A-úthú billáhi minash shaytánir rajím. Bismilláhir Rahmánir Rahím!
We
praise Allah, and we bear witness that there is no God but Him, and we bear witness that
Muhammad is His messenger and Prophet. We ask Allah to send His Peace and Blessings upon
the Prophet, upon his family, his companions, and his followers to the Day of Judgment.
The
subject of my Khutbah
a today is immunization. I do not mean the medical vaccinations but the Moral vaccination
and immunization, which are very important to protect our young Muslims and protect our
Islamic values and identity as a minority in a non-Muslim country.
You
all know, that when a new baby is born,
the parents are advised to make sure that he or she gets the necessary vaccination shots,
a vaccine against measles, against diphtheria, polio and German measles ..etc.
They
do that because they care for the health of the new baby, because it is the right thing to
do and, because such vaccines give the child immunity against those diseases.
Someone
may ask: since these babies are at home and are not exposed to infections, why then
do they need the vaccination so early?
The
answer is that it is important to give the immunity before exposure to infection,
so that later on, they would have acquired the immunity and they would resist that
particular disease.
So,
in order to protect our bodies we take vaccines and immunizations, but we are not only
made of a physical body. We also have a soul, and morality.
There are moral ills and diseases and they are just as contagious as
physical diseases and illnesses. The medical principle of early immunization also applies
to the moral state of our soul. We need a moral vaccination to immunize the soul in order
to resist these moral ailments. It is common
knowledge that our society is full of moral ills. This is an undisputed fact that needs no
proof. Modern society is infected with
violence, pornography, greed, racism, homosexuality, drugs and alcohol. The list goes on.
Let
us consider some recent news reports. Not too long ago, two children killed a toddler. A
Group of nine-year-old boys raped a girl of the same age in their school. There are repeated cases of assaults on
pensioners. There are beatings, muggings, and assaults on teachers and parents. Children are abused at home, at school and at
care homes.
We
all hear about these incidents from time to time. These are just a few symptoms of the
moral ills that afflicted this society. These
social and moral ills are very infectious and our children are exposed to them in this
society. In the early stages of their childhood they accept as the truth without question
whatever they are told by Mom or Dad. But then at a later stage, the situation is
different. They can hear and see what goes around them in the street, at the school, on
the TV, the radio, the cinema, the newspapers and every where else. They become exposed to
all the vices and ills of this society. They
become exposed to peer pressure from their friends in the street or at school.
At
this stage, the maximum influence on the child would then be his peer group, his mates and
friends, not his parents.
They
will influence his thinking, and provide the food for his thought. Unless the child is immunized and previously
vaccinated he/she may catch some of those horrible diseases.
Parents
who care for the well-being of their children and families should not be limited only to
the physical and health aspects.
The
love and care we give our children should be for their well-being in this life as well as
the next. This is why the moral aspect is very important and should not be neglected.
If
we really care, then we should make sure that in the narrow window of time that we have,
which is early childhood, we do our best to protect our children and immunize them against
such moral diseases. This is when the parents need to spend more quality time with their
children trying to plant the seeds of goodness in them. Providing a good example is
extremely important. Children learn more by imitating their parents, than merely by being
told what is right.
So
instead of pressuring them and forcing them to pray, you must set an example and they will
follow. If they see you helping the poor and the needy they will be interested to do the
same later.
If
you train them to fast gradually and reward them for their effort they will grow up, ready
for Ramadan. It is no good lecturing our children about honesty and telling the truth if
we fail to do the same, ourselves.
Many
parents lie to their children by using the phrase Inshallah as a cover,
so inshallah becomes in their
minds synonymous with insincerity, lies and
dishonesty.
The moral immunization I am talking about is not a
quick fix that could be arranged in few days, like the vaccine for Measles or Chicken Pox.
This
type of immunization is a responsibility that we owe to our children. It is a responsibility to give them proper
Islamic tarbiya or upbringing; responsibility which must be carried out with great
amount of patience, love, dedication, knowledge and wisdom.
