What does Islam say about raising children?
The Prophet ﷺ spoke tenderly of his own grandchildren and warned sternly against parents who harm their trust. The classical scholars wrote manuals on the ages of a child and what each age asks of a parent.
10 passages from 9 books in the library
Islam regards children as a trust, and the classical scholars wrote that parents are answerable for how they raise them. Al-Ghazali, in his Book of Marriage and elsewhere, treated each stage of a child's life as carrying its own duties upon the parent, while warning that wealth and children can distract a person from Allah if love of them dominates the heart. Ibn Kathir relates that the believers' children will be gathered with their parents in Paradise. The tradition couples tender affection — the Prophet's gentleness with his own grandchildren — with the responsibility of guiding a child toward good.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 9 books by Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Kathir — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
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"It also includes siblings and their children, as well as aunts and maternal aunts, but not their children."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
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"the children of the believers, he said, with their parents. I said, without actions? He said,"
14th century · Bosra, Syria
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
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"on whether they had children in Paradise. Some say they did not have children until they were"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
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"from the children's sight. The children are amazed, believing these rags move independently."
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"and children, as He says, O you who believe, let not your wealth and your children distract"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Parents will flee from their children, brothers from their siblings, and husbands from their"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
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"He would give Kunyas to women with children, and to those without children, he would bestow"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"but he has children, he places his children in the position of long hope, imagining their"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"The children of oppressors, if Allah protects them from their parents' wickedness, should"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"If he has no parents, then at the hands of his wife and children, and if not them, then"
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