Motives of Education in Islam

Education is the process by which children are nurtured as they grow up to spread the teachings of Islam. Education means to look after, to nurture, to nourish, to help grow and flourish. The basic motive of the education is to groom up children under parental care for facing physical and educational challenges in pursuit of promising careers. It implies the ability to inspire confidence. It implies the courage to allow and promote creativity and innovation. It implies the ability to trust and not to stifle, to be firm when needed and even to impose penalties for the offences committed in violation of basic human ethics. The starting point for education is the example of parents. Small children take their parents as models. If parents are lazy and careless, the children will also tend to show laziness and carelessness. If they tell lies, children will tend to lie day in and day out. The same applies to smoking, drinking, rude manners, drug addiction and all other bad habits. It is the responsibility of the parents to motivate their children to practice the Islamic virtues as even naives understand that if they themselves do not respect the values and try to practice them , their children won’t follow Islamic teachings. As children grow up, they will only perceive the inconsistency or even hypocrisy in their parents’ approach. It is important not to crush a child’s spirit and joy about life by terrorizing him/her, whether physically or psychologically. Children must play. It is the way they learn, and is not in itself something bad. Parents should give their children ample opportunities to play and experience the excitement of exploration, learning and social upliftment. At the same time, parents should teach children Islamic manners and etiquettes as explained in holy Quran and hadith.
To ensure that children value Islam and live by Islamic values it is the responsibility of parents to take them to Islamic learning centres for better understanding of the basic Islamic teachings.
Such habits would imbibe the spirit of truthfulness and honesty, gentleness, politeness, consideration for others, helpfulness, cleanliness and tidiness among the children. Above all, education should guide children to develop love for Islam, Almighty Allah and Prophet (SAW) as doing so would surely develop among children a feeling of pride in being Muslim and willingness to strive for the good of others. Education of children one way or the other should be based on the foundations of Islam and as such the focus has to be on Islamic teachings. To ensure that children value Islam and live by Islamic values it is the responsibility of parents to take them to Islamic learning centres for better understanding of the basic Islamic teachings.