Manners in Islam: Teaching Children about Islamic Manners and Morals

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In this post: Hands on activities to teach children Manners in Islam one letter at a time. This 26 day series contains art, craft and books activities that help children learn the correct Islamic manners according to the Quran and Sunnah. 
(Updated 2020)

In 2015, I conducted an at home Ramadan camp for my children. In 2018, we did it again. This post explains how you too can conduct an everyday Manners in Islam series for your own children at home. I hope you are able to teach your children the A-Z of Good Manners for Muslims easily by following my activities.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to some of the products and resources.  As an associate we may earn from qualifying purchases.

Why we need to teach our children about Islamic Manner and Morals.

I live in a Saudi Arabia in multicultural society as an expat. I have travelled to the US and Canada and spent a part of my adult life in India too. As a mother, I know how hard it is to raise children – be it in an Islamic environment or not.

Over the past eleven years, since my eldest started primary school, I have found that it has become increasingly difficult for me to make him understand what is right and what is wrong manners-wise.

Although all cultures of the world have similar morals, manners differ.

As Muslims, we have teachings from the Quran and Sunnah that we follow. Most of these manners are much similar the world over. Simple lessons on gratitude or how to treat your neighbor go a long way in making the world a better place for all of us.

“If you don’t teach your child about your culture, how will they learn?”

A few years ago, I was angry at my children for some random misbehaviour. In a fit of anger, I asked them if they did not know better than to do what they did.

All three of them shook their head innocently and said ‘But you never said we should do it this way.‘

It was eye opening for me. Shocking, to be precise.

They were right. I had never reminded them what was permissible and what wasn’t. I had just assumed that they would learn on their own.

This is a mistake most of us parents make. We expect our children to know.

If you didn’t teach them something and if they still haven’t learnt it at school, how would they know?

Also, if your school is not your culture, chances are they will learn something that is totally not you.

So my dear parents, for this reason, we need to teach our children, our culture and tradition first and foremost, from the start from when they are little toddlers.

Mannerism isn’t about just cultures… it is tradition too and what better way to teach tradition than with the Hadith and Sunnah – the prophet’s traditions, right?

All those questions like:

• Why can’t I eat with my left hand?
• How to sit with the Quran
• The right way to sleep in Islam
• What to say when you are not too happy that your friend won the competition…’

… all such question we will answer in this series. From table manners in Islam to the adab, going to the toilet to how to treat your parents with respect… I compiled a small list from A-Z and crafted activities based on my children’s age.

My children were 7, 3 and 2 years old the first time.  

A- Z of Akhlaaq Book to teach Islamic Manners 

Akhlaaq is an Arabic word which is understood in Urdu too. It roughly translates to mean morals and manners.

I got the idea for the series while reading the book ‘A To Z of Akhlaaq: Moral Values for Children‘ by Nafees Khan published by Goodword Books.

It is one of our favorite books and my children would request that we read it every night. I thought:

‘Well… if I am to read it till I memorized every word, why not throw in some skills for life?‘ 

Although, the idea is from this book, you will find that I have changed some of the words.

Goodword Books or the author of the book Nafees Khan are no way affiliated by this series nor in anyway connected to it, except that I have used the book title A-Z of Akhlaaq for my series the first time for lack of a better name. The series is now called Manner in Islam for Kids.

I will be talking in detail about the books in Letter A but for now, this is just a mention here.

About the Islamic Manners Series

In 2015, everyday starting from the first of Ramadan (18 June 2015) to the 26th of Ramadan (13th of July 2015), (Alhamdulillah), I posted a letter with a word and coupled it with either a book , an activity or a craft so that the child can understand and remember the word.

For the parents, I included positive parenting tips wherever appropriate. Some parents used it to devise lesson plans on Manners in Islam. The activities are perfect to be used as Unit plans if you are teaching Moral Science to school aged children.

This series was conducted twice – during Ramadan of 2015 and then again in 2018, with the intention to remind our children their morals and manners again. You can scroll below to know why we did it again.

In the past, it was called called A-Z of Akhlaaq Series but now after writing the whole series of posts aimed at teaching Muslim children Islamic Manners, it is called Good Manners in Islam Series. 

How to make lessons on Good Islamic Manners interesting

We love 5 minute lessons in our home.

Children understand and remember better by doing things rather than being taught to listen. When they are given a chance to experience something or interpret meanings themselves, they will remember the lessons for life. For this reason, I prefer to teach my children with simple 5 minute hands-on activities.

