A Short Lecture: Islamic Nurture for Our Children

In the name of Allah, all praise is to Allah,

May Allah send His salutation, peace, and blessing upon His Messenger and His chosen man.

O fathers and mothers, indeed, the piousness of sons and daughters is the expectation of every parent.

O fathers and mothers, beseech Allah to bestow upon you vigor to improve your children,

give them affection during their childhood and youth,

maintain a good relationship with them, and attend to what they listen to, read, and follow.

Especially in this modern era in which many kinds of social media comes to expose corruption and deviation,

Laa hawla wala quwwata illa billah.

O the blessed fathers, you must always follow your children,

in small and big matters of theirs, in their idleness and their activities.

O the blessed mothers, O the noble mothers, you must keep your eyes

on your daughters. O fathers and mothers, you have to be

excellent patterns for your children. Whosoever wants to improve their sons and daughters

they must start by improving themselves.

Because their behavior is just imitating yours, what you do and likewise they will do too,

and what you do not do and they will not do too.

So ask Allah! Whosoever expect to excel their children,

they should begin from themselves first and then their children will be better by the permission of Allah.

"... and their father had been righteous. ... " (Al Kahfi: 82)

This verse is in the middle of the Chapter of Cave which we read it every Friday,

And the (Quranic) scholars explained that (the intended meaning of that) is their seventh great-grandfather.

And because of that Allah 'azza wa jalla says in a hadith qudsiy (which means)

"Indeed, if I am obeyed, I will be pleased. ...

... If I am pleased, I will bless and My blessing has no end. ...

... And, indeed, if I am disobeyed, I will become angry. And if I become angry, I will curse ...

... and My curse will reach the seventh grand-children." (Recorded by Ahmad.)

So beware, O blessed mothers and noble fathers, beware of

falling into disobedience toward Allah since the after effects will descend to your children.

On the contrary, if you are among those who are righteous and have taqwa,

and you ask Allah piety for your children,

" ... My Lord, make me one among those who establish prayer, and my descendants as well. ..." (Abraham: 40)

And if you believe (in Allah) and do righteousness, it will be good tidings for you that your children will follow you,

"And those who believed and whose descendants followed them in faith, ...

... We will join with them their descendants, ...

... and We will not deprive them of anything of their deeds. ..." (At Tur: 21)

Who can be a father who can make time to sit with his children

at home and remind them about Allah 'azza wa jalla,

give them pieces of advice, and make them nearer to Allah 'azza wa jalla. He sits with them with faithfulness,

recites the Book of Allah 'azza wa jalla together with them

and together they read some hadiths of the Prophet shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam,

in order to teach them obedience to Allah. Because at one time, O you, the fathers and mothers,

will leave this world and leave your children behind.

Upon what have you accustomed them? What have you taught them?

Our obligations are not merely working for money, food, and drink or providing them a place to sleep, a vehicle, and clothes.

But, do you give them something in order to strengthen their faith? Do you remind them about Allah 'azza wa jalla?

Do you command them to establish prayer? Do you bring them to the mosque with you?

When you go out for Fajar Prayer, do you bring them with you?

Many fathers are very vigorous to have them accomplish doing their daily duties,

homework, and other activities of theirs. Well, that's good.

But, do you command them to establish prayer?

"And enjoin prayer upon your family and be steadfast therein. ..." (Thaha: 132)

"And he (Ismael) used to enjoin on his people prayer and zakah, ...

...  and was to his Lord pleasing." (Maryam: 55)

Because of that the Prophet shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam said, "Command your children to pray ...

... when they are seven years old and beat them (if they refuse) when they become ten. (Recorded by Ahmad.)

The Prophet shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam is the best example in this matter. Take a look at how that used to teach a kid,

who was eating, he was Amru bin Abi Salamah, his hands went around the dish.

He himself told about his experience, "I was a boy and my hand used to go around the dish,  ..."

Hence the Prophet shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam said, "O boy! ..."

only in three short words and brief lessons of teaching and nurture

"O boy! Mention the name of Allah, eat of the dish what is nearer to you, and eat with your right hand." (Recorded by Bukhari and Muslim.)

Allahuakbar! Now, a kid eats and drinks with his left hand but his father does not forbid him nor teach him.

Even I ever saw with my eyes a man was accustomed to smoke with his right hand,

with the right hand, and eat and drink with the left hand. Subhanallah!

How could you do a forbidden act with the right hand while you eat something good with the left hand

and drink with the left hand? Therefore we must teach our children about these affairs.

Accustom your daughters to cover their bodies. O blessed and noble mothers, teach them.

A mother is a school, you must teach your daughters to wear heejab correctly,

cover their bodies, and get dressed in attire of Muslim women.

Look how the female companions (sahabiyah) whenever they went out from their houses, as if crows were roosting upon  their heads,

because they were perfectly covered by black heejab.

Now, look at how male and female youngsters get dressed now,

in the era in which channels are dominating, their clothing is far from Islamic criteria

(which require properly-covering and loose clothing), so that their clothing make those who look them astonished,

La hawla wala quwwata illa billah.

So we have to be vigorous to improve the quality of our children.

And start it with improving the quality of yourselves by making a better relationship between you and Allah 'azza wa jalla.

A salaf (early pious man) said to his children, "By Allah, I multiply my prayer ...

... in order that you become righteous children."

Can we hope righteous sons and daughters meanwhile we just provide them with harmful and destructive facilities?

We do not attend to them, do not approach them, do not direct them, and do not care about them.

We must know with whom our sons and daughters go out, with whom they gather, with whom they go home.

Where do they go? When do they leave home? we must know for what purpose of their leaving and coming.

That is so, we must fear Allah in the matters of our sons and daughters.

We try our best to be 'an excellent brick' to establish a good society.

And when you do this duty, O my Muslim brothers and sisters, at present, you teach your sons and daughters

then if you teach them upon righteousness, fear (to Allah), and guidance (of Islam), they will grow up and grow up,

becoming a young generation who acts upon what they are accustomed to by their parents before.

When you have raised them upon righteousness, later they will raise their children similarly and likewise the next generation.

It will be a blessed lineage which will bring back the glory and magnificence of this ummah,

so that it returns to its position upon righteousness, taqwa, and so on.

So beseech Allah! This is a brief talk about the importance of amending the piousness of our sons and daughters

by means of supplication, by means of attending to what they are doing,

creating good activities at homes, in our dwellings, and so forth.

And the talk regarding life is actually longer but it is a brief advice

which I address it towards myself and other people in order to strive

for the improvement of our sons' and daughters' piety. We instruct them to obey Allah 'aza wa jalla,

attract their hearts and make them close to Allah. And if you want to improve

the piousness of your sons and daughters, ponder upon the Book of Allah 'azza wa jalla

and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam,

there are many lessons and teachings, a lot of good advice, and other things

that may be a means of improving the piousness of ourselves

as well as our sons and daughters.

"I have left (two things) that if you hold on them steadfastly, ...

...  you will never get astray, (they are) the Book of Allah and my Sunnah." (Recorded by Al Baihaqi.)

O Allah, amend our sons and daughters,

O Allah amend the Muslim women and their daughters and the Muslim men,

all of them, the male, the female, the young, and the elderly,

Amin, Allahumma Amin. Allah knows best. May peace, mercy, and blessing be upon you