Your Children are a Trust on your Necks in front of your Creator... So Protect Them
(Translated)

The Islamic belief and Shariah rulings are not information for memorization or abstract ideas for mental indulgence, but rather they are concepts that motivate action and make human behaviour constrained by it and adapt accordingly.

Islam must be given as concepts to have an impact on behaviour and a tangible reality i.e. concepts become a spiritual force or a material force that pushes a person to adhere to them and to carry on in life on its basis.

Islam has taken great care of the family; because if the family is built on obedience to Allah (swt) and on fearing Allah, and on harmony, affection and mercy, the society will be merciful and harmonious, and it will produce righteous offspring, who will carry out the order of Allah, the Blessed and the Most High, on this earth.

This message begins, the message of building the family, from the good selection of spouses to each other, as well as the choice of the female guardian for her of a man of Deen and morals. A choice based on adherence to the command of Allah (swt). Next is the responsibility that each of the spouses should bear the burdens of building this family entity - in a sound, straight, and fruitful way, and bear those burdens and be patient of them, especially in a time when distractions, deviations, and temptations are rampant.

Allah (swt) says in His Noble Book:

[وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجاً لِّتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُم مَّوَدَّةً وَرَحْمَةً إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ]

“And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquillity in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed, in that are signs for a people who give thought” [Ar-Rum: 21].

On the authority of Abu Umamah (ra): the Messenger of Allah (saw):

«مَا اسْتَفَادَ الْمُؤْمِنُ بَعْدَ تَقْوَى اللَّهِ خَيْراً لَهُ مِنْ زَوْجَةٍ صَالِحَةٍ؛ إِنْ أَمَرَهَا أَطَاعَتْهُ، وَإِنْ نَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا سَرَّتْهُ، وَإِنْ أَقْسَمَ عَلَيْهَا أَبَرَّتْهُ، وَإِنْ غَابَ عَنْهَا نَصَحَتْهُ فِي نَفْسِهَا وَمَالِهِ»

“After fear of God a believer gains nothing better for him than a good wife who obeys him if he gives her a command, pleases him if he looks at her, is true to him if he adjures her to do something, and is sincere towards him regarding her person and his property if he is absent.” [Ibn Majah].

And because children, boys and girls are the comfort of the eye of their fathers and mothers, and they are the backbone of society and the men and women of the future, Allah (swt) mentioned them in the supplication of the servants of Ar-Rahman, He (swt) says:

[وَالَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَاجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّاتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَاجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَاماً]

“And those who say, “Our Lord, grant us from among us from our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous” [Al-Furqan: 74].

And when we know that Allah (swt), did not create us in this world except to obey Him and worship Him in a manner that pleases Him, and when we also know that this world is nothing but the abode of work and cultivation and that the Hereafter is the abode of harvest, the abode of reckoning, and the final abode, then we must assume our full responsibilities for ourselves and for all who has the right upon us to take care of, in a way that pleases Allah (swt), and the closest and greatest responsibilities are: to raise children, take care of them and prepare them to be a righteous and a good building block in this world, this is not by hope and wishful thinking, but by the hard and diligent work of the parents; the husband and wife, giving children their rights at every stage of their lives, as well as making them adhere to their duties of all kinds, whether towards themselves, their family, or their Creator (swt).

Among the duties of children towards themselves:

To educate themselves with the ideas of the ideology and make it the basis of their thinking and to embody Islam in them by moving from running their affairs according to their inclinations and desires to conducting their affairs according to their ideological thought. And they should have a level of morals and etiquette, in their speech, dress and behaviour.

Among their duties towards their parents are:

Loving them, obeying them, making sure that they honor them, listen to them, and to their guidance and advice, and to abide by their commands with regard to arranging and managing the affairs of their lives for their own good.

Among their duties towards their Creator:

This point comes on top of all of the above, for there is no good in one who does not give weight to his Creator or to His rulings, to His commands and prohibitions. If our children adhere to the commands of their Lord, their conditions will be straightened and they will win in this world and the next. Allah (swt) says:

[وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ * مَا أُرِيدُ مِنْهُم مِّن رِّزْقٍ وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَن يُطْعِمُونِ * إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ ذُو الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينُ]

“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me * I do not want from them any provision, nor do I want them to feed Me * Indeed, it is Allah who is the [continual] Provider, the firm possessor of strength” [Adh-Dhariyat: 36]. He (swt) says:

[وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْراً أَن يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ وَمَن يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالاً مُّبِيناً]

“It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should [thereafter] have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error” [Al-Ahzab: 36].

Their duty towards their Deen and their Ummah:

To work with the workers to resume the Islamic way of life by establishing the second Khilafah Rashida (rightly-guided Caliphate) State on the method of the Prophethood, and to realize that they possess a civilized project that has a specific way of living that is not similar to any style of living and is not similar to any way, they are the hope and pillar of this Ummah.

