Family · When the moment comes
Compliment a child warmly
- The practice
- Say a warm compliment to a child (e.g. on their clothes)
- When
- seeing a child
- In daily life
- Notice something real: 'What a lovely dress!', 'Your drawing is beautiful', 'You tied your shoes all by yourself!' At a family gathering or a friend's house, that little one will remember the grown-up who noticed them.
The source
أَتَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم مَعَ أَبِي وَعَلَىَّ قَمِيصٌ أَصْفَرُ، قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " سَنَهْ سَنَهْ ". قَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ وَهْىَ بِالْحَبَشِيَّةِ حَسَنَةٌ. قَالَتْ فَذَهَبْتُ أَلْعَبُ بِخَاتَمِ النُّبُوَّةِ، فَزَجَرَنِي أَبِي. قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " دَعْهَا ". ثُمَّ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " أَبْلِي وَأَخْلِقِي، ثُمَّ أَبْلِي وَأَخْلِقِي، ثُمَّ أَبْلِي وَأَخْلِقِي ". قَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ فَبَقِيَتْ حَتَّى ذَكَرَ. يَعْنِي مِنْ بَقَائِهَا.
“Um Khalid bint Khalid bin Sa`id said, "I came to Allah's Messenger ﷺ along with my father and I was wearing a yellow shirt. Allah's Messenger ﷺ said, "Sanah Sanah!" (`Abdullah, the sub-narrator said, "It means, 'Nice, nice!' in the Ethiopian language.") Um Khalid added, "Then I started playing with the seal of Prophethood. My father admonished me. But Allah's Messenger ﷺ said (to my father), "Leave her," Allah's Messenger ﷺ (then addressing me) said, "May you live so long that your dress gets worn out, and you will mend it many times, and then wear another till it gets worn out (i.e. May Allah prolong your life)." (The sub-narrator, `Abdullah aid, "That garment (which she was wearing remained usable for a long period)”Arabic: ara-bukhari · Translation: Muhsin Khan (eng-bukhari), from the eng-bukhari edition of hadith-api (public domain), sunnah.com numbering.
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Get early accessSources: Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and narrations of Jami at-Tirmidhi graded sahih or hasan sahih by al-Albani.