Development of Faith

in Children
Lecture 19
Child Psychology
Francesca Bocca del Monferrato
francesca.bocca@me.com
Connecting Children with
the Pillars of Imaan

•Importance of studying phases of

intellectual development
•Different aspects are suitable for
different age groups
Connecting Children with
the Pillars of Imaan
•Allah
•Angels
•Prophet and Messengers
•Books and Revelations
•Day of Resurrection and Hereafter
•Divine Will and Predestination
 Allah
•First words to be heard are: Allahu
Akbar
•Important to teach children the miracles
of nature
•Connect the wonder to thanking
•Ask them to imagine how life would be if
they were blind, deaf or poor
• Quran 14:32-34
• It is Allah who made for you the earth
a place of settlement and the sky a
ceiling and formed you and perfected
your forms and provided you with
good things. That is Allah , your Lord;
then blessed is Allah , Lord of the
worlds.
• Quran 40:64
• Say, "It is He who has produced you
and made for you hearing and vision
and hearts; little are you grateful."
• Quran 67:23
• It is He who created for you all of that
which is on the earth. Then He
directed Himself to the heaven, [His
being above all creation], and made
them seven heavens, and He is
Knowing of all things.
• Quran 2:29
• Do you not see that Allah has made subject
to you whatever is in the heavens and
whatever is in the earth and amply bestowed
upon you His favors, [both] apparent and
unapparent? But of the people is he who
disputes about Allah without knowledge or
guidance or an enlightening Book [from Him]

• Quran 31:20
• And He has subjected to you whatever
is in the heavens and whatever is on the
earth - all from Him. Indeed in that are
signs for a people who give thought.

• Quran 45:13
• Allah - there is no deity except Him. To
Him belong the best names.

• Quran 20:8
 Obedience to Allah
•It is obligatory to teach children to obey
Allah (47:33)

•Love and fear should be taught

•Concept of delayed gratification
These are the limits [set by] Allah , and whoever
obeys Allah and His Messenger will be admitted
by Him to gardens [in Paradise] under which
rivers flow, abiding eternally therein; and that is
the great attainment.

Quran 4:13
 Reliance upon Allah

•Complete dependance and trust upon

Allah alone
•At a very young age hadith of Ibn Abbas
•Also indirectly (exams, assignment, daily
challenges, feeling sick)
 Angels
• Necessary link to believe in revelation
• Familiarise with stories Cave of hira’, isra’ and
mi’raj
• Stress Allah’s power in the description of angels
• The presence of Angels throughout lifetime
• The recording angels
 Angels
•Greeting the angels when entering the
home
•The importance of studying Islam in the
house
•The night of decree
•Things repelling angels: statues, picture,
dogs
Prophets & Messengers

•Expose children to the Prophets using stories

•Loving the Prophet more than oneself
•Etiquette of sending blessings
•Loving the Prophet by following His example
•Teaching the Seerah
Books and Revelation
• Whoever wishes to love Allah and (is Messenger
should read the Quran
• The etiquette of reading Quran
• Memorization of Quran could start at 2-3 years
• Importance of reading with understanding
(starting from stories)
• The Quran brings peace and tranquillity
Resurrection & Hereafter

•Discuss freely and comfortably the issues

of death, heave, hell
•The proof of resurrection is our creation
•Examples from nature
 Death

•Using the occasion of death to discuss

with the child
•Regardless the age, we should tell the
child he will also die
•Death as a positive element
•Sleep as an example of death
Responsibility & Accountability

•Stress that they will be held accountable

in front of God
•Importance for discipline and self-control
•Weighting of actions and the scale of the
day of judgment
The nature of this world

•A preparation for next life

•Different tests for different people
•Concept of not wasting time over this life
•Similitudes: a traveler, a prison
Divine Will & Predestination

•The Prophet taught Ibn Abbas predestination

when he was still a young boy
•Effect of removing fear or cowardice
•Sickness of purification
•Patience and gratitude
•Relationship free will & predestination
 Benefit of belief in
predestination

•Peace of heart and ming

•Relief from grief, sadness and anger
•Realisation that everything happens
according to Allah’s wisdom
•Liberation from any form of shikr
 Conclusion
•Teaching pillars through steps
•Quran provides us with verses suitable for
different phases
- Observation
- Explanation
- Generalisation