I have a daughter who is 7 years old, she prays Alhamdulillah. Do I
have to wake her up for Fajr prayer, knowing that this made her
dislike praying?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The father is like the shepherd of his householdand is responsible for
his flock, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said. Based on that, he should educate his children and teach them to
fulfil obligations and avoid haraam things. That includes telling them
to pray when they reach the age of seven years, because of the report
narrated by Abu Dawood (495) from 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb, from his father,
from his grandfather, whosaid: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Tell your children to pray
when they are seven years old and smack them if they do not pray when
they are ten, and separate them in their beds." Classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
But the father should be kind in teaching his small children how to
pray, and he should encourage them by praising them, and giving them
gifts and rewards so that they will get used to it and love it.
You can delay waking your daughter up until near sunrise, and
encourage her to sleep early so that it will be easier for her to get
up.
There is nothing wrong with you not waking her up on days when you
think it will be too hard for her to wake up, because – for example –
she went to sleep late or because it is very cold, and so on.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: I
havea son who is about nine years old; should I wake him up for Fajr
prayer?
He replied: Yes, if a man has children, male or female, who have
reachedthe age of ten, he should wake them up. With regard to children
who are younger than that, if he wakes them up so thatthey may pray on
time, that is better, but there is no sin on him if he does not do
that. But it is better to wake them up, because the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Tell your children to praywhen
they are seven tearsold and smack them if they do not pray when they
are ten, and separatethem in their beds." End quote from Fataawa
Noor'ala'l-Darb.
He was also asked: My sonis eight years old; should Iwake him up to
pray Fajr?If he does not pray, am I sinning?
He replied: It seems that itdepends. If it is winter, forexample, and
it is very cold, then there is nothingwrong with leaving him and
telling him to pray when he wakes up. But if the weather is normal and
there is no harm done by waking him up, then you should wake him up so
that he will get used to praying with the people. Nowadays, praise be
to Allaah, there are young boys between the ages of seven and ten whom
we see coming with their fathers to pray Fajr. If a child gets used
tothat from an early age there is a great deal of goodness in that.
But if it causes hardship, then you do not have to wake them up. But
when they wake up you should tell them to pray.
And Allaah knows best.
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