Becoming Seekers of Knowledge

Education is a continuous process and goes on till the last breath of a person. The religion of Islam has exhorted its followers to pursue the path of learning from the cradle to the grave.

The Prophet of Islam (pbuh) has said: "Searching for knowledge is the duty of every Muslim. Allah likes the seekers of knowledge." 

Prophet Luqman (pbuh) advised his son: "Spare some time in the day and night for reading and acquiring knowledge. If you stop reading, your knowledge will dissipate." 

Similarly, the Prophet has said: "Searching for knowledge is the duty of every Muslim man and every Muslim woman."

The tradition of the Holy Prophet was that a child play for seven years, study for seven years, and for another seven years learn about what is permissible (Halal) and impermissible (Haram).

Our role as parents is to cultivate habits of reading good books and of becoming seekers of knowledge. The atmosphere in our homes should be one of joyful learning. We model for our children actions to develop the habit of reading. We do this by visiting the library regularly, discussing what we have read and making connections between our values and our daily actions.

For example, when studying the environment, we should exploration of the responsibilities that humans were given by our Lord. "Behold thy Lord said to the angels: 'I will create a vicegerent on earth." Quran (2:30) We might contemplate our responsibility as khalifah to take care of the earth while they have direct experience with the complicated challenges associated with stewardship and ecological restoration. Families could participate in restoration projects and research. We can also help cultivate a greater appreciation by spending time in nature, learning about animals, plants, nature journaling, etc.

In the beginning, parents should read aloud small and interesting stories and fables to make the child interested in
books. Children enjoy books with lots of color pictures and illustrations. Every day, parents or older siblings should read to the
younger ones. The illustrations should be explained to the children. Then the child should be asked to recount the story and explain the meaning of the illustrations. Older children can then write a few lines to summarize what they remember and draw a picture related to the topic. 

 A few tips from Islamic Scholar Ibrahim Amini:

1.     Children like fables and understand their contents well. Therefore,
it is useful if the material provided to them on any subject is in the form of
stories.

2.     Every child will have an individual personality, so the capability
and tastes too will differ from person to person. There will be changes in the
tastes of a person with advancements in years – therefore, the parents must
first try to figure out the taste and capability of their child and then bring
suitable books. Difficult and boring books must not be thrust upon the child, as
this might have a negative impact on the child's reading habits.

3.     Since the child is in the process of developing a personality, and
the books can have a deep impact on this process, care must be exercised to see
that books with appropriate contents are chosen. Parents should first read the
books themselves, and then decide about their suitability for the child's
reading. The child should not read any undesirable matter that might have a
negative impact on such an impressionable mind – after getting into the habit of
reading such literature, it would be difficult to wean the child out of
it.

4.     The habit of reading is not just a pastime. The main purpose of
reading is to acquire knowledge and understand the contents of the books,
deriving advantage from them. It is not very important how many books the child
reads, but the important thing is how the books have been read. Is the child
just making a cursory rapid reading? Has he/she read a book with absorbed
interest and understood its contents? The parents should give full attention to
these aspects. Occasionally, after asking the child to give the gist of a book
that he/she read, the parents should derive a conclusion of whether or not the
child has understood the contents correctly. If the understanding is skewed,
they should correct the child.

5..     Children generally like books with imaginary stories. Some
intellectuals encourage reading of such books. They feel that such books will
promote the imaginative faculties of the child. But the author feels that the
reading of imaginary and fictitious stories can promote the habit of lying. The
reader's mind will become the storehouse of false thoughts, and when upon
growing up, the child might resort to falsities to fulfill his/her needs and
wishes.

6.     It is true that a child prefers to read stories than other reading
matter. But care must be taken that a carefully selected mix of books on various
subjects is given and not just storybooks. The child must steadily develop
interests in reading and understanding the intricate subject matter of serious
literature.

7.     It is not true that children are fond of only fictitious stories.
They will definitely show a keen interest in reading the stories of great
personalities, their lives and achievements. They can aim to model their own
lives on the lives of the great personages they read about.

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