Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Brother, first of all, we’d like to say that we are impressed by your question, which emanates from a thoughtful heart. May Allah Almighty help us all adhere to the principles of this true religion, Islam, and enable us to be among the dwellers of Paradise in the Hereafter, Ameen.
As regards your question, parents should encourage their children to read and love reciting the Qur’an. This should be done in the best way and kind manners.
Here, we would like to cite for you the following from the book “Child Education in Islam” by Dr. `Abdullah Nasih `Ulwan, professor of the Exegesis of the Qur’an at king Abdul `Aziz University:
“At-Tabarani related that `Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) reported the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as having said: “Habituate your children to entertain three traits; loving your Prophet, loving his family and relatives, and reciting the Qur’an. Surely the bearers of the Qur’an are in the shadow of Allah’s Throne on a day where there is no shadow but His, together with Allah’s Messenger and beloved ones.”
In his brilliant book Ihya `Ulum Ad-Din (The Revitalization of the Sciences of Religion), Imam Al-Ghazali recommended teaching the child the Glorious Qur’an, the sayings of the benignant people, the tales of the pure-hearted people and some religious rulings.
Also, in His Muqaddimah, Imam Ibn Khaldun pointed to the importance of teaching the Qur’an to the children and making them memorize it, and made clear that teaching the Qur’an is the basis of education in all the curricula in the different Muslim countries.”
Elaborating on the methods of encouraging children to recite the Qur’an at home and take that as habit, the eminent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hanooti, member of the North American Fiqh Council, states:
“Firstly, we should know the distractions surrounding the child. One of the major distractions is TV and music. Both are becoming a style of life and they are a big window to further collapsing and disastrous activities that many children get involved in. TV, for instance, lessens the interest of a child to read or focus. Many children have a problem with concentration because of the daydreams they borrow from movies and music.
Secondly, a parent cannot make his/her child interested in doing anything unless he/she makes him weigh and feel the value of what is to be done. Partially, father or mother can use rational dialogue with their child for that purpose, but what is more important in communication is who he likes and respects and takes as a model more. If he sees that memorizing Qur'an is substantially doing a good image in the father and he likes his father, then that will be very helpful for a child to be interested in reading Qur'an.
Thirdly, its very important to provide the child with fun, play and recreation. After that, a child will be absolutely ready to accept any guidance or advice from the one who entertains him.”
You can also read:
Necessary Tips for Raising Children Islamically
Almighty Allah knows best.
