It was my first week of school as a 2^nd grade teacher, and the day was about to end.  Students were packing up their bags. Suddenly, I remembered that I had to distribute notice flyers which were given to me by the administration. I said to the class in my firm bossy voice, “ok, calm down! No one is leaving the room until I say so. I have to distribute these.”

As I finished distributing these flyers, another teacher knocked at my door saying she needed my help with something in her room. Her desk drawer was stuck and by the time I helped her pull the drawer out, the bell had rung. I hurried back to my classroom imagining the worst as I had left 18 seven years olds on their own for 5 whole minutes. And as expected, all hell had broken loose. Chairs were turned upside down, children were throwing pieces of chalk at each other and some were even standing on the tables. But the funny part was that not a single child had left the room even though the afternoon bell had rung. Why, you ask? Because I had told them: ‘No one is going to leave the room until I say so’ and I had not said so.

These children were supposed to be the naughtiest and the snobbiest kids of the school. And yet, they remained in the room just because their teacher had told them to. This made me reflect. My own obedience towards Allah S.W.T was not even a fraction of obedience just displayed by my class. This class was supposed to be the most disobedient and hyperactive class of the school but I had a whole new perspective now. I was judging them in a whole new paradigm. It was all in the eyes of the beholder. This was the first lesson I learnt as I set my foot into the “profession of the prophets.”

Children, according to a Hadith, are flowers of Jannah.

But in schools, and at home, they are treated like anything but flowers. A scholar once said,

“These children do not need loving parents. They need trained parents.”

When getting married, zero attention is given to this matter although upbringing of a new human being is the most important and difficult task to be faced by the newlyweds. Awareness to get trained to raise children as an asset for the Muslim Ummah in this world and as asset for the parents in the hereafter should be our foremost concern.

Although many institutions have taken up this task in our country to train parents and teachers and assist them in the carrying out of this enormous responsibility, a lot more still needs to be done. In all the parenting workshops and seminars I have attended, the percentage of male participants is never more than 10%. It’s as if we have concluded that parent means the mother. Fathers are ATM booths—only needed for money.

The religion which we follow and the Prophet (SAW) for whom we vow to die give us a very different idea of parenting. And who better to train us than the best teacher of the world.

When I look into Muhammad (SAW)’s life and his interactions with the child, I sit in complete awe. A man with a responsibility which has no match to any responsibility in the world and yet I see him racing along with the children, laughing and clapping. His Seerah tells us that the children waited for him outside the Masjid and when he (S.A.W) came out, he used to stretch both his hands and the children would come running to him, falling on him from all sides. And mind you, these children were not his relatives. They were mere acquaintances he would see every day on the streets. For a self analysis, I stood with my arms stretched in a family gathering and asked the group of kids which included my two sons along with their cousins to come running to me. I told them it was a game. I hung my head in shame as even my own sons shied away. It told me a lot about my parenting.

I looked deep into the Seerah of Rasulallah SAW and saw him commencing the Jummah Khutbah with a child on his lap. I saw him kissing and hugging the children of Medina at random. I saw him playing games on the streets of Medina with the children he barely knew. They loved him and he loved them. According to him, “Children are flowers of jannah.” Which brings me back to my first lesson – it’s all in the perspective. We see them as flowers so we treat them as flowers. We see them as valued assets, so we treat them as valued assets.

We have to come to this realization that the responsibility for which we will be held most accountable for is the little creations around us. We are leaving an impact on each and every one of them consciously or unconsciously. We need to educate ourselves to be able to educate little ones. No number of degrees would make us qualified for this job if we ignore the Sunnah of the greatest teacher in the world. And the most important lesson that he SAW gave us is of love and love only.

Parents and to-be parents need to realize that dealing with children is an art; a skill, which needs to be developed and groomed like any other skill. Once this realization hits home, it will be an easier task to make way for the education.

About the author

Umme Hamza is a teacher and a mother of three. Loves to read English/Urdu literature and poetry.

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