Islamic Values: 10 Tips for Raising the Next Generation of Muslims to Develop a Sense of Purpose and Service
Ever feel like you're in a tug-of-war, balancing modern life while trying to instil Islamic values in your kids?
You're not alone.
It's like walking a tightrope, right? You look around, see the rapid changes in the world, and there's this nagging thought: "Am I doing enough to keep my child's Islamic identity strong?"
I hear you.
It's a silent battle many of us are fighting, trying to be the anchor in a sea of modern influences. Well, guess what?
There's a way to turn this tide. I've got ten golden tips for you, a roadmap to raise confident, purpose-driven Muslim kids in this ever-evolving world.
So, let's dive right in, shall we?
Practical Tips to Instil Islamic Values in Your Children
Raising children in today's world while nurturing Islamic values can be challenging yet immensely rewarding.
But first, what are Islamic values?
Islamic values are mainly derived from the 99 names of Allah, the Quran, and the teachings of the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him). These values guide your responses during times of happiness, difficulty, and loss, and in any situation you find yourself.
Here are ten practical tips to help you guide your children on this path:
Establish a Foundation of Knowledge: Begin by teaching your children the basics of Islam. This includes the five pillars, the stories of the Prophets, and the importance of the Quran. Use engaging and age-appropriate materials to make learning enjoyable and memorable. Be their first teacher. They will never forget this.
Incorporate Islamic Teachings into Daily Life: Make Islam a part of your daily routine. This could be through regular prayers, reading Quranic verses daily, or discussing Islamic values during family time. It's about making faith a living, breathing part of your everyday life.
Model Islamic Behaviour: Children learn by example. Show them the beauty of Islamic conduct through your actions. Be kind, patient, and forgiving. Let them see you performing acts of charity, being honest in your dealings, and maintaining a strong moral character.
Encourage Questions and Open Dialogue: Foster an environment where your children feel comfortable asking questions about Islam. This openness will not only enhance their understanding but also allow you to address any misconceptions or doubts they may have.
Connect with a Supportive Community: Involve your family in your local Muslim community. Attending mosque events, Islamic classes, and community gatherings can reinforce the values you teach at home and provide a sense of belonging.
Celebrate Islamic Festivals and Milestones: Make Islamic festivals, like Eid and Ramadan, special and memorable. Use these occasions to instil a sense of pride and joy in being Muslim.
Utilise Technology Wisely: It is the digital age. Ensure that the content your children consume is wholesome and beneficial. There are many Islamic apps, games, and online resources that can make learning about Islam interactive and fun. And instead of being mere consumers of content, start teaching them how to become creators of valuable content others can use.
Teach by Stories and Parables: The Quran and Hadith are full of stories that offer valuable life lessons. Use these stories to teach your children about virtue, morality, and the importance of making good choices.
Instil Love for Allah and His Prophet: Nurture a deep love and respect for Allah and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in your children’s hearts. This emotional connection is critical for a solid and enduring faith.
Encourage Critical Thinking and Reflection: Guide your children to think critically about the world around them and to reflect on how Islamic teachings relate to their daily lives. This helps them internalise Islamic values and apply them thoughtfully.
Remember, the job of raising children in Islam is not just about imparting knowledge. It's about nurturing hearts and minds to embrace and live by the values of our faith.
Because only those who live by the values of Islam are the carriers of the Islamic civilisation. And one big responsibility of these carriers is the perpetuation of this civilisation. I detailed the why and the how in this article.
But it is not all beds of roses. Some influential groups of people have been at work to destroy Islam.
Because their evil will be too exposed if they start killing Muslims all over the world, they had to design other means -- killing Islam without killing Muslims.
They succeeded in bringing down the Khilafa over a century ago. They now realise that for as long as there are Muslims, the flame of the Islamic civilisation will not only survive, it will spread and light their own homes. But that is a crime to them. So they have to kill Islam.
This is a massive challenge for Muslims, among other challenges. But let me share what you can do to help the Ummah in...
Overcoming the Challenges
It is a great opportunity for you to be a Muslim parent.
