Children in the Qur’an and the Sunnah

Table of Contents
Introduction	17
Section One: The Foundations of Upbringing a Child	21
Introduction	23
1. Organising a Meritorious Family	23
2. The Role of Heredity	24
3. The Role of the Parents’ Food	24
4. The Role of the Method of Copulation	24
Chapter One: Family	27
1 / 1. The Forming of a Family	27
1 / 2. Seeking to have a Child	27
1 / 3. The Virtue of a Righteous Child	31
1 / 4. The Believers’ Offspring will be with them in Heaven	33
1 / 5. The Virtue of Tolerating the Troubles of a Child	35
1 / 6. Abundant Children	35
1 / 7. The Virtue of Girls	37
1 / 8. The Reward of Upbringing Girls	39
1 / 9. Taking Care of Daughters	39
1 / 10. The Censure of Disliking Girls	41
1 / 11. The Bane of having a Bad Child	43
1 / 12. Beseeching Allah for a Righteous Family	43
Chapter Two: Heredity	45
2 / 1. Blood is Contagious	45
2 / 2. The Role of Heredity in the Creation of a Child	47
2 / 3. The Role of Heredity in the Behaviour of a Child	49
2 / 4. The Role of Marrying Relatives	51
Chapter Three :The Food of the Parents	53
3 / 1. The Role of Unlawful Food in a Newborn	53
3 / 2. The Role of the Father’s Food in his Child	55
3 / 3. The Role of a Pregnant Woman’s Food on the Foetus	55
3 / 4. The Role of a Mother’s Food on the Newborn	61
Chapter Four: The Forming of the Life-Germ	63
4 / 1. The Effects of Being Born Pure	63
4 / 2. The Effects of Impure Birth	65
4 / 3. The Harm of Copulating with a Woman During her Menses	67
4 / 4. The Blessings of Supplicating During Intercourse	69
4 / 5. The Role of the Conditions on the Formation of the Life-Germ	73
Section Two: The Rights of Children	75
Introduction	77
1. Honouring the Birth	77
2. Bathing the Newborn	78
3. Reciting Adhan and Iqamah in the Newborn’s Ears	78
4. Feeding the Newborn for the First Time	79
5. Choosing a Good Name	79
6. Shaving the Newborn’s Head	80
7. To offer a Sacrifice for the Newborn	81
8. Circumcision of the Baby	82
Chapter One: The Rights of a Newborn	85
1 / 1. Honouring the Birth	85
1 / 2. Washing the Newborn	87
1 / 3. Reciting Adhan and Iqamah in the Newborn’s Ears	87
1 / 4. The First Feeding	89
1 / 5. Naming	93
A. Choosing a Good Name	93
B. Choosing a Name Before the Birth	93
C. The Ahlul Bayt’s Tradition in Naming	93
D. The Best of Names and the Rights of Some of them	95
E. Inappropriate Names	103
F. The Reason for the Reproaching of Certain Names	105
1 / 6. Shaving the Head	105
1 / 7. Giving an Offering for a Child	107
1 / 8. Circumcision	111
Chapter Two: The Rights of a Suckling Infant	115
1. Suitable Nutrition	115
2. Respecting the Feelings	115
2 / 1. Being Breastfed from the Mother’s Milk, if Possible	119
A. The Virtue of Breastfeeding the Infant	119
B. The Blessing of the Mother’s Milk	119
C. The Duration of Nursing	121
2 / 2. Choosing a Righteous Wet-Nurse to Breastfeed	121
2 / 3. Those who Should not be Asked for Suckling	123
2 / 4. Feeding the Child Beneficial Foods	123
2 / 5. Respecting the Infant’s Feelings	125
Chapter Three: Education	127
3 / 1. The Value of Seeking Knowledge at a Young Age	127
3 / 2. The Value of Upbringing	129
3 / 3. The Responsibility of Education and Upbringing	131
3 / 4. The Most Important Obligatory Thing to Teach	133
A. Islamic Beliefs, Monotheism in Particular	133
B. Love of the Prophet and His Household	135
C. Obligatory Acts, Especially Prayer and Fasting	135
D. The Qur’an	143
E. Religious Sciences	147
F. Writing	147
G. Hygiene	147
H. Useful Poems	153
I. Swimming and Archery	159
3 / 5. The Age of Upbringing and Disciplining a Child	161
3 / 6. The Method of Islamic Upbringing	163
A. Honouring, Gentleness, Sympathy and Love	163
B. Strictness and Uncompromising	167
C. Practical Disciplining	171
An Analysis on the Methods of Upbringing Children	173
1. The Upbringing Method Based on Strictness	173
2. The Upbringing Method Based on Kindness and Lack of Strictness	173
3. The Upbringing Method Based on Lack of Kindness and Lack of Strictness	173
