30 Nights of Stories for Ramadan

Ramadan arrives with a long list of things to organise, and most Ramadan plans for children add to that list rather than take from it. This one is deliberately small: one story each night, in a rough order, for thirty nights. Ten minutes after iftar, or in the car, or at bedtime. Nothing to print, nothing to glue, nothing to buy.

A note before the plan. You will often see the month divided into ten days of mercy, ten of forgiveness, and ten of freedom from the Fire. That division comes from a narration that most scholars grade weak, so we have not used it. The groupings below are simply ours: a way of giving the month a shape, not a claim about how Allah has divided it.

Nights 1-10: beginnings

The first ten nights are the easiest ones to be enthusiastic about, so spend them on the stories that open the whole world up: the first human being, the ark and the flood, the boy who questioned the stars, the fire that was told to be cool. These are the stories children retell at school the next day.

• Adam, the first of us, and the first mistake and the first forgiveness.
• Nuh, and a boat built on dry land in front of people who laughed.
• Ibrahim, the boy who looked at the stars and asked who made them.
• Ibrahim and the fire, which Allah commanded to be coolness and safety.
• Ismail and the well of Zamzam, and a mother running between two hills.

Nights 11-20: patience

The middle of Ramadan is when the month gets heavy, for adults and children both. This is the right stretch for the stories about holding on: Yusuf in the well and the prison, Ayyub who lost everything and still called on his Lord, Yaqub who wept for years and never once complained to anyone but Allah.

• Yusuf, thrown into a well by his own brothers, and what he said to them years later.
• Ayyub, who lost his health and his wealth and his children, and whose dua Allah answered.
• Yaqub, whose eyes went white from weeping, and who said: I complain of my grief only to Allah.
• Yunus, and a dua made in three darknesses.
• Bilal, radiyallahu anhu, and one word said under a heavy stone.

Nights 21-30: wonder, and the last ten

The last ten nights carry Laylatul Qadr, and children can feel that the adults around them have changed gear. Match it with the stories that are pure wonder: a sea opening into a road, a king who halts an army for one ant, a newborn who speaks in his mother's arms. End the month on something enormous. How to explain Laylatul Qadr to a child →

• Musa and the sea, with an army behind and deep water ahead.
• Sulayman and the ant, and a king who stopped everything for one small voice.
• Maryam, told to shake a palm tree, and given dates and a stream.
• Isa in the cradle, who spoke by Allah's permission when his mother could not.
• The people of the cave, who slept for three hundred years and woke to find Allah had kept them.

How to actually keep it going

• Pick one time and defend it. After iftar, in the car, or at bedtime. The time matters less than it being the same time.
• Miss a night without restarting. This is a list, not a streak. A missed night costs you nothing.
• Let them choose sometimes. A child who picks the story listens to the story.
• Do not quiz them afterwards. The point is that they want tomorrow's one.

Every story in this plan is narrated in the Sukun Kids app, in a full version and a shorter one, so a tired night can still be a story night. Browse all the stories →