childhood of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir Jīlānī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه, we find he was not interested in playing at all. He would always remain clean and never say foolish things. Discussing this, he himself says:

In my childhood, an unseen voice would address me whenever I intended to play with other children. It would say, ‘Stay away from fun and games.’ I would stop and look around me whenever I heard this, but did not find anyone to whom the voice belonged.

This would scare me, causing me to run home and hide in my mother’s lap. If sleep begins to overcome me, the same voice rings in my ears and informs me, “You were not created to sleep.”^[1]

صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب                 صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

Teach children to say the name of Allah

O devotees of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir Jīlāni! Rather than teaching our children useless statements, teach them to remember, mention and love Allah and His Messenger صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم. This will have an immensely positive impact on them, اِنْ شَــآءَالـلّٰـه.

In Islami Zindagī, a publication of Maktabat al-Madinah, the Islamic method of raising children has been mentioned. The summary of this is:

*   When a child is capable of speaking, teach them to say the name of Allah. Mothers in previous times would recite this name when putting their children to sleep. Instead of this, we now sadly find parents surrounding their children with musical toys and other trivial things.

*   When a child develops the faculty of comprehension, ensure to not carry out any action which may result in a negative affect being impressed upon their character, as children copy what they see.