1. Greetings
The Prophet ﷺ trained and encouraged children to greet and say assalamu alaikum by being a role model and showing an example. Anas narrates that the Prophet “when passing by us young boys, used to greet us” [Ibn Majah].
2. Visits
The Prophet ﷺ often paid visits with children in his company. For example, when he took Anas with him to visit the sick Jewish boy that served the Prophet [Bukhari]. This taught Anas the importance of paying visits. He learned about the sunnah of visiting those who are sick: make it quick and let them rest.
3. Self-Confidence
The Prophet ﷺ used to give the children around him jobs and tasks to build their confidence. For example, once he sent Anas on a mission and he was late going back to his mother. “What delayed you?” She asked. “The Prophet sent me on a task.” He said. “What was it?” She asked. “It’s confidential.” He replied. Trusting children builds their sense of purpose and responsibility.
4. Buying And Selling
Although this may be difficult to implement today, there are still other ways to apply the lessons learned from this. Involving children in business transactions teaches them how to handle money: how to count it, save it, and spend it responsibly. Also, interpersonal skills: how to interact with people, communicate, bargain, and negotiate. The Prophet ﷺ once passed Abdullah ibn Jafar selling goods along with other boys and said: “Oh Allah, bless his trade!” [Al-Tabarani]
5. Accompanying Seniors
When children spend time with a kind, wise, and trustworthy elder, they learn leadership skills. The children who spent time with the Prophet ﷺ witnessed so many different situations and how he dealt with them as a leader, judge, father, and comprehensive role model.
6. Good Company
A major challenge of today’s parents is peer pressure. All the blocks that we build as parents inside the household can be weakened by one bad influence. The Prophet ﷺ wanted to complement the role of the parents by providing good companionship. He often encouraged group plays; playing together under some sort of friendly supervision. He made sure children could enjoy themselves in a permissible way without their parents hovering over them.
Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ Framework: 3 Components
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had a framework of three components for developing the social aspects of children: the first was interactions through greetings, paying visits, and being an active participant of society. The second part was encouraging children to be in the company of elders. And the third was creating a healthy environment based on a network of good friendships.
Reference for this post: Al-Awadi, Hesham. Children Around the Prophet. 2018.
