We are commanded by Allah in the Qur’an to not only save ourselves but also our families from the fire of hell. Allah says [the meaning of which is]:
“O believers! Protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, overseen by formidable and severe angels, who never disobey whatever Allah orders—always doing as commanded.” [Qur’an 66:6]
Ibn Jawzi in his work of tafseer called Zaad al-Maseer commenting on this verse said, “Protection of the self means to comply with [His] commands and abstain from [His] prohibitions. The protection of the family means that they are commanded to comply with [His] obedience and prohibited from [committing] sins. Ali said, ‘[It means to] teach and discipline them.’”
Ibn Kathir in his tafseer quotes Qatadah as saying, “If you see a sin [from your family], then refrain and rebuke them from it.”
Parents are required to pay attention to their children and assure that they are not going astray nor adopting any bad habits. They must take all the means necessary to safeguard their children, just like every other single thing in their life, and leave the rest to Allah. They are accountable for the efforts they put in for their children but not the results because the latter is only in Allah’s control. Yes, there will be cases when parents do everything right but their children still go astray because Allah did not Will to guide them for whatever reason, as happened with the son of Prophet Nuh (pbuh) mentioned in the Qur’an, however, this should not deter parents from trying their best to keep them on the right path. This is done by various means like: making abundant supplications for them, surrounding them with good company, teaching them the religion, loving them, being kind to them, finding halal alternative forms of entertainment for them, having a close, good, trusting relationship with them, disciplining them in a productive and effective manner, etc.
I always try to read/hear/watch resources on parenting hacks and techniques, especially in the Muslim context but also from non-Muslim child psychology experts. The following is a list of resources that I have come across so far that are very promising and I plan to keep updating this page as I come across more beneficial stuff insha’Allah. My goal is to provide a large library of parenting resources that Muslim parents can go through and learn a great deal of hacks, skills, and guides to productive parenting. I hope you like them just as much as I did!
Video Lectures
Some of the lectures below are really long but you don’t have to finish them in one day. You can take your time by finishing listening to them over a period of few days if need be. It is important to finish the whole lecture, if you really want to benefit, so that you grasp all of the concepts and advice. You can also speed up the lectures by listening to them on 2X speed. This means you will be finishing an hour long lecture in 30 minutes!
