Children

O - 1 Month Month two Month three Month four Month five Month six Month seven Month eight Month nine Month ten Month eleven Month twelve One to five years School Stories for Children

 

Home
Up
Children
Polygyny
Relationships

Media

School

Friends

Music

Guidelines

Holidays

 

 

In a Hadith of the prophet it is said to be merciful to one's children. 

" To be merciful to one's children, kiss them and embrace the.  [Anas said:  The Prophet (

Narrated `Aisha:  A Bedouin came to the Prophet (

As can be seen by this Hadith, we should be kind to our children even though the task facing us to raise them with Islamic standards can be daunting.

 

1.10 Reward of Provision and Raising Children Raising children is a great mission in this life and should hold a place of high priority. Spending on one's family to cover their essential needs is more rewarding than spending in any other cause. The Prophet () said: {When the human being dies, his/her deeds will come to an end except three kinds: Sadaqah Jariah (continuous charity), beneficial knowledge, and a good child that will pray for him/her.} (Muslim). The Prophet () also said:{A dinar (currency unit from gold) you spend in the sake of Allah, a dinarr you spend to free a slave, a dinar you donate to the poor, and a dinar you spend on your family, the most rewarding among them is the dinar that you spend on your family.} (Muslim). The Prophet () also said: { The best dinar a man spends is a dinar he spends on his family, a dinar he spends on his animal, -and a dinar he spends on his companions in the sake of Allah.} (Muslim). Whoever offers or loses three or two children in the sake of Allah, they will protect him/her from the Hell fire, as the Prophet () told us. The Prophet () said: { When three children die for a Muslim the Hell fire will not touch him except for fulfilling the oath.} (Muslim). The oath fulfillment refers to the Qur'anic verse that declares that every human being will touch the Hell fire. Allah (s.w.t.) said: If There is not one of you but shall approach it (Hell). That is a fixed ordinance from Allah. Then We shall rescue those who kept from evil, and leave the evildoers crouching in it.}} [Al-Quran: Maryam (19:71-72)]. Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri narrated: {A woman from Al-Ansar came to the Messenger of Allah () and said: "The men have got all your speeches, so, make a day for us on which we come to you to teach us from what Allah taught you." He said: 'Meet on such and such day". They met, and he came to them and taught them from what Allah taught him, and then said: "Every woman among you offers (in the sake of Allah) three children they will be protection for her from the Hell fire." A woman asked: "How about two?". The Messenger of Allah () said: "And two".} (Al-Bukhari and Muslim). Raising children, especially girls, is very important in Islam.  It is a good way to seek more rewards in the hereafter. Many people tend to discriminate between their sons and daughters, and tend to favor the boys. The Prophet () emphasized the reward of raising daughters and showed that it is a protection from the Hell fire. Imam Al-Bukhari narrated these four Hadiths in his book Al-Adab Al-Mufrad (not to be confused with his famous book of Hadith called Sahih Al-Bukhari): The Prophet () said: { Whoever had three daughters and was patient on raising them, and clothed them from his substance, they would be a protection for him from the Hell fire.} The Prophet () also said: {Any Muslim has two daughters, and be a good companion to them, will enter Heaven because of them.} Jabir Ibn 'Abdillah narrated: {The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) said: "Whoever has three daughters that he provides a dwelling for, supports, and has mercy on, Heaven is his guaranteed reward.' A man asked: 'How about two?'. The Messenger of Allah () said: "And two".} The Prophet () said:  Whoever has three daughters or three sisters and supports them will enter Heaven.} 

Educating children, in the way of  Islam, is a difficult task in the western world.  Resources are limited, so what are we to do?  As in my case, you do the best you can.  You look for resources outside of your community, you seek help from others in your situation and most of all you rely on the Qur'an and Sunnah to keep you going.  I think that being a Muslim woman in western society, who is a mother, is the greatest challenge and a form of Jihad.  Even more difficult a task is ensuring that the children are instilled with the Islamic values in the west or anywhere in the modern world.  This is because of all the outside influences, the media, school, friends etal.   It is a constant battle to counter-act these.  With the media, you have the exposure to TV, movies, printed material and even the internet.  In the schools, you have the system teaching things that go against your beliefs, teachers trying to push their ideas and in some areas religion being a controlling factor.  Then you are confronted with their friends.  So how do you cope?  On this page I will cover what I have found and have learned on how to deal with these issues.  I have studied this problem, because of being a mother of two teenage boys, and have found many helpful books and sites to assist.  These are listed on my links page.  I am willing to answer any questions you may have if you wish to email me at the link below

Media

We have all watched television, seen a movie, or read a book.  Today, children are bombarded by countless images of violence, sex, language, and the list could go on.  "It is the first duty of parents towards their children to guard their Aqeedah.  The Prophet (pbuh) said:  `Every infant is naturally born as a Muslim, but it is his parents who turn him into a Jew, A Christian, or a Magian.'1" Therefore we as mothers and parents should guard what our children watch, see and hear.  Make a habit of having time together to do positive things together.  In our family,  we try to have positive reading material.  Each of our children have their own copy of the Qur'an.  A mother leads by example.  If you don't want your children doing non-Islamic things a mother must watch what she does.  Children are the great imitators in life and they learn by example. 

 

School

Public education is the right of every child born and living in the United States.  Today's idea of a free education is not necessarily true. Still children are required to go to a public school unless they have an alternative available.  There are advantages and disadvantages to public education.  As a Muslim parent, especially in the early years, it is important for us to know just what our children are learning in school.  There are rights that every parent has and it is important to know what those rights are.  Often times the school system will ignore the rights of the minority in lieu of the majority.  We as Muslim parents can insist that our children be accorded areas to pray, they can not be penalized for observance of the month of Ramadan and the observance of the Eids.

Where possible it would be appropriate to home school a child.  This is a good idea in the case of a young girl.  The link here has some good information on home schooling children.

 Muslim homeschooling

 

Friends

The best that can be said about a Muslim parents responsibility as far as their children's friends is be aware.  Be aware of who they associate with.  Know where they are and what they are doing. 

There is a book out that is called Guidelines for Raising Children by Mahmoud Ridha Murad that has some good ideas.

Music

This is an area with many different concepts.  The moderate point of view is that it is allowable only as long as it is within Islamic standards.   It was related that at the time of Eid a companion of the Prophet

I have done some more research on this matter and have found the following evidence against music (i.e. singing, musical instruments). The first link was sent to me by a wonderful sister and the second is a link to a page on my site that deals exclusively with this issue.  The information there was also sent to me by the same wonderful sister.   Please click on the links below for the information.

bullet

http--www.islamworld.net-music.html

bullet

Music

 

Great site for new Muslimah mothers:  http--www.geocities.com-islam_ap-

Site on child development:

http://www.nncc.org/Child.Dev/child.dev.page.html

 

In conclusion, we as Muslimahs and mothers must keep in mind that we are responsible for shaping the next generation of Muslim's and it is up to us to try to the best of our abilities to instill the knowledge and values that will sustain our children in the society of man.

 

Summarized Sahih Al- Bukahri:  by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan

 

Send me an e-mail:

 

Top of Page