Teaching your Child about Islam
Freda Shamma PhD
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Children are born in a state of fitra (purity) and then their parents teach
them to be believers or unbelievers. According to the Musnad Ibn Hanbal, "The
children of the unbelievers are better than you grown-ups. Every living
creature is born with a righteous nature." It is our obligation and duty as
parents to teach our children so that they grow up to be believing, practicing
Muslims. Sending the child to an Islamic weekend school or to a full-time
Islamic school is an important but minor part of their Islamic education. The
major 'institution of learning' for each child is his family, and the major
'professors' of this institution are the parents.
ROLE MODELING
The most effective way to teach anything to anybody is to be a role model.
This is why Allah sent human beings as prophets to all peoples. Whether we
willingly accept this job or not, it is a fact that your child learns how to
function in life by watching what you do. Even the absent parent is role
modeling to the degree that a boy, whose father abandoned his family, will
probably treat his own children the same way.
Every time we deal with our children, we are teaching them, whether we intend
to or not.
There is a famous poem by an anonymous author that depicts this vividly. It
begins:
If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
Therefore we must examine carefully how we deal with our child in order to have
a desirable end result.
This same poem continues:
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
PoEtEsS
"Happiness is the key to the foundation of satisfaction, contentment and
acceptance"…Zohra Moosa
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom
(i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue
with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone
astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy
Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in
His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites
(men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I
am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if
Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of
camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever
calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who
follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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Recommended:
http://www.ikhwanweb.com
http://www.islamonline.net
http://www.islam-guide.com
http://www.prophetmuhammadforall.org
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