What is the best method for teaching children the correct creed?

Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner asks: What is the best method for introducing children, who are under the age of seven, to their Creator, and how is the correct creed established for them?

Answer:
Under the age of seven, they do not distinguish and do not know. But when they reach the age of seven and the age of discernment, their education begins, and the acknowledgment of the Creator is innate; it is embedded in the fitrah (the innate natural disposition). The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So this is embedded in the fitrah; they do not need us to teach it to them. But when they reach the age of seven, they are commanded to pray, and they study some of tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship), they study some light hadith, light matters, because they have discerned and come to understand what is said to them. As for the issue of teaching them tawhid al-rububiyyah or the like, this is embedded in the fitrah. But the question "Who is your Lord?" does not mean merely acknowledging lordship; it means "Who is your object of worship?" because "Lord" (al-Rabb) is used for the deity, the one who is worshipped. So when "Lord" is mentioned, the deity is included, and when the deity is mentioned, the Lord is included. And when both are mentioned, "Lord" has one meaning and "deity" has another, like Islam and faith, and like the poor and the needy. These are things that may overlap and may differ according to the context. So the result is that tawhid al-rububiyyah is embedded in the fitrah, and the child is born with it. Every newborn is born on the fitrah, and one does not deny the Lord except if his fitrah is changed. So his parents make him a Jew, or a Christian, or a Magian. If his fitrah is changed, he changes. But if he is left on his fitrah and then he is taught the Islamic religion, this agrees with the fitrah and is in harmony with it. This is the correct education. Yes.