In his special sermon of October 05, 2012 on the occasion of the
Annual Conference [“JALSA SALANA”] of the Jamaat Ul Sahih
Al Islam International, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius reflected on the
fundamental values and structural norms on which the edifice of human society
is constituted. The proper upbringing of children is central to the evolution
of an orderly society and Islam lays much emphasis on this by insisting upon, inter alia, the moral standing of
parents themselves.
Read the Extracts from the Sermon:
“Now I should
like to say a few words on the Islamic teachings concerning the right
upbringing of children. Islam has laid a strong emphasis on this point. Many
social evil can be removed by the way we bring up our children, and the future
generation may be saved from a lot of difficulties if kids are brought up
properly and made to follow certain lines of conduct. Because we belong to diverse religions and diverse
races, our children grow up with certain prejudices that could be eliminated
through proper education in their very childhood.
Let us teach our children to love one another
irrespective of caste, colour or cult. Let us tell them that the same blood courses
through their veins and the incidence of birth in different homes does not make
them different from one another. All children are equal and hence they should
love one another. The fact of belonging to such a religion or such a race does
not make one superior and another inferior. All are children of God and there
should be no ill-feelings, rancour or hatred among them.
The Moral Standing of
Parents
The first
guidance offered to us by the religion of Islam is that husband and wife should
marry on the basis of virtue and good
moral standing. All psychologists agree on the point that the
moral standing of parents leave an abiding impression on the children born of
their union. Another
guidance is that at the moment of this sexual relationship the father and
mother say this prayer: “O our God, keep us away from Satan and keep Satan
away from us.”
That is, at the moment of planting the seed, it is
necessary to invoke the blessings of God so that the fruit thereof may be
good and wholesome. Then when the child is born, the Azan and Iqamat
(calls to prayer) are read in the baby’s ears. Thus on the clear and virgin
tape of its mind some good words are recorded. We have the examples of Hazrat
Ibrahim and Hazrat Zakariyya who offered repeatedly special prayers on behalf
of their children. As if Islam lays down the responsibilities upon parents to
start praying for children even before their birth so that the children when
born may become good and respectable citizens capable of coping with the
difficulties of life and fighting the social evils of their time. The Holy
Quran further says: “Do not kill your children through fear of
poverty.”
That is to say,
parents should spare no expenses but rather consent to a lot of sacrifices, to
bring up their children properly and give them a sound education. They should
also see to it that apart from the right upbringing, the children receive the
best of cares, so far as their physical health is concerned. Hazrat
Muhammad (sa) has even asked
parents to have a strong control upon
themselves and not to be in a hurry to bring forth one baby after another.
The husband
must know approximately the moment when his wife does not ovulate so that he
can have sexual relations with her, so that this can act as a precaution till
their child is weaned with its mother, and thus afterwards they can plan to have another
baby with the permission of
Allah. Family life should be planned in such a way that both husband
and wife should profit by it and that evil also should not be propagated in the
world as it is the case today with PILLS. Islam
does not allow Family Planning on the ground of undernourishment or shortage of food. The food
production is increasing daily.
According to
the Holy Quran one seed can yield 700 and even more. One shining principle in
the proper bringing up of children has been thus enunciated by the Holy Prophet
of Islam (saw): “Honour and trust children and cultivate the spirit
of TRUST in them.”