Thursday, January 3, 2013

Waking Up Seven-Year Old Child for Fajr.Dought clear -,

I have a daughter who is7 years old and she praysAlhamdulillah. Do I
have to wake her up for the Fajr (early morning) prayer, knowing that
this made her dislike praying?
Praise be to Allaah.
The father is like the shepherd of his household and is responsible
for his flock, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said. Based on that, he shouldeducate his children andteach them
to fulfil obligations and avoid haram (unlawful) 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, who said: 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 (lightly) if they
do not pray when they are ten, and separate them in their beds."
Classed as saheeh (authentic) by al-Albaaniin 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 willget 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 herup 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 have
a 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
reached the age of ten, he should wake them up. With regard to
children who are younger than that, if he wakes them up so that they
may pray on time, that is better, but there is no sin on him if he
does not do that. But it isbetter to wake them up, because the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Tell your children
to pray when they are seven years old and smack them (lightly) if they
do not pray when they are ten, and separate them in their beds." End
quote from Fataawa Noor 'ala'l-Darb.
He was also asked: My son is eight years old; should I wake him up to
pray Fajr? If he does not pray, am I sinning?
He replied: It seems that it depends. If it is winter,for example, and
it is very cold, then there is nothing wrong 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 upso
that he will get used to praying with the people. Nowadays, praise be
to Allaah, thereare young boys betweenthe ages of seven and ten whom
we see coming with their fathers to pray Fajr. If a child gets used to
that from an early age there is a great deal of goodness in that. But
if it causes hardship, then you do not have to wakethem up. But when
they wake up you should tell them to pray. End quote from al-Liqa'
al-Shahri (40/18).
And Allaah knows best.

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