How Should I Deal With My Daughter’s Unusual Behavior?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

I am worried about my 5-year-old daughter, she has some unusual behavior from around 2 years of age. She tends to lie down on the floor or bed and rub her private parts. How am I supposed to approach this matter? Is this some kind of jinn influence?

Answer

Thank you for your question. There is nothing for you to worry about. A child is always exploring the world around them and even their own bodies. Although it may not be common in some children to do this, it may be common in others. I would not think of this as an influence of jinn.

Your job as a parent is to be loving, kind, and stop her when she does this. You can grab her hand to stop her or just tell her to stop. Children are not born in this world knowing what is right and wrong nor do they come with any instructions memorized, so we need to teach them.

Tell her that the private parts are only to be touched when washing them and that’s it. Tell her it’s a bad habit and one doesn’t ever touch their private parts whether they are a child or an adult. Keep telling her this when you see it, without getting upset and praise her for stopping. She will drop this habit like a fly in sha Allah.

May Allah make the coolness of your eyes.

[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad 
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied Aqidah, Fiqh, Tajweed, Tafseer, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied Fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She recently moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.