What is tawbah?

I had this idea since learning about Prophet Adam (AS) in more detail, but I didn't get round to doing it due to being busy with the new baby etc. So now we've looked at Prophet Nuh (AS), I decided to link this lesson in with his story instead, then refer back to Adam (AS) as a kind of revision.

So we verbally recapped the story of Prophet Adam (AS), focusing on the part where Adam (AS) and Hawwa (RA) ate from the tree. They immediately felt ashamed and wanted to ask Allah to forgive them - so they made tawbah. Then we talked about Nuh (AS) calling to his people - what did he say to them? They were making a mistake by praying to idols; they needed to make tawbah and turn back to Allah. So what did "make tawbah" mean...? The girls said they thought it meant to say sorry for doing a bad thing.

The next day, I gave them a worksheet to turn into a simple spinning craft.

You can download our worksheet here.

We read through the simple explanation together, then they coloured in the 5 pictures which represented each step of how to make tawbah. They decided to use their glitter gel pens because they wanted to make it look special and "Islam is special". 😁

Then they cut out the pictures along with the circle template, stuck the pictures one per segment and wrote a few words with each to explain what the step was. Finally, we pushed a split pin through the centre to attach it to a piece of A4 card and they wrote the date and title on the card. ✌

Everyone's Skin is the Same!

Focusing in on one aspect of Prophet Adam (AS)'s story, I wanted the girls to understand  that everyone is essentially the same colour when it comes to their skin, we're all just a variety of different shades... Without mentioning the word "racism" at all, but sowing the seeds of understanding there.

So we recapped the part of the story of when Allah created Adam (AS) by collecting mud/clay from all over the Earth and went on to discuss how the climates differ around the world and how everyone looks different, i.e. hair colour, eye colour and skin colour... So we all look different, but how do we all look the same? I told them that essentially, everyone in the world is just different shades of brown. They laughed at this. 😂 Then we got the paints out (tell me which colours mix to make brown? And which colours can we use to make that brown darker or lighter?) and mixed a brown into the centre of one of the palletes. Then with their own separate mixing palletes, they had a go mixing different amounts of the starting brown with different amounts of black/white/red/green/yellow/blue to see which different shades they could make. With each different brown they made, they painted a circle, i.e. a face, on a sheet of plain A4 card.

This is essentially the basics of understanding melanin! They tried their best to paint someone Caucasian but found it hard to limit the amount of brown on their brushes... In the end one commented, "It's hard to get it light enough so they must only have a tiny little bit of brown in their skin!" 👌

Then they painted hair on their people and we talked about the different colours of natural hair in the world.

In the end, people are all people no matter how they look like! And in the end, it's our actions which are the most important, not what we look like anyway. 👍

Allah made everything

Back to basics with the beginning of the story of Prophet Adam (AS)!

We made this picture around two years ago, when we were first learning about Allah and how He created the world - so when the twins were almost 4. I stuck down green and blue paper to represent the land and sea on dark blue A3 sugar paper (dark blue as it could be either day or night!) and drew some pictures of natural things created by Allah (this was before we owned a printer!). I tried to choose things which would be useful to know in Arabic. We spoke about how Allah created everything from nothing and how we were grateful to Him. Then I gave them the pictures to colour in and cut them out when they were done. Finally, I helped them glue the pictures in appropriate places on the A3 background.

After a break (as they were still only young!) we recapped what we had made and why (a picture to show some of the things Allah made from nothing). Then we continued the story of Prophet Adam (AS) - how Allah created the first man and taught him the names of each thing - and I labelled each picture in English as the girls told me what they were. We spoke about how the angels didn't know what each thing was called because Allah hadn't taught them. I asked the girls how they thought it felt not to know that the sun was called the sun and they laughed! So I asked them what the sun was in Arabic, which of course they couldn't do. 😏 Then we went through each thing on the picture and I told them what it was in Arabic:

