not want to pray.
Before explaining the misunderstanding surrounding beating children who turn seven years, let me give a breif vidsual guide with images on the easy step by step guide on teaching Salah.
Teaching Salah for a girl or boy generally begins when the child reaches seven years. Many religious schools teach children as young as four to read the Quran or to pray using corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is mostly banned in developed western countries but in the Muslim world, the ultra conservative upbringing of many Muslims have given the impression that corporal punishment should be given to a child who does not want to pray.
Before explaining the misunderstanding surrounding beating children who turn seven years, let me give a breif vidsual guide with images on the easy step by step guide on teaching Salah.
The above twelve visual images can be used to slowly teach Wudhu for little children. Always be patient and kind and stop when the child gets uneasy.
Visual Images For Teaching Salah For a Kid
Visual Images For Teaching Salah For a Kid
The Controversy of Teaching Salah for a seven year old kid.
Teaching Islam to children is something that has been told by many Muslim preachers and this has been sometimes a topic that is spoken in Jumuah kuthba's where the imam in most cases gives a negative image of children as if they are animals and then the most famous hadith with regards to beating children is quoted.
Narrated by Amr bin al As(Rali), The prophet (Sal) said,
"Command your children to pray when they become seven years old, and smack them for it (prayer) when they become ten years old; and arrange their beds (to sleep) separately."
(Abu Dawud-Graded Hasan Sahih by Albani)
The above hadith is used to encourage parents to hit their children if they do not pray when they are ten years old. The above hadith should be understood in the right context. What needs to be understood from the above hadith is that the prophet (Sal) told to smack the child lightly not in a way that would harm the child. Abdullah ibn Amr (Rali) narrated,
The prophet(Sal) said,
“Whoever does not show mercy to our young ones, or acknowledge the rights of our elders, is not one of us.”
(Musnad Ahmed-Graded Sahih by Ahmed Shakir)
Amr bin al Ass (Rali) narrated,
The prophet (Sal) said,
'Those who do not show mercy to our young ones and do not realize the right of our elders are not from us. "
(Abu-Dawud- Graded Sahih by Albani)
Fro the above two hadiths it is clear that the prophet (Sal) commanded to show mercy towards those who are young ones such as children. The smacking is something that is light like a pat and should not be a beating that should harm the child's body. The prophet (Sal) said,
"When one of you inflicts a beating, he should avoid striking the face. "
(Abu Dawud-Graded Sahih by Albani)
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah(Rali), the prophet (Sal) said,
“When any one of fights his brother, let him avoid the face, for Allah created Adam in His image.”
(Sahih Muslim)
From the above hadiths it is clear that it is forbidden to slap or harm children and the smacking is that is done lightly. The prophet (Sal) never beat any child and he showed love towards children. Abu Hurayrah(Rali) narrated,
"The Prophet (Sal) kissed his grandson Hasan bin 'Ali in the presence of Aqra' bin Habis. Thereupon Aqra' remarked: "I have ten children and I have never kissed any one of them." The Messenger of Allah (Sal) cast a glance upon him and said, "He who does not show mercy to others, will not be shown mercy."
(Bukhari and Muslim)
Umm Khalid (Rali) narrated,
“I came to the Messenger of Allah - prayers and peace of Allah be upon him - with my father and I had a yellow dress on me. The Messenger of Allah - prayers and peace of Allah be upon him - said “Sanah, Sanah” (Sanah means nice in Ethiopian language), she said “then I went to play with the ring of the Prophet whereupon my father stopped me” then the Messenger of Allah prayers and peace of Allah be upon him said “leave her” then he said to me “Wear out and consume, wear out and consume, wear out and consume (he was supplicating for her to wear more clothes and consume)”
Sahih-Al-Bukhari)
Yahla Ibn Mura(Rali) narrated,
“I went out with the Prophet -prayers and peace of Allah be upon him- for a food invitation. Al-Hussain son Ali was playing in the street, whereupon the Prophet hurried in front of the people towards him to catch him while Al-Hussain running right and left to escape. Moreover, he used to take Osama Ibn Zaid and Al-Hassan Ibn Ali and place them on his thighs then he would tightly hug them and say: “O Allah have mercy on the as I have mercy on them.”