Returning to the responsibility of parents for their children:

None of us are ignorant of the reality in which we live today, this reality in which we live in the absence of Islam and its state that our Lord (swt) commanded. This means that we do not live as individuals and as a society according to the Shariah rules that Allah (swt) commanded, because the one responsible for establishing all of Allah’s rules on earth is the Islamic State, which preserves individuals and society in all aspects of life, and only by it their conditions are straightened and regulated. This is why the responsibility of fathers and mothers is greater, graver, and more dangerous. We all know that this responsibility extends from the beginning of the life of our children until after their puberty, even extending beyond their marriage and building of their families.

Parents are responsible for the children in the home: in its order and arrangement and participation in its responsibilities, in their studies, times and programs, in their hours of sleep and rest, in their prayers and worship, in their thought and understanding, in their realization of values and thus they find balance in their children’s lives.

They are responsible for them outside the home: where they go, who they make friends with, when they go out and when they come back. It is not permissible in any case to leave the decision to leave the house and return to it in their own hands, to decide what they want, and it is not permissible for parents not to know the type of companions and friends of their children.

It is also the duty of fathers and mothers to follow up their children in their schools, to be assured of their conditions and their commitment to their work, the level of their studies, and the nature of their behaviour, and this is information they take from their teachers.

Likewise, one of the responsibilities of parents towards their children is to raise them on the meanings of morals and respect in dealing with people, and to guide them that the basis on which they should deal with people is what is the Halal and what is Haram, honesty and trust, friendliness and benevolence, sweetness of tongue and good statement, and that they deal with people according to what is required by the nature of the relationship between them: they should not give trust to those who are worthy and those who are not worthy, and they must not deal with kindness that exceeds its limits, and they must not talk about what is not necessary, and that the basis of their concern must not be people’s pleasure with them, for every place has a suitable conduct.

Therefore, parents should work hard and diligently to mold their children’s thoughts and understanding, their feelings and emotions, their inclinations and tastes, their motives and goals, and what their hearts is convinced of, and shows on their behaviour, in a sound way according to the doctrine of the ideology, and they raise them on the meanings of obedience to Allah, His love, adherence to His commands, and avoidance of His prohibitions. In this there is all the good for the parents and children with their Creator.

There is nothing greater for parents to know than realizing that their children who have grown up in obedience to Allah (swt) will be among the intercessors for them on the Day of Resurrection. The parents will reap the fruits of their righteous upbringing, when they see that they are saved and won on judgement day.

And an important point that I should highlight:

In light of this technical progress in which we live, in which communication between people has become easily accessible, and we hardly see a young man or woman without the latest devices (mobile phones) that contain various programs and enormous communication capabilities, and because most parents think that they are doing the right thing by providing these devices to them under the pressure of their insistence or to keep up with what other parents do with their children. Therefore, on this point, parents should pay attention to several points:

1- That they always check these devices, and there is no such thing as “privacy”, as this is a word that has brought many misfortunes to parents and children.

2- To place restrictions for their children on the use of their phones, and the quality of programs and applications on them.

3- That they specifically prevent their daughters from taking pictures of themselves and storing them on their devices.

4- To prevent their daughters from exchanging or sending their pictures through their phones, since parents do not know in whose hand these pictures will fall.

5- Parents must always put in their accounts those issues, problems and tragedies that occur constantly as a result of bad Their children's use of electronic communication sites.

6- That they prevent their daughters from taking pictures on occasions and weddings through their phones, and there is no need to explain the danger of having those pictures on their phones when they are lost from them, for example.

7-Parents should constantly check the social media sites on their children’s devices, and check their phones and communications, and it is not permissible in any way for parents to be subject to the argument: that these actions violate the “privacy of their sons and daughters.” There is no such thing as privacy with regard to parental care for their sons and daughters, and there are no “liberties” but rather there is a commitment on the part of the children to the instructions of their fathers and mothers who are more capable than them, more knowledgeable than them and more aware of everything that is in their interests and the correctness of all their affairs and conditions.

Hardly a day passes without hearing tragedies that break the hearts. Cases of fall, drop, and extortion are numerous, and we all know their meanings and tragedies.

Finally:

Children are the flower of the world’s life and its adornment, and they are the joy of souls and the comfort of the eyes, Allah (swt) considered them to be a trust of their parents and commanded parents to take care of them, to produce a Muslim generation that surrenders to His Lord who believe in Him, Azza Wa Jal who establishes the rules of the Islamic Deen. Taking care of them is obligatory on the parents, and they will be questioned about it on the Day of Resurrection. Allah (swt) says:

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَاراً وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ عَلَيْهَا مَلائِكَةٌ غِلاظٌ شِدَادٌ لا يَعْصُونَ اللَّهَ مَا أَمَرَهُمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ]

“O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are [appointed] angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded” [At-Tahrim: 6].

Therefore, Islam has given the care of children special importance in all stages of their lives; Embryos, infants, children and young adults, until they reach the stage of manhood and femininity, and this care is not an easy responsibility due to the large number of external influences that interfere with education and care.

Your children are a trust on your necks in front of your Creator... so protect them.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Rola Ibrahim