Charging children to perform obligatory and Sunnah acts of worship

Charging children to perform obligatory and Sunnah acts of worship starting with the pillars of Islam

Islam is the everlasting religion of Allah which is only religion accepted by Allah. In a wider sense, it includes faith and action, creed and Shari`ah, morals and transactions, and its rulings -as were explained by scholars- are varied between obligatory and desirable in the field of righteous acts and between prohibition and reprehensible matters regarding prohibitions.

As for the parents -who are charged with the children as long as they do not reach puberty age, particularly the father who is charged to control children-, their duty is to charge the children to perform the acts of worship by accustoming, teaching, rearing, guiding, cooperation, and enjoining good and forbidding evil.

Here, I shall speak about the role of parents in this regard.

Islam grants parents the right to direct their children because they are responsible for them, and it is their duty to rear them well and render the trust which they were commanded to bear.

One of things of rendering the trust is commanding children to perform the acts of worship and render the rights to their people according to the following Ayahs:

• Allah (Glory be to Him) says: "And enjoin As-Salât (the prayer) on your family, and be patient in offering them [i.e. the Salât (prayers)]. We ask not of you a provision (i.e. to give Us something: money): We provide for you. And the good end (i.e. Paradise) is for the Muttaqûn (the pious)." [Surat Taha: 132].

• Allah (Glory be to Him) says: "And mention in the Book (the Qur'ân) Ismâ'îl (Ishmael). Verily, he was true to what he promised, and he was a Messenger, (and) a Prophet. * And he used to enjoin on his family and his people As-Salât (the prayers) and the Zakât, and his Lord was pleased with him." [Surat Maryam: 54 - 55].

• Allah (Glory be to Him) says: "Those (Muslim rulers) who, if We give them power in the land, (they) enjoin Iqamat-as-Salât. [i.e. to perform the five compulsory congregational Salât (prayers) (the males in mosques)], pay the Zakât and they enjoin Al-Ma'rûf (i.e. Islâmic Monotheism and all that Islâm orders one to do), and forbid Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism and all that Islâm has forbidden) [i.e. they make the Qur'ân as the law of their country in all the spheres of life]. And with Allâh rests the end of (all) matters (of creatures)." [Surat Al Hajj: 41].

• Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "By Him in Whose Hand my soul is I was about to order for collecting fire-wood (fuel) and then order someone to pronounce the Adhan for the prayer and then order someone to lead the prayer then I would go from behind and burn the houses of men who did not present themselves for the (compulsory congregational) prayer. By Him, in Whose Hands my soul is, if anyone of them had known that he would get a bone covered with good meat or two (small) pieces of meat present in between two ribs, he would have turned up for the `Isha' Salah."[1]

• Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "If the people knew the reward for pronouncing the Adhan and for standing in the first row (in congregational prayers) and found no other way to get that except by drawing lots they would draw lots, and if they knew the reward of the Zuhr prayer (in the early moments of its stated time) they would race for it (go early) and if they knew the reward of 'Isha' and Fajr (morning) prayers in congregation, they would come to offer them even if they had to crawl." [2]

Lessons gained from these texts are the following:

1- A Muslims should be keen not to miss good and virtue especially obligatory acts of worship which is not permissible to miss. So, a Muslim should keep to the rituals of his religion and exhorts his children to do so. A Muslim must exhort his children to do the acts of worship, particularly Salah, fasting, and reciting the Qur'an that were mentioned in Sahih Al Bukhari and Muslim as Shaykh Al Islam, Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul), said regarding the Hadith of `Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn Al `As (may Allah be pleased with him): "The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to me, "You fast daily all the year and pray every night all the night?" I replied in the affirmative. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "If you keep on doing this, your eyes will become weak and your body will get tired." [3]Then commanded him to fast three days of each month, and these acts of worship are known in the Hadith of Kharijites: "Leave him, for he has companions who pray and fast in such a way that you will consider your fasting negligible in comparison to theirs. They recite Qur'an but it does not go beyond their throats (i.e. they do not act on it) and they will desert Islam as an arrow goes through a victim's body."[4] [5]

2- Children are rebuked for not purifying themselves if they reach ten years old. Ibn Qudamah said: A child's guardian must teach him or her purification if he or she reaches seven years old and rebuke him or her if they reach ten years old. The origin is the Hadith of Sabrah Al Juhany on the authority of his father from his grandfather that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Teach a boy Salat (the prayer) when he attains the age of seven years, and punish him (if he does not offer it) at ten."[6]

Scholar Ibn Al Qayyim (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul) said: Although a child is not fully competent but his guardian is fully competent and it is not permissible for him to make unlawful matters easy for him because he will get accustomed to that and will become hard for him to abandon it; this is the most correct view of scholars. Some scholars said: A child is not fully competent, so it is not prohibited to him to wear silk for instance. This is a wrong deduction because if a child is not fully competent, he is ready to be fully competent, so he should not perform Salah without ablution, cannot offer Salah naked or impure, and cannot drink wine, play cards, or practise homosexuality.[7]

The age of charging is seven and the age of rebuke and punishment is ten. Ibn Al Qayyim said: If a child reaches ten of age, he becomes physically and mentally powerful, and ready to perform the acts of worship, so he shall be beaten for abandoning Salah as the Prophet (peace be upon him) commanded. At ten years old, a child's knowledge and distinction become mature, therefore many jurists adopted the view that he should learn faith as Abu Al Khattab and others said which is a very powerful view. If he is not fully competent in branches, he is commanded to know his Creator and admit his oneness and the truthfulness of His Messengers. So, he has no excuse to disbelieve in Allah and His Messenger because the proofs of having faith in Allah and His Messenger are more prominent.[8]

If a child reaches fifteen years old or the signs of puberty appeared on him, he has become fully competent and he must be commanded to perform the acts of worship.

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[1] Reported by Al Bukhari and Muslim: Reported by Al Bukhari in the book of rulings (7224) with his own wordings, and Muslim in the book of masjids, Hadith No: (651).

[2] Reported by Al Bukhari and Muslim: Reported by Al Bukhari in the book of testimonies (2689) and Muslim in the book of Salah (437).

[3] An-Nihayah (4/256).

[4] Reported by Al Bukhari and Muslim: Reported by Al Bukhari in the book of asking the apostates to repent, Hadith (6930) and Muslim in the book of Zakah, Hadith No. (1066).

[5] Majmu` Al Fatawa (10/391).

[6] ] Reported by Abu Dawud in the book of Salah (494) and At-Tirmidhy in the book of Salah (407) with his own wordings, and said: It is a good and authentic Hadith. It was reported by Imam Ahmad in Musnad Al Mukthirin, Hadith (6467), and Ad-Darimy in the book of Salah, Hadith No. (1395) with the wordings of At-Tirmidhy and Ad-Darimy.

[7] Tuhfit Al Mawdud, p. 147.

[8] The previous reference, P. (175).