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RAISING OUR CHILDREN
Character-Building Stories

Telling stories to children seems like a simple task. It is easy for anyone to make up tales, yet inventing stories which are true and meaningful requires special thought and effort. Children love imaginative tales, but telling them the typical stories about magic, witches, etc. can affect them in a negative way. These types of stories tend to make children superstitious and afraid of non-existent things. Unreasonable fears generated by such tales can undermine children’s self-confidence and sap their energy. 

The Islamic solution to the long-standing tradition of telling stories to children is to select meaningful and healthy stories to teach them about Allah, our Holy Prophet , and the Companions . With a little reflection, parents can transform the information which we know to be true into a medium which is understandable to children. In addition to the Qur’an, there is a wealth of literature available about religious Muslim personalities, and the best part is that the stories are really true. The positive effect which often results from constructive character-building stories is that children want to emulate the heroes of the stories and practice the good virtues which they have learned. Therefore, parents should remember the lasting effect story-telling can have on their children, and use the opportunity to help guide them in the right direction.

--- Aisha Sayed Alam