Hadith Kisa - The Story of the Blanket

Hadith Al Kisa; The Event of The Cloak (Colourful Children's Version)

In Hadith Kisa, The Story of the Blanket, Allah sent Angel Jibraeel to tell Sayyidah Fatima (as) that she, her father, her husband, and her two sons, are the Chosen Five for whom Allāh [SWT] has Created the whole world. Aya Tathir, Verse 33:33 is revealed, which shows that the AhlulBayt are Ma’sum, pure and protected by Allah from ever doing anything wrong.

Listen to rhyme online: The Story of the Blanket for Kids in English

Shall I tell you about the event of the Kisa

The event of the Prophet's Kisa

He went to the house of his daughter Fatima and He asked for the yemeni Kisa

She covered him with the Yemeni Kisa

His face shone like the full moon
Then came Hasan and greeted his mother Salamun Alaiki Ya Umma
Soon after others came to join him do you want to know who
Then came Hussain and greeted his mother Salamun Alaiki Ya Umma
I can smell the nice smell of my grandfather so he joined him under the Kisa
Then came Ali Ameerul Momineen, Salamun Alaiki of Jannah you're queen
I can smell the nice smell of my grandfather so he joined him under the Kisa
Do you give me permission to now enter Yes she too went enter the kisa
I can smell the nice smell of my cousin brother, so he also entered the kisa
Then Fatima went real close to the Kisa, Salamun Alaikum Oh father
He said they were the family of Fatima, her husband, sons and her father
When all five gathered under the kisa, Jibraeel spoke up and said oh Allah
Who are these luminous personalities lying under the Kisa
The Ahlul bait of Tahira
They are the ones who are perfectly purified they are the Ahlul Kisa

Activity: Hadith Kisa Role Play by QFatima

Activity: Storyboard Illustration

By: Muhammadi Madrasah

Books:
Hadith Al Kisa; The Event of The Cloak (Colourful Children's Version)

Kisa Adventures
Listen Arabic Recitation

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Let Your Goodness Shine

Learning Objective:

- To understand how living like Imam Husayn shows in having beautiful manners that shine brightly to everyone around us. 

The names Hassan and Husayn come from the word hasana which means to be beautiful, to be good. Allah sent us Imams as examples to help us in our special mission on Earth; to beautify ourselves and everything around us by filling the world with good in everything we say and do. 

By going to mosque and listening to lectures, we learn about the Qur’an and Ahlulbayt. We are reminded of what we believe in, and how we should behave everyday. Living like Imam Husayn shows in having beautiful manners that shine brightly to everyone around us. When Imam Mahdi (atf) reappears, he will choose helpers who are shining brightest!

Activity: Glow Stick Flag

1. Hold up a dull, unactivated glow stick. Talk about what things we can say and do to make our goodness shine. 

2. As each child offers a suggestion, make a small break in the stick until eventually it glows all over.

3. Have the children fill out 3 ways they can make their manners shine bright.

4. Attach the glow sticks 
5. Switch off the lights and wave flags proudly while chanting 'Labbayk Ya Husayn'.

Activity: Operation Goodness

Activity: Be a Spark in the Dark

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The Position of Sajda and the Turba

Download and print worksheet

Lesson Objective:
- Understand how the position of sajda shows obedience to Allah
- Understand how we can use the lesson to help us focus only on Allah in the day.
- Understand the blessing of sajda in making dua
- Become aware of the physical benefits of the position of sajda.
- Understand how using a turba made from the soil of Karbala is a reminder of Imam Husayn (as) and the values he stood for.

Quran Verse: wakun minas saajideen, Be of those who do sajda 15:98

Key Learning Point:

Sajda is a position that shows our obedience. When I pray salaa and make sajda on the turba of Karbala, it reminds me how I must be like Imam Husayn (as) and give my bay’at only to Allah and the Ahlulbayt. Allah is my Creator and I am His servant. Unlike Iblis, I listen and do what Allah tells me and obey Him completely.

Lesson Introduction:

Sajda is a position when we bow down our heads onto the ground.

Allah tells us in the Qur’an 2:34 that when He created the first man, Prophet Adam, He asked the angels to ‘do sajda’ and bow down. The angels all listened to Allah and did what He said. They all obeyed Allah and did sajda, but Iblis did not. He thought he was better because he was made of fire and Prophet Adam was made of mud. Shaytan did not obey Allah and do what He asked him.

Putting our face on the ground, in a way that we can’t even see what is happening around us, would not be a position we would usually put ourselves in, but doing sajda is a way of lowering ourselves and remembering that Allah is the most High and we are his ‘abd’, we are His creation.

