We were sitting in the playroom, the kids were doing their colouring when out of the blue, my 4 year old said to her younger sister, “Adik, don’t be scared, Allahu fis samaa’” !(Allah (the Most High) is at the sky)

Barakallahu feeki my dear.

She may have said it absent-mindedly and as much as I am proud of her, a realisation hits me.

I realised that, we as parents can babble out  many islamic teachings and beliefs to our children and they can listen and mimic it but how much do they really absorb and understand what we are really conveying? Are we –the parents doing enough? And the most important question is, are we doing it correctly?

In this modern time where fitnas are everywhere, can we raise our children with strong fundamental beliefs? Can we uphold in our children the religion of Islam as practiced by our Rasulullah PBUH, his companions and the early generation?

This is the first part of RAISING MUSLIM CHILDREN WITH SOUND CREED SERIES. May it benefit all of us and hopefully I will be steadfast in this series.

The foundation of a sound parenting is stated in the Quran and Sunnah.

As mentioned in the Al-Quran in surah Al-Luqman:

And [mention, O Muhammad], when Luqman said to his son while he was instructing him, ‘O my son, do not associate [anything] with Allah. Indeed, association [with him] is great injustice.’

The first instruction or guidance that Luqman gave to his son is the teaching of the Oneness of God (Tawheed).

Children are born on Al-fitrah. Rasulullah PBUH said : No child is born except on al-fitra (Islam or primordial human nature) and then his parents make him Jewish, Christian or Magian, as an animal produces a perfect young animal: do you see any part of its body amputated?” [Sahih Muslim]

This means that a child is born pure with natural inclinity towards good and the belief in one God.Thus, we as parents are responsible to nurture it in the right way possible inshaAllah.

1. Parents as a guidance and role model.

A good tarbiyah is having good examplary model from us the parents. The most important characteristics that we should try to strive is taqwa and piety.

Parents hoping to raise righteous children should themselves be righteous. How can we  hope that our children wake up for fajar themselves,when we ourselves perform fajar prayer 10 minutes before syuruk?

Parents need to to make sure their aqeedah is intact. Have a good relationship with Allah and put their aqeedah into practice.

An example would be: if we were to teach to our children that Allah is Ar-Razzaq, The Provider, that the food that were served on the table everyday is a rizq from Allah and we should always give our thanks to Him- then we as parents should always make sure that these provision comes from a halal source.

Parents need to live Islam,act in accordance with it and uphold the aqeedah.

2. Making sincere prayer (Dua’)

“O my Lord! Grant me from You, a good offspring. You are indeed the All-Hearer of invocation.”

Dua’ is the strongest weapon for a muslim. Parents should make sincere dua’ that Allah make their children righteous. At the end of the day, we are only the humble servants of Allah. Making dua’ is the sole reliance to Allah.

Wake up for tahajjud and pray pray pray! Pray that all of us be steadfast in our religion. Pray for our children all the best things we wish for them.

To be continued.

Read part 2 here : https://raisingmuslimkidlets.wordpress.com/2020/06/21/raising-muslim-children-with-sound-creed-part-2-of-2/