2. Duties towards one’s Offspring.

 

 Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

(2) DUTIES TOWARDS ONE’S OFFSPRING

A. Social and Spiritual Status of the Child:

(1) The Holy Qur’an teaches that the child is a respectable being:

(a)   because of his humanity, concerning which it has been said: 

“Verily We have honored the Children of Adam …” (17:70).

(b)  because of his sinlessness, as it has been said:

“Assuredly We have created man in the goodliest constitution (i.e., pure and individually perfect).” (95:4).

“… Every soul draws the mead of its acts on none but itself: no bearer of burden can bear the burden of another …” (6:164).

Thus the child is born sinless, without inheriting the sins of his ancestors. And it is classed as innocent up to the age of discretion, as it has been said:

“On no soul does Allah place a responsibility but to the extent of its ability …” (2:286).

And its categorization as innocent makes it logically immune from receiving those punishments which are meant for adults in respect of commission of wrongs. 

(2) In its condemnation of infanticide, the Holy Qur’an teaches that the child is a ‘gift from God’—a ‘trust’* of God placed in the care of the child’s elders, and should, therefore, be treated with love, understanding and extreme care:

Lost are those who besottedly have murdered their children without knowledge, and forbidden (to themselves) that which Allah bestowed upon them (as gift), inventing a lie against Allah. They have indeed gone astray and heeded no guidance.” (6:140). 

* A Muslim holds everything—his life, property, position, children, etc—as trust from God. (9:111) 

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B. Duties:

(1)  Duties of Omission:

Infanticide had been practised by different communities of the world, including the pagan Arabs, the Hindus, the Greeks and the Romans, in the pre-Qur’anic era of human history. When the Holy Qur’an came, it voiced its condemnation of that evil and inhuman practice in strong terms and forbade it totally, as we have seen in verse 6:140 quoted above, and as we find in the following:

(a)    Killing of offspring for fear of poverty—before their birth: in the form of abortion, or after their birth: in the form of murder—forbidden:

“Kill not your children for fear of want: We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you. Verily the killing of them is a great sin.” (17:31). (also in 6:151)

(b)    Killing of daughters for extra fear of dishonor specially condemned:

“When news is brought to one of them, of (the birth of) a female (child), his face darkens, and he is filled with inward grief! With shame does he hide himself from his people, because of the bad news he has had! Shall he retain it on (sufferance and) contempt, or bury it in the dust! Ah! What an evil (choice) they decide on!” (16:58-59).

“When the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned (by God on the Day of Judgment)—for what crime she was killed!” (81:8-9).

(c)  Infanticide with ‘religious’ motives condemned:

“Even so, in the eyes of most of the Pagans, their ‘partners’ made alluring the slaughter of their children, to lead them to their own destruction, and cause confusion in their religion. If Allah had willed, they would not have done so: But leave alone them and their inventions.” (6:137).

 

(2)  Duties of Commission

Condemning contempt for one’s children, forbidding their treatment as a burden, and teaching respect and love for them, the Holy Qur’an refers to their upbringing by their parents,—a function which all parents, including the animal parents, perform basically and naturally under the urge of the parental instinct, but wherein the outlook requires to be refined and enlightened in the interest of human well-being. In this connection:

(a)  The Holy Qur’an commands the safeguarding of the interest of the child, in the most delicate period of his life, in respect of suckling him, which is specially jeopardized in case the parents are unfortunately separated from each other through divorce:

“The mothers shall give suck to their offspring for two whole years, if the father desires to complete the term. But he shall bear the cost of their food and clothing on equitable terms …” (2:233).

(b) Then it refers to the unselfish upbringing of the child by the parents up to the time of his maturity* as a virtue, in the following prayer which Muslim children are taught to make for their parents:

“… and say: ‘My Lord bestow on them your Mercy even as they (tenderly) cherished me (when I was) young.” (17:24).

This verse refers to the fact that the parents have to look after the needs of the child until he is mature. It has been mentioned as a universal fact which occurs in a natural course,—namely, everyone whose outlook in respect of his children is rational and not perverted and whose circumstances do not force him to act against the true dictates of human nature,** is bound to do it. However, although natural, it should be treated as a specific duty in the light of the general command of “doing good to all” and “taking special care of those who are related to one in blood” (16:90), in the interest of the moral health of human society. 

