99 Names of Allah - 05 - Al-Qudduus - The Pure One

[05] اَلْقُدُّوسُ (Al-Qudduus): The Pure One

[Download resources here]

Sing 99 Names (5min)

Play PowerPoint of the first 33 names, 2-3 times. Sing together and do the actions so far plus:

Action for Al-Qudduus: With open palms, wipe one hand across the other.

Today’s focus is on the name Al-Qudduus which means The Pure One.

Story relating to today's name (10min)

Read the story, “The Cleanest Country in the World.”

The Cleanest Country in the World

Once upon a time there were two boys. Their names were Nazeef and Aneeq. They lived in a country which was famous all over the world for being neat and tidy… And both Nazeef and Aneeq were famous in their country for being exceptionally neat and tidy. Their clothes were always spotless, their nails trimmed and never a hair on their heads out of place. People always said that no-one was cleaner than Nazeef or Aneeq! But who was cleaner? Well, nobody could decide!

One day, the king heard news that a very important lady would be coming to visit their country. She wanted to meet the cleanest person in the kingdom, because whoever it was would surely be the cleanest person in the world! But even after a lot of talking and arguing nobody could decide who it could be… Was it Aneeq or was it Nazeef? In the end, there was only one way to find out. The king decided to hold a grand competition to find out once and for all.

The news of the competition spread far and wide. Everyone in the kingdom was excited. Balloons were blown up, banners were made, bunting hung from all the windows; the largest hall in the castle was decorated and set up ready for the contest – two of each thing, one for each boy, was placed equally on either side of the hall: tubs of water, brushes, mirrors, soaps, towels and combs among many other things.

The king sat on his throne at the top of the hall. Crowds of people cheered and clapped from the sides. Nazeef and Aneeq stood, ready, at the start line. The competition was simple. A trumpet would be blown and the castle guards would throw a bucket of dry mud and sand over the two boys. Then they would have 20 minutes, until the trumpet were blown again, to use the things laid out to clean themselves as best as they could. Whoever was the cleanest at the end of the time would be the winner – and the king himself would be the judge.

Aneeq and Nazeef got ready. The trumpeter put the trumpet to his lips. The crowd held their breath in excitement…

When suddenly, the doors burst open! Everyone turned to see who would dare to interrupt such an important contest!

…It was none other than the very important lady!

“Wait! I wish to watch the contest,” the old lady called out to the hall. Without waiting for an answer, she walked calmly to the king’s throne. “I also wish to be the judge and-“ she bent forward and whispered something else quietly to the king.

The king was surprised and confused, but he couldn’t refuse the request of such an important guest. He called his guards to bring the important lady a large chair. Then he called five more guards and gave them another order. The guards quickly ran out into the hall and took away half of the items – there was no longer two of each thing neatly laid out, but only one of each! The people around the hall gasped and chattered. What could this mean?

The trumpet blew. The competition began. Nazeef and Aneeq were covered in a cloud of dirt and dust which made them cough and cover their eyes. Then they both rushed forward to where a large tub of warm water stood. Nazeef paused and Aneeq roughly pushed him to the side. There wasn’t time to stand and wait!

At each place in the hall, Aneeq would make sure he was first – snatching the towel before Nazeef could reach, blocking the mirror so Nazeef couldn’t see… Once, he even grabbed the back of Nazeef’s shirt to stop him from getting to the comb! Nazeef fell down but Aneeq didn’t stop to help; he was far too busy making sure he would be the cleanest and the winner!

Finally, the trumpet blew again. The competition was over.

Both boys stood spotless in front of the king and the wise old lady. Somehow, despite all the pushing and snatching, Aneeq and Nazeef still managed to be just as clean as each other.

The king stroked his beard thoughtfully and declared, “My, my… Nazeef and Aneeq, you really are the cleanest boys in the kingdom. I still cannot decide between you! I think it must be a draw.”

The audience clapped and cheered for they couldn’t see any difference either! But the wise old lady held up a hand for silence.

“Wait,” she said. “These boys may look the same to our eyes, but I cannot agree this to be a draw. Nazeef is the winner.”

Everyone was surprised, especially Aneeq. How could Nazeef be the winner? Both boys were perfectly clean! Not a speck of dirt remained on either.

“Let me explain,” the old lady continued. “Think carefully about their actions, not just how they look. Which boy behaved kindly, waiting his turn and not losing his temper? Which boy was rude, snatching and pushing? They may look the same on the outside,” the wise woman tapped her heart, “but their insides are definitely not the same.”

Aneeq hung his head in shame. He knew the old lady was right and he apologised to Nazeef. “I’m sorry for forgetting my manners. You should be the winner. Thank you for showing us all what it really means to be clean both inside and out.”

Nazeef shook Aneeq’s hand then they both hugged. The people in the hall burst into cheers once more, the king clapped loudly and the wise old lady smiled proudly. It looked like Aneeq had been quick to learn his lesson and they had all finally found the cleanest person in the kingdom!

