This blog-post was written in partnership with Al Maurid Books. Although I was compensated for my time, and given a review copy of the book, all opinions expressed here are 100% my own.
Teaching the 99 Names of Allah to children can be challenging for any Muslim parent. In our Muslim homeschool, we use a variety of crafts and hands-on activities to help our children remember the 99 names of Allah.
I believe that learning the names of Allah does not need to be rushed. By taking our time, we allow the names of Allah to impact on their hearts, thereby helping to nurture a deeper and stronger connection to the Divine insha’Allah.
Each activity below is designed to help children understand the 99 names of Allah. The names themselves can seem complicated and somewhat abstract to young children. By associating the Divine name with an activity or craft, we show the children a more concrete representation of that name, creating a connection that will help with memorisation, as well as their understanding.
And besides….it’s so much more fun this way!!!
To watch a Youtube Video about all the activities we have been doing,
CLICK ON THE VIDEO BELOW!
Why should Children Learn the 99 Names of Allah?
Learning the names of Allah (swt) is a great way to help children to understand the nature of Allah and create a love for the divine in their hearts insha’Allah.It has been narrated Abu Huraira that the Prophet (SAW) said,
“Allah has ninety-nine names, i.e. one-hundred minus one, and whoever knows them will go to Paradise.”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 50 Hadith 894
Allah
The first place we began is with the name “Allah.”Using a FREE TEMPLATE of the name, we filled in the letters with sequins and buttons to make a beautiful calligraphy to hang-up on our wall. For more information on this craft CLICK HERE
Alternatively, you could use glitter, tissue paper or even make a collage from old magazines or newspapers.
Al-Khaliq
Al-Khaliq can be translated as “The Creator”.
For this name, I felt the best way to teach the children about how Allah creates, is to witness His creation.
So we went outdoors; to the park, to the woods, and just around our own garden, and spent some time talking together about what Allah had created. We talked about how He created everything from nothing, with no help.
This concept is something that even the youngest of children can understand. Allah made the clouds, Allah made the sun, Allah made the birds etc. I asked the children to collect things from our nature walk. We came home with so many twigs, leaves and flowers!
Once we got home, we made a poster using a FREE Colouring Page of the name Al-Khaliq.
Around the name we stuck all the beautiful things that the chlidren had collected. It looked lovely up on the kitchen wall!
For more details about this craft, you can read my previous blogpost HERE.
Al-Malik
Al-Malik translates as “The King.”
As a visual representation of this name, the children made a crown! Whilst they were making it, we talked about how Allah doesn’t wear a crown, and how Allah does not look like any king that they can imagine. We spoke a little about the role of a king and I asked them,“Who is the King of the Kings? ….. Allah!”
If you would like to make this crown with your children, CLICK HERE.
Ar- Razzaq
Recently, we have been learning the name Ar-Razzaq which translates as “The Provider.”
To help the children understand this name better, we have been using the book “Aishah Learns to Bake” by Latifah Peerbux.
This is the story of a young girl called Aishah who wants to bake. Her mum agrees to teach her how, but she asks her to guess all the ingredients they need. What is wonderful is how her mum uses clues with an Islamic or Prophetic twist!!!
For example, as a clue for dates, her mum says,
“Allah even says we find this fruit up in heaven! It’s the same fruit we eat in Ramadan to break our fast!”
Aishah Learns to Bake by Latifah Peerbux
Aishah continues to guess all the ingredients for her cakes, learning more and more as she does so.
The book ends with her father explaining to her how Allah is Ar-Razzaq, the Provider.
It’s a sweet and heart-warming story that helps children to understand what a blessing it is to have food, as well as the Blessings that different foods contain; and ultimately to be more grateful to Allah for providing us with them.
As the hands-on activity, we made the Honey and Date cupcakes that Aishah and her mum baked. They were delicious! Alhumdulillah!
Al- Wadood
Al-Wadood can be translated as “The Most Loving.”
The idea that Allah loves us, even more than mummy and daddy, is something that even very young children will understand.
This art activity is a great one for small kids too! We drew the outline of a heart onto a piece of paper. The children then scrunched up lots of small piece of tissue paper and glued them all over the heart!
They looked so pretty, and were a wonderful visual reminder that Allah loves them!
Ar-Rahman
Most recently, we have been looking at the name Ar-Rahman, which can be translated as “The Most Compassionate.”I’m still thinking about what hands-on activity we can use to help the children to better understand this concept.
My initial idea was to ask the children to take care of our cats for a week. I hope that this will teach them that just as they are taking care of their cats, Allah is taking care of them, and their family, and all the people in the whole world, and all of creation!
What do you think? If you have a better idea I’d really appreciate it if you would share it with us all in the comments section below!!!
Have you been teaching the 99 Names of Allah to your children?
How do YOU approach it?
If you have any useful resources, I’d love to hear about them.
Please let us all know by leaving a comment down below!
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Peace and Love
