Awesome Idea: Make an I’tikaf Tent for Your Kids

Inspire Your Children About I’tikaf

I wanted to introduce my children to the idea of i’tikaf in Ramadan while they were still small in a fun and special way. They were too young to do a proper i’tikaf in the masjid, so I purchased a tent and decorated it with fairy lights and stars on strings and left it in the living room for the whole month. I told them it was their own special place (no grown-ups allowed!) for thinking and dreaming and praying in Ramadan.

Inside, I placed child-sized prayer mats, prayer beads, mushafs on stands, picture books about Ramadan and the prophets, Qur’anic stories for children, and their Ramadan notebooks. They could go in and out of the tent whenever they wanted, but it wasn’t a place for playing Angry Birds on the iPad! I wanted them to get used to the idea of a place of retreat that was only for their time with Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), even if they just laid on their backs and daydreamed about life and the universe while they were there.

By: Dr. Susan Carland

Been inspired to make your own i’tikaf tent? Send photos of your tents to: info@ilmfeed.com