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Parents – A key factor O God, be kind to me through the survival of my children, setting them right for me
Make them pious, fearing, insightful, hearing, and obedient toward Thee
Help me in their upbringing, their education, and my devotion toward them.
(Sahifa e- Sajjadiyyah) It has been said that if you want to understand a child, look at its parents. A child’s thirst for knowledge and desire to learn comes from its upbringing. Madressa has high hopes and ambitions for its students, but none of these can be achieved without the full support of parents. There are several underlying factors behind the fact that SIM today is a role model and has an international reach. Needless to say, the blessing of The Almighty is the ultimate factor behind the progress. Also, we are all aware that the institution would not survive without the sacrifice and investment of the volunteers. However, one factor that needs to be mentioned is the Parents involvement. The parents are the ones who are investing their time and efforts in supporting their children for their religious education. Given the fact that in a year the children only have a total of 30 teaching days or 90 hours at their disposal in Madressa, it does not require rocket science to calculate that the ultimate responsibility falls on the parents shoulders. Whilst the role of the Madressa is to enable, facilitate, and provide the framework, the foundation has to be laid and the progress has to be monitored by the parents. To successfully implement what is being taught within the four walls of Madressa, active involvement of the parents is critical. The participation and contribution should not remain confined to the parents day only, rather it should be an ongoing process. The involvement should not only be limited to assisting the students at the time of examinations and course works, but it should also ensure the Salaat Charts are genuinely filled in as much as possible for those children who are not baligh, and that the baligh students has a maximum score. In the hectic pace of today’s society, we find we have less and less time for those important things. Many of us make the mistake of leaving Madressa to teach our children the basic essentials of Islamic life - when in reality these can only be taught at home and merely reinforced in the Madressa. Pro-active dialogue and discussion at home, related to Madressa and Islam is essential. There has to be a vibrant engagement at all stages in the children's religious education, where the necessary support is provided to the child to excel in their religious studies and in their journey towards coming closer to The Almighty. This process also includes a closer Parent-Pupil-Teacher relationship, where we need to have an ongoing communication between us and together identify areas where we can work closer together. The means of communications from SIM with the parents have continuously evolved and as new ways are identified they will be implemented, so as to enable an ongoing dialogue. Bearing in mind the numerous amounts of activities and people involved, it is inevitable that sometimes things can slip the net and things might appear to be perceived in a light different to the intended. In these situations, the parents are humbly requested to continue to have understanding and patience and in these few instances, communication and dialogue are the absolute best approaches. The great men of the world are mostly indebted to their parents. Marhum Shaykh Murtaza Ansari, a great scholar of Islam, wept bitterly on the death of his mother. When his student asked him why he cried so bitterly in front of everyone despite his high position, he replied “It appears you are not yet aware of the high status enjoyed by a mother. The proper training given by this mother of mine to me, and the numerous hardships borne by her for my sake, elevated me to this position, and the initial training given by her to me paved the way for my making all this progress and acquiring this high status in the world of knowledge.” A child has only one set of parents, and not even the most sincere hopes of our best teachers can replace the support and motivation a child receives at home. Madressa requires parents to be a good example to their children, constantly motivate their learning, supervise their homework and encourage regular attendance. And remember above all, that to our children, Madressa is only as important as parents make it.
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