Taking Small Children to the Mosque During the Prophet's Time

 

Taking Small Children to the Mosque During the Prophet's Time

Bringing small children to the mosque is a dilemma for parents. On the one hand, parents certainly want to invite their little ones from a young age to know their Lord. However, on the other hand, parents are very worried that their baby will only disturb other worshipers who are worshiping.

Apparently, parents bringing small children to the mosque has occurred since the time of the Apostle and is well recorded in the books of a collection of hadith . Here's the full story:

In the midst of the solemnity of the prayer congregation during the time of the Prophet SAW, a mother was seen shaking and confused because her child was crying. It could be that the mother is not in a good mood, feeling that her child will interfere with the congregational prayer service, especially since the imam is the Prophet SAW. However, unexpectedly, the Messenger of God actually accelerated the prayer than usual. After the prayer, he said to his companions:

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِنِّي لَأَقُومُ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ وَأَنَا أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُطَوِّلَ فِيهَا فَأَسْمَعُ بُكَاءَ الصَّبِيِّ فَأَتَجَوَّزُ فِي صَلَاتِي كَرَاهِيَةَ أَنْ أَشُقَّ عَلَى أُمِّهِ

Rasulullah SAW said, "Actually I wanted to linger while praying, but I heard the cry of a small child, so I hastened it, worried about making it difficult for his mother." (Narrated by Bukhari, Abu Dawud, Ahmad, and Nasa'i)

The story of the mother taking the child to the mosque above was commented on by several hadith scholars, one of whom was Ibnu Hajar al-'Asqalani in his work Fathul Bari . In his book there are several points presented. Firstly, parents can invite their children to the mosque, secondly, women are allowed to follow men's congregation in the mosque of course with some conditions; inconspicuous appearance, not wearing jewelry that attracts attention, and appropriately in wearing perfume.

The hadith above also shows how great the character of the Prophet SAW is, not only the adult congregation who are considered, the congregation who is still a small child, the Prophet SAW noticed. The Messenger of Allah also took care of the mother's feelings, who definitely wanted to immediately stop the crying of her beloved child.

We can use this story as a lesson to create a mother and child friendly mosque. Because in some mosques, there are still regulations that prohibit children from entering the mosque. Indeed, in the fiqh literature we will find legal debates about bringing small children to the mosque, but as far as the author pays attention, it is due to the concern that the child will unwittingly pollute the mosque with his urine or feces .

In this modern era, of course, this concern is very easy for us to overcome by dressing our baby with tight baby sanitary napkins. Wallahu A'lam .