My kids love these spontaneous science, art or craft ideas and they always remember better. I am applying this same trick to teaching them Islamic manners. I used books and every day items from around the home to teach children meaningful lessons.

We used Islamic crafts and lesson plans from our Islamic studies school books as well as general Islamic books that we have. Mostly, these are spontaneously thought ideas that I adapted to my children’s ages.

Please Note: These words, manners and activities in the series can be adapted by any faith. You are welcome to join us or take our ideas to teach your children no matter what faith you belong to.

Why should I repeat these lessons on manners every few years?

I did this series with my kids, in 2015. At that time my children were 7 years old, 3 years old and 2 years old. You can imagine how much they learnt.

Although, I have been reminding them through verbal as well as visual reminders, most of it was lost. How much do you think a 2 and 3 year old understood to recall?

So you see… It is not enough that we teach our children their manners once or twice and then expect them to carry them for life.

Repetition, gentle reminders and following up to make sure that they are really understanding and implementing will ensure that they mind their teachings even behind our backs.

How to teach Children Islamic Manners in a fun way.

How can I make time for this theme in my busy schedule? I have little babies.

I understand you sister. I have been there myself. Juggling Ramadan with little babies and toddlers is not easy. I have written an in-depth article about preparing for Ramadan and managing life with little kids. Please read it.

Having said that, the best way to find time is to prepare your children that this Ramadan, you are doing something fun together. There is nothing that kids love more than to sit with their mom and play! How many times has your child said ‘Mommy play with me.‘

InshaAllah with the activities, crafts and book ideas, you will find yourself enjoying this series too. Last time, we were a bit sad when it finished.

In the 2018 version, I expanded the series, so that more children (younger as well as older) can have more involvement. The series started 1st Ramadan (16th May 2018) and continued for 26 days.

How to follow the Islamic Manners / Akhlaaq series

Below this post, you will find the complete list of letters that we did. Simply click to each letter to read about what all we did. You can choose a letter a day or one letter a week and work on it through the week. It is up to you.

When we did this series, I had created an email course around it.

SubhanAllah, there were almost 300 families that joined our series in Ramadan 2018. Everyday, the subscribers received an email with details about that day’s activity plus parenting advice. Some letters had printable worksheets or posters while some had book recommendations. Mostly, we focussed on the Islamic part with reading and memorizing Hadith or mentions in the Holy Quran.

This email series is now closed but will be soon available in PDF format as I am unable to offer it all through the year. You can check this space again or subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when it is ready.

A single good deed in Ramadan is multiplied many folds. My intentions for this series are to send it forward as Sadaqa (charity). By sharing this, you are doing the same. If you have any suggestions as to how we can better an activity or if you have ideas of your own to share, books to recommend or any word of advice, I welcome you in my comment box and on my Facebook page. You can also subscribe to my blog to make sure you don’t miss an update ever again.

A-Z of Manners in Islam – 26 day series

The Letters so far:

A is for Akhlaaq – Why do we need manners?

B is for Believer – What does a believer look like?

C is for Charity – Charity begins at home

D is for Dua – How to make dua the right way

E is for Eating and Drinking According to the Sunnah – Table Manners for muslim children

F is for Friendship ( more on Facebook here.) – How to be a good friend in Islam

G is for Gifts – Giving gifts is the best way to grow love.

H is for Honesty – Honesty means speaking the truth. 

I is for Intentions– The beauty of having good intentions.

J is for Jealousy – What to say when you feel envy in your heart.

K is for Kindness – How to be kind to your parents 

L is for Leaving that which doesn’t concern you – Why you should leave alone that which doesn’t concern you

M is for Modesty in Everything We Do.. – What does modesty mean.

N is for Neighbors – Love thy neighbor.

O is for Obedience – How to be obedient.

P is for Patience – The meaning of Sabr.

Q is for Quran – How to teach children to respect the Quran

R is for Right hand – How to teach children to use their right hand.

S is for Sleeping – Bedtime Sunnahs for children

T is for Toilet – Etiquettes of using the toilet 

*U is for Ummah – We are like one Ummah – if one part hurts we all hurt.

*V is for Vanity – 

*W is for Wudhu (Instagram) – Cleanliness five times a day

*X is for ‘X’( Instagram) – How to not get any Xs

*Y is for Yelling – Yelling is the most unpleasant sound to God.

*Z is for Zulm – Beware of Zulm

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