* The obligation of maintenance of the offspring up to the age of maturity is borne out by the law laid down for transferring to the orphans living in one’s charge the administration of their properties. (See 4:6). 

** In case of adverse circumstances the Qur’anic social philosophy makes it the duty of the state to look after the proper upbringing and development of the child, as we shall see later.

(c)  The Holy Qur’an teaches prayers which are highly instructive in guiding us to the parents’ duties towards their children. The prayers are:

“… and be You good unto me in my progeny (O Lord !) (i.e., cause my progeny to be good and accomplished in every way) …” (46:15).

“… Our Lord! Grant unto us the comfort of our eyes from our wives and our offspring, and give us (the grace) to lead the righteous.” (25:74).

Now, for the offspring to be “comfort of one’s eyes” it is necessary that they should be good in every way; and they would not be normally so unless the parents exert to their full for building up their children in all aspects of their lives and to the highest stature possible. 

We know that mere yearning expressed in prayer and left at that means nothing more than sheer idiocy and insult to God. Hence this verse refers to the duty of doing everything in the power of the parents to bring up their children healthy and strong physically, intellectually, morally, spiritually and economically. Of course, that would mean sacrifice for the parents. But, according to the Holy Qur’an, self-sacrifice is an essential quality of Muslim character (59:9), and it becomes a duty in the case of one’s children.

          (d) Finally, the Holy Qur’an lays down the command:           

“O you who believe ! protect yourselves and your wives and children from a (spiritual) Fire whose fuel (unlike the fuel of physical fire) is human beings (who lead wrong lives) and stones (which have been worshipped as false deities by ancient communities) over which are (appointed) Angels stern (and) severe, who flinch not (from executing) the Commands they receive from Allah, but do (precisely) what they are commanded.” (66:6).

In order to understand the implications of the above command truly and comprehensively, it is necessary to grasp deeply the constitution of the human personality and the dynamics of human activity. The fact is that the different aspects of the human personality are interrelated and, according to the Qur’anic concept of tawhid, they form an organic unity,—their inter-relationship and inter-dependence being expressible as follows:

Sound mind resides in a sound body.

Sound morality is possible only for a person of sound mind.

Sound spirituality is attainable only by a person of sound morals.

Sound economic pursuit requires at least the soundness of body and mind both.

Thus, saving one’s children from the fire of Hell necessitates not only giving them formal teaching of certain religious beliefs and practices—which, if not integrated with other aspects of life, amounts for all practical purposes to a defective attempt—but taking all those steps which will make them good in every way, as taught by the Holy Qur’an and expounded in the present dissertation, in respect of human life, namely : physically, intellectually, morally, spiritually and economically : the comprehensive program and the manner in which the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him) built up the despicable pagan Arabs into a community of righteous and progressive super-humans.*

* Indeed, the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him) built up his followers in a most comprehensive way, as would be evident even from a perusal of the present dissertation. The same comprehensiveness should grace the program of the parents for their children. 

This means that the verse quoted above envisages the following rights of the child and their fulfillment:

1.       establishment of an atmosphere of love and understanding for the child’s proper growth;

2.       protection against all evils: neglect, cruelty and exploitation;

3.       provision of adequate nutrition, proper housing, recreation, and medical service;

4.       provision of opportunities and facilities for the child’s balanced development in freedom and dignity, according to the Qur’anic code of life;

5.       provision of the best available formal education, in keeping with the child’s aptitude and capabilities;

6.       provision of comprehensive moral education and training;

7.       Above all, and running through every phase of the child’s life, there should be the provision of spiritual education and training—of as high an order as possible—for making him truly God-fearing: which is the most basic and the highest virtue that a Muslim should possess.

