Muslim Parenting

MashAllah! Soundvision offers a really great list of tips for Muslim parents of teenagers on supporting their children in growing into good Muslim adults.

Some of the tips focus on increasing family time and fortifying ourselves first as a way of strengthening our parenting. Other tips, like ‘building’ a masjid in your home, dating your teenager, and having a halal fun day once a month are pretty innovative.

The article suggests that we marry our teenagers early - I think the assumption here is that although married the couple may continue living with their respective parents and keep going with their studies. This is culturally foreign to me - but may well be a good strategy if well thought out and managed.

Anyway, teens can be exasperating and full of novel ideas as the Soundvision article is, it is worth a read.

We all know that being a mother can be quite a responsibility and indeed burden - this is acknowledged several times in the Qur’an. But as Hesham Hassaballa spotlights in his article, “The Difficulties of Being A Muslim Dad,” that Muslim fathers also shoulder [if they step up to the tasks] weighty obligations.

He writes,“As a Muslim father, I must shoulder an enormous responsibility, both fiscal and religious, and this responsibility is first encountered before I even have any children at all.” You can view the full article here.

First posted on August 14, 2006.