Shaping Tomorrow: The Role of Parents in Raising Children
Javed Attari Madani
A child’s first school
Cradling six-month-old Muhammad Jawad in my arms while I worked on my laptop, my wife attended to her tasks in the kitchen. As Jawad laid there, I was transported back to my own childhood. At around the age of four or five, my dear late mother would often hold me in her embrace, reciting verses from the noble Quran. Those cherished moments in her lap still linger warmly in my memories.
Those pleasant moments have become etched in my mind as beautiful memories. I wish to place my head in my mother’s love-filled lap and experience the sweetness of that Quranic recitation again, but alas, I cannot, as my mother has left this world (Dear Allah Almighty! Forgive my mother without accountability. Āmīn).
Reflecting on this memory, I would like to share some insights. Please, give them your careful consideration:
1. The way you interact with your children today will leave an indelible impression on their hearts for the rest of their lives.
2. Strive to instil Islamic values in them by embracing a thoughtful approach in their upbringing.
3. Treating your children well in childhood can lead to them achieving success in the future. True success lies in understanding and acting upon the golden principles of Islam, thereby attaining Allah’s pleasure.
4. Avoid arguing in front of your children.
5. Whilst sitting next to your child, or whilst placing them in your lap, recite the Quran, read an Islamic book, or invoke peace and blessings upon the beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم. By Allah’s grace, I also take my child in my lap and recite the Quran and other litanies. This makes him smile as he thinks I am conversing with him. Like this, as well as taking pleasure in the spiritual effects of the Quran’s words, I also delight at my son’s smile.
6. Continuously chant the word “Allah” near your newborn child, so that the first word the child utters is “Allah”.
7. When the child is put to sleep and when the mother is feeding him milk, she should remember Allah Almighty and invoke peace and blessings upon the beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم; this will also have a positive effect on the child. اِنْ شَــآءَالـلّٰـه
8. The father should take his child (who is at the age of understanding) to the masjid for Friday prayers or for another salah, so that the child naturally inclines to the masjid and salah in his adulthood.
May Allah Almighty make your children the coolness of your eyes.
اٰمِیْن بِجَاہِ النَّبِیِّ الْاَمِیْن صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم
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