Raising Islamic children in the America --
I have been trying to research a lot about how Islamic kids are raised in the West and the roles parents or guardians play. I know how hard it is when parents themselves are ignorant about their religion or their knowledge in Islam is so modicum. I'm not saying parents whose knowledge is rudimentary have their kids gone astray. What I am saying here is all Muslim parents are required to steer their children to the righteous path and that is their main responsibility in which Allah will hold them accountable. If they fail to discharge that God given obligation, the kids will be lost in this so called "modernity".
AS we know children like hearing stories, and thus the parents should take advantage of this interest in them. So that they can relate the story some certain matters like faith, avoiding lies and cheating and emphasizing on the lessons children can extract from these stories. Stories of prophets' companions, teachings and normative examples of sunnah or the good deeds they did are helpful to mold children's minds to be steadfast in Islamic practices.
In this article, I will be touching on many issues affecting Muslim parents and children in the west today.
During the last two decades, the populations of Muslims have considerably tripled, so did conversions. What struck me was how kids either born in US or brought here as babies have started speaking English and studying everything about the lifestyle from their non-Islamic surroundings, which I think would have a repercussion to them when they are grown. It is parents' job to ensure that their children receive a proper Islamic education despite being enrolled in secular public or private schools. The consequences of neglecting Islamic duty are severe, particularly in the West. Everyone among us has to take his or her role in mentoring the kids and teaching them how to adapt to Islamic methods to the best they can.
As an old cliche saying goes “charity begins home” I personally did all I could to talk to my sisters about this pushing the kids to the religion and told them how to teach them proper manners in Islam. Thank to Allah, my efforts have paid off, with their kids now have started going to madras on weekends.
In order to know what is going on, I spent my whole weekend to get to know how things were going and what the kids were studying at madras in SeaTac mosques in Tukwila and Seattle. I saw a large number of young children, well dressed flocking to the mosques. I talked to them and asked them what they thought about Quran and Islam in general. They seemed very enthusiastic about studying Islamic religion.
I was so delighted how Quran teachers were committed to providing a highly enriching environment for brain development of students in Islam. Some teachers volunteer themselves to teach the kids Quran, hadeethis and Islamic jurisprudence in all levels during weekends. For example, Masjidul Abu bakar holds Quran contest for kids, which I hope is real encouragement and assistance to our people. I as well visited some Islamic centers that provide students with audiovisual materials that aid their studying.
“Those educational resources are not only readily available in bookstores but online as well” Mohamed Haggis said
“We have some teachers who are available for home schooling networks. Such those programs are custom tailored courses for individual student who do not want to join madras or their parents do not have any means of transportation. “He added with big smiles on his face.
I am sure such that online studying is still at the early stage so it will give parents a chance to let their kids learn Islam better through this technology and interactive lessons over the internet. I promise if they want any kind of assistance, I'll be ready to do so.
In a nutshell, I was pleased to know that 80 percent of parents are doing their best to influence their kids' Islamic future to be the best they can. I hope other parents living in the rest of states or countries in the West would do the same or more than that. Therefore, it's good for parents to let their kids seek Islamic knowledge based on the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
I want the kids to check each and every of those educating video clips posted below.
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