Praying in jemaah at home in Ramadhan

On an evening early in Ramadhan 2023, we laid out the prayer mats in our living room. Children from our programmes and some of the neighbours' boys joined us to pray in jemaah.

The photo was taken just before nine at night on 28 March 2023. Daddy, in a black jubah and kopiah, leads from the front on a green prayer mat. Three boys in matching navy jubah and kopiah stand shoulder to shoulder in a row behind him and to the side. One of them has just raised his hands for takbir.

The boys came back to pray with us several times that Ramadhan.

What is around them

On the wall in front of them hang framed prints of Masjid an-Nabawi and the Ka'bah. On the bookshelf beside them is a sign that says "QURAN". None of it is expensive, and all of it keeps the two holy mosques and the Quran in view every time someone stands up to pray.

Learning in the row

In our 4-I approach, this is Integrate: what the children learn about solat becomes something they do, together, in an ordinary home. Standing in a straight row, starting together and following the one leading are all learnt in the line itself, beside other children.

Ramadhan makes this easier. The evenings are already built around prayer, and children are glad to be asked to join something the adults are doing.

Trying it at home

You do not need a big space. A few prayer mats side by side are enough. If you invite a neighbour's child or two, check with their parents first, let the children stand together in their own row, and keep it short for the youngest.