(Sahih-Al-Bukhari)
The above hadiths show the mercy of the prophet (Sal) towards children. Now let me explain further from what the prophet (Sal) meant by saying,
"Command your children to pray when they become seven years old, and smack them for it (prayer) when they become ten years old; and arrange their beds (to sleep) separately."
Now the striking or beating can when not praying was clearly demonstrated by the prophet (Sal) himself in the below hadith,
Abu'l-'Aliyat al-Bara narrated,
Ibn Ziyad delayed the prayer. 'Abdullah b. Samit came to me and I placed a chair for him and he sat in it and I made a mention of whit Ibn Ziyad had done. He bit hit lips (as a sign of extreme anger and annoyance) and struck at my thigh and said: I asked Abu Dharr as you have asked me, and he struck my thigh just as I have struck your thigh, and said: I asked the Messenger of Allah (Sal) as you have asked me and he struck my thigh just as I have struck your thigh, and he (the Holy Prophet) said: Observe prayer at its prescribed time, and if you can say prayer along with them. do so, and do not say." I have observed prayer and so I shall not pray."
(Sahih Muslim)
From the above hadith the prophet (Sal) struck the thigh of the sahabi with regards to delaying prayer and this is how it should be understood by the word "striking" or " beating".
Sheikh Albani said,
Beating and spanking is not (allowed) at all. Instead the child should be advised. Sometimes words have a greater affect on people than hitting. And sometimes hitting does not help at all, rather it makes them persist in doing that. The best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (Sal). The child should not be hit as long as he did not reach the age of puberty
(From the audio lecture “La Qushoor Fil Islam.” )
Ibn Qadamah said,
"This telling and discipline is prescribed in the case of children in order to train them to pray, so that they will be used to it and it will become their habit, and they will not forsake it when they reach puberty."
(Al-Mughni -1/357)
Sheikh Uthaymin said,
"What is meant by smacking here is smacking that is not painful, a light smack that serves the purpose and does not cause any harm"
(Liqa’ al-Baab il-Maftooh-95/18)
The next point in teaching prayers fro children is that it is not an obligation to tell the children to pray because there is an opposing hadith.
Narrated by Ali (Rali),
The prophet(Sal) said,
“The pen is lifted from three people: a sleeping person until he awakens, a child until he becomes an adult, and an insane person until he regains his sanity.”
(Tirmidhi-Graded Saih by Albani)
and in another hadith, the prophet (Sal) said,
“The Pen has been lifted from three: from the sleeper until he awakens, from the child until he reaches puberty and from the insane person until he comes to his senses -- or until he comes round.”
(Abu Dawud,Al-Nasai and others and Graded Sahih by Albani in Sahih Abu Dawud)
From the above hadiths it is clear that a child requiring to pray is after he or she reaches puberty and this is correct as well because a person's actions are recorded by the angels only after puberty and from this it is clear that learning to pray will be required after puberty. Separating the beds is not a must as the prophet (Sal) did not order but tell to separate the beds when kids reach ten years old. As for the hadith of the prophet (Sal) telling to command the children to pray at seven years could be understood from the below hadith,
Narrated by Aisha (Rali)
The Prophet (Sal) ordered his companions after the battle of Al-Ahzaab saying, “No one of you should pray Asr until you reach the village of Bani-Qurayzah (A Jewish tribe) .”While they were on their way, the time of Asr came. Some companions said we should not pray until we reach Bani-Qurayzah. Others said we should pray Asr now because the Prophet (Sal) did not mean for us to leave the Asr prayer, but he wanted us to be in a hurry. So some of the companions prayed Asr , while others continued on until they reached Bani-Qurayzah after sunset. When they went back to the Prophet, they mentioned to him the story, He accepted the action of all of them."
