What Would Make My Imam Happy?

When someone we love is far away, we really miss them. We think about them all the time and try and keep in touch by calling, writing to them and getting excited about the day when they'll be back! This is how our love for Imam should be. Imam loves us to talk to him. He prays to Allah for us and all of creation and is always there when you call him. Whenever we need help or are in trouble, we must ask Allah through Imam. We can even write him a special letter!

Activity: 
Help children build a special relationship with Imam Mahdi by writing in a journal every Friday a good deed they have done in the week that would make Imam happy. They could also write any other thoughts in conversation to him.

See also: Letters to my Imam Journal by Buzz Ideazz

View post

The Imams Are Shining Guides

Key Learning Point:
Allah sent the Qur’an and the Masumeen to help guide our hearts and show us the path to reach Him.
Imam Mahdi is the brightest light whose arrival will removal all darkness and bring complete peace on Earth.

Quran Verse:
Mardha tillah 2:207 
Make Allah happy with you

Lesson Introduction:

We need light to see.

Without light, we would be left in darkness.

Our hearts also need to be brightly lit so that we can be guided to doing the right thing.

Allah created the sun to give light to the world and He sent the Qur’an and Masumeen as bright lights to guide our hearts and show us the right way.

The Imams are very special. They never do anything wrong and always ‘mardha tillah’, they always seek Allah’s pleasure in everything they do. They always do good and live in the way the Qur’an teaches us. They are full of noor and constantly shine as our guides to show us the right path and the way to reach Allah. Without them, we would be in darkness and confusion.

Activity:
Place a heart sign at one end and a sign labelled Allah at the other end. 

Switch off lights

Explain how our hearts are in darkness. 

'How will they know the way to reach Allah? Allah sent us the Qur'an and 12 Imams as bright lights to guide our hearts and show us the right way.'

Have the kids recap each Imam and with every correct answer, place a tea light along the path leading up to the sign labelled Allah.

Switch on the lights at the mention of the 12th Imam!

When Imam Mahdi (atf) reappears, light will completely cover the world filling it with peace and justice :)

Extended Home Activity:
Recite a salawaat when you switch on the lights and pray for the reappearance of Imam Mahdi as the light who will remove all darkness!

View post

Dua Hujjat

This is a Du'a for the protection of the 12th Imam al-Mahdi (as). It is recommended to recite it often during the ghaybat of the Imam.

Activity: 
Learn the Dua + Translation by Teaching Young Muslims
Download and Print: Dua Faraj for Little Ones
Listen: Dua Hujjat

View post

Imam Mahdi (ATF)

Lesson Objectives: 

- To know Imam is still alive but in ‘ghayba’

- To know the etiquette of behaving when we hear Imam’s name.

- To become familiar with the hadith ‘Imam is like the sun behind the clouds’, deriving lessons from it.

- To become conscious of Imam’s presence even though not visible to us.

- To instil a habit of how we can remember Imam daily and be in waiting for his reappearance.

Activities:
Sun Behind The Clouds
Imam Knows!
Imam Can See Us
Areeza: A Special Letter to Imam
What would make my Imam happy?
Remembering Imam Mahdi (ATF) 
Read and listen to Dua Hujjat
Balloon Banner Quiz
Imam Mahdi Wordsearch Quiz

Download complete lesson plan: Imam Mahdi (ATF)

Resources:
Celebrating the Milad of Imam al-Mahdi (af) by Academy For Learning Islam
15th Shabaan Mini-Amaal Book & Game by Teaching Young Muslims

QFatima Rhymes about Imam
How to connect with Imam by Islamic Lessons Made Easy
10 Ways to Connect to Imam Mahdi byTowards Jannah

View post

Areeza: A Special Letter to Imam Mahdi (ATF)

Learning Objective:
- To become conscious of Imam’s presence even though not visible to us.

- To instil a habit of how we can remember Imam daily and be in waiting for his reappearance.

Lesson Introduction:
When someone we love is far away, we really miss them. We think about them all the time and try and keep in touch by calling, writing to them and getting excited about the day when they'll be back! This is how our love for Imam should be.

Imam loves us to talk to him. He prays to Allah for us and all of creation and is always there when you call him. Whenever we need help or are in trouble, we must ask Allah through Imam. We can even write him a special letter!

Activity:

Use the template to have the children think of some goals and express their duas.
Download template: Areeza - Letter to Imam Mahdi (ATF)

Download complete lesson plan: Imam Mahdi (ATF)

View post

Imam Knows!

Learning Objective:

- To become conscious of Imam’s presence even though not visible to us.

