The Stages of Spiritual-Ritual Education, with Emphasis on Prayer and Fasting

No doubt, every age-group has its own features and demands. If the process of education is based on the stages of growth, mental development and features of each age-group, it will be successful. Parent's unawareness of features, stages and method of teaching ritual duties and responsibilities is the most important factor of their failure in ritual education. Using a descriptive-analytical method, the present paper seeks to expound the most important stages of teaching religious duties by referring to traditions about education and religious sources. The research findings indicate that among the ramifications of religion, praying and fasting are more necessary than other ritual duties to be taught to children from their childhood. This paper suggests that prayer is formally taught at the age of 7 and fasting at the age of 9. As the child grows mentally and physically, the grounds for instructing religious injunctions and their conditions and other religious duties and recommendations are prepared. This paper seeks to provide a practical technique for teaching ritual duties, for which at least six stages can be considered. If a child achieves the final state of this technique, as the most important aim of this paper, ritual education will be realized completely and correctly.