The youth in the story of the companions of the cave were righteous. They gave up the city life and retreated to the cave so they can worship Allah. Allah was pleased with them and protected them in the cave for 300 years plus.
ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ ءَايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ مَن يَهْدِ ٱللَّهُ فَهُوَ ٱلْمُهْتَدِ ۖ وَمَن يُضْلِلْ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُۥ وَلِيًّا مُّرْشِدًا ﴿١٧ ...
...That was from the signs of Allah. He whom Allah guides is the [rightly] guided, but he whom He leaves astray - never will you find for him a protecting guide. (17)
[Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:17]
What do we see with our youth today? How about your children? Are you worried about their Deen? Before we worry about them, we should worry about ourselves first.
On the Day of Judgment we will be asked how we raised our kids. We won't be judged on the outcome of our efforts raising them but we will be judged by how much we have exhausted ourselves to raise them to be an obedient slave of Allah, according to our own circumstances. It may be that your children are bad after you have done everything you could possibly do, this inshaa Allah will not be counted against you.
You may be living in the most advance country in the world and you sent your kids to the best schools and they wound up in one of the high demanding careers and may be donating lots of money to build a masjid and other Islamic causes, but they barely able to keep up with the 5 obligatory prayers or praying at the masjid. When you try to call them once in a while, they barely have time for you. On the other hand, you may be living in the poorest country in the world but your children are always around ready to attend to your needs and never talk back at you. What's the difference? The difference is in our priority. If we make Allah our priority, our children do see it, then they will follow suit and will make Allah their priority when they grow up. They would automatically have a clear priority in their own life -- Allah first, parents second. Righteous children don't come out of thin air. We have to make them righteous with Allah's help. For that we too have to be righteous.
Once a great shaykh was teaching his students and he heard his mother calling. He immediately left his students to go to his mother and when he returned after a while, he noticed that his students were clearly bewildered. So he told them that he went to feed the chickens as his mother wanted. And continued the lessons.
We have to exhaust ourselves to teach our children about their Lord and inculcate the Islamic values and manners in their lives. Parenting does not stop when our children reach puberty or the legal age of 18 (in most places). There's one thing about parenting; it never stops. Once you become a parent you remain a parent the rest of your life. So the end of your child's adolescence is not the end of parenting; it only marks the transition to a new set of changes and challenges. After adolescence, parenting adult children remains challenging and complex. But don't worry, each struggle is being written as our good deed that we can take to our graves, inshaa Allah.
What do we see with our youth today? How about your children? Are you worried about their Deen? Before we worry about them, we should worry about ourselves first.
On the Day of Judgment we will be asked how we raised our kids. We won't be judged on the outcome of our efforts raising them but we will be judged by how much we have exhausted ourselves to raise them to be an obedient slave of Allah, according to our own circumstances. It may be that your children are bad after you have done everything you could possibly do, this inshaa Allah will not be counted against you.
You may be living in the most advance country in the world and you sent your kids to the best schools and they wound up in one of the high demanding careers and may be donating lots of money to build a masjid and other Islamic causes, but they barely able to keep up with the 5 obligatory prayers or praying at the masjid. When you try to call them once in a while, they barely have time for you. On the other hand, you may be living in the poorest country in the world but your children are always around ready to attend to your needs and never talk back at you. What's the difference? The difference is in our priority. If we make Allah our priority, our children do see it, then they will follow suit and will make Allah their priority when they grow up. They would automatically have a clear priority in their own life -- Allah first, parents second. Righteous children don't come out of thin air. We have to make them righteous with Allah's help. For that we too have to be righteous.
Once a great shaykh was teaching his students and he heard his mother calling. He immediately left his students to go to his mother and when he returned after a while, he noticed that his students were clearly bewildered. So he told them that he went to feed the chickens as his mother wanted. And continued the lessons.
We have to exhaust ourselves to teach our children about their Lord and inculcate the Islamic values and manners in their lives. Parenting does not stop when our children reach puberty or the legal age of 18 (in most places). There's one thing about parenting; it never stops. Once you become a parent you remain a parent the rest of your life. So the end of your child's adolescence is not the end of parenting; it only marks the transition to a new set of changes and challenges. After adolescence, parenting adult children remains challenging and complex. But don't worry, each struggle is being written as our good deed that we can take to our graves, inshaa Allah.
ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَلَمْ يَجْعَل لَّهُۥ عِوَجَا ۜ ﴿١﴾ قَيِّمًا لِّيُنذِرَ بَأْسًا شَدِيدًا مِّن لَّدُنْهُ وَيُبَشِّرَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ٱلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ أَجْرًا حَسَنًا ﴿٢﴾ مَّـٰكِثِينَ فِيهِ أَبَدًا ﴿٣
[All] praise is [due] to Allah, who has sent down upon His Servant the Book and has not made therein any deviance. (1) [He has made it] straight, to warn of severe punishment from Him and to give good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a good reward (2) In which they will remain forever (3) [Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:1-4]
رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَاجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّاتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَاجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا ﴿٧٤﴾
Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous. [Qur'an, Al Furqan 25:74]
رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّئْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا
Our Lord, grant us from Yourself mercy and prepare for us from our affair right guidance. [Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:10]
Ameen.
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