Raise Your Children on Allāh’s ﷻ Way

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

إِنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ

(Qur’ān 64:15)

“Innamā amwālukum wa awlādukum fitnah”

“Your wealth and your children are but a trial.” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.

Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is saying, your wealth and children are a test for you. They are a trust. Strive for them to be in the way of Allāh ﷻ. Raise them on the way of Allāh ﷻ. Strive for them to be from the beloved servants of Allāh ﷻ. This requires sacrifice for your children and family. Sometimes you have to overcome your ego and do what Allāh ﷻ says. You should do things that Allāh ﷻ loves.

The most beloved people to Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla are the youngsters on the way of Allāh ﷻ. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla loves them. And when He ﷻ loves them, He ﷻ honors them, their families and those who raised them. And it is perpetual. Their deeds that come from them later on [when parents pass away] will benefit them too.

When mankind’s book of deeds is closed after he dies, nothing reaches him except three things. A person does not receive reward except who: firstly, raised a righteous child and is on that way, the way of Allāh ﷻ. He earns the reward for that. Secondly, who teaches knowledge, and that knowledge is ongoing. He also takes rewards for everyone it reaches. Finally, who does good deeds, charity, builds mosques, builds fountains, builds a house or so.

These are the things done that are rewarded. Most important of all is raising a righteous child. It will both benefit himself and you. A righteous child will be of benefit both while living in this world, and he will continue to be of benefit for you after.

That’s why, we need to pay attention. Since we live in the end of times, shayṭān and the people who are with shayṭān are attacking the child. They don’t leave him alone. The child already has an ego and has wants. They help him do them. They help him to stay away from the way of Allāh ﷻ.

So, parents leave the children free and then say, “My son is like this, my daughter is like that.” Or they put too much pressure on them, and that’s something else. They do otherwise. Our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, “خَيْرُ الْأُمُورِ الْوَسَط”, “Khayru l-‘Umoori l-Wasat”, “The middle of everything is best.”

You must keep the middle state. You mustn’t be giving too much pressure or too much freedom with goodness. His ego also attacks him. You must get rid of the ego. You should raise them according to principles and ethics just as Islām taught, and as our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam showed. So that it is balanced, and he knows himself.

The one who knows himself knows Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Muhyiddin Ibn al-Arabī says, “مَنْ عَرفَ نَفْسَهُ عَرفَ رَبَّهُ”, “Man ‘a’rifa nafsah fa-qad ‘a’rifa Rabbah”, “Who knows himself knows his Lord.” He who knows himself knows Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. He who does not know himself, doesn’t know anything.

All the diplomas have no benefit and are useless. “I reached that much of high education. I reached low education,” they say. If a person has not known Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, he has not known anything. He will have wasted his life in vain. He will have suffered.

May Allāh ﷻ protect us. May Allāh ﷻ protect our children and all of us from the evil of the ego and shayṭān. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.

Al-Fatiha.

• Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbaniق

25 May 2025/ 27 Dhul Qa’dah 1446

Fajr Prayer – Akbaba Dergah, Istanbul