Ramadan 2024 - Inspired by Qur'an Montessori Prompts
And the tradition continues. (Read about our journey HERE.)
Bismillah! Here are our Ramadan 2024 Prompts:
Ramadan Day 1 - Ramadan Lapbook
"The month of Ramadan (is that) in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion." (Suratul Baqarah: 185)
Ramadan is about working towards being a better Muslim in the sight of Allah. It's about obeying His commands while letting go of what displeases Him. We begin our first Ramadan prompt by understanding the virtues of Ramadan. Our journey through life should be one that takes us a step closer to Allah each day. Mr 5 will be guided by his Ramadan companion, Tariq, the bright star, throughout his Ramadan journey. Together they will learn about: the Islamic months, the blessings of Ramadan, about the Qur'an, the 5 pillars of Islam and Fasting, 'Ibadah, Moon Phases, the Greatest Night, and the etiquette of Eid.
Ramadan Day 2: Intentions
Allah knows our intentions, thoughts and feelings we conceal in our hearts. He knows whether our actions are sincere or disingenuous. Nothing is kept a secret, and nothing can be hidden from His knowledge.
The Prophet ﷺ said: "Certainly, actions are by intention, and for each person is that which he has intended..." By renewing our intentions daily, we can turn mundane tasks into acts of worship!
Activities:
Pic 1,2 &3: Pure Intention vs Evil Intention Venn Diagram
After realising that Mr 7 was memorising Qur'an for the wrong reason, I explained to him why we need to have a pure intention. We do not want our good deeds to be worthless! Today we went over the difference between pure intention vs evil intention and recalled some examples from our past.
Pic 4: The intention Cycle
This was inspired by Sheik Moutasem al Hameedy's lectures about the heart. A pure heart leads to pure intentions which leads to righteous actions. This increases our Imaan and feeds the heart to do more good. I just love this cycle!
Pic 5,6&7: Multiply your rewards!
Did you know you can have multiple intentions for random (non fard) acts?
Sheik Ali Hamouda has a "Change of Heart" video series which I highly recommend. In episode 3 he retells a story of his teacher and his sheik in Yemen. The moral of the story was that the sheik had almost 40 intentions for answering the knock on the door! He intended to assist the guest by not allowing him to stand in the sun, smile at him, shake hands, give the full Islamic greeting, invite him in, etc... Subhan'Allah right!
The intention transforms actions! I've made this a habit when I go to places with my sons. I ask them what is our intention? Why are we going to "so and so"? We verbally state our different intentions together.
We made some cards to place around the house to state our multiple intentions. Highly recommend you do this too in sha Allah.
Ramadan Day 3: Allah's Remembrance
Has there ever been a moment in your day when suddenly the word alhamdulillah comes to mind, so you just start saying it? That's Allah inspiring your tongue. By remembering Allah often, He will remember you and inspire you to think of Him even more! Remembrance of Allah (Dhikr) is one of the best acts of worship. It can be done almost anywhere and at any time.
Ibn al Qayyim (RA) said, "Everything around you is a witness for you when you engage in the remembrance of Allah. The land, the mountains, and the ground will testify for you on the Day of Judgement. Increase those witnesses for you on that day."
During our walks, I remind my boys to say subhan'Allah and alhamdulillah with every step they take so that the ground testifies for us. We want the whole earth to bear witness for us in sha Allah! Having this in mind, I made this masjid with replaceable dhikr cards to encourage the boys to memorise dhikr and du'aa at their own pace. Once they memorise and act upon it, they can replace the card to reveal another type of dhikr.
Today, the boys and I discussed the importance and benefits of dhikr (see last photo). This is a wonderful topic we can dive into a bit later in sha Allah.
JazakumAllah Khair!
- Zayneb x
Ramadan Day 4: Dhikr after Salah
"And when you have completed the prayer, remember Allah standing, sitting, or (lying) on your sides." (Suratun Nisa: 103)
(This ayah refers to dhikr after the fear salah because during the fear salah, the pillars are diminished since the believers move around while performing it.)
