So That Children Understand The Meaning Of Worship, Here Are Tips For Inviting Your Little One To Pray Tarawih

Illustration (East Weber/Pexels)

JAKARTA - Inviting children to join in worship is the best way to teach directly how worship is done. Children are good imitators. So by inviting children to practice a worship, you are just teaching that worship.

Not only Friday prayers or obligatory prayers in congregation, Tarawih prayers are also no less crowded with many children who attend. But what if when in the mosque the child is busy playing with his friends? To prevent this, you need to pay attention to the following:

Getting used to the children praying together

Before inviting your child to pray in congregation at the mosque, you can start by getting your child used to praying together at home. This habit can be done when performing the obligatory prayers five times a day. By getting children to be orderly when praying together at home, children will be better prepared when you invite them to pray at the mosque.

Cultivate an understanding of prayer

Cultivate and develop an understanding that when you are in a mosque, people must worship and the mosque is not a place to play. Give understanding to your child, when someone is praying nearby, then he should not disturb or make noise. Even if it was his father and mother who were praying.

By instilling this understanding, your child will understand that when praying in a mosque with many people praying, he should not disturb and should not be noisy.

Example of a child

Children need real examples from both parents. Before starting to get your child used to praying in congregation at the mosque, you and your partner can give an example of praying together at home. Do not immediately force your child to join the prayer, because the child needs time to learn from what he saw.

Don't force the child

A large number of rak'ahs during the tarawih prayer will make the child feel tired. When the child feels tired, don't force him to continue to pray. Let him rest for a while. But still tell your child to stay seated and not to move. Because in congregational prayer rows there should not be an empty one.

Pay attention to the child's age

If you want to invite your child to go to the mosque for Tarawih prayers, you must pay attention to the age of the child whether he can be invited to go to the mosque or not. For children under 1 year old, children still cannot understand the situation. Then defecate and urinate can be overcome with diapers. However, children under 1 year old are still often fussy, and when he cries it will disturb the solemnity of other worshipers.

Children aged 3 years will be more visible personality, whether your child is a fussy child or not. If your child is a fussy child and has difficulty adapting, it's best not to take the child to pray Tarawih to the mosque first. It is feared that the fussy nature of the child will disturb other worshipers.