How Prophet Muhammad , sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, treated children
Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, showed great mercy and kindness to children. He, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, protected the rights of children just like he protected the rights of elderly.
Prophet Muhammad protected the rights of children just like he protected the rights of elderly.
He, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, chose names for them with good meanings
Abu Moosa, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated: “ I had a new baby boy, so I brought him to the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, who named him Ibraaheem, and used a date to do Tahneed and supplicated Allah to bless him and then gave him back to me.”[1]
He sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, seated them in his lap and he was tolerant with them.
Umm Qays bint Mihsan, may Allah be pleased with her, narrated “ I came to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam,, with my child who was not weaned, and I placed him in his lap, and he urinated in (the Prophet’s) lap. He (the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam,) did nothing more than spraying water over it.” [2]
Ibn Hajar, may Allah have mercy upon him, said “ This narration shows that it is recommended to be tolerant with children and tolerate their actions because they cannot distinguish good from bad.” [3]
He sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, played with them.
Zaynab bint Umm Salamah: Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated: “The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, used to play around with Zaynab bint Umm Salamh and say; “ O Zaynoob, O Zaynoob.” (saying her name in a playful manner) many times.”[4]
Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “ She entered upon him whilst he was washing up, and he splashed water (from what he was using) on her face. The result was that her face remained looking young until she grew very old.” [5]
Abu ‘Umayr: Anas ibn Maalik, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated: “ The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam used to joke with us; he would call out to my young brother; “ O Abu ‘Umayr! [a playful nickname], what happened to An-Nughayr [a bird that he used to keep as a pet]?”” [6]
Anas ibn Maalik: Anas ibn Maalik, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated: “ The Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam used to play around me and call me; “O you with two ears.”” [7]
An-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “ We can extract the following from this narration:
It is encouraged to play around with children
It is permissible to give a nickname to children and that it is not considered as lying
It is permissible to joke as long as it does not include evil and sin
It is permissible to call people with a short form of their name.
It is permissible for a child to play with a bird as a pet.
It is encouraged to play around with children “ [8]
He,sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, would let children race to him.
He, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, would make many children from the family of Al’Abbaas (‘Abdullah, ‘Ubaydullah and others) stand in a row and then say to them “ The one who wins running towards me will get such and such.” So they would race and land on his lap and jump on his back, and he, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, would start flipping them over and playing with them. [9]
He, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, greeted them whenever he passed by them.
Anas ibn Maalik, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated: The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, passed by two children playing and greeted them with Salaam (saying Assalaamua’Alaykum) [10]
The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, would do this just to bring joy to the hearts of these children and give them emotional and psychological boost to get them used to conversing with elders. This also helped them break the barrier of the children usually have when dealing with elders. This shows great wisdom of the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam.
— Source: Muhammad Saalih Al-Munajjid, Interaction of The Greatest Leader, p-849,We would like to honour the author of the book ‘Interaction of The Greatest Leader’, Shaykh Muhammad Saalih Al-Munajjid for the compilation of the methods of Prophet Muhammad,sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam to different type of people.
References:
[1] Reported by Al-Bukhaari (5467) Muslim (2145)
[2] Reported al-Bukhaari (223) Muslim (287)
[3] Fat-h Al-Baari (434/10)
[4] Reported by Ibn A in his edh-Dhiyaa’ in his book Al-Mukhtaarah (1773) Al-Albaani ruled it ias authentic in his book As-Silsilah As-Saheehah (2141)
[5]Reported by Ibn Al-Qayyim in his explanation to the book of Abu Daawood (122/1) and Ibn ‘Abdul-Barr in his book Al-Istee’aab (1885/4)
[6] Reported by Al-Bukhaari (6203) Muslim (2150)
[7] Reported by Abu Daawood (5002) and at-Tirmithi (1992). Al-Albaani ruled is as authentic in his book Saheeh Al-Jaami’ (7909)
[8] The explanation of An-Nawawi on the book of Muslim (129/14)
[9] Reported by Ahmad (1839). Al-Haythami ruled it as sound (hasan) in his book Majma’ Az-Zawaa’id (285/9). Al-Albaani ruled it as authentic in his book As-Silsilah Adh-Dha’eefah (6547)
[10] Reported by al-Bukhaari (6247), Muslim (2168) and Abu Daawood (5202)