Important for parents to teach children about mosque etiquette

SHAH ALAM - It is important for parents to teach their children about the etiquette of being at a mosque, especially during congregational prayers such as tarawih.

Former Negeri Sembilan mufti Datuk Mohd Yusof Ahmad said children should know when to keep quiet and behave themselves when they are in places of worship.

"Parents need to educate their children to have adab (good manners) at the mosque," he said.

He also said it was irrational to compare modern teaching methods with those used during the prophetic times, given the significant changes that have occurred over time.

"Don't be emotional by comparing the kids today and the kids back then. This is because time has changed, as have the people and the ways of teaching should change too," he said.

Meanwhile, it was reported that former Federal Territories mufti Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri emphasised the importance of considering various perspectives, including those of different schools of thought such as Maliki, Hambali and Shafie, when discussing the issue.

He said all three teachings would not have allowed children who were not yet Mumayyiz (children who can differentiate between positive and negative, right and wrong) to enter mosques to avoid them from causing disturbances like making noises or being violent while people were praying in the mosque.

He said a way to nurture the love of going to the mosque and performing congregational prayers in children from a young age was to help them understand the importance of behaving in places of worship.

"This is not a new issue and has been an ongoing problem in institutions such as mosques in the country, where most people perform their daily prayers and Friday prayers.

"Malaysian mosques have yet to provide a space for kids which can serve as a separation from the people performing religious activities mainly praying," he said.

There have been cases of children being nuisances in mosques that can be seen from recent videos on social media which went viral and sparked anger among the public.

Recently a video of a boy's impish action during a congregational prayer at a mosque went viral on social media.

In the video, the boy was seen climbing on top of a woman who was praying and then hit the head of another woman who was also praying multiple times aside from making noises.

Social media users expressed anger over the boy's actions saying that he was nothing but plain rude and lacked teaching from the parents.

Prior to that, another video of a boy taking a chair away from an elderly man who was praying also went viral on social media.

The boy's action led the man to fall to the floor in the middle of the prayer and the man had to stop praying after he fell.