Tarbiyah 3/7 - It's Never Too Early, Always Too Late
Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Rahim. Al-hamdulil-Lahi Rabbi al-'Alamin. Wa as-salat wa as-salam 'ala Sayyidina Muhammad, wa alihi at-Tahirin. It's never too early and it's always too late. This needs to be the slogan of every family.
When we have children and we try to give our children the correct Islamic upbringing, we need to do so from the youngest age possible. And even before that, from the time of the conceiving of a child we need to be focused on their upbringing. With planning everything before they even come into this world. Before we even make plans of pregnancy, or even before that, when it comes to spouse selection. All for the sake of bringing about a good example of an ideal child who will be a positive member of our society.
There are so many Ahadith shared by our Ma'sumin, alayhum as-salam, for this very purpose. Rasul Allah salla Allahu alayhi wa alih, has said that a person knows their position in the eyes of God through the way that they bring up their children. Or there are stories of the likes of the famous companion Jabir Ibn Abdillah Al-Ansari, may Allah be pleased with him, who used to go around the city of Medina and say oh Ansar, discipline your children. And many, many other examples along these lines.
In my last short segment I said that we need to focus on ourselves and purify our hearts. And in doing so we will be able to bring about a sudden change in those around us. If I am working on myself, and I am concentrating on my own disciplining, then automatically I will be able to influence those around me. Now, if this was the case, then my main objective is hidayah, is guidance.
If you remember I said that when I have that responsibility of wanting to bring goodness to others, and allow others to be aware of the importance of tarbiyah then this means I have taken a leadership role in facilitating for others this important practice. Now, we can only do this if we uphold the moral values given to us by our religion.
Returning back to Islam is the one and only way for us to be enlightened, for us to be able to stay on this correct Path. And as I said, this slogan needs to be drilled into our minds: it's never too early and it is always too late. Wa al-hamdulil-Lahi Rabbi al-'Alamin.