Raising children with Islamic values can come with its share of challenges, but with the right approach, these hurdles can be transformed into opportunities for growth and strengthening of faith for you and your children. Here are some strategies to help you navigate and overcome these challenges:
Addressing Misinformation: The world is rife with misinformation about Islam. Equipping your children with the knowledge and critical thinking skills to discern truth from falsehood is vital. Encourage them to come to you with questions or doubts they may encounter about Islam, and address these concerns with clarity and wisdom, using authentic sources.
Balancing Tradition and Modernity: It is crucial to balance upholding Islamic traditions and navigating a modern world. Teach your children how Islamic values are timeless and how they can apply these principles in contemporary contexts without compromising their faith.
Dealing with Peer Pressure: Peer pressure can be intense, especially for young Muslims trying to fit in while adhering to their faith. Teach your children the importance of Islamic identity and self-confidence. Help them understand that it's okay to be different and that their faith is something to be proud of.
Navigating Social Media and Digital Influence: The digital world can be overwhelming. Teach your children about responsible usage of social media and the internet. Instead of stopping them entirely from using the internet, monitor their online activities not just for safety but also to ensure they access content that aligns with Islamic values. Remember that you will not always be with them. Teach them to use it appropriately so that when you are not there, they will not misuse it.
Fostering a Supportive Environment at Home: Create a home environment where Islamic values are lived and cherished. This provides a strong foundation and refuge for your children, helping them to thrive in other environments that may not share the same values.
Encouraging Positive Associations: Encourage your children to befriend those who share similar values. Positive friendships can reinforce their faith and provide a support system outside the family.
Dealing with Discrimination or Misconceptions: Unfortunately, your children may face discrimination or misconceptions about their faith. Prepare them for these situations by teaching them how to respond with patience, wisdom, and confidence rooted in a deep understanding of their faith.
Maintaining Open Communication: Always keep the lines of communication open with your children. Listen to their experiences, challenges, and successes in practising their faith, and provide guidance and support when needed.
Facing these challenges head-on with wisdom, patience, and faith helps your children navigate their path in Islam and strengthens your entire family's commitment to the faith. Helping your children with this is the best dawah you can embrace.
Further Important Actions to Help You Protect Islamic Values
By now, you should be familiar with the advice of the Prophet (peace and blessings be Upon him) about taking care of five things before five others.
One of the things is valuing your life before your death. This speaks volumes. Doesn’t it?
It's all about your personal relationship with Allah, the direct connection that guides your life. This relationship influences your actions in all aspects of your life, publicly and privately.
Allah didn’t just give you life and leave you to figure everything out alone. He provided everything – from the necessities to the luxuries – and, importantly, a set of values. These values aren’t just rules but blueprints for living a fulfilling life here and hereafter.
Also, Islam is more than rituals; it's a guide for every aspect of life.
When you embrace Islamic values, you're protecting yourself and your children's Islamic identity and shielding them from the myriad challenges they'll face.
Importance of Religion in Nurturing Your Children
Religion is the core of your existence as a Muslim.
Remember, Islam is about balance. Allah doesn't expect absolute perfection in your religious practice as long as you continuously strive to improve. What's crucial is holding onto your faith and passing it down to your kids. It's okay not to be perfect.
What counts is your continuous efforts to grow and improve, avoid wrongdoings, and live up to the values Islam teaches.
Strengthen Your Relationship with Allah
Your relationship with Allah is your life's foundation.
It's based on total submission to His will, as outlined in the Qur’an and the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him). This submission is what shapes your life and guides your actions.
Accepting to be a Muslim means you are submitting everything of yours, your life inclusive, to Allah because He created you so that you will worship Him.
Making Allah the central focus of your life is not a superficial statement. It's a profound commitment. It entails harmonizing your aspirations, actions, and desires with divine teachings, turning your life into a testament to Allah's principles.
This submission doesn't signify a loss of autonomy; instead, it represents liberation from worldly constraints, providing profound empowerment. Placing Allah at the forefront is a conscious choice, bringing moral clarity to navigate life's complexities.