We have been commanded by the Prophet ﷺ to sit in contemplation and supplicate after each obligatory salah. Alhamdulillah, we have been role modelling this to our kids from a young age. For my eldest, I made him his own 'Dhikr after Salah' Card, which he loves!
For my youngest, well, his dhikr is all over the place, so I'm hoping we could get some progress with his Dhikr Aid. This was inspired by the hadith “Count on your fingers, for they will be asked, and will be made to speak.” (Tirmidhi)
I'm taking it slowly with him, so I've only included the tasbeeh, tasbeeh, and tahmeed. There are different narrations on how to do this. I've stuck with this one:
Subhan'Allah (Allah is free from imperfection) x33
Alhamdulillah (All praise is for Allah) x33
Allahu Akbar (God is Greater) x33
La ilaha ill-Allah wahdahu la shareeka lahu, lahul-mulk wa lahul hamd wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadeer
(There is no deity worthy of worship other than Allah, who is alone, having no partner or associate. His is the dominion, and to Him belongs all praise. He has power over all; everything, All Capable) x1
I've placed them both in our salah room to make them easily accessible for them.
Ramadan Day 5: Kindness to Parents
"...Do not worship except Allah; and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, and the needy..." (Suratul Baqarah: 83)
Birr al-walidayn is loving and being kind to our parents. Throughout the Qur'an and the Sunnah, being dutiful towards our parents is mentioned right alongside the worship of Allah, so it holds great importance in Islam. Our parents are our biggest door to entering Jannah. By loving and being kind to them, we will in sha Allah earn the pleasure of Allah.
Both boys show their love by not only giving kisses and hugs but also by exchanging notes and drawings with us. We made these mailboxes so we could continue the tradition.
Honouring and showing kindness to parents can look like:
Respecting them, consulting them, smiling at them, spending quality time with them (especially in their old age), listening to their advice, calling or writing to them, assisting them, speaking softly or lowering your voice in their presence, respecting their friends even after they have passed away, making du'aa for them and giving sadaqah on their behalf.
May Allah accept the little we do for our parents. It wasn't until I had children that I started truly appreciating mine.
Ramadan Day 6: Morning and Evening Remembrance
"O you who have believed, remember Allah with much remembrance. And exalt Him morning and afternoon." (Suratul Ahzab: 41-42)
The morning and evening adhkar (plural of dhikr) are a collection prophetic du’aas to be recited in the morning between Fajr and sunrise, and in the evening between ‘Asr and sunset. They are a protection from all types of evil, including envy, magic and the evil eye, etc. It's so important to understand these du'aa and recite them.
Ibn al Qayyim states: "The morning and evening adhkar play the role of a shield; the thicker it is, the more its owner will not be affected. Rather, its strength can reach to such an extent that the arrow shot at it will bounce back to affect the one who shot it."
Ramadan Day 7: Qalbun Saleem: The Garden and Heart Analogy
"But only one who comes to Allah with a sound heart." (Suratush Shu'ara: 89)
Our success in life is based on a sound heart, Qalbun Saleem. Qalbun Saleem is a heart that is free from the love of this world and only does what Allah wants.
Today's lesson was about reflecting upon the state of our heart. "Islam is continuously teaching us to focus on the state of our hearts rather than fixating on the surface-level actions. This is not to say that our actions don’t matter, but that if we only correct the action and neglect the root cause, then we find ourselves in a vicious, never-ending cycle." (Samia Mubarak)
The boys made gardens which 'reflect' the state of their spiritual heart. After reading the garden and heart analogy (posted in comments), they started to brainstorm some of their consistent good habits. These resemble beautiful flowers. Then they identified their harmful habits, which cause black dots on their hearts - these are presented as weeds. We only focused on 2 harmful habits as I didn't want to overwhelm them. This will be a long-term project in sha Allah. We listed down their harmful habits and discussed what we can replace them with. We spoke about their action plan, which covers both actions of the heart and actions of the limbs. We then created a du'aa for each harmful habit. The goal is to work through these harmful habits until they're no longer present.
