What Should I Teach My 5-Year-Old Daughter?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

I’m quite confused about what I should teach my 5-year-old daughter regarding the Seerah, memorizing surahs, and like what should they know about the salah. Could you please help me out with what I have to start from and all the areas I’ll have to cover up when I’m teaching her.

Answer

Thank you for your question. I commend you for striving to fulfill your duties to your child.

Please see this detailed answer on what parents must provide for a child’s education and needs:

Rights of Children in Detail

Raising Children with Deen and Dunya

In terms of the prayer specifically, your child is too young to be taught specific details about the prayers, but she can be encouraged lightly to pray occasionally. Do not ask her to officially pray with you until she is seven lunar years old.

Please see this excellent article about inculcating the prayer in your child’s life:

Parenting: Planting the seeds of prayer in our young ones

[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad 
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied Aqidah, Fiqh, Tajweed, Tafseer, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied Fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She recently moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.