Seerah for Kids: Lesson 1

Seerah Lesson 1: Arab Society before the Prophet's Birth

In this lesson, we covered the Curriculum’s main point which is:

S.EC.00.01: discuss and list some aspects of the Arab society and the world before the Prophet’s birth.

We started off by reading the booklet Before Islam, and noting some of the characteristics of the Arab Society at that time. We discussed why this time was called ‘Ayamul Jahiliya’ or the Days of Ignorance. We discussed how they did magic, treated their slaves badly and prefered boys over girls.

Before Islam booklet ( http://www.prosyst3ms.co.uk/8965/index.html )

We also talked about tribes and what it meant to be a part of a tribe. We talked about the names of several tribes and that the main tribe in Makkah at the time was called Quraish.

Here's the fact sheet we used for Tribes.

http://www.box.com/s/c4a4921428b6c6fc269a

We used Um Maymoonah's worksheets and notes to go through the good and bad things of Arab Society at the time. Elhamdulilah they are beginning to understand how society at that time had a lot of faults and this will lead on nicely to the next lesson about the need for a Prophet and Prophet Mohammad Salla Allahu Allaihi Wassalam's birth.

http://ummmaimoonahrecords.blogspot.com/

Teaching Children to Pray

We’ve been working on integrating Salah gradually in our daily routine. As A is almost 6, it is very important for me to ensure that she is not only familiar with the athkar and actions of the prayers but also that she is trained to consistently do her prayers.

I found this method for training her to become regular in her prayers from the book The Child in Islam by Norma Tarazi, to be extremely useful. I have quoted the passage here:

 A simple workable method for initiating salat with a young child is the following. On his fifth birthday, ask him to begin regular prayer with the family once a day. This should be treated as a special event, a significant landmark on his road to growing up. The most suitable prayer to begin with is generally maghrib, when the whole family is at home and can pray together. Then, when the child reaches five and a half, initiate the second salah, any one out of the five you choose. On the sixth birthday, the third salah is added; at six and a half, the fourth; and by the seventh birthday, he has all five prayers regularized.

 As suggested, we have started doing Maghrib prayer together. However, please note that with any child who has not reached the age of seven, it must be entirely the child's choice. Some sheikhs have even suggested that if the child is ordered to pray before seven the may be entirely put off. Therefore if the child is eager and willing and wants to pray, encourage them, otherwise its best to leave it till they are seven.

I have started our formal prayer studies. Here is the list of the resources that I will be using InshAllah.

 Resources:

1.       Talibdeen Jr, step by stepSalah instruction
http://tjislamicstudies.blogspot.com/2010/10/step-by-step-salah-instruction.html

2.       Islaam for kids, Prayer
http://islaam4kids.wordpress.com/category/very-small-kids/

3.       Resource book, Why do we Pray
http://www.box.com/s/cd0eacc93eef9a33b393

Here are the prayer topics that I want to focus on initially:

What is prayer?

Why do we Pray

The Story of the Israa and Miraj

The Qiblah: Facing the Kaaba

Wudoo

Knows that wudhu is necessary before one can pray

Knows the steps of wudhu and can perform them

Knows what breaks ones wudhu

Knows that excessive water should not be used to make wudhu

Knows the duaa to say after wudhu is made

The Sutrah

Things that Break the Prayer

Takbeer

Opening Duaa

Rukoo

Sujood

Between the Sajdahs

Straightening from Rukoo

The Tashahhud

Salaat Upon the Prophet(salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam

Seeking Refuge from 4 Things

Supplication before Tasleem

Tasleem

After Prayer Thikr

What is a Rakaah?

Positions of the Salaat

The Five Prayers

Salatul Fajr

Salatul Dhuhr

Salatul Asr

Salatul Maghrib

Salatul Ishaa

Seerah for Kids

Our Seerah Study and Resources

Alhamdullah we have finally started our Seerah Studies and I hope that Allah will instill the love of His Prophet Mohammad SAWS in our children's hearts and that they learn to follow the Prophet’s Sunnah.  InshAllah I intend to supplement our Seerah study with hadith study so that they can begin to understand the reason behind studying the Seerah. I’m also trying to get them to think of how the Prophet SAWS would have acted in different situations especially when they find themselves in tough and angry situations. (Would the Prophet SAWS have shouted in that way to his friends, should you shout like that to your sister?) And you can imagine how many situations like this we encounter everyday J

I have also taught them how to pray upon the Prophet Mohammad SAWS, and I hope to get them to pray upon him at least ten times daily InshAllah. I’ve explained how every time someone prays upon the Prophet, he returns their Salam and A gets really excited and says, ‘Now Prophet Mohammad has said waAlaikum Assalam A!’

May Allah ingrain the love of His Prophet in our hearts and the hearts of our children InshAllah.

So here is the list of the resources, I will be using:

1.       The Seerah Curriculum (As created by Um Nu’man
http://www.box.com/shared/83gcervhhm

2.      The Life of Mohammad in twenty stories (Abdul Tawwab Yusuf)http://www.noorart.com/the_life_of_muhammad_sas_in_twenty_stories_english

3.       Free Seerah Stories
This is a fantastic resource with lesson plans and short books.
http://www.islamicstudiesresources.com/uploads/1/9/8/1/19819855/sow_unit_1seerah_prosyst3ms.pdf 

4.       The Sealed Nectar
General reading, but for me to brush up on my facts and to summarize as it is quite difficult for kids.
http://books.google.ae/books?id=r_80rJHIaOMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

5.       The Atlas of the Prophet’s Biography free from google books
This is great for detailed maps and pictures
http://books.google.ae/books?id=mZmBkoDa9fcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Atlas+of+the+Prophet%27s+biography&hl=en&ei=wyXaTqHXBs7nrAenxOHODQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-thumbnail&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Atlas%20of%20the%20Prophet's%20biography&f=false

6.    Quran and Seerah Stories
(Not a lot of Seerah content but some interesting chapters)
http://www.onlineislamicstore.com/b8293.html

7.      Sayyid Alkhalq (Arabic)

8.   Our Seerah Notebook