One of the greatest joys and fears as a Muslim father is watching your kids emulate you in everything they do. As young parents, we were determined to set a good example for our kids and this alone was a key factor in many of the lifestyle choices we made as a family.
I recall taking my son to the Mosque with me from a very young age which I believe was a key factor in his understanding and love for Salaah. By creating a positive relationship with the Masjid from a young age, he was always excited to accompany me for Salaah. By observing me and everyone else around him, it wasn’t long before he began praying as he saw us pray and this extended beyond the walls of the Masjid too. I am so grateful for this experience with my son and I do believe that it was his early exposure to Salaah and the Masjid that contributed to his enthusiasm and appreciation for prayer in general.
Take your kids to the Masjid and show them how you pray well before you teach them about the importance of Salaah or even how to perform Salaah. That early foundation of love and familiarity will form the basis for their understanding of the fiqh later on. Based on my experience with my son, I wrote a post back in 2015 on how to encourage kids to pray with you which you can peruse here.
When it came to my daughter a few years later, we had a very different experience. She wasn’t as energetic about visiting the Masjid, she wasn’t excited about emulating me or mum when we prayed either. Kids learn and develop differently so I wasn’t too concerned but I was hopeful that my little girl would also come to appreciate the sweetness of prayer as her brother did.
Though this wasn’t of great concern to me, I have been searching for ways to encourage her to pray with us and when I came across My Salah Mat a few months ago, I thought it would be a great opportunity to create some excitement about Salah again. I am grateful for the opportunity to share our experience with this amazing new product.
First up, the service was fantastic. Once we finalised the details and logistics, I received a notification that the item was dispatched and I received it 3 days later all the way down in Brisbane, Australia. This was great since I had already told my daughter about it and she was ecstatic to check it out.
We received our package on a Friday morning and unboxed it immediately. The packaging and bright colours were so enticing that my little girl who hadn’t shown much interest in praying until then asked if she could pray on the mat. I rushed to find batteries and had it up and running in no time.
A few notables:
- The 36 touch-sensitive keys guide you from Wudhu right through to completion of each prayer including Adhan and recommended dua’s.
- The brightly coloured keys contain basic information regarding each step of the prayer process including the number of rak’ a in each prayer, when to recite aloud or not and even basic prayer times through the day.
- By using touch-sensitive triggers, the mat is able to encourage the correct position and movements for prayer.
- The mat is waterproof and fire-resistant making it very durable.
- The bright colours are very attractive and appear almost toy-like.
- The activity book is great fun and even contains basic information on Salaah, dua and surahs.
When I returned from Jumuah later that day, my little girl ran up to me and shouted ‘Guess what daddy? I prayed with mummy today’, I smiled and thought to myself, this review just wrote itself! We were pleasantly surprised and I was reassured that everything has its time, sometimes we just have to try different things and be patient particularly when teaching our kids about our faith.
My little girl is now regularly praying with us and has also begun enjoying our trips to the Masjid. We attended Jumuah together last week and she was proud to stand beside me and pray as she does on her special prayer mat at home. I am thrilled by the results we’ve had with this product and absolutely grateful for the opportunity to work with the team behind this amazingly innovative device.
If you’d like to order one or know someone who might benefit from this product, check out the My Salah Mat website and for a limited time, use code ‘modestman10’ for a 10% discount at checkout. See other reviews and how people are using their Salah Mats on Instagram @MySalahMat and follow me@ModestManStuff – Salaam.
Disclaimer: I received this product at a discounted price in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Views expressed and images are my own.