Helping them with this made me think about the state of my own heart. I need to do something similar. Oh Allah, allow us to be of those who return to You pure of heart. Ameen!
Ramadan Day 8: Allah Made it Nature Hunt
"And He shows you His signs. So which of the signs of Allah do you deny?" (
Surah Ghafir: 81)
Allah's Signs are all around us. Whether we look up, down, around, or within, Allah's signs can not be denied. One of His most wonderful signs gifted to us is the natural world. Allah created nature not only for our physical existence but also for our psychological well-being.
I made these 'Allah Made it' boards when my boys were much younger. Alhamdulillah, we still use them and have great conversations while nature hunting!
Ramadan Day 9: The Qur'an
The Qur'an is the Speech of Allah and the perfect source of guidance for ALL humanity. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood were of my father teaching my brother and I the Qur'an. He taught it through tafseer and stories. And I absolutely loved it! He planted the seed, and now I do the same with my boys. Alhamdulillah.
I made this book for my boys last Ramadan, so we decided to use it for this prompt. We read it, played some trivia games, and most importantly, taught Mr. 5 about revelation, and the benefits of learning and acting upon the knowledge we learn.
It's in the shop and all details can be found online. All proceeds are going towards a water well this month.
Ramadan Day 10: Crafting My Du'aa
If you've taken the Visionaire course, you'd know how life changing it is. For me, it completely changed my perception of Allah. When you make du'aa, make it with conviction that you will either get what you asked for or something even greater. Nothing less!
Today, my son and I discussed how to make our du'aas more meaningful so they'll get accepted by Allah. We used our du'aa pack to help craft 1 du'aa. My son did a quick brainstorming session of the things he really wanted. From there, he learnt which of Allah's Names and Attributes he could use, Ar Razaaq and Al Wahab, and then crafted his du'aa.. "Ya Razaaq, Ya Wahab, allow me to ride my bike on Eid day. Ameen." Now it's time to say it during the golden times!
He came across an activity to help him understand 3 ways Allah answers our du'aa. The last photo shows what he recalled when Allah delayed the response to his du'aa. It's amazing how much kids remember! Last Ramadan we had a prompt on sadaqah to which we purchased gifts for some sick children. Before purchasing them, we told the boys to choose gifts that they love - based on the hadith give from what you love. Yaseen chose a Ninjago Lego (which he secretly wanted for himself). We told him to make du'aa. Guess what. Almost a year later, he was gifted the very same Lego! Allahu Akbar!
"There is nothing more honourable to Allah than du'aa" (At Tirmidhi 3370)
Ramadan Day 11: Prophet Salih Story Sequencing
"Do they not look at the camels, how they are created." (Suratul Ghashiyah: 17)
We kept this lesson simple as Mr 5 and I went over the story of Prophet Salih through story sequencing. After reading the story together, he had a go at matching each paragraph with its picture objects. He then tried placing the events in order. Finally, he had a chance to retell the story using the picture objects.
We also spoke about this marvellous creation, the camel, and discussed its special features. Some features we spoke about:
Eyes - They have 2 rows of long eyelashes and 3 sets of eyelids to keep away the sand and dust.
Feet - Their broad flat hooves help distribute weight on the sand to prevent them from sinking.
Leathery Knee Pads - Helps protect them from the hot sand once kneeling.
Nostrils - These close during a sandstorm.
Hump - Stores fat which will provide them with energy during their travels.
Truly amazing creatures, subhanAllah!
Ramadan Day 12: Sadaqah
"If you lend Allah a good loan, He will multiply it for you and forgive you. For Allah is Most Appreciative, Most Forbearing." (Surat Taghabun: 17)
Sadaqah is a gift that keeps on giving. The main objective for today's lesson was to teach the children that Sadaqah is an investment with Allah. Allah promises that He will increase our wealth and sustenance and bring us success in this dunya and the akhira when we give sadaqah.
