Education plays a crucial role in a person’s life, and good quality education has a major role in character-building and the overall personality development of a child.
Societies are made up of individuals, and their education reflects on society and its issues. Well-educated individuals bring positivity, pragmatic approaches to handle serious situations, harmony, and peace. They build a positive society willing to work towards a better future of the world as a whole. All this is only possible with proper education, and the best form of education is to teach children the true values of Islam from an early age.
The first and most basic step to impart quality education to a child is choosing the right educational institute. Muslim parents often neglect the fact that worldly education taught along with the teachings of Islam and its beautiful values is the perfect form of education a child needs to blossom into a beautiful human being. This article discusses why it is essential to impart Islamic education to kids by sending them to Islamic institutes.
- The most important benefit of sending children to an Islamic institute is that it will lay a very strong foundation of Islamic beliefs in the child. Parents might not have complete knowledge of the faith and hence fail to provide the correct knowledge of Islam. This is where the need for sending them to Islamic institutes arises. Young minds of children are very impressionable. If they are taught the correct teachings of Islam like Tawheed, Seerah of the prophet, Quranic Arabic, the importance of doing good deeds, etc., it is more likely that they will grow up to become better practicing Muslims as compared to those children who do not receive a proper Islamic education.
- Children who attend conventional schools are exposed to a wide variety of fitnah. They are encouraged to celebrate birthdays, Halloween, New Year, and many other festivals and annual occasions that have no place in Islam and are prohibited from celebrating. Islamic schools have no such practices as their activities are based on a curriculum that is set keeping in mind the Islamic values taught to us through the Quran and the Sunnah. Hence, children attending such schools are prevented from developing a liking for such celebrations.
- Free-mixing is a common sin that parents tend to overlook when choosing a conventional educational institute over one that is Islamic. Islamic schools have separate classes for boys and girls, thus abiding by the laws of Islam which should never be neglected.
- Most conventional schools have a dress code for girls that is indecent, immoral, and extremely un-Islamic. Young girls dressed in short skirts are an open invitation to fitnah. Islamic institutes have a dress code that follows the Islamic hijab, which encourages little girls from a very young age to dress modestly. When girls are made to wear modest clothes and hijab from a young age, they develop a liking and understanding of the importance of hijab and dress according to the guidelines of Islam even when they grow up.
- People have split Islam into so many sects, just like Prophet Mohammad ﷺ had forewarned. They all follow a version of Islam that suits their convenience and cultural beliefs.
Parents need to ensure that they enroll their children into an Islamic school that functions on the correct aqeedah so that their children can learn the true Islam and follow the Quran and Sunnah all their lives. - Sending children to an Islamic school means that they get to spend a major part of their day in an environment that is righteous and away from the general fitnah of the world. When children spend their formative years in an environment that teaches them to pray their Salah on time and recite the Quran regularly, they grow up with these habits ingrained in their system naturally. They develop a natural sense of love and obedience towards Allah ﷻ.
- Attending conventional schools leaves children with hardly any time for activities related to learning Islam. If they attend an Islamic school, their curriculum will have Quran recitation, Hifdh, Tajweed, and Arabic in general as a part of their education, and there won’t be any need for them to go to extra classes to learn these after school.
- Friends play a major role in the life of an individual. The kind of friends a child makes can have a negative or positive influence on them. All children studying at Islamic schools have a similar upbringing in terms of Islamic values. When a child’s peers belong to similar religious backgrounds, their mentality and thinking would be the same, which would prove as a common point in establishing strong and healthy friendships.
- Since every subject is taught with an Islamic perspective, students learn different aspects of Islam from a young age and are better equipped with the knowledge of the religion to make appropriate life choices as adults. They will choose professions that are halal and stay away from options that are against the basics of Islam.
It is common knowledge that Islam is a complete way of life, and imparting Islamic education to children would ensure that they are well prepared to lead a life based on the principles of Islam. Almost all major cities have at least one Islamic school where parents can send their children to obtain Islamic education along with conventional subjects like English, math, and science. The shift from traditional education to an Islamic one, especially in the foundation years of a child, is the need of the hour, considering the widespread fitnah and misconceptions about Islam. The sooner we all understand this, the better it would be for the future of this ummah that is surrounded by fitnah from all sides.
May Allah ﷻ guide us all towards the path of righteousness and keep us firm on it. Aameen.
Written by: Iram Atiqulla
Edited by: The Editorial Team
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