As Muslims, our first focus should be akhlaaq – I like many of her tips here!
“By Hina Khan Mukhtar
I once asked a scholar for advice on what we should be teaching our children and he immediately responded, “Adab and akhlaq (manners and etiquettes). Parents don’t emphasize these enough anymore.” He went on to define “adab” as “the appropriate action, attitude, and response in any given situation”.
Another scholar once said, “Adab beautifies everything it touches. We have Muslims who know rules and rituals; we don’t have nearly enough Muslims who know how to have adab. Sell your misbaha (prayer beads) and go buy some adab instead.”
The Prophet Muhammad (salallaahu alaihi wasallam) stated, “I have only been sent to perfect good manners.”
It was at a friend’s house that I saw copies of the books “Islamic Manners” by Shaykh Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah and “How to Raise a Gentleman” by Kay West lying side by side on a coffee table.
“What are these all about?” I asked, picking up one of the books and flipping through its pages.
“That? Oh, nothing,” the mother of four boys shrugged nonchalantly. “Just making sure nothing falls through the cracks is all.”
The concept fascinated me. A systematic way of making sure that our sons are learning the proper etiquettes and manners? Sign me up!
Pooling elders and friends, I asked around to find out what they thought are some basic adab and akhlaq concepts that all children should be learning while under our tutelage and here are just some pointers we came up with…”
Continue reading here: http://muslimobserver.com/19887/