The Children in Islam
By Khadija Watson

More children in the United States live in poverty, are neglected, abused, killed, commit suicide, lack health care, drop out of school and are imprisoned than any other industrial Western nation!!!!

2.9 million children annually are reported to State child protective service agencies as suspected victims of child abuse and neglect. 1,137 children died as a result of abuse or neglect.

40-80% of the families involved in child welfare system have problems with alcohol and/or drugs. Drugs and alcohol are rampant among elementary, middle school, and high school students. Even though the legal age for buying alcohol is 18, it is easily accessible through availability at home or other teens buying it for the group. This is not confined only to low income or poverty families, even daughters of the President are not spared and were arrested for buying drinks in a bar while under aged. And the Presidents brother, the Governor of Florida's son,(George Bush's nephew) was arrested for possession of drugs, and these are suppose to be the more stable families of America!

Drugs are the number one problem across the United States . Heroine is the number one preferred drug followed by cocaine as a recreational drug. In other words a drug not prescribed by a doctor for a medical condition but bought, sold and used illegally. Drug use leads to depression, suicide, school drop out, abuse, crime, illicit relations and pedophilia abuse.

One in 10 children and adolescents suffer from mental illness severe enough to cause some level of impairment. State health services estimates that 75-80% of children who need mental health services do not receive it.

25% of all new cases of HIV infection the United States are estimated to occur in young people under the age of 21. One in four girls between the ages of 13-19 become pregnant ever year.

We could go on and on but I think you get the picture as horrifying as it is. We ask ourselves if this is happening in a so called Christian country, the United States, what about other countries only too happy to follow their example? Is this the way children are to be brought up or is there another alternative?

Islam offers another way, a good and pure way, the way that Allah has prescribed peace, welfare and salvation of the family and child. The right of a child in Islam starts before birth. Every child is entitled to a mother and a father, one who will be responsible, loving and a good example to the child. The parents are responsible to offer a home life to their children; this does not mean they required to be wealthy but to be loving and supportive. For a child to be born illegitimately because of the lust of the parents is unfair and unjust. In Islam the mother and father will be married, sexual contact is prohibited until after marriage. This is made possible because the man and woman are not to be alone without the women's mahram. (male relative such as her father, grandfather, uncle, brother) One who is a blood relative and unmarriageable to her.

The child has rights even while in the womb of the mother. The right not to be aborted, contrary to the Western position that the woman has a right over her body and can therefore do what ever she likes is not applicable in Islam. The child has a right to be born. While in the West it is acceptable to have sex with anyone and everyone, although it is prohibited in the Christian Bible, this deprives the child of knowing his or her own father and more often then not, even the mother does not know due to her many sex partners. Having a mother and father under normal (married) conditions gives a child the sense of security. This is also why if the father dies the mother does not remarry for 4 months and 10 days. First of all to know whether or not she is pregnant and secondly so she would be sure who the father is, the one who died or the one she just married. The child also has a right to inheritance while in the womb in case the father dies before its' birth.

The child is also to be treated with kindness and not abuse. That does not mean that you do not correct your children but it means that you do it within boundaries. It is forbidden to hit any child in the face in Islam. Whether a child, adult or animal it is not allow to hit them in the face or leave bruises, marks or cause any deformity to the child. In the United States over 1,137 children died as a result of abuse by one or both parents or in some cases the "live in partner".

The baby is introduced to Islam and its monotheism as soon as it's born. The father recites the Adhan and the Iqama in the ear of the child from its moment of birth. Imagine, the first words the child hears on earth is: Allah is the Greatest, I bare witness that there is no God but Allah, I bare witness Muhammad is the Prophet and Messenger of Allah. Come to prayer come to Salvation, Allah is the Greatest Allah is the Greatest, there is no God but Allah.

The child raised in an Islamic home respects Allah and all of the Prophets including Jesus, instead of hearing the name of God abused or in cursing. The home is filled with the sound of the Quran instead of the so called music that promotes violence, drugs, sex, and crime. The child will be taught the importance and obligation to pray 5 times a day through the example of loving parents. How sweet it is to see a child of 3 or 4 imitating their parents in prayer.

Children are further taught to be respectful and obedient to their parents, elders and teachers. In many schools in the United States students must go through metal detectors or body searched before entering school. Checks for guns, knives, or other weapons that can be used on students or teachers. We need only to recall with horror the shooting and killing of students and teachers by their fellow student in a high school in Colorado several years ago. At many schools students are "locked down", in other words they are locked inside of their school until the end of the school day. The institutions of learning are more of a prison than a school.

In Islam both boys and girls are encouraged to dress modestly, girls who have reached the age of adolescent should wear the hijab and clothes that do not define their bodies. This is not only as an act of obedience but protection from molestation, rape and being the object of lewd remarks.

It is not easy being a parent and it is not easy raising children in an non-Islamic society. But those who do their best will be rewarded by Allah, their children will grow up to thank them even though they might not have liked it at the time. Parents may seem old fashioned and demanding even "mean". But this is first of all our responsibility to Allah, and we as parents will be held accountable on the Day of Judgment.

May Allah make this task both enjoyable and pleasant.

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