(Bukhari and Muslim)
From this hadith it is clear that the prophet (Sal) accepted both the actions and the action of not teaching a child to not pray until he reaches puberty is also acceptable. This action of a person learning to pray until he or she reaches puberty is better because it is more merciful than that of commanding a child to pray at seven years because in a narration narrated by Aisha (Rali), In which she said,
“Whenever the Prophet (Sal) was given a choice between two matters, he would (always) choose the easier as long as it was not sinful to do so"
(Bukhari and Muslim)
Some try to quote the below hadith trying to prove that we should be very strict with children. The hadith is as follows,
Narrated by Ibn Umar (Rali),
“Every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock. The leader of people is a guardian and is responsible for his subjects. A man is the guardian of his family and he is responsible for them. A woman is the guardian of her husband’s home and his children and she is responsible for them. The servant of a man is a guardian of the property of his master and he is responsible for it. No doubt, every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock.”
(Bukhari and Muslim)
This hadith only explains that each person has a share of responsibility and teaching children to pray has nothing to do with hadith. Some try to argue that the parents will also be responsible if the child goes astray. This is wrong because the duty of the parents is only to advice the child. Even prophet Nuh (Noah)'s wife and son were disobedient and ended up as disbelievers. Allah(Swt) says with regard to this in the Quran,
"Allah sets forth an example to those who disbelieve: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot, they were both under two of Our righteous servants, but they acted treacherously towards them so they availed them naught against God, and it was said: Enter both the fire with those who enter."
(Al-Quran-66:10)
"Allah told the story thus: And he (Noah) said: "Embark therein, in the Name of Allah will be its moving course and its resting anchorage. Surely, my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." So it (the ship) sailed with them amidst the waves like mountains, and Noah called out to his son, who had separated himself (apart), "0 my son! Embark with us and be not with the disbelievers." The son replied: "I will betake myself to a mountain, it will save me from the water." Noah said: "This day there is no savior from the Decree of Allah except him on whom He has mercy." And a wave came in between them, so he (the son) was among the drowned.
And Noah called upon his Lord and said, "0 my Lord! Verily, my son is of my family! And certainly, Your Promise is true, and You are the Most Just of the judges." He said: "0 Noah! Surely, he is not of your family; verily, his work is unrighteous, so ask not of Me that of which you have no knowledge! I admonish you, lest you be one of the ignorant."
Noah said: "O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from asking You that of which I have no knowledge. And unless You forgive me and have Mercy on me, I would indeed be one of the losers."
(Al-Quran-11:45-47)
We need to understand that Islam is a very easy religion and we must stop blind following Muslims who are harsh towards women and children and stick only to the Quran and the authentic hadiths which are the true sources in Islam and it is very clear that It is not a must for a parent to teach
C.J Ahmed
Teaching Islam to children is something that has been told by many Muslim preachers and this has been sometimes a topic that is spoken in Jumuah kuthba's where the imam in most cases gives a negative image of children as if they are animals and then the most famous hadith with regards to beating children is quoted.
Narrated by Amr bin al As(Rali), The prophet (Sal) said,
"Command your children to pray when they become seven years old, and smack them for it (prayer) when they become ten years old; and arrange their beds (to sleep) separately."
(Abu Dawud-Graded Hasan Sahih by Albani)
The above hadith is used to encourage parents to hit their children if they do not pray when they are ten years old. The above hadith should be understood in the right context. What needs to be understood from the above hadith is that the prophet (Sal) told to smack the child lightly not in a way that would harm the child. Abdullah ibn Amr (Rali) narrated,
The prophet(Sal) said,
“Whoever does not show mercy to our young ones, or acknowledge the rights of our elders, is not one of us.”
(Musnad Ahmed-Graded Sahih by Ahmed Shakir)
Amr bin al Ass (Rali) narrated,
The prophet (Sal) said,
'Those who do not show mercy to our young ones and do not realize the right of our elders are not from us. "
(Abu-Dawud- Graded Sahih by Albani)
Fro the above two hadiths it is clear that the prophet (Sal) commanded to show mercy towards those who are young ones such as children. The smacking is something that is light like a pat and should not be a beating that should harm the child's body. The prophet (Sal) said,
"When one of you inflicts a beating, he should avoid striking the face. "
(Abu Dawud-Graded Sahih by Albani)
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah(Rali), the prophet (Sal) said,
“When any one of fights his brother, let him avoid the face, for Allah created Adam in His image.”
