How to Guide Your Child When You Are the Only Practising Parent 

Parenting Perspective 

When a parent feels alone in their spiritual responsibility, it can create a quiet pressure, the sense that if they do not teach, no one will. That pressure often turns the most well-intended reminders into commands, and the most meaningful rituals into tasks. Over time, the child may start to associate Islamic guidance with tension rather than love. 

Spiritual Safety, Not Spiritual Perfection 

What your child needs is not spiritual perfection but spiritual safety, to feel that Islam is not something that is ‘done to them’, but something they are welcomed into. This begins with your presence more than your pressure. 

Model the beauty of faith with consistency, not control. Let your child witness your prayer without demanding theirs. Read aloud when you find something beautiful in the Quran and leave it open for curiosity to build. Speak about Allah in your ordinary speech, not to instruct, but to share your inner life. A child absorbs your emotional tone before they understand your words. 

Make Faith Personal, Not Performative 

Also, create space for them to develop their own relationship with Islam. Ask questions instead of giving directives. ‘What do you think Allah loves in this situation?’ or ‘How did that feel when you did something good?’ This makes faith feel personal, not performative. 

You are not responsible for your child’s outcome, only for your example. Let go of over-control so that your child can grow into their own sincere connection with Deen. 

Spiritual Insight 

Parenting with Iman in a home where it is not shared can be lonely. But the Quran speaks directly to the one who bears the message with gentleness and dignity. 

A Reminder to Speak with Gentleness 

Allah Almighty states in the noble Quran at Surah Taaha (20), verses 43–44: 

‘Go forth to Pharaoh, as indeed, he has become delusional (with his powers and dictatorship). But speak to him (Pharaoh) in a polite manner, so that he may realise, or be in awe (of what you are relating to him).’ 

This Verse was revealed to Prophet Musa and Prophet Haroon (peace be upon them), but its wisdom applies universally. Even when addressing the worst of tyrants, the command was to speak with gentleness, because transformation is more likely to blossom in a soft soil than a harsh one.  

The Prophetic Model: Make Matters Easy 

It is recorded in Sahih Muslim that the holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 

‘Make matters easy and do not make them difficult, give glad tidings and do not drive people away.’ 

[Sahih al-Bukhari,78:152] 

This hadith gives you a guiding light: spiritual influence begins with emotional ease. Trust in the quiet power of your sincerity. Your example, even if unacknowledged, becomes a seed. And when planted with compassion, it holds the potential for lifelong faith , nurtured, not forced.