From that day on, the country was sure to follow Nazeef’s example. Now they weren’t only famous for being neat and tidy people on the outside – they were also famous everywhere for having the best manners and the kindest actions. It truly was the cleanest country in the world.

THE END

Were both Nazeef and Aneeq neat and tidy? Why was Nazeef the winner? What do you think the wise old lady whispered to the king at the start of the contest? (To take half of the things away) Why? (To see how the boys would behave because they would have to share the things)

N.B. For those learning Arabic, the names are both adjectives: Nazeef (نَظِيفٌ) means clean, tidy, etc. and Aneeq (أَنِيقٌ) means clean, neat, stylish, etc.

Discuss meaning, apply to children's lives (10min)

Al-Qudduus means The Pure One because Allah is perfect in every way – everything about Him is good. The word “pure” means perfectly clean. It has nothing else at all mixed in with it which could make it dirty.

Can you think of ways you can make yourselves clean?

e.g. bathing, washing hands, water after using the toilet, brushing teeth, cutting nails, etc. Having clean clothes, wiping the bottom of your shoes, tidying your bedroom, etc.

What about clean actions, like in the story?

e.g. no hitting, no stealing, no bad words or lying, etc.

Did you know that if we do something bad, maybe by accident, it makes our hearts dirty? But Allah (SWT) and the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) have taught us ways we can keep our hearts clean. We can say sorry for anything bad we have done, not only to the person we did it to but by praying to Allah and promising Him we don’t want to do it again. Praying to Allah and reciting Quran also cleans our hearts.

Craft activity (20min)

Complete the page for the book.

Cut and stick the pictures to make a collage of things we can do to keep clean. Children can also draw their own pictures if they wish.

When to use this name (10min)

As Muslims, we should try our best to keep both our bodies clean and keep our hearts clean. Allah (SWT) even says this in the Quran, for example:

وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُطَّهِّرِينَ

 [9: 108, Surah At-Tawbah: Ayah 108] which means “Allah loves those who purify themselves.”

And a famous hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) says:

الطَّهُورُ شَطْرُ الْإِيمَانِ

[Sahih Muslim] which means “Cleanliness (or purity) is half of faith.”

In both of these, cleanliness doesn’t just mean being clean on the outside but on the inside too. Help the children read the Arabic and put the ayah and hadith somewhere on display.

On the back of their page, help the children write a few thoughts about the name Al-Qudduus and their feelings.

Sticker chart (5min)

Ask individually: Which of Allah’s names did we learn today? What does it mean? Give children a sticker each for their chart.

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Other activities:

- Show children how to make wudhu and let them copy. Even if they don’t remember the whole sequence, let them enjoy playing with the water and feel good about copying the actions.

- Fill a small tub with lukewarm water. Let the children give one of their toys a bath. If they want to, they can pretend to do wudhu with their toy!

- Discuss how being clean can also mean being hygienic: when we keep ourselves clean it can help stop us from becoming ill, e.g. washing hands before eating, sneezing into a tissue, etc. So not only does it make Allah happy, it’s also good for us too! Could go on and link to germs and disease if children are interested.

- Use white and red/pink Lego/Duplo to build a model mouth, or laminate a picture of a smiling mouth. Colour some of the teeth with brown, yellow and black whiteboard markers. If using Lego, slide a few strips of paper between some of the teeth. Children can use an old toothbrush and pretend toothpaste (warm soapy water) to clean the teeth.

- Show children the proper way to wash their hands, lathering up the soap (without being wasteful!) and cleaning both the front and back of the palms as well as in between their fingers.

- Fold a piece of red/pink card in half and cut into the shape of a heart so it can open on one side. Prepare some small black circles and put Blu-tac on the back of each one. On the front of the heart the child can decorate it/write their name, etc. Then remind them how bad actions can put black spots on the heart – discuss some things which aren’t liked by Allah and have the child stick the black spots inside. Close the heart and talk about how we cannot see the black spots but they’re still there. Then remind them how they can clean their hearts and remove the spots one by one. Close the heart and say how it still looks the same on the outside, whether there are spots or not, but only you yourself and Allah know if they’re there or not. We should try our best to keep our hearts clean and if we’re not sure if we’ve made a mistake then it’s always best to recite lots of Quran and do good actions anyway! Because we’re still getting reward from those things regardless.

- Either role play using soft toys/puppets or prepare and print out some pictures showing different scenarios, e.g. playing football and falling the mud, pushing somebody over because they’re in the way, doing a lot of exercise and getting all sweaty, breaking a toy and then lying about it, eating spaghetti and getting sauce all over their clothes and face, having an argument with someone and calling them a nasty name, etc. Ask children if the person is being clean and what they can do to make themselves clean/what they should have done instead. Emphasise that it’s ok to get yourself dirty e.g. when playing outside or painting, etc. There’s nothing sinful about it! But when they’ve finished they should always try their best to clean themselves up.

- Together with your child, research some more hadith on cleanliness. Or prepare and print some hadith in advance for the children to make a poster collage out of, or if they’re learning Arabic to match up the English translation with the Arabic hadith (with some help!).