We got inspired by some Marigolds in our garden and the hadith, "when a Muslim plants a tree, whatever is eaten from it is charity.." to send Grandma some flower seeds for her veggie patch.
They learnt how to harvest the dried blooms, break open the calyx and pull the seeds out, and pick out the deformed seeds. They also stitched the pouches while I reminisced on the days they used to stitch. Alhamdulillah. It was a great lesson, and boys want to stitch again! Yay!
Ramadan Day 13: Allah's Names
"Call upon Allah or call upon the Most Merciful (Ar Rahman). Whichever (name) you call to Him belongs the best names." (Suratul Isra: 110)
Understanding Allah's names not only helps us develop a deeper connection with Him, but it also has a profound impact on the way we worship Him. Our knowledge of Al Baseer - the All Seeing - should inspire us to worship Allah as if we see him (even though we can't see him, He sees us). Our knowledge of Al 'Aleem - the All Knowing - should inspire us to purify our intentions before everything we do because He knows what's within.
We started creating our (long overdue) 99 Names of Allah wall where we hang our art and crafts based on His beautiful names and attributes. My main goal is for us to understand and live with each name we study in sha Allah.
Ramadan Day 14: Sunnah
"If you should love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." (Surat 'Ali 'Imran: 31)
Allah's love is attained by following the Messenger ﷺ. The easiest and most effective way to have your children implement the sunnah at home is through role modelling. Children never fail to imitate people around them. When my boys were younger, I'd (indirectly) teach them by verbalising what I was going to do, then acting upon it. Other times, I'd have them verbalise and repeat after me.
So how do you help them love the Prophet ﷺ? Speak about him. Read about him. Live like him. Follow a new sunnah each week. Share a hadith every Friday. Create sunnah crafts. Inspire them to be like the greatest man that ever lived; a man that loved them without even seeing them ﷺ .
Today's weather was perfect for snuggling on a couch and reading. Yaseen read his 'just like the prophet' series books, which teach the sunnah in rhyming couplets (highly recommend!). He also learnt about generosity through his Ramadan sunnan book. Alhamdulillah for a quiet day. May Allah help us implement the prophet's ﷺ teachings into our own lives. Ameen.
Ramadan Day 15: Masjid Suncatcher
"And the Masjids are for Allah, so invoke not anyone along with Allah." (Suratul Jinn: 18)
After discussing the ayah and a short lesson on Shirk (making partners with Allah), the boys got crafting. They made these gorgeous masjid suncatchers! It's still gloomy and wet out here, so we're waiting patiently for some natural light to see some colourful reflections.
Ramadan Day 16: Messengers of Allah
"And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, (saying), "Worship Allah and avoid taghut."(Suratul Nahl: 36)
One of our favourite things to do is learn about the Prophets, peace be upon them all.
Today's lesson with my eldest was to distinguish between a Messenger and a Prophet. There are heaps of opinions out there, but the correct view is that of Ibn Taymiyyah (ra).
Messengers are sent to a disbelieving nation. Most times, they come with a new sharee'ah (Islamic law).
Prophets are sent to a believing nation with the sharee'ah of the previous Messenger that came before them. The Prophets' role is to speak and teach a message from Allah.
As for my youngest, we learnt about the top 5 Messengers: Nuh, Ibraheem, Musa, Isa, and Muhammad (peace be upon them all). We spoke about their birthplace, nations they were sent to, some miracles, signs, and the punishment Allah sent. He worked on putting all the information together through some play. Alhamdulillah, a productive lesson and something we absolutely miss! Looking forward to our future prophetic lessons, in sha Allah!
Ramadan Day 17: 5 Pillars
"Today I have perfected your faith for you, completed My favour upon you, and chosen Islam as your way.." (Suratul Ma'idah: 3)
This verse was revealed on the Day of 'Arafah during the Farewell Hajj. The religion of Islam is the biggest blessing Allah has given us, Alhamdulillah.
