Realizing Responsibility

 

O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are [appointed] angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded.

Everyone in this world is striving hard to get success. But what is success? Different people define it differently. For some, success is a good job, good salary, a comfortable living; for some its to get a suitable life partner or may be settling in some foreign developed nation etc. In short, to majority of people, success can be measured in terms of materialism.

For someone with close relation with the Quran and sunnah, the perception changes. Success depends upon the final judgement which takes into account the deeds done in this world. But the life in this world and the Hereafter are not detached as two separate entities but they are continuous with a transient phase (Barzakh) in between. No doubt its only on the Day of Judgement that one would know of its failure or success!

 ~All is well that ends well~

So it becomes a responsibility that we facilitate all possible help to ourselves and others to be able to succeed on that day. Allah swt says in the Holy Quran, “O you who believe, protect yourself and your family from the Hell fire.”  And indeed to be saved from the torment is to have succeeded.

Coming to responsibility, other than providing food, clothes and other basic necessities, good ‘tarbiyyah’ of the child is an important duty as well.

Children are not only Allah’s blessings upon us but they are a trust and we are tested through them. Each one of us parent will be answerable to Allah swt on the Day of Judgement regarding the way we bring up our kids. And most of us like to believe that its a set time that this education or rather ‘tarbiyyah’ period  starts at, a certain age when we will start to train them and teach them but often it so happens that it gets late.

Actually tarbiyyah starts much earlier; as soon as the signs of life’s existence  start appearing in the mother’s womb, the learning starts, the influence on the young mind begins from there itself. You can observe remarkable difference between the child whose mother was busy reciting the Quran, doing zikr of her Lord and the child whose mother was ghafil from such pleasantries that have double sided benefits!

There can be many such incidents like a daughter not being taught the right way to dress and when its high time she might just not realize or find it difficult to give up something that is a habit or she might just refuse! and that is when it gets real late. Similarly for many other things, for sons and daughters alike, its not easy to give up something that has become almost second nature but the big question remains, ‘Why don’t we act at the right time? Right tarbiyyah at the right time and the right way should be our focus, May Allah swt help us all realize our responsibility and guide us to do it the way that pleases Him the most and make our efforts beneficial in both the worlds. (Ameen)

Because its a life time responsibility, soon after the first three years, as the child grows, the responsibility of nurturing him starts weighing on the parents’ shoulders. The search for a good school starts all in the name of educational provisions but more important is that we start creating that environment with material and spiritual means together. IMS is such an effort where we not only try to provide education but also a healthy atmosphere for the moral and behavioural development of the child referring back and again to the treasures of values in Islam. Each member- teacher, student, parent, staff, management becomes a part and thus the environment keeps building on its own. And its a hope that one day the society then the nation and the world at large would reap the positive effects of this healthy relation which started with realisation of one’s individual responsibility!