The messy, humbling, ultimately rewarding experience of teaching Islamic practices to young children.
My son is four now. Old enough to start learning the basics. So last month I decided it was time to teach him wudu.
I imagined a beautiful moment. Father and son at the sink. Gentle instruction. A bonding experience.
What I got was water everywhere. On the floor. On the walls. On me. Somehow on the ceiling.
Teaching kids Islamic practices is humbling in ways I didn't expect.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
"Command your children to pray when they are seven years old, and discipline them for it when they are ten." — Sunan Abu Dawud 495
We're starting early, building the foundation. Even if that foundation currently involves a lot of mopping.
He doesn't understand why order matters. "But Baba, I already washed my face, why do I have to start over?" Because you started with your feet, buddy. That's not how this works.
Allah tells us:
"O you who have believed, when you rise to perform prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles." — Quran 5:6
He gets distracted halfway through. "Baba look, a spider!" Great, now start your wudu again because you've been staring at that spider for five minutes.
He uses way too much water. I'm trying to teach him sunnah amounts but he's out here making it rain like we don't have a water bill. The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to make wudu with one mudd (about 625ml) of water.
But here's the thing: he's learning. Slowly. Imperfectly. But learning.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
"Each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for his flock." — Sahih al-Bukhari 7138
Last week he did it almost entirely by himself. Still used too much water. Still got distracted once. But the order was right. The intention was there.
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And when he finished and looked up at me with that proud smile, none of the mess mattered.
This is how deen gets passed down. Not through perfection. Through patience. Through showing up. Through trying again tomorrow.
To all the parents in the trenches: keep going. It's working, even when it doesn't feel like it.
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