If you've been following me from the start, you would know my obsession with cardboard. I use it for most things: prototypes, puzzles, artwork, in the garden, etc. It's literally the best
Today, I used it to make my 5 year old this nesting puzzle, which helps him understand what the 5 Pillars of Islam represent. The little pieces, such as tawheed, ablution and 5 prayers, etc, were included to initiate a conversation about them. I think that once he develops a deeper understanding, I may turn this into a game by adding question cards. Playing games is just one way my boys love learning. It's also a way I measure how much knowledge they've absorbed.
FYI- You're only seeing 3 of 5 pillars, because unfortunately I ran out of cardboard. So this, in sha Allah, will be continued.
Ramadan Day 18: Shukr Star
"Imagine you woke up this morning with only the things you thanked God for yesterday." What would your day look like? Reflect.
We have the tendency to take things for granted and get used to the blessings Allah has gifted us. How many of us actually thank Allah for the taps we have inside our homes? Unlike others, we don't have to wait in line for hours to collect water. What about thanking Allah for our children? While we are tucking our children into bed, others are burying theirs. Reflect. This is a reminder to myself first and foremost. It's an unfortunate reality that many of us don't realise what we have until it's no longer there.
Years ago, I made a Shukr Star activity to help cultivate gratitude within our home. You pick a star and answer the prompt. It didn’t have many prompts back then, so I decided to give it an upgrade. This time, I've added different categories we can ponder over and thank Allah for: food, people, family, places, health and general. It's something that has helped us nurture a grateful mindset.
How to play:
- Close your eyes and pick a coloured star.
- Choose one card from the categories that matches your coloured star.
- Read the question, answer, and ponder over it.
This shukr star activity will be joining us on game night every week in sha Allah. If you'd love the download, please get on the email list as I'll be sending this on Monday, in sha Allah.
Ramadan Day 19: Ants
"Until, when they came upon the valley of the ants, an ant said, "O ants, enter your dwellings that you not be crushed by Solomon and his soldiers while they perceive not." (Suratul Naml: 18) 27:1
The story of Prophet Sulayman (alayhi salam) and the ant encourages us to be mindful of the natural world around us. By paying attention to even the smallest creatures, we gain an insight into the complexity of Allah's creation.
Ants may seem small, but they are some of the most fascinating and hardworking insects Allah created. I'm still in awe after reading about them this morning. Today, my 5 year old learnt the parts of an ant and had some fun making members of the ant colony.
Here's what I found really fascinating:
Ants have 2 stomachs. One to digest their own food and another, called a crop, which stores food to share with the colony.
Ants do not have lungs. They take in oxygen through tiny holes around their body called spiracles.
Ants do not have ears. They use vibrations to hear.
Some ants can swim!
The Queen ant tears off her wings before starting a new colony.
Ants regurgitate liquid food held in their crops into the mouths of other ants.
The Queen ant has the longest lifespan of any insect in the world. It can live up to 28 years!
Ramadan Day 20: Laylatul Qadr
Alhamdulillah, we have reached the final 10 nights of Ramadan! I've never made an activity based on this topic, so today, my little one received a surprise card that explained Laylatul Qadr.
For those feeling the guilt of not being able to worship Allah as they would have loved these past few weeks, I'll leave you with some wise words from Ibn al Jawzi رحمها الله:
"When the race horse knows that it is nearing the end of the track, it exerts all of its effort to win the race. Do not allow the race horse to be clever than you. For verily, deeds are judged by their conclusions. So if you didn't do well with welcoming Ramadan, then perhaps you will do better bidding it farewell."
Some advice for these next 10 days: Renew your intention for every act of worship. Ask Allah to grant you the rewards of Laylatul Qadr, and remember, it's not how much you worship, it's how well you worship (quality over quantity).
This will be our final Ramadan activity. If anything I posted has benefitted you, I ask you to keep me and my family in your du'aa. A BIG JazakumAllah khairan to everyone who participated this year and who supported in any way they could. This means so much. BareekAllah feekum.
JazakumAllah Khair!
- Zayneb x
