How to raise children - as per Islamic principles

Good manners and etiquette – The best gift for a child

 

Every father wants to give his child the best possible gift.  He wants to make his child happy by giving him the best of all things.  For this, a father gives his child valuable, expensive things to his child.  All those gifts are things which are helpful in, at most, one phase of life.  After a period of time, the gifts given by the father are not useful anymore.  However, there is one gift that is so good that there is no gift better than that.  This gift is the instruction in good manners and etiquette, taking good care of the child and proper upbringing of the child.  This is the gift that a child can use as provision for his/her whole life.

 

    This instruction in good manners will always be shining through in the day-to-day life of the child and will always be expressed through the child’s character.  A good habit once taught by a father to his child slowly becomes ingrained in the child as he/she repeatedly performs that good deed and finally becomes second nature to the child.

 

What else can be a better gift than something which can be used to good effect for the entire life!  There can be no other gift better than something which can be used for the entire life.  Other gifts can be used in this material world only for a time, but proper upbringing of a child is that priceless gift that not only is it beneficial in this world but its effects will be seen in the hereafter as well.  The parents are given reward on this and the child gets the reward of performing good deeds.

 

   For this reason, the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has ordered time and again us to teach proper etiquette to our the children.  There is a Hadith:

 

Translation: You make your children praiseworthy and raise them well.  (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith No. 3802)

 

Hadhrat ‘Ali (May Allah be well pleased with him) says:

 

Translation: Instruct the members of the household in good things and teach manners and etiquette to them.  (Jame’ Ul Ahadeeth, Hadith No. 33822)

 

We have seen how proper upbringing of children is given prime importance in Islam.  Now let’s see some basic principles of raising children.