Do your children love Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala? Better yet, ask yourselves this question: do your children know Allah? If not, how do you expect them to love Allah without a good grasp on who He is? After all, to know Him is to love Him, right?

I wrote an Islamic children’s book series with the goal of familiarizing our children with Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala. The first book highlighted the attribute of Al-Wadud (the Most-Loving). I am happy to see how many around the globe I’ve reached with my message of instilling love of Allah in children alhamdulillah, but wondering if the message reaching those underneath my own roof? So, I asked my nine-year-old daughter how she feels about Allah because I wanted to see if I had done my job in raising her to love Him and love Islam.

“I love Allah because He gave you to me, and He gave me my sisters, my friends, and all the people I love, and Coffee (our kitten). He takes really good care of us, and He loves me a lot. So yeah, I really love Him,” was her answer. Upon hearing this, I let out a sigh of relief, and gave myself a metaphorical pat on the back. There is no one way to inspiring children to love Allah, but here’s what will definite help inshaAllah.

SOURCES

Young Muslim’s Mindful Book of Wellbeing | Migo and Ali: A-Z of Islam | ABC Of Allah Loves Me | Allah Loves Me Books on Amazon

Nurture the love of Allah that is already there

We must teach our precious little Muslims about Allah, and His mercy and love that encompasses every aspect of our lives by mentioning the many blessings frequently. You see, His love for us, and our knowledge of Him in all His goodness is in our fitrah (natural disposition,) but do not rest assured that it will always be here to stay. We must nourish this fitrah in our children before the surrounding influences make their mark and corrupt it. Show them and tell them the endless reasons to love Allah. When they hear you constantly about how much you love Allah, they will naturally follow. Nourish the fitrah and keep reminding your children that Allah loves them seventy times more than you do and they will naturally follow. Depending on the age and interest of your child, nourish them and help them understand Allah’s love through books and crafting.

Help them recognize the many blessings of Allah

Allah (swt) says in the Quran,

“Wa amma bini’mati rabbika fa haddith”
“And mention and proclaim the bounty of your Lord.” (93:11)

There is a reason for this. When we make it a habit of mentioning Allah’s infinite blessings that He bestowed upon us, we will naturally become grateful, and know Him to be the Bestower of all gifts; the One who is Merciful and Loving enough to endlessly shower us with bounties.

For children, these bounties include all their loved ones, their pets, their toys, etc. When you, the parent or caregiver, put in a conscious effort to tie these people and things that make your children happy to Allah (swt), they will instinctively become grateful and the seeds of love in their hearts will grow more each year until they flourish.

Follow the sunnah way to instill love of Allah in children

The Prophet (pbuh) spent the first thirteen years of Islam proclaiming tauhid and teaching the noble companions about Allah, in all His mercy and Loving nature. The laws were revealed later in the dawah. So let’s follow the example of our beloved Rasul (pbuh) and instill these values in our children, starting with gratitude to Allah.

Gratitude for family, gratitude for friends, gratitude for the beautiful blue skies above, gratitude for the magnificence of the oceans, gratitude for the soft feeling of grass beneath our feet, the list is endless. With time, gratitude yields love. And once your child experiences the unconditional love of Allah and for Allah, there is no force on Earth that is powerful enough to take that feeling away.

“My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents.”
Quran 46:15

In what ways do you teach your children to love Allah and Islam?

About the Author: Heba Subeh Hyder is an author, mother and currently working towards a degree in Islamic studies. Her passion for deen is what inspired her to be an author. Her aim is to nurture our youth’s innate belief and love of Allah at a young age. She can be reached via instagram. Shop her books here.

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