It
is a tough responsibility but with great rewards for the children and their parents. The
proper upbringing that we may provide our children today will be a good investment for the
future, especially after death.
The
Prophet said: When the son of Adam dies his deeds cease or discontinue except
three; a running charity, a beneficial knowledge and a righteous child who makes Dua
for his parents.
This
Islamic upbringing is a duty we owe to our children as Muslim parents. It is a noble duty that cannot not be left or assigned to others. It is the joint responsibility
of the parents who will be asked about it, at the day of Judgment. The Prophet said:
every one of you is a shepherd and every one is responsible for his flock.
Some
parents fail to take their responsibility seriously.
They are either too busy earning a living, making money, or are unaware of
this responsibility at all, either because of ignorance or indifference.
When
things start going wrong and they see their children go astray, they may
wake up and they may realize the need for action to protect their children
and save them from falling in evil and Haram and following the wrong path.
Some
people think that because children are children, they will always be children. Some
parents think that because they are Muslims, their children will be Muslims. This is not
true always.
Many
parents have been through this experience. They gave their children love and affection.
They provided them with a good education, expensive clothing and whatever their children
wanted.
But
they failed to provide a good example for their children, they did not care to immunize
them and protect them from moral diseases. They were unable to bring up their children the
Islamic way. Religion and morality for them
was a secondary thing.
They
failed to discharge their duty as Muslim parents. They failed as leaders and shepherds for
their families.
They
neglected the introduction of Islamic values, reminding their families and children about
Allah, that He wants us to do what is right and avoid what is wrong and evil, that we have
the choice and we bear the consequences. They did not listen to the verse, which says:
O
you who believe save yourselves and your
family
from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones
When
things started to go wrong they suddenly remember their forgotten responsibility. When it is a bit too late, they were shocked and
devastated, because their spoiled daughter has a boyfriend or that she ran away to marry a
Hindu or an English boy or when their son comes home drunk or when he is arrested for
taking or selling drugs.
I
am sure you have heard many similar stories. Those parents who ignored their
responsibility towards their children, for twenty years or so, should not expect their
children, who are not children any more, to be good Muslims in a day or two.
Such
an attitude is a sign of shortsightedness, because you do not prepare the soldier for the
battle during the battle.
He
should be prepared for it a long time before it starts.
When
the disease is caught, you are not looking for immunity; you are looking for treatment.
But
it is immunity that we would like to cultivate in our children so when a Muslim child is
offered drugs or a beer he would say No! When his friends say, Come on, you are not a
child, be a man. He would have the courage to say, No we do not do that, I am
a Muslim. And when the girl is
ridiculed for not having a boyfriend, or not going for a dance, she too would say: we
do not do that, I am a Muslim.
The
young generation should feel proud of being Muslims, they
should say and live, the saying of Allah:
Dignity
is to Allah, and His Messenger and the Believers..
So that one Muslim child in a whole school, would not feel that he is a minority or
inferior because he or she is straight.
When
invited to sex, drugs or such things, he/she would have the courage to say, I am a
Muslim, I do not do that.
Only
a Muslim, properly prepared, properly brought up, would say No I do not do that! In this case the Muslim would be providing a role
model to be followed.
Statistics
show that most of those children who fall into vice, think that they have to do that
because they were overwhelmed by peer pressure. They
just cannot resist the pressure of their companions and their classmates.
When
things go wrong we should not despair. Even for those who have gone astray and committed
the most heinous sins, the gates of repentance are always open. We are told in the Quran that even those who
commit serious crimes such as murder or Zena (unlawful sexual intercourse) could be
forgiven if they repent and return to Allah, to His right way with faith and righteous
deeds.
Unless
he repents, believes and works righteous deeds. For Allah will change the evil of such
persons into good. And Allah is Often Forgiving. Most Merciful.
25/70
9/9/98. Edited from an article by. A.H.Saker
[du'á in Arabic]
Ameen!
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