When we do sajda, it makes us remember how we must ‘atiullah’, always listen and do whatever Allah says with all our actions. We must obey Him completely. When we make sajda, we aren’t distracted  looking at everything that is happening around us. We are focused just on Allah. In the day there will be lots of distractions and things that try to take you away from Allah, that make you want to do things that are wrong, but you must remember that your focus is to always follow and do only what Allah says.

Imam Husayn (as) lived his whole life obeying Allah. Everytime we make salaa and our eyes fall on the turba made from the soil of Karbala, we are reminded of this great Iman who showed so much love and obedience to Allah. He stood for the truth, refusing to agree to Yazid’s rules but gave bay’at only to Allah. It is a daily reminder to us of how we want to be like Imam Husayn and live in a way that we always do what Allah has said.

We have been taught by our Imams that the position of sajda is the best to make dua. Imam Zainul Abideen loved to be in sajda so much, he even became known as Imam Sajjad!

The sajda is the only position in which head becomes lower than the heart and so blood gushes towards the brain in full force. The increased blood supply to the brain helps with better memory, concentration and less headaches!

Activity: Download and print worksheet

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Peace Treaty of Imam Hassan (as)

Lesson Objectives:

- To understand how Imam Hassan (as) tried to make peace
- To know that although starting a fight is not allowed, it is necessary to protect and defend people who are being harmed, to bring true peace. 

Quran Verse: Fa aslihu
Make peace 49:10

The Peace Treaty of Imam Hassan (as)

After coming back from burying his father Imam Ali (as), Imam Hassan (as) spoke to the people and explained how he was now the next leader as Allah has chosen the Imams from the family of the Holy Prophet. He would guide them how to live according to the teachings of the Qur’an.

However, Muawiyah was not happy. He wanted to be the most powerful ruler over the people of Iraq and started to cause trouble to try and get rid of Imam Hassan (as). 

Allah emphasizes in the Qur’an how we should work hard to try and come to an agreement that will bring peace. We should try our best not to start a fight or arguments.

All our Imams always made every effort to bring peace. Imam Hassan (as) tried to come to an agreement by accepting a peace treaty.

In the treaty, Imam wrote a list of rules, which explained that Muawiyah as a leader should

• Rule the country accordingly to the Qur’an and the example of the Holy Prophet (saw)
• Not harm the people or the Ahlulbayt
• Not choose a leader after him, but that the role should go back to the Imams

Even through Muawiyah had signed the paper, showing he had agreed to what Imam had said, Muawiyah never kept the promises he had made in the treaty. He made it clear he wanted power more than wanting to keep the teachings of Islam and said anyone who disagreed with him would be killed!

Muawiyah tried to kill Imam Hassan (as) many times and eventually he managed to convince Jo’dah, the wife of Imam Hassan (as), to poison him. He then made his son Yazid, the leader after him.

The Qur’an makes it clear that we must not start a fight or war and must always try our best to make peace. However, Allah explains how important it is to treat people well, always behaving fairly. He teaches us how we must protect the people who are weak or being treated wrongly. If there is no other way, that we must fight to defend and help the people to bring true peace.

Activities:
Peace Pledge

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Imam Sajjad (as) Story Bag

Lesson Objective:

- To gain a brief overview of the life of our 4th Imam through visual aids.

Activity:

Place all the objects into a bag and have the children pick out an item in turn.

Use the prop to talk about how each object relates to the life of Imam Sajjad (as)

Repeat the activity a second time but have each child 'show and tell' to the class about what the object signifies.

Older children can use the props to write their own short biography/poem about the Imam.

Poster shared by Little Learners Preschool

Download complete lesson plan: Dua: Talking to Allah

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Imam Ali: A Helper Of Allah

Print Worksheet

Read: Imam Ali (as) Colouring Storybook
Lesson: Serving God's Creation

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PEACE Pledge

Lesson Objective:
- 'Asalamu Alaika Ya Aba Abdillah'
- To understand the promise you are making when saying Salaam to Imam

Though we can not see the Imams, when we recite the words of ziyara, we should try to imagine that they are actually stood right in front of us. We are extending our hand to them and making a pledge, a promise.

We are telling our Imams that we are at peace with them. We shall follow the rules of Allah, the way that they taught us, and do good deeds, so that our actions are always peaceful.

Activity: PEACE Pledge
Each statement can be represented by a hand gesture/sign to help memorise the key points we make when we say salaam.

