Guidelines for Managing Young Children During Prayer in a Madrasah

Effective Strategies for Supervising Young Students During Prayer Time

QUESTION:

We run a small madrasah and some of our students are as young as five. What should we do with them when the time for prayer comes? Should we line them up at the back in their own row; because if we leave them on their own they will mess around?

ANSWER:
Sheikh Muḥammad Al-’Ansi ḥafidhahullāh said (paraphrasing):

The ablution and prayer of children under the age of discernment are invalid. So, it is not allowed to place them within the rows; because their presence in the rows besides the people will disconnect the row.

The children require supervision either way. Even if you line them up behind the people they will still play; they play during prayer the same way they play outside prayer.● Some children are more well behaved than others. For this reason, Sheikh Najīb Ash-Shar’abi ḥafidhahullāh said:
إن كان صفهم خلف الصفوف يحد من لعبهم وعبثهم وإشغالهم المصلين فلا بأس بصفهم المذكور.
“If lining them up behind the rows will prevent them from playing, messing around, and distracting the worshippers, then there is nothing wrong in doing so.”

OPTIONS:

• 1⃣. If the prayer commences after the study session, they should be sent home straight away. The parent should come and collect the child before the prayer commences.
• 2⃣. If the prayer commences during lesson time while they are present, there is nothing wrong in teaching them how to pray. But as you know in the ḥadīth, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Teach your children to pray when they reach seven”; that is because children are able to understand at this age, unlike the young ones.
• If you choose to line them up in rows in order to teach them, they should be lined away from the people. They should not be placed in the middle of the rows!
• ● Sheikh Muḥammad Bā Jammāl ḥafidhahullāh suggested that they should be made to stand separately in front of the first row (if there’s enough space), otherwise at the back.
  فإما أن يجعلوهم مفرقين أمام الصف أو خلفه.
• 3⃣. Someone should supervise them during the prayer and then pray after everyone else.