The Art of Building Believers, pt. 2

In our last article we discussed giving a sense of purpose to your child by discussing with them Allah's statement, "I have not created the jinn and mankind except to worship Me" (Al-Thariyaat, 56). Communicating to your child such deep and powerful concepts is going to be entirely dependent on how well you understand them and even more importantly, practice them. Not everyone is gifted with the ability to express things clearly, but so much of what we learn in life is through the examples, both good and bad, of others. The spiritual truths about Islam are so simple: worship your Creator and shun the worship of anything else, Love Him, Fear Him, and Trust in Him more than anything else. These are clear truths that any man, woman, or child can intellectually understand, but to comprehend them with your heart is a different matter. That type of understanding can only occur with reading, contemplation, prayer, good deeds, and patience through good times and bad times.The deeper your relationship is with our Creator, the more able you will be to communicate these truths to your child with simple words and an honest example. There is no shortcut.

There is no joy in worship if you don't have an understanding of who you are worshiping. Your child needs to know about his Creator and one of the most intuitive and effective ways to do this is to expose them to the wonders of nature. Take them to parks and forests and show them the connection between the verse, "All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds", and all the beautiful things they see around them. The Arabic word العالمين (Al- Alameen, translated here as "The Worlds"), is the plural of علم (Alam), which means, "a sign" or "indicator". Thus, the verse implies that the Creation is a sign and indicator the Creator. There is beauty in this world because our Creator is beautiful. To put it another way, could this world be beautiful if it's Creator was not? Talk to your child about the trees and sky and rain and soil and how they all work together in perfect harmony, and then explain to them that this is the work of a Beautiful, Wise, and Merciful God. By showing them the connection between the physical world around them and the influence of their Unseen Creator, you will be building the foundation for a powerful sense of wonder and attachment to their Lord.

And Allah knows best.