My eldest just started offering prayers as he’ll turn 7 this shawwaal, InshaAllah.
So far its quite good.But I think we are so regular because we have mid term break from school and once the school opens (on 1st Nov.) we will have problem.
I don’t want to make him feel relaxed for namaz, where he starts prefering everything else over namaz(Allah forbid)…but as a matter of fact, I’m not sure how can I help him maintain his regularity.As winter is approaching days are getting shorter and shorter …n by December school time will end short before sunset (4 o’ clock) that means if i turn a blind eye over him skipping prayers he will miss two out of five prayers, every school day.
I feel I was very lucky as I never faced this question in my childhood …either we were home at prayer times or were given a specific time for payers in high school days(in Pakistan, of course)…
May be I can talk to school admin to allow him some time off …but at this stage he is a beginner and needs my help and supervision to pray rightly…so he wo’t be able to pray on his own right now.
i dont know which two prayers he is going to be missing....
but if they r asr and maghreb, u can let him combine asr with zuhr and maghreb with ishaa....
that way he'll learn that he cant miss prayers under any circumstace and will also learn that Islam gives the ease of combining prayers if need arises....
If he is missing zuhr and asr, then i would suggest allowing him pray combined when he returns from school. Being a seven year old, the timings do not really affect his salah. you can still show/explain the correct timings on weekends/holidays etc. He'll grasp the concept sooner or later.
That’s what I would have suggested too. He should make it up when he comes home. It’s also good to know that it is possible for kids to make salaat in school. We did that starting in high school, and I’m sure we would have been able to do the same while we were in elementary school. You are right, you can just ask the administration. If you know of any other Muslim students in the same school, try to get them (and their parents) involved as well.
Aside from making him make his salat, I would also recommend starting taleem (Faza’il e Amal) at home so that you can keep the importance of making salat in front of him from this young age. Also, try to take it up a level and encourage him to make salaat in the masjid whenever it’s possible.