- To instil a habit of how we can remember Imam daily and be in waiting for his reappearance.

Just like Allah who is always watching us, Imam too knows everything we have done. Every Thursday night, Imam gets a report from the angels recording our deeds. When he sees the book full of wrong, it makes him extremely sad. If we want to keep Imam happy and proud of us, we must make sure our reports are full of good deeds. 

Activity:
Use a white crayon on white paper to write/draw a message. Magically reveal the drawing/note by painting over it with liquid watercolours.

Imam knows everything we have done, even our secrets! If we want to keep Imam happy and proud of us, we must make sure our reports are full of good deeds.

Download complete lesson plan: Imam Mahdi (ATF)

View post

Remembering Imam Mahdi (atf)

Learning Objective:
We feel the same about Imam being hidden from us. We love Imam so much that even though we know he is there, we miss Imam. We feel sad to see the darkness of all the bad things happening in the world. 
We must pray for Imam to come quickly and shine his bright light on Earth, bringing peace and justice. Imam Mahdi (atf) is our real life superhero! We must try to be our best so we can join his team when he reappears.

Activity:

- To instil a habit of how we can remember Imam daily and be in waiting for his reappearance.

When we look outside and see that it's a cloudy and grey day, it reminds us that the sun is hidden. On cloudy days, even though we benefit from the sun, we still wish it was a brighter, sunnier day!

Everyday we must remember:

1. Say Salaam to Imam 'Asalam Alaika Ya Imam e Zamana'

2.Give Sadaqa

3. Pray for Imam to come quickly!


Set an alarm to ring at a set interval from the time of waking until bedtime. At every ring, stop what you're doing and recite a salawat ending with ATF. 

Activity:

A laminated chart to be used with a whiteboard pen to record and make it a habit to remember Imam Mahdi (ATF) everyday. 
Download template: Remembering Imam Mahdi (atf) Everyday

Download complete lesson plan: Imam Mahdi (ATF)

View post

Imam Can See Us

Make a small pinhole cut in a large piece of cardboard. Have each child look through it and notice how they can clearly see all that is around them. But can the children on the other side see the child who is behind the card?

View post

Practical ways to build a relationship with Imam Mahdi (ATF)

Notes from a lecture: A few practical ways to help us and our children build a relationship with Imam Mahdi (ATF)

- When instructing the child, slip in the phrase "because Imam Mahdi is watching and will choose a helper who does this". Much better than 'look, that aunty is watching and she'll get angry'!

- Instil in the child that there are times when Mummy and Papa won't always be there for you but Imam Mahdi will and always is!

- Have the child write down their hajaats and look back at them the following year. This helps them remember that their dua was granted insa.

- start a special journal especially dedicated to the Imam where every Friday the child writes a good deed they have done that would make Imam happy. Have them gift this to the Imam and once the habit is established you will find children eagerly anticipating to write their good deeds 'to show Imam'.

View post

Sun behind the Clouds

Learning Objective: Understand the hadith  "As for deriving benefit from me in my ghayba; it is like deriving benefit from the sun when it hides behind the clouds."

Imam is in ghayba which means that he is still alive but we can not see him. Imam has said that he is like the sun hidden behind the clouds. Even though the Earth is the third planet away from the sun, around 90 million miles away, we still receive the sun's warmth and light! SubhanAllah! The sun is so important, that without it there would be no light, no heat, no plants, no animals, no life! 

Imam Mahdi (ATF) is like the sun. Even though we can't see him, we need him to live! The world can’t exist without a guide of Allah on it. Imam prays for us and a comes to our help whenever we call him.

Activity:
Demo: Shine torch behind paper drawn up like a sun.
Even though we can't see the torch, we can benefit from the light.

Activity:
Make a chart, painting some clouds and a sun. Use it to both visually reinforce the hadith and record the remembrance of Imam every morning by joining a line from the sun to a dot making a ray. Try to continue the habit for 40 days and inshallah the love of Imam (and the sun chart!) will be shining brighter!

View post

Imam Mahdi (ATF) Quiz

Learning Objective: 
To recap and summarise learning about Imam Mahdi (ATF)

Fill 12 balloons with a question about Imam Mahdi (ATF) and tie them onto a string banner.
Print a list of questions here.

Have the child pop each one to release the rolled up question paper. To add to the noise and mess, reward the correct answer with a party popper!

Can also be used with alongside the Imam Mahdi Wordsearch Quiz

View post

Imam Mahdi Wordsearch Quiz

A simple word search quiz to recap and summarise learning about Imam Mahdi (ATF). All words are hidden sideways only. 

Download PDF Wordsearch Quiz

View post