the sun: ash-shamsu اَلشَّمْسُ

the cloud: al-ghaymatu اَلْغَيْمَةُ

the moon: al-qamaru اَلْقَمَرُ

the star: an-najmu اَلنَّجْمُ

the sky: as-samaa'u اَلسَّمَاءُ

the sea: al-bahru اَلْبَحْرُ

the grass: al-‘ushbu اَلْعُشْبُ

the mountain: al-jabalu اَلْجَبَلُ

the tree: ash-shajaratu اَلشَّجَرَةُ

the flower: az-zahratu اَلزَّهْرَةُ

the lion: al-asadu اَلْأَسَدُ

the horse: al-hisaanu اَلْحِصَانُ

the dog: al-kalbu اَلْكَلْبُ

the bird: at-tayru اَلطَّيْرُ

the fish: as-samakatu اَلسَّمَكَةُ

We stuck with the definite form for everything so as to not get confused with grammar, but my husband felt it was important to introduce the idea of word endings from the start (rather than e.g. just saying "shams" for sun).

The idea was to write out labels in Arabic for the girls to glue next to the correct picture, but we never got round to it and the project went forgotten until now. 🙈

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Fast-forward to today and our current work on the Prophet Adam (AS). I dug out this old poster for them and we recapped again about how Allah created everything from nothing and how everything in the world is only here because Allah allowed it to exist, e.g. who made the paper we were looking at? Did Allah make the paper Himself? No, people made it... But how did people make paper? They made it out of trees. And where did the trees come from? Allah made them! So the girls understood that everything in the world was either created by Allah or made out of something Allah had created. We also talked about the trees we can see today - did Allah create this particular tree in our garden? No, he created the first trees a long long long time ago which made seeds, which grew into more trees, which made seeds, which grew into more trees, which made seeds, and so on and so on until we get to today. Just like how Allah made us, not because He created us himself (they know about babies being in their mummy's tummy) but because Allah made the first man (and woman) and they're like our great great great great (too many "great"s to say!) grandparents!

Then we checked we could still name all the things in Arabic, using the definite/"the" form and then changing to the indefinite/"a" form.

The story of Prophet Adam (AS)

The girls are already familiar with the Prophet Adam (AS) from their children books, but I just wanted to go through it myself to make sure they understood that being sent to Earth was NOT a punishment - unlike what Christians believe - as is told in the Quran how Allah told the angels He was going to create people and put them on Earth. I also wanted to make sure they were able to recall the main parts of the story themselves from memory.

I wrote the story in language suitable for 4-5 year olds, while still retaining as much meaning/original translations from the Quran as possible, after making notes from a variety of sources (including Tafsir Ibn Kathir and lectures from speakers such as Mufti Menk and Nouman Ali Khan).

PROPHET ADAM (AS)

A long, long time ago, Allah created the world. He created the sun, the moon and the stars. He created the seas and the mountains. He created the trees and the flowers. He created the fish, the birds and the animals. Allah created everything.

Up, up, high above the sky in the heavens are the gardens of paradise: Jannah. In Jannah you never feel hungry, thirsty or tired. You have no reason to feel pain or sadness. In Jannah, Allah spoke to the angels. He told them He was going to create humans and put them on Earth to live and look after it. The angels praised Allah day and night; they always obeyed Allah but they didn’t understand why Allah wanted to make humans. The angels were worried humans would fight with each other and spoil the Earth. The angels worshipped Allah so much they didn’t understand why people were needed to worship Allah too! But Allah simply said to them, “I know what you do not know.”

Allah created the first man, Adam, from a handful of clay gathered from all the Earth: this is why humankind is all different colours and with all different personalities, just as the mud from around the world is different. Some people are kind and generous, some are selfish and mean, some are in between. Some are evil, some are good and some are in between.

Allah created Adam with his hands and blew his soul into him. When the life entered Adam’s head, he sneezed and the angels told Adam to say, “Alhamdulillah.” When he did, Allah replied, “Yarhamukhallah.” This is what we should say when we sneeze and reply when someone else sneezes.

When Adam was sent to greet a group of angels, he said to them, “As salaamu ‘alaikum,” and the angels replied to Adam, “Wa ‘alaikum as salaamu wa rahmatullah.” This is the way we should greet and reply to people we meet.

