اولاد کی تربیت والدین کی اہم ذمہ داری

Hazrat Amr ibn Shu’ayb narrates from his father, from his grandfather, that the Noble Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Command your children to pray when they turn seven years old, and if they turn ten years old (and still do not pray) then beat them (lightly) and let them sleep separately (i.e. do not let two children sleep in one bed).”

If a child is correctly trained in childhood and moulded in the frame of good manners and morals, then he will flourish in good deeds until the last moments of life. And if he is not correctly trained at this age, his whole life will be ruined. Just as a gardener does not leave a fresh sapling to sway back and forth in the wind — the result of which would be that the plant never finds the path of height and growth, becomes as if lifeless, and is fit only for menial use or for burning in the fire — then how is it that today’s parents have become so heedless of the education and upbringing of their innocent children? Today’s parents have understood the meaning of raising children to be only this much: that good clothing, a good house, a good conveyance and good food be provided for them; after that no attention is given to shaping their minds, nor does anyone give thought to their moral training. Every home has become a cinema house, and then, when these children take whatever they absorb from this insensitive educational system and this morally-empty media and try it out on their own parents, relatives and kin, the disobedience of the children is complained of — whereas this is one’s own sown fruit which one has to taste oneself. Maulana Hali is describing the condition of his own era, but this is a picture of our era too.
Neither are they found in respectable gatherings, / nor are they to be found in schools of learning; / they go and add to the bustle of the fairs, / strutting about, looking and showing off; / from the book and the teacher they run away, / but in dancing and singing they are ahead of all.
The very time when the foundation of good or bad character is laid is this period of childhood. The child who learns good character in this period will remain good throughout life, and the one who learns bad habits will always remain bad. It is to this very point that the Prophet (peace be upon him) alluded when he said that every child is born upon the natural disposition of Islam; then his parents make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magian (al-Hadith). The example of a child is like a soft branch that you can bend in whatever way and whatever direction you wish. Once it has become strong, hard or dry, you cannot bend it. It is the duty of parents to bring up the child well from this very age of childhood, to teach him good words and virtuous habits, so that he remains good until the end and also makes good supplications for his mother and father. The effect of their good education and training will continue for several generations. Even after the parents’ death, equal reward and great recompense will keep reaching them. It comes in a blessed hadith that a man’s teaching his child good manners is better than his giving a sa’ of charity (Tirmidhi). And remember this too: just as righteous children are a continuing reward for their parents — for the recompense of their good deeds also reaches the parents — in the same way children devoid of religion and morals are a continuing sin; the parents too are responsible for their bad deeds, and before Allah, the Lord of Honour, they are answerable along with their own deeds also for the deeds of such children.
For God’s sake! Recognising your responsibilities, turn your attention towards your children. At least once, do take stock of how a week of your child passes: how much time you spend on his religious and moral training — and become the judge yourself of whether you are in a position to answer before Allah.