(Sahih Muslim)
From the above hadiths it is clear that it is forbidden to slap or harm children and the smacking is that is done lightly. The prophet (Sal) never beat any child and he showed love towards children. Abu Hurayrah(Rali) narrated,
"The Prophet (Sal) kissed his grandson Hasan bin 'Ali in the presence of Aqra' bin Habis. Thereupon Aqra' remarked: "I have ten children and I have never kissed any one of them." The Messenger of Allah (Sal) cast a glance upon him and said, "He who does not show mercy to others, will not be shown mercy."
(Bukhari and Muslim)
Umm Khalid (Rali) narrated,
“I came to the Messenger of Allah - prayers and peace of Allah be upon him - with my father and I had a yellow dress on me. The Messenger of Allah - prayers and peace of Allah be upon him - said “Sanah, Sanah” (Sanah means nice in Ethiopian language), she said “then I went to play with the ring of the Prophet whereupon my father stopped me” then the Messenger of Allah prayers and peace of Allah be upon him said “leave her” then he said to me “Wear out and consume, wear out and consume, wear out and consume (he was supplicating for her to wear more clothes and consume)”
Sahih-Al-Bukhari)
Yahla Ibn Mura(Rali) narrated,
“I went out with the Prophet -prayers and peace of Allah be upon him- for a food invitation. Al-Hussain son Ali was playing in the street, whereupon the Prophet hurried in front of the people towards him to catch him while Al-Hussain running right and left to escape. Moreover, he used to take Osama Ibn Zaid and Al-Hassan Ibn Ali and place them on his thighs then he would tightly hug them and say: “O Allah have mercy on the as I have mercy on them.”
(Sahih-Al-Bukhari)
The above hadiths show the mercy of the prophet (Sal) towards children. Now let me explain further from what the prophet (Sal) meant by saying,
"Command your children to pray when they become seven years old, and smack them for it (prayer) when they become ten years old; and arrange their beds (to sleep) separately."
Now the striking or beating can when not praying was clearly demonstrated by the prophet (Sal) himself in the below hadith,
Abu'l-'Aliyat al-Bara narrated,
Ibn Ziyad delayed the prayer. 'Abdullah b. Samit came to me and I placed a chair for him and he sat in it and I made a mention of whit Ibn Ziyad had done. He bit hit lips (as a sign of extreme anger and annoyance) and struck at my thigh and said: I asked Abu Dharr as you have asked me, and he struck my thigh just as I have struck your thigh, and said: I asked the Messenger of Allah (Sal) as you have asked me and he struck my thigh just as I have struck your thigh, and he (the Holy Prophet) said: Observe prayer at its prescribed time, and if you can say prayer along with them. do so, and do not say." I have observed prayer and so I shall not pray."
(Sahih Muslim)
From the above hadith the prophet (Sal) struck the thigh of the sahabi with regards to delaying prayer and this is how it should be understood by the word "striking" or " beating".
Sheikh Albani said,
Beating and spanking is not (allowed) at all. Instead the child should be advised. Sometimes words have a greater affect on people than hitting. And sometimes hitting does not help at all, rather it makes them persist in doing that. The best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (Sal). The child should not be hit as long as he did not reach the age of puberty
(From the audio lecture “La Qushoor Fil Islam.” )
Ibn Qadamah said,
"This telling and discipline is prescribed in the case of children in order to train them to pray, so that they will be used to it and it will become their habit, and they will not forsake it when they reach puberty."
(Al-Mughni -1/357)
Sheikh Uthaymin said,
"What is meant by smacking here is smacking that is not painful, a light smack that serves the purpose and does not cause any harm"
(Liqa’ al-Baab il-Maftooh-95/18)
The next point in teaching prayers fro children is that it is not an obligation to tell the children to pray because there is an opposing hadith.
Narrated by Ali (Rali),
The prophet(Sal) said,
“The pen is lifted from three people: a sleeping person until he awakens, a child until he becomes an adult, and an insane person until he regains his sanity.”