Avoid Excesses in Your Religious Practice
Islam teaches moderation.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) warned about the religion's challenges and advised making things easier for others, not pushing them away with harshness. It's essential to be mindful of individual strengths and weaknesses, remembering that balance is critical. Excesses in the practice of the deen led to the destruction of some communities.
Faith without control can lead to excesses and dogmatism. Two things that destroy a thriving civilisation are laxity and puritanism. Remember, the Prophet warned that this religion is tough and therefore advised us to make things easy for people and avoid scaring them away by not going overboard in the practices of Islam.
When dealing with people based on religion, understand their personality and dispositions. Some are weak, some are strong, and some are enduring, while others can't even stand any regimentation. You want to raise your children, the future of Islam, on a balanced understanding of Islam. That way, they won’t grow into ghuluw (excesses) in the deen.
Fight the Tendency to Fall into Laxity
Conversely, being too lax in your principles can lead to downfall.
Civilisations have fallen because they either abandoned their principles or became too relaxed in upholding them. You must strive for a middle ground. Laxity is one of the killers of civilisations. A society without principles is already on its way to doom.
A society with principles but rejects it has signed the process of its own destruction. History is witness to the fall of previous civilisations. While extremism is ghuluw in adherence, laxity is ghuluw in dropping responsibilities. Sort of dereliction of duty.
Maintain the Golden Mean - Ummatan Wasatan - in Your Practice
Allah refers to Muslims as Ummatan Wasatan – the balanced nation.
Neither extreme nor lax, you're called to moderation. This balance is so vital that Allah warns against abandoning it, even in worship. The Prophet (peace be upon him) taught to love him appropriately without elevating him above the status Allah has given. Even though he taught that your deen is not complete unless you love him more than your parents.
Yet he forbade elevating him beyond the status Allah granted him.
Work for Dunya and Akhira
Balance the spiritual and the material.
You learn values in the mosque, the spiritual realm, but you're meant to apply them in every aspect of life. It's not just about praying; it's about embodying those values continuously. Don't live a double life – one in the mosque and another outside.
Let your spiritual life guide your material life while your material life strengthens your spiritual life, just as Zakat strengthens your faith while your faith guides your life.
Said another way, the duty of your spiritual awareness is to guide your material transactions, while the role of your material transactions is to support your spiritual awareness.
This is how you live within the boundaries of Allah.
Aqeedah and Ethical Fading Attitude
Tawheed, the belief in Allah's oneness, is your guiding star.
Avoid anything that might weaken it, like neglecting prayers or small acts of kindness.
Ignoring small acts of kindness and compassion can sometimes fade away your sense of morality, just as continuous compromises on your Islamic values so as to fit into society's demands or give in to the pressure of society can fade your aqeedah away gradually.
The aqeedah of Islam is called Tawheed. It is the north star or compass or even the qibla of Islamic values. The ultimate goal of every element of Islamic values is to establish the Tawheed in all its forms in a Muslim’s daily practices.
You should avoid habits or attitudes that gradually erode your declaration of Tawheed. Habits such as neglecting to pray salah on time, arrogating the nature and power of Allah to the creatures of Allah. What separates a good Muslim from a good non-Muslim is aqeedah, the source of your Islamic values. Without a sound aqeedah, all your good deeds are not different from those of good non-Muslims.
You must teach your kids the negators of Tawheed. For not knowing things that can negate one’s aqeedah is one of the dangers of aqeedah gradually fading away.
Certainly the legacy of Islam will be diminished, bit by bit, if someone grows up within Islam without knowing the characteristics of the days of ignorance. — Umar bin Khattab
The Goal of Islamic Values
The goal of Islamic values is to uphold and advance Islamic civilisation based on Tawheed.
These values unite Muslims despite differences in race, geography, culture, and history, creating a common identity and purpose. This is what makes Muslims look alike in practice and faith despite their apparent differences. However, there are forces trying to undermine these values, even using respected Muslim figures to weaken the faith from within.
As a parent, your role is to nurture these values emanating from Tawheed in your children so they grow up with a strong sense of purpose and service grounded in their faith.
