Childhood Memories

In an era when most cultures overlooked the fact children even had emotional needs, the Prophet ﷺ was considerate with his words, time and affection when it came to children.

Al Saib Ibn Yazid was an old man when asked if he had met the Prophet ﷺ. He said; “I came with a group of children to the Prophet ﷺ who was eating dates with a group of his companions,” he said. “When he  saw us, he took some dates and gave them to us.” [Tabarani]

In another example Yusuf b’ Abdullah b’ Salam (ra) said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ named me Yusuf and made me sit in his lap and stroked my head.” [ Adab Al Mufrad]

For me personally, some of my strongest memories in life are those of childhood. Whether from youth imprinting them more soundly in the mind or simply because they came first and so embedded themselves more readily in a yet unsaturated mind - I don’t know. What I do know is that memories of childhood experiences or relationships are with us the longest, riding out in our minds with each passing year of life, moulding us into who we became. So for parents it’s perhaps important to remember this for their own kids.

Childhood memories can have a profound impact on the mindset, personality and behaviour of a child who are in their most formative years of development. Their hearts and minds are frequently coloured by experiences at the hands of those around them. They remember gifts, kind words, praises and affection that made their hearts swell; just as they would remember if it was harsh words, humiliation or neglect that can scar for life or worse, batter their self-esteem and resilience. Either way memories can be a powerful force in moulding personalities of young ones into who they become. It’s clear from many hadiths the Prophet ﷺ made a lasting impression amongst children, feeding their emotional wellbeing thereby drawing them to the deen through the best of manners and example.   

 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 of 𝗦.𝗡.𝗝𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗹𝗶 ✍🏼 (𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓 of 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗯𝗻 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, Islamic chapter books for kids📚)