Al-Hafiz Yunus Omotayo
☑️ The Holy Qur’an guarantees the best of children rights e.g. right to life, right to education, right to proper social, moral, and spiritual upbringing and right to self honour and dignity etc. All this can be deduced from the verses which prohibit Muslim parents from destroying children’s life because or for fear of poverty. The verses say: ‘Kill not your children for fear of poverty.’ (Q. 6:152) ‘Losers indeed are they who kill their children foolishly for lack of knowledge.’ (Q. 6:141) And the Holy Prophet (saw) instructs thus: ‘Respect your children and bring them up in a good manner.’ (63)‘Train your children in respect of three things: love of the Prophet, his household and recitation of the Qur’an.’ (64)
☑️ The Qur’an bestows precious well-wishing, blessings and prayer on children by teaching us the prayer thus: ‘And those who say, ‘Our Lord, grant us of our spouses and children the delight of our eyes and make each of us a leader of the righteous.’ (Q. 25:75) And, although, the Qur’an has offered the following prayer specifically to the two noble prophets – Isa (as) and Yahya (as) – but it, in fact, contains the best of well-wishing and blessings which Qur’an desires for every Muslim child in his life. It reads thus: ‘And peace is on him the day he was born, the day he shall die and the day he shall be raised to life again.’ (Q. 19:16)
☑️The Holy Qur’an offers children the best of advice by following which can guarantee them peaceful, successful, fulfilled and realistic life. It says: ‘And We have enjoined on man to be good to his parents. His mother bears him with pain, and brings him forth with pain. And the bearing of him and his weaning takes thirty months, till, when he attains his full maturity and reaches the age of forty years, he says, ‘ My Lord, grant me the power that I may be grateful for thy favour which Thou hast bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and that I may do such good works as may please Thee. And make my seed righteous for me. I do turn to Thee; and, truly, I am of those who submit to Thee. Those are they from whom We accept their good works and overlook their ill deeds. They shall be among the inmates of the Garden, in fulfillment of the true promise which was made to them.’ (Q. 46:16-17)
☑️ The Holy Qur’an relates to children the most soul-inspiring stories of the past prophets so as to share from some of the moral and spiritual aspects of their lives. For instance, about Prophet Yahya’s (as) childhood, the Holy Qur’an relates how he was commanded by God thus: ‘O Yahya, hold fast the Book.’ It goes further to say thus: ‘And We gave him wisdom while yet a child, and tenderness of heart from Ourself, and purity. And he was pious. And dutiful toward his parents. And he was not haughty and rebellious. And peace was on him the day he was born, and the day he died, and peace there will be on him the day he will be raised to life again.’ (Q.19:13-16)
Again, here is the story of Luqman and his little child whose name is said to be Tharan according to a narration of Al-Suhailiyy.(65) Qur’an tells that Luqman was a man upon whom Allah bestowed great wisdom. He however was not only grateful for this blessing of Allah but also used it wisely by teaching the wisdom to his child. Thus he taught his child to worship Allah and warned him against idol worship. He taught him spiritual ways and trained him in moral behaviours. Below is a glimpse of his wisdom as preserved in the Qur’an for the benefit of Muslim children. The Holy Qur’an calls our attention thus:
‘And remember when Luqman said to his son while exhorting him, ‘O my dear son! Associate not partners with Allah. Surely, associating partners with God is a grievous wrong.’ (Q. 31:14)
‘O my dear son! Even though it be the weight of a grain of mustard seed, and even though it be in a rock, or in the heavens, or in the earth, Allah will surely bring it out; verily Allah is the Knower of all subtleties, All-Aware.’
‘O my dear son! Observe Prayer, and enjoin good, and forbid evil, and endure patiently whatever may befall thee. Surely this is of those matters which require firm resolve. And turn not thy cheek away from men in pride nor walk in the earth haughtily; surely, Allah loves not any arrogant boaster. And walk thou at a moderate pace, and lower thy voice; verily, the most disagreeable of voices is the voice of the ass.’(Q. 31:17-20)
(An excerpt from my book titled: Memorization of the Holy Qur’an – Merits and Methods, p. 31-33)
May Allāh make our children the true delight of our eyes and grant them the most blessed and best of lives and destinies in this world and the Hereafter. Āmīn!
