Child Upbringing

 Child Upbringing

Zafar Hashim Azmi

The upbringing of children is deeply significant and highly valued in Islam.

Islamic principles place a great emphasis on the proper raising of children.

The Messengers and Prophets (peace be upon him) also emphasized nurturing and raising their children.

Children are a very precious gift of Allah Almighty. It's one of the greatest blessings of Allah S.W.T.

He bestows children whom He wants and Deprives of whom He does not want.

Allah SWT says in the Holy Qur'an:

18. If you count the bounties of Allah,

you cannot count them all. Surely,

Allah is Most-Forgiving, Very-

Merciful.

(Surah Al nahl - 18)

Allah Almighty says in another place:

49. To Allah belongs the kingdom of

the heavens and the earth. He creates

what He wills. He grants females to

whom He wills, and grants males to

whom He wills.

50. Or He combines for them couples,

both males and females, and makes

whom He wills barren. Surely, He is

All-Knowing, Very-Powerful.

(Surah Al shura - 49,50)

If Allah SWT blesses someone with a baby, they should organise an Aqiqah for the newborn according to the Sharia and choose a beautiful name.

What is Aqiqah?

Aqiqah is an Islamic ritual performed upon the birth of a child. This ceremony expresses thankfulness to Allah S.W.T for blessing the family with offspring.

Children are a very big asset of the future that the parents have a great responsibility to look after and take care of them sincerely and honestly.

There are some easy ways of raising and nurturing our children. Doing this we can easily raise and nurture them well.

These are as follows:

1- The father who enters his home knocking the door and saying Assalamu Alaikum, then, meets his children and wife with a beautiful smile.

At that moment, he may teach three things.

1- Asking permission while entering the house.

2- Greeting.

3- Meeting with a smiley face.

2- The parents who respect their fathers and mothers and express their love and affection towards them. Seeing it, their children also will do the same, they will also give respect to their parents, obey their orders and comply with their words.

3- The parents who extend their helping hands towards their wives in their house' works. Their children will learn the lesson by it. They will also try to assist their parents in their works, as well as they will try to help others.

4- If mothers care for wearing Hijab and Niqab, perform Salah five times a day with punctuality, recite the Holy Qur'an daily in the houses, spend their time in remembering Allah and glorify Him, then, their daughters and sons will learn the lesson by this activities and it would be a great lesson and the best upbringing.

Their daughters will also try to put on Hijab and Niqab, they will also recite the Holy Qur'an and perform daily prayers, and get busy in remembering Allah SWT and glorifying Him like their mothers.

Likewise, it is a responsibility for the parents that they must tell the children moral and ethical stories that benefit them and make them also learn some important supplements and Duas.

5- Living together with love and affection, agreeing on any issue in front of the children, managing their works with mind and peace, behaving children with well manners and good ways, avoiding to fight before the children, talking with a low voice, all would be useful and beneficial for them. The children will learn a lot from them, they will also try to spend their time with love and peace inside the house and its outside. They will respect elders and talk to them mannerly.

6- A father who takes an opinion from his wife and children in some works and shows respect for their opinions and views, it would be a positive thing for their children to take an opinion from others.

7- A sincere and faithful Father always teaches their children truthfulness, sincerity, honesty, loyalty and fidelity. He always refrains from lying, deceiving, conning and cheating.

A father who makes a promise to his children and raises hopes for the future, and then makes good on their promise, additionally he abstains from breaking the promise. In this way, he teaches them how to make a promise and how to fulfil it.

8- The parents who maintain cleanliness in the house and keep everything organized and in a proper way, and manage their tasks accordingly, reviewing that the children will also try to do the same.

Today, it is an era of social media. Every one has a smartphone, even children use it. We see that some schools and colleges create their own whatsapp group to send homework, daily study material and so on, they further organize online classes. The children are compelled to use mobile due to it. In this situation, it's parents' responsibility that they must monitor and watch their children, whether they are doing online classes or not, or they are just wasting the time.

If the children watch any videos, the parents should oversee them.

However, watching and monitoring children is very essential. Parents also avoid giving them mobiles especially during the class. If they give them in any situation, they should take care and monitor them.

Nowadays, we also see that the Qur'an and Tajweed are taught in the Masajid of our villages and cities, and basic Islamic Knowledge and supplements are memorized to them. Furthermore, Salah, and another important Islamic deeds are taught and exercised. We should send them to the Masajid so that they can learn and take advantage of it, and transform it into their lives.

May Allah bless us and grant us Taufiq to serve humanity! Ameen!

22 September 2024