Writes Shahzad Hussain Hamdani
Children require education and guidance in order to learn what is acceptable when dealing with other people and the world. A society in which young people were not taught to consider the needs and rights of others would be a society with little social cohesiveness and much conflict. This is the origin of moral codes: they are methods of indoctrination and internal social control that help society to run with a minimum of interpersonal conflict. Much of this indoctrination occurs within the educational system. People with a solid internal sense of right and wrong are less easily coerced by others. This is particularly true in school, where peer pressure can be intense, but is also true in later life, where adults frequently are confronted with conflicts between what they know to be right and the demands of the outside world. The key to effective teaching of morals in schools is not so much to teach children what is right and wrong, as to teach them to learn these things for themselves, and just as importantly, to teach them to live by these beliefs. For many people, morals are based on religious belief. In the United States, because of the separation of church and state, religious beliefs are not taught in public schools. This is a point of contention for many religious people, who raise their children within their religion and often are at odds with some of the things their children learn in school. Many of these people believe that it is the job of the family, not the educational system, to teach morals to children. Many parents send their children to private schools where moral structures more in keeping with their beliefs are taught.
A worthwhile education should target the total development of learner’s personality. But in the present system emphasis has given to transmission of knowledge and cultivation of occupational skills. This has created a moral vacuum in the life of the individual. Thus Moral education has to be started as early as possible and the best time to develop moral values is from early childhood. Moral education is essential as it helps children overpower traits such as jealousy, backbiting, greed, extravagance, speaking lies, disobedience, stubborn nature and stealing, which they may develop inadvertently due to their inability to handle certain situations. Moral education instils in children the importance of honesty, kindness, justice, contentment, sincerity, obedience, patience, forgiveness, sympathy etc.
We all as children love stories. If a story is narrated in a proper way, even a toddler sticks to it for a few minutes. Bed time story telling is a good method of educating a child. The child is in a state of rest away from anything that could distract its attention. If a rule is taught as a statement to a child, it may have a short term effect, however if it is taught with a story and clear examples of good and bad effects of a deed, it leaves a long time imprint on both the child’s mind and heart. Constant reminders of the characters in the story help them to correct themselves from time to time. Parents should read such stories at bed time or whenever the child is in a position to listen to them. The same amount of time taken to tell the story should be spent in explaining the moral of the story to the kids.
Before our children search out their own ideal, it is our duty to present a good ideal to them who can guide them all throughout their lives. As said by Imam Ali(R.A): “Teach your children from our knowledge, what Allah will help them with, so that those who have gone astray will not affect them with their opinions.”
“The first things that children should learn about are the things that they will need to know when they become men. Surely the heart of a child is like fallow ground – whatever is planted in it is accepted by it.”
How to Implant Moral education:
For a Muslim; the Qur’an and the sunnah teach us good morals and our Prophet Mohammad (SAW) is the best example of the teachings of the Qur’an. The best example of Moral education can be deduced from a story which i would like to share with my readers. The story is a symbol of tolerance and discipline which our Prophet Mohammad (SAW) had; and the character which we need to follow and teach in our own homes.
The story starts when Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was propagating Islam and Preaching that there is only one God and this teaching was strongly rejected by many other local tribes. Each day the Prophet of Islam would walk down a certain pathway past the house of a woman who greatly despised his teaching and would always pelt garbage over the Prophet of Islam. One day the woman picked up the basket in her hands and threw all the garbage on the Prophet of Islam when he passed by. Much to the woman’s disappointment, Prophet Mohammad (SAW) did not say anything and continued on his way.
She did the same the following day thinking, “Maybe this time I will be able to annoy him.” But the Prophet of Islam was too gentle to shout at a woman. She misinterpreted his attitude as fear and decided to repeat the same mischief everyday in order to keep him frightened, so that he might stop preaching the Oneness of God.
The Prophet of Islam did not wanted to disappoint the woman and so continued to walk down the street every day, instead of picking an alternate route, and prayed for the woman to recognise the Truth.
One day, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did not find the woman to be on the roof of her house with the basket. This worried him, because he thought something must have happened to her for not being over there. So he knocked at the door. “Who is it?” asked a feeble voice. “Muhammad bin Abdullah,” was the reply, “can I come in?” The woman feared, “I am sick, and too weak to fight or talk back, therefore Muhammad has come to take revenge for what I have been doing to him.” But the permission to enter her house was in such a gentle voice that she allowed him in.
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) entered the house and told the woman that not finding her on the roof had worried him and he thus wanted to inquire about her health. On finding out how ill she was, he gently asked if she needed any help. Hypnotised by the affectionate tone in the Holy Prophet’s (pbuh) blessed voice, she forgot all fear and asked for some water. He kindly gave her some in a utensil and prayed for her health, while she quenched her thirst. This made her feel very guilty for being so cruel to him in the past and she apologised for her mean behaviour. He forgave her and came to her house everyday to clean it, to feed her and to pray for her, till she was on her feet again. The kind attitude of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) inspired her into the recognition of the Truth, and his prayers were answered in the form of yet another addition into the growing number of Muslims.
Thus one such moral we can conclude from the story is that the prophets of Allah were not popular for their miracles or kingdoms and territories that they ruled. They were simple people who built up a society with qualities like obedience, tolerance, forbearance, patience, dedication, forgiveness etc. These are the virtues which decide the character of man and help in the building of a peaceful society; and the system that deals with inculcating these qualities and building a good character in man is called as moral education.