Paradise Under Your Feet — Page 36
36 lulling the baby to sleep with lullabies, a mother can recite short chapters of the Holy Qur ’ an, portions of Salat and prayers in a melodious voice to her infant. Children benefit greatly from this practice because the repetition of these words at this stage allows them to memorize Salat and prayers at an earlier age with greater ease. Bedtime stories can also include stories of the prophets from the Holy Qur ’ an and other Islamic stories. It is important to read aloud; the parents might think that the baby is too young and does not understand anything. However, the baby is absorbing all this information and the surroundings have a considerable effect on the child. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih V (aba) stressed the importance of early training in his Friday Sermon of December 13, 2013, Aspects of self- reformation: “… The age in which the children can be trained begins from their earliest years. This must always be remembered and kept in mind. The thought should not cross one ’ s mind that we will start Tarbiyat when the child grows older. The age of two or three years is also the age of training of the child. As I said, the child looks at and learns from the parents and the elders in the home and tries to copy them. The parents should never think that the child is still very young, what does he know? He knows everything, and the child is observing every act of his parents and these things are leaving an impress on his mind automatically without any intention being involved. And then a time arrives when he starts to copy those things. Girls, in their own way, copy their mothers and in their playtime, will copy their mother ’ s mode of dress. Boys try to copy their fathers. The good or bad practices or habits that the parents have will be copied by them. ” 2. 11