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to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times

 

Conclusion on Dajjal (Anti-Christ), the Qur’an and the Beginning of History

 

Dajjal (Anti-Christ), the Qur’an and the Beginning of History

Conclusion

 

Our effort in this book to locate Dajjal at the beginning of history has borne fruit. Had there been no arrogant Jewish belief that Jews are the elect of mankind, or the chosen people of the Lord-God, with a birth-right of superiority over all other human beings, there would have been no cause for Dajjal. It was this false belief which led them to reject Jesus, the son of the Virgin Mary, as the promised Messiah; and which continues to drive their futile quest to re-establish Holy Israel, by hook or by crook, as the End-time ruling State of the world.

 

The Qur’an has not only rejected this false Jewish claim to an exclusive status with the Lord-God, but has also provided us with the means with which to identify Dajjal’s false State of Israel with the forbidden tree of heaven. 

 

The most important discovery of this book is, without doubt, our identifying Dajjal as the Jasad of the Qur’an.    

 

Our study in the Qur’an of the beginning of history also now allows us to recognize and identify a strange new actor who has mysteriously appeared on the stage of the world in the end-times. 

 

History began with a display of arrogance when Satan refused to bow and prostrate before Adam on the basis of a claim to a birth-right of superiority. History is ending with precisely that arrogance, as the new actor on the stage of the world proclaimed his birth-right of superiority over the rest of mankind and then proceeded to wage wars of naked aggression in order to establish his rule over mankind so that he could civilize the rest of mankind—including this writer.

 

History began with Adam ʿalayhi as-salām and his wife displaying a sense of shame when they became conscious of their nakedness. They then took the leaves of the trees of heaven and used them to cover their nakedness. History is ending with that shameless new actor dismantling and destroying the inherent sense of modesty and shame in the human being as he proceeds to uncover the human body until people appear naked before each other in public. This writer is a native of the Caribbean island of Trinidad where, but for body paint, people now dance naked in public in what is proudly proclaimed as a national festival of Carnival. Around that actor’s world of tinsel-town today, the glittering shopping malls are littered with women competing with each other in making a public display of their sexual assets.

 

History began with a Divine warning against approaching a forbidden tree of lust. That lust appears in the form of sexual lust. It should be clear that sexual lust is taking over the world in the End-time. It is that mysterious actor who is driving the wagon of lust helter-skelter around the world today.

 

That lust also manifests itself in the lust for life—hence to live for as long as is possible. It is that mysterious new actor on the stage of the world who is assisting in wondrous medical ways in fulfilling the lust of mankind to now live as long as is possible, and hence to delay death for as long as is possible. 

 

 

History began with a Divine warning not to approach a forbidden tree of lust to rule over others. History is ending with that new actor on the stage of the world displaying an unprecedented imperial lust to rule the world. That new actor possesses power unprecedented in human history and has already used that power through Gog and Magog to spread himself out in all directions as he took control of the world. He then proceeded to liberate the Holy Land for the Jews, to bring them back to the Holy Land to reclaim it as their own two thousand years after they had been expelled from it by Divine decree, and to restore in the Holy Land a State of Israel. That mysterious new actor is now preparing the way for Israel’s Pax Judaica to replace USA’s Pax Americana. This pioneering book on Islamic Eschatology has identified that strange and mysterious new actor who occupies center-stage in the world in the End-time, and brought modern western civilization into being, as Dajjal the false Messiah.  

 

We now end this first of our five books on Dajjal, the false Messiah or Anti-Christ, with Divine advice to those who would seek knowledge and guidance from the Qur’an. The Word of Allah Most Wise, below, is in Arabic, followed by our explanation, rather than translation, of the two verses:

(Qur’an, Ta Ha, 20:113-114)

Thus have We sent it down as a Qur’an in Arabic – hence to be recited in Arabic and studied in Arabic, and We have explained therein matters concerning which We have warned (and the warning concerning Dajjal is the gravest of all) in order that they may be conscious of Allah and fear Him, and also that it may be a means through which they remember Him.

 

High above all is Allah. He is the Supreme Sovereign. He is the Truth! Hence be not in haste with this Qur'an (either in reciting it, or in studying it to locate knowledge and guidance therein) before its inspired transmission to you is completed, but say, “O my Lord! Grant me more knowledge (of this Qur'an).”

 

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