4. The Upbringing Method Based on Affection and Decisiveness	173
5. The Upbringing Method Based on Love, Strictness and Dignity	174
3 / 7. The Banes of Upbringing	177
A. Excessiveness in Love	177
B. Excessiveness in Reprimanding	177
C. Disciplining at a Time of Anger	177
D. Harshness	179
3 / 8. Sex Education	181
A. Separating Beds	181
B. Avoidance of Looking at the Private Parts of the Child and the Child Looking at those of others	181
C. The Permissible Limit of Kissing a Boy and a Girl	183
D. Asking Permission for Entering the Parents’ Room	185
E. The Danger of a Child Seeing his Parents Copulate	187
Some Words about Sex Education	191
Necessary Planning for Sexual Chastity	191
A. Covering the Private Parts	191
B. The Reproach of a Child Being Kissed by a Non-Mahram	192
C. Reproaching the Playing with a Child’s Private Parts	192
D. Separation of Beds	192
E. Hiding any Sexual Contact of the Parents from the Children	192
Chapter Four: The Ethics of Upbringing	195
4 / 1. Encouragement of the Loving of Children and having Sympathy to them	195
4 / 2. The Prophet’s Conduct in Kindness to Children and Dignifying them	199
4 / 3. Greeting Children	201
4 / 4. Reproaching the Disliking of Children	203
4 / 5. The Boundaries of Love to Children	205
4 / 6. Justice Between Children	209
4 / 7. Fulfilling a Promise	215
Fulfilling Promises and its Function in the Upbringing of Children	217
4 / 8. Bringing Happiness	219
Chapter Five:  Ornamentation and Playing	227
5 / 1. Ornamenting Children	227
5 / 2. Praising the Playfulness of Children	227
5 / 3. Allowing a Child to Play	229
5 / 4. Acting in a Childish Manner for Children and Playing with them	235
5 / 5. The Children’s Entertainment Place	239
The Role of Playing in the Growth of a Child	241
The Importance of Playing from a Psychological Viewpoint	241
1. The Physical Importance	241
2. The Psychological Importance	241
3. The Upbringing Importance	241
4. The Social Importance	242
5. The Educational Importance	242
6. The Moral Importance	242
A Psychological Analysis of Playing	242
A. The Theory of Extra Power	242
B. The Theory of Removing Tension	242
C. The Theory of Evolving Renewal	243
D. The Attitude of Pre-Exercise	243
The Age of Playing	243
The Parents Playing with the Child	244
Chapter Six: Supplication	247
6 / 1. Encouraging Supplication for Children	247
6 / 2. Reproaching of Supplicating against the Children	249
6 / 3. The Supplication of Imam Al-Sajjad (a.s.) for his Children	249
A Father’s Prayer for his Child	253
Section Three: The Child’s Duties	255
Chapter One: The Individual Duties of a Child	257
1 / 1. Observing Discipline in the Affairs	257
1 / 2. Cleanliness	257
1 / 3. Washing Hands Before and after Food	259
1 / 4. Brushing the Teeth	259
1 / 5. Washing Hands before Sleeping	261
1 / 6. Cutting Nails	261
Chapter Two: The Children’s Duties Towards their Parents	263
2 / 1. The Importance of the Rights of Parents	263
2 / 2. The Rights of Parents	267
A. Doing Good	267
B. Standing up to Show Reverence	269
C. Submissiveness at the Time of Anger	269
D. Avoiding Disobedience	269
2 / 3. General Rights of Parents	271
2 / 4. The Benefits of Doing Good to Parents	273
Chapter Three: The Child’s Duties Towards his Teacher	275
3 / 1. Obedience	275
3 / 2. Honouring	275
3 / 3. Lowering the Voice	277
3 / 4. Avoidance of Belittling	277
Chapter Four: The Child’s Duties towards Elders and Friends	279
4 / 1. Initiating with Greeting	279
4 / 2. Observing Rights	279
An Explanation about a Child Greeting Elders	281
4 / 3. Taking the Elders as Examples	283
4 / 4. Fulfilling Needs	283
4 / 5. Honouring	285
4 / 6 .Assisting	285
4 / 7 .Sharing	287
4 / 8. Maintaining Friendship	287
4 / 9. Good Interaction	289
4 / 10. Good Remembrance	289
4 / 11. Advice and Goodwill	291
4 / 12. Presenting the Defect as a Gift	291
4 / 13. Ignoring Faults	293
4 / 14. Avoidance of Scorning	293
4 / 15 .Avoiding Hurting others	293