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You Will Be Accountable O Parents and Teachers

Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Jamīl Zaynū

An exhortation for Muslim parents.

So you must first of all reform yourselves, since good results from the good that you do, and bad results from the bad that you do. So good conduct from teachers and parents in front of the children is the best form of education and upbringing for them

Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Jamīl Zaynū

“O you who believe! Save yourselves and your families from the Hellfire.”
[Sūrah al-Taḥrīm 66:6]

Mothers, fathers, teachers, and the society as a whole, will all be accountable in front of Allāh for the tarbiyyah (education and upbringing) of this generation. If its tarbiyah is good, then there will be happiness – both in this world and the Hereafter. If it is not, then there will be misery, and it will be a rope around your necks – since there occurs in the ḥadīth: “Each of you is a shepherd, and each of you will be questioned about those who you are responsible for.” [1]

But – O teachers – rejoice in the saying of the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam), who said: “By Allāh! That Allāh guides through you even a single person, is better for you than the most precious of camels.” [2] And – O parents – rejoice in the authentic ḥadīth: “When a person dies, his actions are terminated except for three; a recurring charity, or knowledge that he leaves which is benefited from, or a pious offspring who supplicates for him.” [3]

So you must first of all reform yourselves, since good results from the good that you do, and bad results from the bad that you do. So good conduct from teachers and parents in front of the children is the best form of education and upbringing for them.” [4]

Endnotes:

[1] Related by al-Bukhārī (13/111) and Muslim (no. 1829)
[2] Related by al-Bukhārī (7/57) and Muslim (no. 2406)
[3] Related by Muslim (no. 1631)
[4] Kayfa Nurabbee Awlādunaa (p. 2) of Shaykh Jamīl Zaynū

Published: May 30, 2007
Edited: August 1, 2022