Ramadan Parenting Challenge Day 21: Be Obedient

Ramadan Parenting Challenge 2014

And obey Allah and the Messenger that you may obtain mercy. (Qur’an 3:132)

As Muslims we must all obey Allah and the Prophet (s). Allah knows what’s best for us and He has guided the Prophet (s) on what’s best for us. Obedience is very important in Islam. Whoever is our Muslim leader we must follow him, whether it be a leader of a country, a community, a group, a team, a family, we need to be obedient to him. Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah's Apostle saying, “We are the last but will be the foremost to enter Paradise.” The Prophet added, “He who obeys me, obeys Allah, and he who disobeys me, disobeys Allah. He who obeys the chief, obeys me, and he who disobeys the chief, disobeys me. The Imam is like a shelter for whose safety the Muslims should fight and where they should seek protection. If the Imam orders people with righteousness and rules justly, then he will be rewarded for that, and if he does the opposite, he will be responsible for that.” (Bukhari 52:204)

In the home, a wife and children must obey the head of the family, which is the husband/father. Concerning the wife, Ibn Hibban narrated that Abu Huraira said that the Prophet (s) said: “If a woman prays her five (daily prayers), fasts her month (Ramadan), guards her chastity and obeys her husband, it will be said to her: ‘Enter Paradise from whichever of the gates of Paradise you wish.’” (Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani)

Since the Feminist movement, obeying one’s husband has had a bad connotation. They think that women should have the same rights as men so they don’t need to listen to them. But this has lead to the destruction of law and order. There is much confusion in the family unit as there is a power struggle. The children are confused and there is disharmony.

The family is like a crew on a ship. There is only one captain and that is the father. He is the one who leads the ship and everyone obeys him. The captain has a second in command and that is his first mate. The mother is the one who fills this role of first mate. She is the second in command but she takes her orders from the captain. The children all fall into line as the sailors on this voyage as they navigate through the dunya (world).

When you obey your husband your children will copy you and do likewise. If you don’t have this in place by the time they enter into puberty then they will likely not obey their father or you as well. So teach your children that obedience is a good thing, obedience that does not contradict our obedience to Allah. 

Challenge for today is to:

1. Be obedient to your husband. Model this behaviour to your children.
2. Teach your children obedience to Allah, then the Prophet (s), then their father, their mother, Muslim leaders etc.

Do these and continue to do them throughout Ramadan.