By Sheikh Salah al-Budair – 01 Rabi Al-Thani 1438

His Eminence Sheikh Salah al-Budair, may Allah preserve him, delivered the Friday khutbah entitled, “Child-Rearing: The Importance of Care and Supervision,” in which he talked about the Islamic teachings on child-rearing, pointing to the large number of those who lie in wait to harm the young, and drawing the attention of parents and guardians to the evil plots hatched against their children and the necessity of nipping them in the bud.

Praise be to Allah, Who has loaded His creation with His bounties, generous favours, and benevolence. I praise Him with my heart, my limbs, and my tongue. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, Who has no partners – a testimony whereby we hope to attain His good pleasure and His Paradise. I also bear witness that our Prophet and Master, Muhammad, is His servant and messenger, who was chosen for prophethood from the best lineage of people. May Allah bestow His peace and blessings upon him and upon his family and Companions, who fought against falsehood with words and weapons.

Now then, O Muslims!
Fear Allah by seeking His good pleasure and avoiding what He has prohibited.

“O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islam [as Muslims (with complete submission to Allah)].” (Al ‘Imran: 102)

O Muslims!
Righteous children constitute the best investment and the greatest benefit, and giving them guidance is the means to all virtues. Adolescence is the beginning of youth; it is the time when a child develops into an adult. People at this age have little experience and limited knowledge, and generally lack careful thought and deliberation. Young people are easily influenced by others, filled with admiration for them, and quick to imitate and copy them. They rarely overcome difficulties except with the wise guidance of mature adults and the help and support of concerned advocates. When a young man or woman admires someone, they align themselves with him, copy him, take him as their role model, mention him often, see things through his eyes, emulate every action of his, imitate his outward appearance, demeanour, and attire, and adopt his ideas and conduct.

Youth and young age are associated with innocence and immaturity, for a youth lacks wisdom, practical knowledge, and experience. When a youth accompanies those whose sincerity is doubtful and whose faith, honesty, and religion are not to be trusted, they will deceive him by means that he will not expect. They will drag him into falsehood, give him poison in a sugar-coated pill, and recruit him to fight against his own religion, country, family, and society without realizing it.

Some people are just like furious lions, fierce wolves, and predatory hawks that are lying in wait for their preys, hoping to snatch them in the absence of their protective guardians and the negligence of their compassionate fathers. A father who leaves his son wandering through a valley of lions, playing in the midst of hungry beasts, and crossing deserts in dark nights, will definitely lose him and make him an easy prey to the wicked and a perfect target for their malicious plans. Similarly, he who leaves his children in the midst of immorality and sin, where they hang around in hotbeds of vice, go through the crowds of people, keep company of anyone without monitoring, spend nights outside home without control, and stay away without accountability, has indeed been undutiful to them and has wronged them.

The most disastrous consequence occurs when they fall victims to the whisperings of devils, the khutbahs of alarmists, the books of extremists and falsifiers, and the tools of secret organizations, takfirist, terrorist groups, partisan ideologies, atheist movements, and licentious practices that fill the hearts of our youth with hatred against our rulers, scholars, countries, and religion. By so doing, they start a huge fire with tiny sticks and twigs.

O Young People!
Never be taken in or deceived. Never listen to sedition mongers or obey them. Never be taken away from your family or stolen from your homeland. Never be stripped off your honour, your principles, and your religion.

“O You who are walking in a pitch-dark desert with blurred vision! O you who are traversing a land in the middle of nowhere without any provision or water! Stop and see what is ahead of you. Look around you and take heed. Listen to reason and come back to your senses. Turn to your Lord in repentance of the sins you have committed and abandon evil deeds, for those who repent of sin are like those who have not sinned at all.”

O Parents and Guardians!

Take heed and draw lessons from what happens around you. Be responsible guardians, be constantly cautious and watchful, and be wary of the infiltrating invaders who have swarmed in your midst. Be wary of the deceitful and treacherous people who set up dens, poison minds, deceive the young and the inexperienced, and win over the ignorant and the naïve.

When a young boy reaches adolescence and approaches puberty, he should be given additional care and attention. Your children will remain yours as long as you form a close relationship with them, befriend them, treat them with gentleness and leniency, lavish love on them, keep generous to them, and give them sincere counsel. They will, however, be controlled by your enemy if you underestimate them, degrade them, scorn them, and distance yourselves from them.

Therefore, listen to your children attentively, inform them if they enquire about something, welcome them with open arms when they seek your expertise, and acquaint them extensively with your experiences when they seek inspiration from you. Do not get impatient or let them down when they ask you for advice. Do not be like stormy winds or shuddering quakes that explode in wrath and ignite in flames. Kind, loving words are more effective, wise words are more helpful, and reasoned dialogue will yield more satisfactory results. Allah will definitely ask all His servants about those He has placed under their charge and see if they have fulfilled their duty or neglected it. Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Allah will ask every guardian whether he preserved or lost those He has placed under his charge, till He asks every man about his household” (Reported by Ibn Hibban).

O Teachers and Educators!
The illness will not get worse, nor will the remedy be lacking, as long as we have good, loyal, and noble teachers in our society. Therefore, be mindful of Allah, take good care of our youth, and protect our children and society from alien ideas and despicable manners. May Allah make you and me from among those who fulfil their duties and keep their covenants.

“O you who believe! Ward off yourselves and your families against a Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who disobey not (from executing) the Commands they receive from Allah, but do that which they are commanded.” (At-Tahrim: 6)

I have said what you have heard and I seek forgiveness from Allah. Ask Allah for forgiveness; He is ever Oft-Forgiving to those who turn to Him again and again in obedience and in repentance.