And obey Allah and the Messenger that you may obtain mercy. (Qur’an 3:132)
Ramadan Parenting Challenge 2014
As Muslims we must all obey Allah
and the Prophet (s). Allah knows what’s best for us and He has guided the
Prophet (s) on what’s best for us. Obedience is very important in Islam.
Whoever is our Muslim leader we must follow him, whether it be a leader of a
country, a community, a group, a team, a family, we need to be obedient to him.
Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah's Apostle saying, “We are the last but will
be the foremost to enter Paradise.” The Prophet added, “He who obeys me, obeys
Allah, and he who disobeys me, disobeys Allah. He who obeys the chief, obeys
me, and he who disobeys the chief, disobeys me. The Imam is like a shelter for
whose safety the Muslims should fight and where they should seek protection. If
the Imam orders people with righteousness and rules justly, then he will be rewarded for that, and
if he does the opposite, he will be responsible for that.” (Bukhari 52:204)
In the home, a wife and children
must obey the head of the family, which is the husband/father. Concerning the
wife, Ibn Hibban narrated that Abu
Huraira said that the Prophet (s) said: “If a woman prays her five (daily prayers),
fasts her month (Ramadan), guards her chastity and obeys her husband, it will
be said to her: ‘Enter Paradise from whichever of the gates of Paradise you
wish.’” (Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani)
Since the
Feminist movement, obeying one’s husband has had a bad connotation. They think
that women should have the same rights as men so they don’t need to listen to
them. But this has lead to the destruction of law and order. There is much
confusion in the family unit as there is a power struggle. The children are
confused and there is disharmony.
The
family is like a crew on a ship. There is only one captain and that is the
father. He is the one who leads the ship and everyone obeys him. The captain
has a second in command and that is his first mate. The mother is the one who
fills this role of first mate. She is the second in command but she takes her
orders from the captain. The children all fall into line as the sailors on this
voyage as they navigate through the dunya
(world).
When you
obey your husband your children will copy you and do likewise. If you don’t
have this in place by the time they enter into puberty then they will likely
not obey their father or you as well. So teach your children that obedience is
a good thing, obedience that does not contradict our obedience to Allah.
Challenge for today is
to:
- Be obedient to your husband. Model this behaviour to your children.
- Teach your children obedience to Allah, then the Prophet (s), then their father, their mother, Muslim leaders etc.
Do these and continue
to do them throughout Ramadan.
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