The Ninety-Nine Names of Allah Tree

As the new school year begins and a shift of seasons takes place,  my girls and I decided to make a tree with the ninety-nine names of Allah adorned on the leaves. It is a simple and beautiful project, and a wonderful learning opportunity. As we glued the names on the leaves we discussed what the different names of Allah meant and tried to give examples. In Islam we do not have images of Allah, but through these beautiful names we can gain a better understanding of who He is. By encouraging them to understand all that Allah does for them, they will Inshallah gain a love and fear of Allah. They would realize that Allah is worthy of all worship because of the great qualities He possesses and that anyone who does not possess such qualities is not worthy of worship.

For example there are twenty-two names signifying benevolence and kindness, such as the All-Merciful, the Oft-returning, and the All-Loving. My girls found it interesting that Allah could love them so much, even more than their Mommy, and that He will always forgive them if they ask because He wants them to enter Paradise.

Striving to learn Allah’s names is a good habit for us as well. The Prophet (PBUH) said that “Allah has ninety-nine names, a hundred minus one. Anyone who learns them goes to Paradise.” (Bukhari, Muslim). What a beautiful gift it would be to help our children learn all the ninety-nine names. There is a song, the “99 Names of Allah” by Kamal Uddin, which might help get us started.

Things you’ll need:

• Flower Arranging Foam
• Vase
• Tree Branches and Twigs
• Coffee beans or decorative rocks
• Green Construction Paper
• The Ninety-nine Names of Allah printed and cut out on white paper (I got mine from Google Images)
• Glue
• Scissors

Instructions:

1. Arrange the tree branches in the vase held steady with the flower arranging foam. Decorate around the vase as desired. (I used coffee beans).
2. Fold the green construction paper over several times to your desired leaf size that will fit one of the printed names of Allah. When cutting the leaves keep one folded end intact so the base of two leaves will stay joined together.
3. Glue two of the names of Allah on the same side of the pair of leaves, repeat until all the names are used.
4. Fold the pair of leaves and glue around branches to secure leaves in place.
5. Repeat with all leaf sets and arrange to look like leaves growing on a tree.

                                                                                                                       Nosheen Ahmad

Dr. Nosheen Ahmad is a dentist and mother of three beautiful girls, Maryam (age 5), Safiya (age 3) and Zaynab (7 months). She loves finding fun and creative ways to teach her kids about Islam.