Answering Kids' Big Questions About Islam (Honest Scripts)

“Who made Allah?” “Does Allah sleep?” “Will Grandpa come back?” “Why doesn’t Lily pray?”

Children ask the biggest questions in the smallest moments: brushing teeth, buckling a seatbelt, halfway through a bowl of cereal. And they ask with total trust that you’ll know.

You won’t always. That’s fine. What children need most is not a perfect answer, but a parent who stays calm, takes the question seriously, and keeps the door open. This guide gives you a way to respond and honest scripts for the questions children most often ask between about four and ten.

Why questions are good

It can feel unsettling when a small child asks something that sounds like doubt. It usually isn’t. It’s curiosity, and curiosity is part of how Allah made them.

Evidence · Hadith

“Every child is born upon the fitrah (a natural disposition to know Allah)…” Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (RA).

The prophets asked questions too. Ibrahim (peace be upon him) looked at a star, then the moon, then the sun, and reasoned that none of them could be his Lord because they all set (Qur’an, Al-An’am 6:76–79). Later, he asked Allah directly:

Evidence · Qur’an

“And [mention] when Abraham said, ‘My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead.’ [Allah] said, ‘Have you not believed?’ He said, ‘Yes, but [I ask] only that my heart may be satisfied.’”

Asking to understand, so the heart can rest, is a very old and very honourable thing.

How to respond: four steps

1. Pause and welcome it. “Ooh, that’s a big question. I love that you’re thinking about this.”
2. Ask what they think. “What made you wonder about that?” You’ll often discover the real question: a friend’s comment, a dead bird in the garden, a cartoon.
3. Answer simply and truly. One or two sentences. Small children want a short, solid answer, not a lecture. If they want more, they’ll ask.
4. Admit limits. “I don’t know. Let’s find out together.” Then actually follow up.

Questions about Allah

“Who made Allah?”

This sounds alarming, but for a child it’s logical: they’ve learned everything is made by someone.

“Everything we can see was made: the table by a carpenter, the trees and the stars by Allah. But Allah isn’t like the things He made. Nobody made Allah. He was always there, before anything, and He made everything else. That’s part of what makes Him Allah.”

Evidence · Qur’an

“Say, He is Allah, One. Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent.”

The Prophet ﷺ knew this question would come up, and gave adults a way to handle it when it comes as a nagging, unsettling thought:

Evidence · Hadith

“Satan comes to one of you and says, ‘Who created so-and-so?’ till he says, ‘Who has created your Lord?’ So, when he inspires such a question, one should seek refuge with Allah and give up such thoughts.” Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (RA).

Sahih Muslim 134 (Sahih) adds that such a person should say, “I affirm my faith in Allah.” This guidance is for us as adults when such thoughts trouble us. It isn’t a reason to scold a child for asking. A five-year-old asking “who made Allah?” is thinking, not being whispered to; answer warmly, then move on.

“Does Allah sleep?”

“No. Allah never gets tired and never sleeps. When you’re asleep, Allah is still looking after you, and the whole world.”

Evidence · Qur’an

“…Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep…”

This is a comforting thought at bedtime. You can tie it to reciting Ayat al-Kursi together before sleep.

“Can Allah see me?” and “Why can’t I see Allah?”

“Yes, Allah sees you and hears you all the time, and He cares about you. We can’t see Allah in this world, because our eyes are made for this world. In Jannah, the believers will see Allah. That will be the best thing of all.”

Our guide on how to explain Allah to a child goes deeper on “Where is Allah?” and other questions about Him.

Questions about death and Jannah

Death comes up earlier than we expect: a goldfish, a great-grandparent, a news story. Children need honesty, gentleness and reassurance.

Evidence · Qur’an

“Every soul will taste death…”

“What happens when people die?”

“When someone dies, their body stops working. It can’t breathe or move or feel any more, so it doesn’t hurt. Their soul goes back to Allah. We say ‘inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un’: we belong to Allah, and to Him we return.”

Evidence · Qur’an

“Who, when disaster strikes them, say, ‘Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.’”

Avoid “Grandpa went to sleep” (it can make children afraid of sleep) and “Allah took him because He wanted him” (it can make Allah sound like He snatches people).

“Will I die? Will you die?”

“Everyone dies one day, but most people live a long, long time. I’m planning to be here to look after you for a very long time, in sha Allah.”

The detail is less important than your calm. For a fuller, age-by-age approach to grief, see how to explain death to a child in Islam.

“What is Jannah like?”

“Jannah is a beautiful garden Allah has made for the people who love Him. It has rivers and fruit and everything that makes you happy, and nobody is ever sad or sick there.”

Our guide to teaching kids about Jannah has more on talking about Paradise with hope.

Questions about other people

In many families, especially in Muslim-minority countries, this is the most common category of all.

“Why doesn’t my friend pray?”

“Lily’s family believes different things from us. We’re Muslims, so we pray to Allah five times a day. Lots of people in the world believe different things.”

“Is she bad? Will she go to Jannah?”

Children often jump from “different” to “bad”. Gently stop that jump:

“No, Lily isn’t bad because her family believes differently. Allah tells us to be kind and fair to everyone who is kind to us. Only Allah knows what’s in people’s hearts, and He is perfectly fair and perfectly merciful. Our job is to be a good friend.”

Evidence · Qur’an

“Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes, from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.”

For convert families with non-Muslim grandparents, this question can be painful and very personal. It’s fine to say: “We love Grandma very much, and we make dua for her. Allah knows her heart.” If your child keeps returning to it, or if it’s weighing on you, talk it through with a scholar you trust.

“Why do some Muslims do things differently?”

“Muslims all believe in Allah and the Prophet ﷺ, and we all pray. Sometimes families learned some small things in different ways from different teachers. That’s okay.”

In a Muslim-majority setting, this question may come from noticing differences between relatives, or between a grandparent’s practice and school. Keep it calm; don’t use it to criticise other Muslims in front of your child.

Questions you can’t answer

Some questions will stump you. Some stump scholars. That’s not a failure.

• Say so honestly. “I don’t know. That’s a really good question.”
• Find out together. Ask your imam, a teacher at the mosque, or a knowledgeable friend. Let your child hear you ask.
• Report back. “Remember your question about the angels? I asked Shaykh Ahmed, and he said…”
• Keep a question notebook. Write down big questions as they come. Look one up together each week.

Context notes

Whether you’re a British Bangladeshi family, Somali Canadians, Egyptians in the Gulf or a convert family in Australia, the questions are remarkably similar. What changes is where they come from: classmates, TV, relatives, the mosque. The answers stay rooted in the same Qur’an and sunnah.

As children reach their teens, the questions grow up too. When that time comes, our guide on when your teen has doubts about Islam can help.