Most of us are familiar with this hadith and many of us will encourage our children to memorise these names while they're young and their minds absorb easily like sponges... But I wanted to take the opportunity to give my children a deeper connection with Allah at the same time. I wanted to go through each name in turn and provide a child-friendly explanation and memorable activity. Even if they come out of it at the end unable to say exactly what each name meant, at the time of the lesson we would have at least discussed its meaning ready as a foundation to build upon when they're older insha'Allah, and be able to have a better understanding of each meaning. After searching online for something free and accessible for 4-5 year old children and not finding anything exactly suitable, I decided to go ahead and research and write my own lesson plan and resources for each name.
The overall plan is to familiarise my children with all 99 names through a simple song (by putting the names to a simple tune; something I picked up while teaching at an Islamic school) and giving each name a suitable action in order to aid memory of its meaning. The song would be sung at the beginning of every session, increasing the names in the song at the rate at which my children could learn them. Each lesson would follow the same format: song, story to introduce the concept of the name, explanation of the name & discussion, a craft activity wherein they create a page for a book/folder which will eventually insha'Allah contain all 99 names, discussion on how they can apply the name to their lives, a small recap and a reward sticker for a chart. Each lesson should last approximately 1hr. Any other related activities could then be done over the following days/weeks, so each name would become a mini topic in itself - not just learnt briefly and then move on.
This is very much a work in progress and I plan to share anything I come up with as I go along. At the moment we're progressing slowly at a rate of one name a month (as I need to find time to create everything in between our other homeschooling topics!) but insha'Allah the pace should increase as my children get older. At the time we started they were 4 1/2, so my plans will always be tailored to my own children first and foremost.
Bismillah. So here we go with the first plan, to introduce the idea that Allah has 99 names!
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[01] اَللّهُ (Allah): God - The Greatest Name
Allah is the name of God, our creator, the one we worship
and thank for everything. But Allah is only one name for God – and we are going
to learn what 99 of His names/descriptions are and what they mean! There is a hadith that
says, “Allah has 99 names and whoever preserves [learns] them will enter
paradise.” (Sahih Muslim 2677)
Each name we learn will help us become closer to Allah and
become better at worshipping Him, insha’Allah.
Show children their sticker chart, with all 99 names and a space beside each one for a sticker once they've learnt it. Sing through and encourage the children to join in if they want to. (You can find a variety of charts online/in Islamic bookstores or you can make one yourself. We have a wall dedicated to this project and will stick up one card at a time from this series to create a display. The list of names I sang to them from this book.) Then introduce the PowerPoint to the children and sing through once or twice, explaining it only has the first 33 names for now, inviting them to join in if they would like to.
Story relating to today's name (10min)
Story relating to today's name (10min)
Read a storybook or two of how Allah made everything, e.g. "Life Begins", "Allah Made Them All", "Allah Gave Me Two Eyes To See", etc.
What does this make you
feel about Allah? We are grateful to Allah for creating us and for blessing us
with so many wonderful things.
Discuss meaning, apply to children's lives (10min)
Allah has many names mentioned in the Quran but the name “Allah”
is the greatest of all.
Write the name Allah in
the centre of a piece of paper. Help children to write words around the paper of
how Allah makes them feel or who Allah is, etc. They can write things they like
about Allah or things they’re happy Allah created, things they’re grateful for,
etc. They can draw pictures of things Allah has made. When they're finished, put this poster on display as a reminder for them.
Craft activity (15min)
Complete the front cover for their folder/book. (We're using an A5 ringbinder each and a piece of A4 card cut in half to make it A5 and holepunched for the pages)
Colour in the title with
special gel pens and decorate with stickers. Explain we cannot draw pictures of
Allah and we cannot even imagine what He looks like. Nothing in this world can
compare to Him.
When to use this name (10min)
Can you think of any times in the day you say the name
Allah? Maybe when praying or inside other words or when doing certain things? Help the children think of examples and explain the meaning of the words to them.
e.g.
Allahu akbar = Allah is the greatest, e.g. when praying
Alhamdulillah = All thanks is to Allah, e.g. after sneezing,
when we’re happy about something
Bismillah = In the name of Allah, e.g. before doing anything
InshaAllah = If Allah wills, e.g. when talking about
something in the future
SubhanAllah = Allah is perfect/Praise to Allah, e.g. when
something bad happens, when we see something amazing
Astaghfirullah =I seek forgiveness from Allah, e.g. when we
make a mistake or see someone else do something bad
MashaAllah = Allah has
willed, e.g. when someone does something well or something looks beautiful
The book The Way to Jannah illustrates this beautifully.
The book The Way to Jannah illustrates this beautifully.
Sticker chart (5min)
Print out/hang up a
sticker chart with space for the 99 names on it/show children where their display wall will be for all 99 names insha'Allah.
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Other
activities:
- Read other storybooks about
Allah’s creations or things he has blessed us with.
- Make a mini display using
Post-it notes of the words we often say with Allah’s name in.
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