By Razaz Ainousah

Saudi Gazette

IT is always advisable for parents to accompany their children to the mosques to strengthen their connection to and love of worship and to teach them Islamic discipline. Parents are particular in bringing their children to the mosques for all prayers during the month of Ramadan in order to teach them the Islamic values.

This is picture perfect when the children are strictly supervised by their parents. However, it is not the case when it comes to many mosques where worshippers complain that parents leave their children unattended, which cause disruption inside the mosque.

Children tend to play and run around, shouting and causing annoyance in both male and female sections of the mosque. Man mothers on the other hand tend to come to the mosque with their infants and young children and leave them crying, sometimes causing tension between the mothers and other worshippers. Mosque imams make repeated calls on worshippers to control their children, but those calls often fall on deaf ears.

Yasmeen Jadallah, a housewife in her 40s interviewed by Saudi Gazette, was annoyed when a child vomited on her, while she was praying.

Every Ramadan, Jadallah prays Taraweeh at the mosque. She opens her heart for children in the mosque and does not mind to have kids around while praying. But the children need to be well enough and not a cause of trouble to others, she says.

Jadallah said one night there were some children playing around her while she was praying. Unfortunately, one of the kids vomited on her twice.

“I kept silent both times because I did not want to hurt the child. I also could not tell the mother that your child disturbed me and made me dirty not once but twice. I did not tell her that she needed to take care of her sick child at home to avoid any possible squabble in the mosque,” she said.

Jadallah had to leave the mosque without continuing her worship because she got dirty and needed to wash. She said people need to understand the sanctity of the place.

Abu Ahmad, an Arab expat in his mid 40s, faced a similar situation where kids were causing much noise inside the mosque.

He said, “There was a group of children in the back of the mosque laughing and talking out loud during the Taraweeh prayer. During a break between the prayers, one of the worshippers turned to these kids and started cursing at them. The behavior of this man was so strange that he grabbed two of these children and threw them out of the mosque before rejoining the prayer. Although the behavior of these children was wrong, the action of the man was horrible. This will leave a permanent scar on these kids. I have faced similar situations where we gently talked to the kids to keep it down and told them if they wanted to play, they should respect the mosque and do it outside.”

Hatoon Alkharashi, a Saudi mother of two, said there were some children who usually come to her mosque and play while they performed the prayer. "They always make a lot of noise, but we could understand that children can’t sit still and keep silent for long durations," she said.

However, one day they were disturbing Alkharashi and other people by screaming at the top of their lungs. “I spoke to the mothers in a really polite way that we got annoyed and disturbed by their children today and so please try to talk to the kids,” she said.

The women became angry and upset toward Alkharashi. She explained to them that they were at a sacred place. She and other people left their children at home in order for them to concentrate on prayer. “We should prioritize our children over other things. It is better for mothers with small infants to pray at home because they might disturb and annoy other worshippers by bringing them to the mosque," she added.

The mothers were rude with her when she spoke to them, and the kids continued screaming and moving around, according to Alkharashi.

A mosque imam, who did not want his name published, said raucous behavior by children is one of several negativities they faced at the mosque and he regularly advised people about it. He said, “We want children to come to the mosque to strengthen the value of respect for mosques in their hearts. We love to guide them politely and gently when there is a negative behavior. We always advise parents to accompany their children and lead by example inside the mosque. The problem erupts when worshippers fight with each other if one of them criticizes the behavior of another's child."

Mothers in the women's section tend to leave their infants crying throughout the prayer, when the best thing they can do is to stay with their infants and pray at home, the imam said.

"My advise to worshippers is always be patient with children and guide them instead of harshly criticizing them because that will leave a permanent scar in them that will never be healed,” he added.