“O ye who believe! save yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is People and stones, 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.” [surah at-Tahrim: verse 6]
As parents you have a unique status and corresponding responsibility.
“And We have enjoined on man (to be good) to his parents. In difficulty upon difficulty did his mother bear him, and in two years was his weaning. Show gratitude to Me and to your parents; to Me is your final destination.” [Suran Luqman: 14]
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala follows the command to be grateful to Him with a command to be grateful to your parents. What an honour.
We are well acquainted with the sayings of the Messenger of Allah salAllahu alaihi wasallam about the status of the mother and the father. A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet said: Your mother. The man said, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your father. (Bukhari, Muslim).
The ProphetsalAllahu alaihi wasallam also taught us “God’s pleasure is in the pleasure of the father, and God’s displeasure is in the displeasure of the father.” (Ibn Hibban)
If we were to speak about your status as parents, we could continue just quoting the verses of the Qur’an and the sayings of Rasool Allah salAllahu alaihi wasallam. Even then this would cover many weeks of khutbahs.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’aala and His Messenger salAllahu alaihi wasallam do not speak about types of people with such honour unless they are deserving of honour.
Just as a scholar is deserving of honour due to his learning of sacred knowledge, a just ruler is spoken about positively if he dispenses justice, parents are mentioned because they fulfil a vital role.
You raise children who worship and obey Allah. When Allah tasked fathers in particular to safeguard themselves and their families from hellfire, what does protection mean?
Protection means safeguarding them from that which would pave the way to the fire of Jahannam.
We live in a society in which much of the values we believe in are considered strange. In which the moral compass is broken. Where right and wrong are decided by whatever pleases the sensual desires of individuals and groups. Where behaviour once considered wrong is now championed as right.
We send our children to school to be educated not indoctrinated with values in opposition to the ones we teach our children, but they are being taught values such as marriage is only one type of relationship, having a boyfriend or a girlfriend is normal. That there is nothing morally wrong with a man marrying a man or a woman marrying a woman. That if you are a boy you may actually be a girl and if you are a girl, you may have been born in the wrong body.
In schools they teach Sex and Relationship Education, which teaches these values.
The government has made clear that from September 2020: Relationships Education will be compulsory in all primary schools and we will not be able to withdraw. Relationships and Sex Education will be compulsory in all secondary schools and we will have to apply to the head teacher to withdraw and only until the age of 15. We have a small amount of time to make a change for our young children. We are calling for the government to at least allow us as parents, the primary educators of our children, to have the right to withdraw our children in primary and secondary schools.
There will be a vote in parliament within the next couple of months so we have to act now. • Hundreds of masaajid are delivering this same message asking attendees to complete this postcard, stick a stamp on it and send it to the Department for Education.
We want to send 400,000 – 500, 000 postcards demanding the right to withdraw our children from these classes.
Please help us to protect the values of your children. These actions to protect the values of our children should not be taken lightly. They fall under action of enjoining the ma’ruf and forbidding the munkar.
Complete a postcard and take some with you and get others to complete it. Stick a 65p stamp on it. It’s a small price to pay to protect our children’s iman.
Other actions we can do:
- Influence how this is taught in schools
- Strengthen our family
Created by SREIslamic For corrections and suggestions for future khutbahs contact yusuf@sreislamic.org
