Ask our children:
1. Is it important to read salaah?
2. When should we start reading our salaah?
3. Is it fine to miss our salaah?
Now tell them the story:
There was once a boy named Suhail who had very kind and caring parents. They loved him a lot and always looked after him and cared for him. But, his parents had one very big weakness – they were not very particular about their salaah.
Sometimes, they would read their salaah on time but sometimes they would make their salaah become qadhaa and read it afterwards. Once in a while they wouldn’t read it at all! As for Suhail’s father, he only went to the masjid once a week, for the Jumu‘ah Salaah.
One day, when Suhail was going somewhere with his friend, his friend’s father began to play a cd in the car. As the cd started to play, Suhail realized that it was a bayaan, and the Moulana was speaking about the importance of salaah. The Moulana was saying:
“When any person would become a Muslim, then after teaching him the kalimah, the first thing that Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) would teach him was how to perform salaah. This is because salaah is very, very important for a Muslim. If a person misses his salaah by accident, then he is supposed to feel very sad – as sad he would feel as if his whole family passed away and his house, all his money, clothes and everything else got destroyed. After we die, the first thing that Allah Ta‘ala will ask us about us is our salaah. Because salaah is so important, Muslims must make sure that they teach their children to read salaah also. When boys become big and learn to behave, then their fathers’ must bring them to the masjid, because men must read all their salaah in the masjid, not at home.”
When Suhail heard this bayaan, he became very worried. He never knew that salaah is so important! He was worried because he hardly read any salaah, and his parents also did not read their salaah properly. On the Day of Qiyaamah, how were they going to answer the question about salaah?
When Suhail returned home, all he could think about was salaah, and how he could make his whole family read salaah. Finally, he had a plan. That night, after supper, Suhail said to his family, “Can I please fetch a book and read some stories for you?” His family were happy and said, “Definitely! Fetch the book, and we will wait here.”
Suhail went to the Quraan cupboard, opened it, and took out a kitaab that one of his friends had told him about. It was called Fazaail-e-Aa’maal, and it had a whole section about salaah. Suhail opened to that section, and began to read to his family about the importance of salaah, and how the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) were particular about their salaah.
After reading a few pages, he closed the kitaab and said, “Daddy! Can we please go to the masjid for Fajr Salaah tomorrow?” His father was very surprised, but he said yes, because he also wanted to be a good Muslim. But he was worried that he might not wake up, so he told Suhail to set his own alarm.
The next morning, when it was fajr time, the whole house woke up with a shock! They could hear the azaan coming from the kitchen, “Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar!” Suhail was giving the azaan to wake them up!
The whole family quickly woke up and made wudhu. Then Suhail and his father got into the car and went to the masjid for fajr. The Imaam was reading Surah Fajr, and it sounded so beautiful that Suhail didn’t want him to stop!
After the salaah was over, Suhail and his father sat in the car to return home. Suhail’s father looked at him and said, “Suhail! I am so happy with you and so proud of you! Because of you, I went to the masjid for fajr today! From now on, we must go together to the masjid for every salaah!”
And that is the story of how one young boy, named Suhail, helped his whole family to perform their salaah and become pious.
Lessons:
1. A Muslim must always read their salaah and must never miss any salaah. Salaah must be number one in a Muslim’s life. Before a Muslim goes anywhere or does anything, he must first worry about his salaah.
2. We must try to make ta’leem of Fazaail-e-Aa’maal at home every day. If we do this, we will all feel encouraged and will feel like becoming good, pious Muslims.
3. When a pious person is giving a bayaan and telling us about Allah Ta‘ala, we must listen carefully. We will learn more about Islam and it will help us to become better Muslims.
4. We must try to be good Muslims, and we must also worry about helping others to become good, pious Muslims.
Click here to download video