(Tirmidhi-Graded Saih by Albani)
and in another hadith, the prophet (Sal) said,
“The Pen has been lifted from three: from the sleeper until he awakens, from the child until he reaches puberty and from the insane person until he comes to his senses -- or until he comes round.”
(Abu Dawud,Al-Nasai and others and Graded Sahih by Albani in Sahih Abu Dawud)
From the above hadiths it is clear that a child requiring to pray is after he or she reaches puberty and this is correct as well because a person's actions are recorded by the angels only after puberty and from this it is clear that learning to pray will be required after puberty. Separating the beds is not a must as the prophet (Sal) did not order but tell to separate the beds when kids reach ten years old. As for the hadith of the prophet (Sal) telling to command the children to pray at seven years could be understood from the below hadith,
Narrated by Aisha (Rali)
The Prophet (Sal) ordered his companions after the battle of Al-Ahzaab saying, “No one of you should pray Asr until you reach the village of Bani-Qurayzah (A Jewish tribe) .”While they were on their way, the time of Asr came. Some companions said we should not pray until we reach Bani-Qurayzah. Others said we should pray Asr now because the Prophet (Sal) did not mean for us to leave the Asr prayer, but he wanted us to be in a hurry. So some of the companions prayed Asr , while others continued on until they reached Bani-Qurayzah after sunset. When they went back to the Prophet, they mentioned to him the story, He accepted the action of all of them."
(Bukhari and Muslim)
From this hadith it is clear that the prophet (Sal) accepted both the actions and the action of not teaching a child to not pray until he reaches puberty is also acceptable. This action of a person learning to pray until he or she reaches puberty is better because it is more merciful than that of commanding a child to pray at seven years because in a narration narrated by Aisha (Rali), In which she said,
“Whenever the Prophet (Sal) was given a choice between two matters, he would (always) choose the easier as long as it was not sinful to do so"
(Bukhari and Muslim)
Some try to quote the below hadith trying to prove that we should be very strict with children. The hadith is as follows,
Narrated by Ibn Umar (Rali),
“Every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock. The leader of people is a guardian and is responsible for his subjects. A man is the guardian of his family and he is responsible for them. A woman is the guardian of her husband’s home and his children and she is responsible for them. The servant of a man is a guardian of the property of his master and he is responsible for it. No doubt, every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock.”
(Bukhari and Muslim)
This hadith only explains that each person has a share of responsibility and teaching children to pray has nothing to do with hadith. Some try to argue that the parents will also be responsible if the child goes astray. This is wrong because the duty of the parents is only to advice the child. Even prophet Nuh (Noah)'s wife and son were disobedient and ended up as disbelievers. Allah(Swt) says with regard to this in the Quran,
"Allah sets forth an example to those who disbelieve: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot, they were both under two of Our righteous servants, but they acted treacherously towards them so they availed them naught against God, and it was said: Enter both the fire with those who enter."
(Al-Quran-66:10)
"Allah told the story thus: And he (Noah) said: "Embark therein, in the Name of Allah will be its moving course and its resting anchorage. Surely, my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." So it (the ship) sailed with them amidst the waves like mountains, and Noah called out to his son, who had separated himself (apart), "0 my son! Embark with us and be not with the disbelievers." The son replied: "I will betake myself to a mountain, it will save me from the water." Noah said: "This day there is no savior from the Decree of Allah except him on whom He has mercy." And a wave came in between them, so he (the son) was among the drowned.
And Noah called upon his Lord and said, "0 my Lord! Verily, my son is of my family! And certainly, Your Promise is true, and You are the Most Just of the judges." He said: "0 Noah! Surely, he is not of your family; verily, his work is unrighteous, so ask not of Me that of which you have no knowledge! I admonish you, lest you be one of the ignorant."
Noah said: "O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from asking You that of which I have no knowledge. And unless You forgive me and have Mercy on me, I would indeed be one of the losers."
(Al-Quran-11:45-47)
We need to understand that Islam is a very easy religion and we must stop blind following Muslims who are harsh towards women and children and stick only to the Quran and the authentic hadiths which are the true sources in Islam and it is very clear that It is not a must for a parent to teach
C.J Ahmed