What Is Meant by Upbringing (Tarbiya)?
Answered by Shaykh Khalid al-Kharsa
Question
What is meant by upbringing (tarbiya)?
Answer
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious and Merciful,
The meanings of upbringing (tarbiya) are numerous, but they converge in preparing and forming the child to be righteous and a reformer in his society.
In the Arabic language, upbringing encompasses various meanings, including reform, completion, nurturing, care, good management, commitment, kindness, increase, abundance, and growth. The dictionary Mukhtar al-Sihah mentions that upbringing involves the development of physical, mental, and moral functions to achieve their perfection through training and education.
Upbringing is a purposeful process with its own objectives, goals, and ends. It requires plans and means that evolve as the child moves from one stage to another. Ibn Sina defines upbringing as a means of preparing the young for their religion and the world simultaneously, forming them intellectually and morally, and enabling them to acquire a trade that suits their inclinations and nature and allows them to earn their living.
For more, see Bashar Muhammad Reda al-Qahwaji, Waqafat Ma‘a Tarbiyat al-Awlad; and Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi, Jawami‘ al-Adab fi Akhlaq al-Anjab.
Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Khalid al-Kharsa is a distinguished scholar from Syria, born in Damascus in 1960. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Da‘wa Islamiyya in Tripoli, a higher diploma in Comparative Fiqh from the University of Omdurman in 1998, a master’s degree in Comparative Fiqh from the Faculty of Shari‘a and Law at the University of Omdurman in 2002, and a Ph.D. in Comparative Fiqh from the same institution in 2010.
He acquired knowledge and spiritual guidance from Shaykh Muhammad Salih al-Farfur, Shaykh Abdul Razzaq al-Halabi, Shaykh Muhammad Adib al-Kallas, and Shaykh Abdul Rahman al-Shaghouri, may Allah have mercy on them all.
He received Ijazas from several scholars, including Shaykh Muhammad Amin Siraj, Shaykh Abdul Ghani al-Daqar, Shaykh Muhammad Sa‘id al-Kahil, Shaykh Malik bin al-Arabi bin Ahmad al-Sharif al-Sanusi, Shaykh Muhammad Usman Bilal, the Mufti of Aleppo, and others.
Shaykh Khalid lived in Damascus for 52 years, where he engaged extensively in educational and social activities before being displaced from there. He moved to Istanbul at the end of 2015 and co-established “Markaz Jami‘at al-‘Ilm Wa al-Hidaya” within two months of his arrival. In Istanbul, he is active in educational roles. He serves as the director and teacher at the Sheikh Abdul Razzaq al-Halabi Institute, a lecturer at Dar al-Fuqaha, and a teacher at the Dar al-Funun Waqf.
His scholarly works and research include his tahqiq on “al-Rasa li al-Salihat min al-Nisa” by Hafiz Yusuf bin Abdul Hadi, “Adab al-Murta‘i in the Science of Dua (Supplication),” “al-Isti‘ana bi al-Fatiha,” “Rashat al-Aqlam – Explanation of Kifayat al-Ghulam” by Shaykh Abdul Ghani al-Nabulsi in Hanafi Fiqh, “al-Hada’iq al-Wardiyya fi Ajla al-Naqshbandiyya” by Khani, and “al-Arba‘in al-Tusiyya” by Muhammad bin Aslam. May Allah preserve him and make his contributions beneficial.
