RAISING PIOUS PROGENY- BY PROFESSOR TIMEHIN OLUROTIMI

I had intended to discuss this last weekend, but I was in the middle of a tough battle with poor health. 

In the last few weeks, I have received several invitations  to give talks at end of the year parties or valedictory services of secondary schools in different parts of Lagos. 

Though I have not been able to attend many of them because of my health, I have observed that most of them proposed topics that relate to the challenge of positive parenting and raising upright kids though valedictory talks should naturally address the students graduating from schools, not their parents. Their choice of parent-focused topics for valedictory lectures seems, to me,  to be an admission of parental failures by school administrators and proprietors. 

The contemporary world is sinking in fitnah (temptation). The enemies we battle are no longer at the borders. They are mostly internal enemies- lurking in the dark depths of our homes, our brains, our minds,  our pockets, our screens, and yes, our hearts.

However much we try to combat the fitnah, it seemingly remains immovable in an eternal cadence. The question that then assails our minds is:

How do we raise righteous children in a time when immorality is not just visible but celebrated?

This question begs for an answer with an urgency the like of which mankind has never seen before. We are, today, living in a time where evil is beautified and virtue is mocked. Where a child may be bullied for modesty and applauded for rebellion.

Today, musical videos are accepted as educators more than parents;  celebrities are respected as mentors and role models more than Imams and Pastors, and social media influencers have become the new prophets for the youth.

All children are born into the fitrah (pure state), says the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (saw), but who is shaping that fitrah today after birth?

These days, a child sees a father who prays at the mosque but cheats in business, a mother who wears hijab but lies on the phone, and a clergyman who secretly indulges in lewd practices with children of their age. What message is being passed to them in such a situation?

I am compelled to remind you, even as I remind myself. Your child is watching you—not just your words, but your walk. I should remind you that parenting is a divine assignment. It is not just babysitting. It is building a nation.

The Prophet (saw) did not leave behind wealth—he left behind people—companions like Ali, Aisha, Ibn Abbas—young souls trained in taqwa, resilience, and knowledge. As a father,  your role is not just to provide food—it is to feed the soul, and as a  mother, you are not just to breastfeed or clothe the body, you are to pump the moral essence into your child and clothe their hearts with imān (faith).

As a parent, you are the first school. You are the first qiblah of your child, the first Qur'an, the first mirror of Allah’s mercy, and the first shield in any existential storm, and the only ark of guidance

Imagine raising your child in the time of Prophet Nūḥ ( as). He built an ark in a time of disbelief—people mocked him. *At this time, you must build your ark too—an ark of Qur’an, Sunnah, Salat, love, and du’a. An ark where your child knows their worth is not in how they look, but in how Allah sees them.

At this time, let your home be a place of submission to Allah, not an abode for profanity. Let your meals come with dhikr, not gossip. Let your pastimes be punctuated by contemplative narratives, not celebrated frivolities.

Let your bedtime stories for your children be tales of the Prophets, not cartoons that teach arrogance, indecency, and transgression.

Don't forget - the television is talking, the smartphone is preaching, the internet is teaching. If you do not take control of your child’s tarbiyah, someone else will.

It is therefore compulsory that you close the gaps. Nobody should be closer to them than you. The first battlefield is Salat. Pray with them: it is the first pillar to crumble when the heart grows distant. Teach them to love salah before they understand it. Talk to them: Ask questions. Listen with your eyes. Connect before you correct.

As you manage your relationship with them, be decriptive, not prescriptive. Monitor without spying: Give them trust, but place boundaries. The world is too dangerous to be naive. Read the Qur’an with them;  make it a daily companion—not a dusty artefact.

Meet their friends, know them, and connect their parents too. One good friend can be the difference between Jannah and Jahannam (paradise and hell).

And above all—make du’a for them like a desperate soul. Cry in the last third of the night. Beg Allah, with the agitation and frenzy of Hajar when she ran between Safa and Marwa—not once, not twice—but seven times.

Because parenting is not just work—it is worship, you must realise that your child is your mirror; they project what you are. You must reflect the ideals you expect in them in your own deeds and actions. If your child lies, ask where they saw it.

If they disrespect others, ask how they learned it. And if they love Allah—then fall into sujūd, for you are among the blessed.

Raise them not just to survive in this age of immorality—but to stand tall. Grant them the grace to be a Yusuf in the house of temptation, a Maryam in the sanctuary of purity, an Ibrahim, who questions falsehood, and a Fatimah who carries light in a world of rebellion and mischief.

O Allah! Our children are Your gifts for us,  and Your trust that You have placed upon us—help us not to betray that trust. Make them coolness for our eyes, elixirs for the pains in our bosoms, light for the ummah, and lanterns in a world of total darkness.

O Allah, do not let the fire of immorality consume their hearts. Purify their hearts, guard their chastity, protect their tongues, and bend their heads and hearts for You and Your noble Prophet alone, and make them intercessors on that day when there shall be no intercessions except with Your approval.

Aameen.

JUM'AH MUBARAKAH

© PROFESSOR TIMEHIN SAHEED OLUROTIMI

- Nigeria