How to smack children to make them pray?

 

How do we smack children to make them pray?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Abu Dawood (459) and Ahmad
(6650) narrated from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father that his grandfather
said: The Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him)
said: “Teach your children to pray when they are seven years old, and smack
them if they do not pray when they are 10 years old, and separate them in
their beds.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Irwa’ (247). 

Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah
have mercy upon him) said in al-Mughni (1/357):

This telling and discipline
is prescribed in the case of children in order to train them to pray, so
that they will be used to it and it will become their habit, and they will
not forsake it when they reach puberty. End quote. 

Al-Subki said: 

The guardian must tell the
child to pray when he is seven years old and smack him if he does not do so
when he is 10. 

We think we should enjoin
what is not obligatory and smack for failing to do that which is not
obligatory. We smack animals for disciplinary purposes, so what about
children? That is in the child's interests, and so that he will get used to
praying before he reaches puberty. End quote.

Fataawa al-Subki,
1/379 

So boys and girls are to be
told to pray when they are seven years old and are to be smacked if they do
not pray when they reach the age of 10. Similarly they are to be told to
fast Ramadan and should be encouraged to do good things, such as reading
Qur’aan, offering supererogatory prayers, Hajj and ‘umrah, and reciting a
lot of tasbeeh, tahleel, takbeer and tahmeed, and they should be prevented
from committing all kinds of sin. 

With regard to smacking a
child for not praying, it is stipulated that the smacking should be light
and should not be painful and should not break the skin, or break a tooth or
bone. It should be on the back or the hand and the like, and the face is to
be avoided because it is forbidden to strike it, because the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) forbade that. 

It should not be more than
10 blows, and it should be done for the purpose of discipline and teaching.
So he (the parent etc) should not show his desire to punish, except when
there is a need to show that, such as if the child is turning away from
prayer and forsaking it, and the like.  

It was narrated from Abu
Bardah al-Ansari that he heard the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace
of Allaah be upon him) say: No one should be given more than 10 lashes
except in the case of one of the hadd punishments of Allaah.” narrated by Al
Bukhaari (6456) and Muslim (3222). 

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah
have mercy upon him) said:

the words of the Prophet,
“No one should be given more than 10 lashes except in the case of one of the
hadd punishments of Allaah,” referred to an offence or criminal act, which
has to do with what Allaah has prescribed as a punishment. 

If it is said: What do we
mean by 10 or less?   

The answer is: This has to
do with when a man hits his wife, his slave, his child, or his hired worker
for the purpose of discipline and the like: it is not permissible for him to
give more than 10 blows. This is the best way to understand the hadeeth. End
quote. 

I’laam al-Muwaqqi’een
(2/23) 

It should also not be done
in front of anyone else, so as to protect the child's self-esteem and his
dignity in front of his friends and others. 

It should be known from the
father's behaviour with his children and his disciplining of them that he
does not smack anybody whom he smacks except in obedience to Allaah and to
his Messenger (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him), and that the only
reason he does that is the child's best interests, and his keenness to raise
him in the prescribed manner, so that the child will not .grow up hating
Islamic teachings which he may find difficult, and that he was smacked for
not doing them. 

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah
have mercy on him) said: 

Take care of the members of
your household and do not neglect them, O slave of Allaah. You have to
strive hard in their best interests, and tell your sons and daughters to
pray at the age of seven, and smack them if they do not do so when they are
10, a light smack that will help them to obey Allaah and make them get used
to offering prayers on time, so that they will adhere properly to the
religion of Allaah and know the truth, as is narrated in saheeh reports from
the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him). End
quote. 

Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn Baaz
(6/46). 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may
Allaah have mercy on him) said: 

The Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allaah be upon him) commanded us to tell our children to pray when
they are seven years old, and to smack them if they do not pray when they
are 10 years old, even though they are not obliged to do that yet, so that
they may be trained in doing acts of worship and obedience and may get used
to them, so that it will be easy for them to do that after they grow up and
it will be dear to them. The same applies to all matters that are
blameworthy; young children should not get used to them even though they are
not yet under any obligation, because otherwise they will get used to them
when they grow up and will enjoy indulging in them. End quote.  

Fataawa Noor ‘ala
al-Darb, 11/386 

The command implies that it
is obligatory, but it is limited only to cases where smacking will be
beneficial, because sometimes you smack a child but he does not benefit from
being smacked, it only makes him scream and cry more and does not serve any
benefit. Moreover what is meant by smacking here is smacking is that is not
painful, a light smack that serves the purpose and does not cause any harm.
End quote. 

Liqa’ al-Baab il-Maftooh,
95/18 

He (may Allaah have mercy
on him) also said:

it should not be a smack
that causes injury, and it should not be a smack in the face for example, or
a smack to a lethal site; rather he should be smacked on the shoulder or the
hand and the like, which would not cause him to die. Smacking on the face is
risky, because the face is the highest and noblest part of a person and if a
person is smacked on the face it is more humiliating and shameful then if he
were to be smacked on the back. Hence it is forbidden to smack on the face.
End quote 

Fataawa Noor ‘ala
al-Darb, 13/2 

Shaykh al-Fawzaan said: 

Smacking is one of the
means of child rearing. The teacher may smack, the trainer may smack, the
guardian may smack for disciplinary purposes; and the husband may smack his
wife in cases of wilful defiance (nushooz). 

But that must be within
certain limits, and it should not be a blow that causes pain, breaks the
skin or breaks the bone; rather it should be only as much as is necessary.
End quote. 

Ighaathat al-Mustafeed
bi Sharh Kitaab al-Tawheed (282 -- 284) 

It should also be noted
that disciplining a child should not be done only for neglecting to pray;
rather it should also be done if he is careless about the conditions,
essential parts and obligatory duties of prayer. A child may pray, but he
combines prayers, or he prays without wudoo’, or he does not pray properly.
So he must be taught everything about it, and we should make sure that he is
aware of its obligatory duties, essential parts and conditions, then if he
neglects any of these things, we must advise him and teach him time after time, then if he persists he may be disciplined by means of smacking until he prays properly. 

And Allaah knows best.