Peaceful Tarbiyah
“When a man dies, his action discontinues from him except three things, namely, perpetual sadaqah (charity), or the knowledge by which benefit is acquired, or a pious child who prays for him.” [Sunan Abi Dawud]
Our children are an ‘Amanah’ given to us by Allah (SWT). He (SWT) has given us the responsibility to raise them to be individuals who love Allah (SWT), follow His commands and strive to be of exemplary character like our Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). This is a big responsibility! After all, they are one of the only sources that can benefit us even when we have departed from this world.
Parenting is one of the toughest things we do. The pressures of everyday life leave us feeling guilty that we could do a better job only if we had more time or knew where to begin. Alhamdulilah we are fortunate that our beautiful Deen teaches us how we can give our children the best start for life and the hereafter.
Islam means “Peace”, following Islam we should all aim to be at peace within ourselves. Parenting from a place of peace is a lot easier. Peaceful Parenting is a parenting style which was created by Dr Laura Markham, a clinical psychologist and the author of the book “Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids”. Peaceful parenting as its name suggests urges us to let go of yelling, bribes, punishment, anger and rigid demands. It encourages us to embrace love, kindness, compassion, mutual respect and co-operation. This is very much in line with Islamic teachings as we see from the Life of our Prophet (PBUH) that he never admonished a child and always showed love, care and compassion towards children.
But how do we achieve this peaceful way of dealing with our children?
Dr Laura Markham shares her THREE BIG IDEAS to help us be peaceful parents:
- Self-Regulation
- Fostering connection
- Coaching not controlling
Watch this space every Saturday, as we explore how we can use these big ideas and put them into the Islamic perspective to give our children The Best Gift of a Good Upbringing!