It's about preparing them to be the next generation who will carry these values forward.
Problems
Islamic values, pure and profound, often find themselves competing with a plethora of man-made values.
These alternative values aren't just passively existing; their proponents are actively working to undermine the values we hold dear in Islam. This isn't just a battle of ideologies; it's a struggle for the hearts and minds of the next generation.
The most insidious aspect of this challenge is how it's sometimes executed from within. It's not uncommon to see respected, well-known figures within the Muslim community being used, knowingly or unknowingly, to erode the very essence of our faith gradually. This isn't about blatant attacks on Islam; it's far more subtle.
These individuals, perhaps scholars or influencers, use their platforms and influence to subtly dilute the zeal for Islamic teachings. Their approach might not be direct, but the impact over time can be devastating.
Organisations like the FBI and RAND Corporation have been known to engage in initiatives like building networks of so-called 'moderate Muslims'. While moderation is a critical Islamic value, the term 'moderate' in this context is often a euphemism for those willing to dilute Islamic principles to align with external agendas or conform with the calls of secular liberalism.
There are some callers at the door of jahanam. Whoever answer their calls towards it will be thrown into it. I (i.e. Huazifa bin Yaman) requested, “Please describe them for us.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “They are people with the same skin as us, they speak our language.” — Reported by Muslim
These efforts are not about fostering genuine understanding or respect for Islamic values; they're about reshaping Islam to fit a different narrative, killing Islam instead of Muslims.
This phenomenon isn't just theoretical. Documents like the RAND report on Muslims detail strategies for this kind of influence. By providing support and resources to selected individuals within the Muslim community, these external forces aim to change Muslims’ adherence and commitment to their faith subtly.
Some of these individuals might be aware of their role; others might believe they're simply accessing opportunities or bringing about a modern interpretation of Islam.
But the danger lies in the long-term effects.
Over time, if these influences go unchecked, they can significantly alter the core values and beliefs of the Muslim community. What starts as a seemingly benign reinterpretation of certain aspects of Islam can snowball into a widespread detachment from fundamental Islamic principles.
My worry over my Ummah is (the presence of) misguiding leaders. — Hadith
Your role as a parent, then, isn't just about teaching your child to pray or fast. It's about instilling in them a deep, unshakable understanding of their faith that can withstand these external pressures. It's about nurturing a sense of identity and belonging firmly rooted in Islamic values. Remember, the future of Islam doesn't just depend on practising Muslims; it relies on Muslims who can discern and uphold the true essence of their faith amidst a sea of competing voices.
Conclusion and Call to Action
As you reflect on these challenges and the responsibility of nurturing Islamic values in your children, remember that this journey is not just about preserving traditions.
It's about actively participating in the growth and development of a faith that has stood the test of time. Your role as a parent is pivotal in shaping the future of Islam, especially in a world where values are constantly being challenged and redefined.
First and foremost, ground yourself and your family in the core principles of Islam. Ensure that your understanding of the faith is based on authentic sources – the Qur’an and the Hadith. This foundation will give you and your children the strength to withstand external pressures and influences.
Secondly, engage with your community. Islam has always been about the collective – a community of believers supporting and strengthening each other. Involvement in your local Muslim community can provide a support network for you and your children, reinforcing the values you teach at home.
Encourage open dialogues with your children about their faith. In a world full of misinformation and differing viewpoints, it's crucial that they feel comfortable discussing their beliefs and questions with you. This openness will not only strengthen their understanding of Islam but also build trust and deepen your parent-child relationship.
Lastly, lead by example. Children learn more from what they see than what they are told. Your daily actions, your commitment to your faith, and how you interact with others will leave a lasting impression on them. You are their first teacher. Show them the beauty of Islam through your character, kindness, and actions.
Remember, you're not just raising a child; you're raising a future Muslim leader, a vanguard of Islamic values in a world that desperately needs them.
Your efforts today are an investment in the future of Islam, a contribution to a legacy that will outlive us all.
May Allah guide us all.
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Talk to you soon, in sha Allah
Teslim
The Muslimchanmaker
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