Will the Quran be my Friend ?
A friend’s son sweetly asked her one day ‘does Allah have a beard’? Isn’t it wonderful when little ones think and ask us about Allah?
It’s amazing what children can understand and what they ponder over. During one Jummah Khutba (talk or sermon after Friday prayers), the Imam narrated a hadith that says the Quran will appear in the form of a young handsome man to those who recite it and will be an intercessor for that person on the day of judgement. The khutba was for the general audience and not necessarily aimed at children but my son who was not yet four at the time surprised me by asking about it later ~
‘Mama will the Quran become a man?”
I hadn’t realised he had picked up on this and had even forgotten about the subject matter of that particular khutba – but I thought quickly on my toes and asked him what made him think that?
‘The masjid man said the Quran will become a man on the day of judgement’
… and of course I realised then what he was referring to and I decided to explain this concept to him – this was my explanation and may be you can initiate this Hadith as a beautiful story for your own inquisitive child
“Yes my darling! Allah says that on the last day when a lot of people may feel scared He will send the Quran to you like a friend. You know when you remember your surahs and recite the Quran? Well… it stays in your heart – making it beautiful and full of light! Then, on the last day when you need a friend to help you, the Quran will remember you and will come, like a friend, to help you and hold your hand and and take you to paradise.’
My little one loved this idea and was very happy and excited at the concept! It was obviously something that fascinated him because a few days later he asked ~
“Will the Quran be a friend for everybody?”
I knew I had to be truthful but gentle so I said ~
“Well, the people who don’t try to know the Quran – how can the Quran remember them? The people who recite and keep the Quran in their heart -the Quran will know them and recognize them’
Children love and understand personification of objects very well. That is one of the main reasons why so many children’s books are centered around characters such as talking animals and even objects that are able to ‘talk’ and have feelings. Hence why this concept works really well if introduced to a curious child who is memorising and learning about the Quran.
The best part? It’s true. You are not just telling your child a cute story about a book that comes to life and becomes his or her friend, you are telling them the words of The Prophet Muhammad, Peace and Blessings be upon him.
~~~~~
Narrated by Abu Huraira (RA) and compiled by Imam Bukhari:
The Prophet Muhammed (Blessings and Peace be upon him) said:
“When a man dies and his relatives are busy with the funeral, there stands an extremely handsome man by his head. When the dead body is shrouded, that man gets between the shroud and the chest of the deceased. When after the burial the people return home, two angels, Munkar and Nakeer come into the grave and try to separate this handsome man, so that they may be able to interrogate the dead man in privacy about his faith.
But the handsome man says, ‘He is my companion, he is my friend. I will not leave him alone in any case. If you are appointed for interrogation, do your job. I cannot leave him until I get him admitted into Paradise’.
Thereafter he turns to his dead companion and says, ‘I am the Qur’an, which you used to read, sometimes in a loud voice and sometimes in a low voice. Do not worry. After the interrogation of Munkar and Nakeer, you will have no grief…’”
The Prophet Muhammed (Blessings and Peace be upon him) said:
“On the Day of Judgement, before Allah, no other intercessor will have a greater status than the Qur’an, neither a Prophet nor an angel.”
Original Pen & Ink Illustration by Zarina Teli for Mamanushka.com
Book Illustrations from ‘Babies Love Books’ by Catherine & Laurence Anholt
14 Comments
This is lovely. I am so pleased to see how others share and articulate the ideas of the Quran to children and thank you for sharing yours! ☺️
my 5 yr old daughter asked me the aame question regarding the beard. Allah reward you with jannah
Aw! Mulaica thank you so much for your sweet comment. Ameen and may Allah reward you with the same.
The story you tell your child how do you even know that it’s true? How do you know what’s going to happen hereafter? My kids won’t believe any stories until they see the evidence with their eyes. What happens when a non-Muslim dies? What story do you tell them.
Hi, thanks for your question! In our household we love and believe in the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (pbbuh) because we know it to be the divine truth. We can share the stories in the Quran with our children from a young age, about the creation and the hereafter (and we hope to write more posts in the future with suggestions of how to may be go about tackling these topics).These stories and the attributes of Allah help illustrate the magnificence of God from an early age as they get to know their Creator and His characteristics. Most young children don’t need to see something to believe it in the way older children and adults seem to, which is why nurturing the natural instinct for good and for beleif (what is called ‘fitra’) is crucial. As for the second part of your question, children who know Allah will understand that Allah is the Most Merciful and Just, they can be reassured that Allah will do whatever is RIGHT and will always return goodness with Good. I try not to nurture this ‘muslim / non muslim divide’ in my kids ~ I always emphasise that Allah sees not WHO a person is or WHAT they look like, but that He sees a person’s heart inside and HOW they behave (their character) so we should not wonder who is better than someone else …we should just work on behaving in the best way we can be ourselves. Hope this helps answer your comment somewhat.
A beautiful way of developing love of Quran into the young minds and make faith as a hope for their future….
This is wonderful, my little girl is always asking me about Allah and his prophets. She would love this. Thank you
What is the name of the story book?
The last two images are from a children’s book called ‘Babies Love Books’ by Catherine and Lawrence Anholt. It’s a lovely book that my two year old asks for again and again. Hope this helps – we had also refrenced it at the end of the post but you probably missed it!
Truly beautiful Mama, thank you so much!
How beautiful! Always difficult to know how to speak to children about these big topic, and this feels so natural! Thank you for sharing with us.
Beautiful minds.. Beautiful stories
Thanks for sharing a lovely story 🙂
So beautiful!