4/301 – ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather (may Allah be pleased with him), reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Command your children to perform the prayer when they are seven years old; discipline them for neglecting it when they are ten; and separate them in their beds.” This ḥadith is ḥasan and was related by Abū Dāwūd with a sound chain.

5/302 – Abū Thurayyah Suraqah ibn Maʿbad al-Juhanī (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Teach the child the prayer at seven years of age, and discipline him for it at ten.” This is a ḥasan ḥadith recorded by Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī, who declared it ḥasan. Abū Dāwūd’s wording is: “Command the child to pray when he reaches seven years.”

[Commentary]
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) cites the narration of ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ says: “Order your children to pray when they are seven, and discipline them for it when they are ten.” The ḥadith is ḥasan and is corroborated by the report of Suraqah ibn Maʿbad al-Juhanī (may Allah be pleased with him). From this we learn one of the children’s rights over their parents: they must be instructed to pray once they reach seven, and, should they neglect it, lightly disciplined when they reach ten—on the condition that the children possess sound understanding.

If they reach seven or ten years of age but lack rational capacity, that is, they are afflicted with insanity;