Raise right hand and say: 'Asalamu Alaika Ya Aba Abdillah'
Hand on heart: I Promise
Tap watch/wrist with one finger: Everyday
Open book: Act on the Quran
Pat two palms together from one side to another: Copy the Ahlulbayt
Thumbs up: Encourage goodness

After emphasising how important it is to keep a promise, ask if the child is ready to sign and seal the pledge.

Display in a prominent place as a reminder to send our salaam to Imam everyday. 
Imam hears us and replies our salaam. We must be honest in our words and try hard to keep our promise.

Download PEACE Pledge

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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!

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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

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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

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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?

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Nahjul Balagha And Quranic Vocabulary

Lesson Objective:

- Introduce the Nahjul Balagha as a collection of his beautiful words and wisdom

Lesson Introduction:

Imam Ali (as) was very clever. The Holy Prophet said: “I am the city of knowledge, and Ali is its gate”

Imam Ali (as) spoke beautifully and his letters and words have been made into a book called Nahjul Balagha. Imam Ali talks in detail about many of the wonderful creations of Allah such as the stars, rain, the peacock, ant and even the tongue!

Imam Ali teaches us how important it is to learn about everything around us. It helps us understand and remember our amazing Creator, Allah

Activity: Nahjul Balagha Worksheet

Illustrate and label using Quranic vocabulary, the creation of the universe as mentioned by Imam Ali (as) in sermon 1 of Nahjul Balagha

In one of the sermons in Nahjul Balagha, Imam Ali talks about the birds and the many different species.

Print a bird spotter sheet online at Nature Detectives, and mark the checklist to see how many different garden birds you can spot.

Download complete lesson plan: Imam Ali (as)

Related blog post: Introducing Nahjul Balagha

Resources:

Buy Nahjul Balagha for children online at Hujjat Bookshop

Read Nahjul Balagha for children online 

Download the Quranic words manual by QFatima for additional activities

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The Birth Of Imam Ali (as)

Lesson notes from Madressa.net

Download complete lesson plan: Imam Ali (as)

Resources: QFatima: Let me learn about Aimmatiy

Worksheets: Muslim Kids

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Imam Ali In The Kalima

Lesson Objective
- to recap the Kalima and its meaning
- Understand the relationship Imam Ali (as) had with Allah, the Holy Prophet and as our first Imam as mentioned in the Kalima

In the Kalima, we remind ourselves that there is no God but Allah, that the Holy Prophet is His messenger, and Imam Ali (as) is the leader after him.

Activity: Cut and paste to order correctly the sequence of the Kalima with its translation

Download complete lesson plan: Imam Ali (as)

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Imamat: The 12 Imams

Activity by Teaching Young Muslims

Imam means leader. We have 12 Imams. The Imams are chosen by Allah. They never do anything wrong, even by mistake. Allah has sent the Imams as guides to help us understand the Qur'an and show us how to live and behave in the right way. The Imams obeyed the words of Allah in every single way. They are the perfect people to guide us and help us to behave in the right way.

Activity: The Qur'an and the Ahlulbayt
Connect two key rings to each other and label them accordingly. No matter how hard you pull, you cannot separate the two rings. In the same way, the Prophet and his family the Ahlulbayt are connected to the Qur'an. They cannot be separated - we need to follow both. The Qur'an gives us instructions on how to behave and the Ahlulbayt are our teachers who show us how to follow Allah's rules in everything we do.

Activity: Follow the Leader
When someone is the leader, everyone copies and follows them. Our Imams are the only perfect leaders. They always do what is right and obey Allah, so we must always follow them. The Qur’an tells us what Allah wants us to do and the Imams show us how to behave in a way Allah loves.

Activity: The Imam Says
Played like 'Simon says' with the children only following the instructions when 'The Imam Says'. The Imams sent by Allah only listen and do what Allah has said. They always obey Allah.

Activity: Hot And Cold
Hide an object for the child to find by listening to and following instructions. When the child is far from the hidden object use the phrase cold and as he nears finding it state from warm to hot.
The Qur'an and Imams are our guides. They give us all the instructions we need to 'atiullah', obey Allah. We must listen to and follow them, so that we know what to do.

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Imam Ali (as) and the Poor

Learning Objective: To share food with the needy and understand this aspect of Imam Ali's character.

Imam Ali (as) took such great care of the poor, going out every night to deliver sacks of food in the dark to those who were in need.

Though we may not see beggars on the streets, there are many people here in our city, that are poor and struggle to eat properly.

Activity: Find out about your local food bank and gather the items required on their shopping list to make a donation.



Activity: 30 Days of Giving

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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'.

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