Our Children and the Sacred Months: Do We Teach Them to Revere What Allah Has Honoured?
When I was a child, the teacher would enter the classroom with calm dignity, walk toward the green board, and write the Hijri date at the upper right corner and the Gregorian date at the upper left. Through this simple act, he conveyed—without affectation—a profound lesson: that our spirituality and faith are inseparably connected to time itself.
Some teachers—may Allah reward them—would pause briefly while writing the Hijri date and explain its significance. When a sacred month arrived, such as Dhu al-Qiʿdah, Muharram, Dhu al-Hijjah, or Rajab, they would offer a few concise words that settled deeply within receptive young hearts and remained there for years.
Friday preachers in the mosques completed this educational role. They reminded people of the sanctity and virtues of these months, allowing children to grow up sensing that time possesses a spiritual rhythm and that the year is not merely a sequence of identical months passing without meaning.
Today, however, the Hijri calendar has largely disappeared from classroom boards, and the educator’s voice reminding people of Allah’s sacred seasons has faded. Our children now live in a world where time is measured almost exclusively according to the Gregorian calendar. Consequently, they have become disconnected from the spiritual calendar that once linked them to their history and identity.
This absence is not a minor detail. Rather, it is one of the subtle factors gradually dissolving our children’s identity, estranging them from the profound spiritual heritage patiently built by generations before them.
A child who does not know that he is living in a sacred month will not experience the distinctive character of that month. He will not revere what Allah has honoured, nor will the refined awareness develop within him that time possesses value and sanctity. Allah said in his book:
إِنَّ عِدَّةَ ٱلشُّهُورِ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱثۡنَا عَشَرَ شَهۡرٗا فِي كِتَٰبِ ٱللَّهِ يَوۡمَ خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضَ مِنۡهَآ أَرۡبَعَةٌ حُرُمٞۚ”
التوبة: 36
“Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [lunar] months in the register of Allah [from] the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred. And he said:
“ذَٰلِكَۖ وَمَن يُعَظِّمۡ شَعَٰٓئِرَ ٱللَّهِ فَإِنَّهَا مِن تَقۡوَى ٱلۡقُلُوبِ”
الحج: 32
“That [is so]. And whoever honors the symbols of Allah—indeed, it is from the piety of hearts.”
Reverence does not arise spontaneously within a child. It is cultivated through repeated reminders, living examples, and a conscious environment. A 2020 study conducted by Harvard University’s Developing Virtues in Children Project demonstrated that children raised in environments where specific values are consistently highlighted internalize those values far more deeply than children exposed only to abstract theoretical instruction.
Similarly, psychologist Martin Seligman, in his book Flourish (2011), argues that a child’s sense of belonging to something greater and more enduring than daily routine strengthens psychological well-being and protects adolescents from feelings of aimlessness during youth and early adulthood.
Therefore, responsibility today does not rest solely with schools or mosques. Parents possess the primary ability to restore this spiritual rhythm within the home.
When you tell your child in the morning, “We are in Dhu al-Qiʿdah, a month honoured by Allah,” you are not merely conveying information—you are planting a seed of identity.
When you hang a visible Hijri calendar at home and mark the sacred months distinctly, you begin rebuilding what absence and neglect have eroded.
When families gather during these months and collectively commit to avoiding harsh words or harmful behavior—mindful of Allah’s command: “فَلَا تَظۡلِمُواْ فِيهِنَّ أَنفُسَكُمۡۚ”
“So do not wrong yourselves during them.”
Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله stated:
“When the heart is raised upon reverence for Allah’s commands and sanctities, this reverence becomes reflected in one’s conduct at all times and in every condition.”
(Reported in his discussions on spiritual cultivation and moral discipline.)
Faith-based education does not always require lengthy lessons. Sometimes a single well-timed word, placed in the heart of a receptive child, grows, blossoms, and endures—perhaps to be passed on one day to the next generation.
O Allah, make us among those who honor Your sacred symbols and who pass this reverence to their children. Make our homes gardens of faith and values. Amen.
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