How should parents bring up their children in morally decading time
INTRODUCTION
Definition and Obligation of Family
As an individual, one may be at one and the same time a mother, a grandmother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, an aunt or a niece. Similarly, if one is a male, one may be at one and the same time a father, a grandfather, a husband, a brother, a son, an uncle or a nephew. This fact is all too obvious to everyone here. But there are many social systems in our time which care very little whether one is a wife or a husband, a mother or a father, etc.
For example, in the free and liberal societies, where the individual is regarded as the basic unit of society, one has the freedom to do what one wants, when one wants, because one is considered free to live one’s own life.
A woman, for example, may choose to live with one or more men or even women; and a man may be a father, and not know it, and his child or children may not know who their father is. On the other hand, there are social systems where the individual counts for little, and the commune or the state takes full control. In these circumstances, the nurturing of the children becomes a social industry; health care, education and all other needs are public business; and so being a parent under this system carries few, if any, responsibilities.
Maybe, there is much to gain from material comfort, but the love and warmth are missing from the equation. The human being is devalued and natural bonds and needs are stifled or destroyed. The basic unit of society cannot be the individual or the commune. Both these systems are unworkable and produce much personal stress and distress for everyone, especially the women and children. They also tend to produce society’s disorders in the form of crime and delinquency.
In Islam, on the other hand, one is not allowed to be just an individual, who is free to do whatever one wants, whenever one wants. Any system which attempts to make the individual the basic unit of society and gives him total freedom, does not take into
Definition and Obligation of Family
As an individual, one may be at one and the same time a mother, a grandmother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, an aunt or a niece. Similarly, if one is a male, one may be at one and the same time a father, a grandfather, a husband, a brother, a son, an uncle or a nephew. This fact is all too obvious to everyone here. But there are many social systems in our time which care very little whether one is a wife or a husband, a mother or a father, etc.
For example, in the free and liberal societies, where the individual is regarded as the basic unit of society, one has the freedom to do what one wants, when one wants, because one is considered free to live one’s own life.
A woman, for example, may choose to live with one or more men or even women; and a man may be a father, and not know it, and his child or children may not know who their father is. On the other hand, there are social systems where the individual counts for little, and the commune or the state takes full control. In these circumstances, the nurturing of the children becomes a social industry; health care, education and all other needs are public business; and so being a parent under this system carries few, if any, responsibilities.
Maybe, there is much to gain from material comfort, but the love and warmth are missing from the equation. The human being is devalued and natural bonds and needs are stifled or destroyed. The basic unit of society cannot be the individual or the commune. Both these systems are unworkable and produce much personal stress and distress for everyone, especially the women and children. They also tend to produce society’s disorders in the form of crime and delinquency.
In Islam, on the other hand, one is not allowed to be just an individual, who is free to do whatever one wants, whenever one wants. Any system which attempts to make the individual the basic unit of society and gives him total freedom, does not take into