What Is the Ideal Way to Raise Children in Islam?
Answered by Shaykh Khalid al-Kharsa
Question
What is the ideal way to raise children in Islam?
Answer
Steps to Nurture Future Generations
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
It is essential to deal with children as the foundation and preparation for them to become righteous pillars of the nation, strengthening their personalities and integrating them into society with a solid connection to the mother tongue, in which Allah has revealed His book. The optimal way to achieve this is through the following steps:
- Strengthening the child’s personality so they find an environment that nurtures their talents in their home.
- Fostering courage within the bounds of goodness and etiquette.
- Promoting a spirit of cooperation between them and others.
- Mastering the Arabic language is the key to all knowledge, as it is the language of the Quran and Hadith. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) emphasized learning, reading, and writing. He ransomed prisoners of Badr with money, but for each prisoner, he asked for ten children to be educated.
The Example of Umar
Once, our Master ‘Umar passed by some boys who were practicing archery, and they were missing their target. One of them raised his voice, saying, “O Commander of the Faithful, we are educated people!” ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him) responded, “By Allah, your mistake in archery is more beloved to me than your mistake in your language.”
The Example of Abu al-Aswad al-Du’ali’s Daughter
There was a girl, the daughter of Abu Al-Aswad Al-Du’ali, who said, “How beautiful is the sky.” Her father corrected her, saying, “Its stars are beautiful.” She replied, “I didn’t intend to ask; I intended to express astonishment.” Her father told her, “Say, ‘How beautiful is the sky,’ and open your mouth.” He then informed ‘Ali. Imam ‘Ali (Allah be pleased with him) raised papers and said, “Learn this way, as this is the ideal method by which we educate our children.”
[Bashar Muhammad Reda al-Qahouji. Wuqafat Ma‘a Tarbiyat al-Awlad. Damascus: Dar Nyrabain wa Dar al-Waraq, 1st Edition, 2010]
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.