Allah taught Adam the names of all kinds of things, such as trees, mountains, the sea, camel. Allah showed these things to the angels and asked them to name them, but the angels could not. They said to Allah, “We only know what you have taught us.” Allah then told Adam to tell the angels the names of all the things. When Adam finished, Allah said to the angels, “Did I not tell you I know the secrets of the heavens and the earth, and I know what you show and what you hide?”

Amongst the angels, there was one Jinn who had been raised to a special rank in the heavens. His name was Iblis. When Allah told the angels to bow down to Adam, they all obeyed except for Iblis.

Iblis was too proud and arrogant. He said to Allah, “Why should I bow down to him when I’m better than him? You made me from fire and him just from clay!”

Allah said to Iblis, “Then get out from here. You are rejected and cursed. The curse shall be upon you until the Day of Judgement.” Allah threw Iblis out from the gardens of Jannah.

Iblis said to Allah, “If you let me go until the Day of Judgement, then I will lead his children to the wrong path – all of them but a few!” Allah let Iblis go and told him that any people who follow Iblis’ evil whispers will be sent to the hellfire… But Allah also told him that Muslims who worship Allah and do good things can never be led wrong by Iblis.

Prophet Adam was sent to live in Jannah but because he was the only human he began to feel lonely. While Adam was sleeping, Allah created the first woman, Hawwa (or Eve) from Adam’s rib. When Adam woke up he was surprised to see her sitting beside him, but he was also happy to have another person for company.

Allah told Adam and Hawwa they could eat and enjoy anything they wanted from the gardens of paradise - all except from the fruit from one particular tree. If they ate the fruit from that tree, Allah warned something bad would happen to them.

Allah told them that Iblis was Adam and Hawwa’s enemy. Iblis didn’t want Adam and Hawwa to stay in Jannah. In Jannah, you will never feel hungry or thirsty, too hot or too cold. Iblis was jealous of Adam and Hawwa.

Iblis whispered lies to Adam and Hawwa, to trick them into eating the forbidden fruit from the tree. Iblis told them he was their friend. He lied and said, “If you eat from the tree, you can become angels and live forever.”

Adam and Hawwa ate from the tree. As soon as they did, they felt ashamed and naked. They quickly hid themselves behind fig leaves to cover their shame.

Allah asked Adam and Hawwa, “Didn’t I tell you not to eat from the tree and that Shaytaan is your enemy?” Adam and Hawwa admitted their mistake and asked Allah for forgiveness. They made tawbah. Allah is most merciful and kind.

Allah sent Adam and Hawwa down to live on Earth, along with Iblis. Iblis wants to lead us away from remembering Allah, but Allah has promised us if we worship Him and do good deeds then one day we will be able to return to Jannah.

You can download the above story as a MS Word file here.

After reading the story to the girls (in an interactive way, asking questions and letting them ask questions), I asked them what they thought the main points were - just what they could remember regardless of where it came. I wrote these as a spider diagram on A4 coloured paper. Once they had them all, with some prompting, I asked the girls to put the points in chronological order by numbering each one.

***find photo***

I then gave them a storyboard with the story summarised into six sections and told them that a summary is when we don't give the whole story, or every single bit of information, but just tell the most important points - like how they summarised it in the spider diagram. We read through the storyboard together, then I asked them what they thought might go in the big empty boxes? Pictures! But are there some things we aren't allowed to draw? Can we draw Allah, or the angels, or Shaytaan or Adam (AS) and Hawwa (RA)? So we talked about what they could draw in each box which wasn't any of those things, e.g. Allah's creations, clay, fire to represent jinn, gardens, a tree, Earth.

Finally, I asked them if they thought the story needed a little bit more detail - then we worked through each box in turn so they could add something extra, using the notes from the spider diagram to help. I decided to let them try spelling everything themselves then showed them any corrections once they'd done.

MashaAllah, I was pleased they clearly understood that being sent to Earth was planned from the beginning, in one of the twins' words: "It wasn't a punishment because Allah already said He was going to put them on Earth even before he made Prophet Adam! And they said sorry!" 💕

We did this whole lesson over a couple of days.

You can download our storyboard template here.