Encouraging Children to Fast

Narrated Ar-Rubi bint Mu'awadh (radi Allahu anha): “The Prophet sent a messenger to the village of the Ansar in the morning of the day of 'Ashura' (10th Muharram) to announce: ‘Whoever has eaten something should not eat (anymore) but keep the fast, and whoever is observing the fast should complete it.’” She further said: “Since then we used to fast on that day regularly and also make our boys fast. We used to make toys of wool for the boys and if anyone of them cried, he was given those toys till it was time to break the fast.” [Sahih Bukhari]

This hadith shows us that the Sahabah encouraged their children to fast and helped them by distracting them with toys when their fast would begin to bother them. When this is what the Sahabah did for a fast of less importance than the fasts of Ramadhan we should at least encourage our children to fast in Ramadhan and facilitate it for them. This will be a source of reward for us and our children inshaAllah.