Safeguarding children in the Madressah

1. Safeguarding children in the Madressah An Islamic perspective

2. Objectives • Participants will be able to appreciate the importance of safeguarding children in Madressah in the light of ECM • Participants will be able to appreciate the importance of safeguarding children from the Qur’a’an and hadith • Participants will be able comprehend the different Islamic perspectives to educating children • Participants will discuss their own opinions of child protection in Madresah

3. The Quraanic approach • In the Qur’aan there many instances when children and young people have been addressed • Namely; • Ibrahim (AS) with his child Ismaeel • Yaqub (AS) to his child Yusuf • And Luqman (AS) to his child.

4. The Prophetic approach • ` Aishah RA, the wife of the Prophet, said that the Prophet Muhammad said, “Allah is kind and He loves kindness and confers upon kindness that which he does not confer upon severity or anything else besides it.” (Muslim)

5. The Prophetic approach • A Companion of the Prophet, Anas bin Malik (R.A.), reported that whenever the Prophet passed children on the road he would give them a smile and a greeting. He also said, “I have never seen anybody more merciful to children than the Prophet.” • In another narration Anas bin (R.A.) narrates his own account that I spent ten years in the service of the Prophet (SAW) as a child never did scold me and say why haven’t you carried this out or why have you done this?

6. The Prophetic approach • Another tradition relates his emphasis on treating children with respect and understanding: • The incident is narrated by `A’ishahRA: The Prophet took a child in his lap … and then the child urinated on him, so he asked for water and poured it over the place of the urine. (Bukhari) .... Embarrassed, the father sprang forward. • “What have you done, you silly boy” he shouted. His arm shoved forward to grab the child away from the Muhammad, his red face showing his anger. Fear and confusion showed in the face of the child. Muhammad restrained the man, and gently hugged the child to him. “Don’t worry,” he told the over-zealous father. “This is not a big issue. My clothes can be washed. But be careful with how you treat the child” he continued. “What can restore his self-esteem after you have dealt with him in public like this?”".

7. Rights of children in islam • Children have the right to education. A saying attributed to Muhammad relates: "A father gives his child nothing better than a good education." • Parents are recommended to provide adequately for children in during their lives and in inheritance. • An incident of Umar R.A. summed up some of the rights of children in the following anecdote:

8. “Seek knowledge even if it be in China.” • Islam regards teachers as the pillars of the educational process and highlights • These included Omar bin ‘Utbah, who wrote to the teacher of his children that “Let your first action in attending to my children be in attending to yourself. Their eyes will see what your eye sees. They will see good the things you do and bad the things you renounce.”

9. Al-Ghazali Al-Ghazali, known in Europe as Algazel, is one of the most illustrious Muslim scholars, who wrote many works, and became renowned for his learning. His ideas on education dominated Islamic educational thought for centuries after his death. According to Al-Ghazali, `knowledge exists potentially in the human soul like the seed in the soil; by learning the potential becomes actual.’ The child, Al-Ghazali also wrote, `is a trust (placed by God) in the hands of his parents, and his innocent heart is a precious element capable of taking impressions'.

10. Al-Ghazali • If the parents/the teachers: • brought the child up in righteousness he would live happily in this world and the next and they would be rewarded for their good deed. • If they neglected the child’s upbringing and education he would lead a life of unhappiness in both worlds and they would bear the burden of the sin of neglect.

11. Al-Ghazali • Education , Al-Ghazali states in ‘Ayyuha l-walad’ is like: `the labour of the farmer, who uproots the weeds, trims wheat so as it grows better and gives a better harvest.' • Every human needs a teacher to guide him in the right direction. To try and do without leads to worst illusions. • In Ayyuha l-walad the pupil’s outward respect for his teacher is evidence of esteem for such in one's heart.

12. Al-Ghazali in Practice (Part 1) • He who undertakes the instructions of the young, points Al-Ghazali: `undertakes great responsibility'. • He must therefore be as tender to his pupils as if they were his own children. • He must correct moral lapses through hinting. • above all he himself must set an example so that his action accords with his precepts. • The teacher should never criticise the subject taught by another. • He must adapt his teaching to the pupil's capacity and ability, and not to overburden the pupil's capacity, nor give him fright. • He must respect the less gifted pupil, who might if lost, leave safe foundations for standards he would never reach. • And after school, Al-Ghazali insists, the pupil must be allowed to have recreation. • To prevent play and insist on continuous study leads to dullness in the heart, diminution in intelligence and unhappiness.

13. Al-Ghazali in Practice (Part 2) Even more on this matter, in ‘Ihyaulum al-din’, the teacher, Al-Ghazali holds, carries eight duties. • First and foremost he is a father for his pupils. • He must teach for the sake of God. • He would advise the student with prudence, • fight the excessive urge to learn too quickly, and to overtake his peers. • He would reprimand with moderation, • in private, discreetly, not in public. • To blame too much is to make the pupil too stubborn in his way of seeing and doing things. • And one other duty of the teacher is to make sure that what he teaches he pursues in his life, and that his own acts do not contradict what he is trying to inculcate.

14. Ibn Khaldun and Education • IbnKhaldun stated that excessive violence to the child accustoms him to weak will, cowardice, and escaping from life requirements. • He said, “The one who was brought up by violence and submission…[will be] displeased, inactive, and lazy. It will force him to lie and be cunning for fear of hands stretching to subdue him. It will teach him trickery and deception, which will become habits and manners and will spoil his humanity.”

15. Ibn Khaldun • A gradual approach to discipline is what IbnKhaldun appears to really be advocating. And, his critical tones toward punishment in general seem to imply that other methods of discipline are almost always sufficient without being quick to resort to corporal punishment. • Furthermore, he warns educators from exceeding these limits and resorting to corporal punisment, portraying them as God’s limits that should not be transgressed lest the violator be prevented from God’s knowledge and mercy.

16. Information should be given to students gradually in stages, lower to higher, which they may understand. • If teaching methods are gradually applied to students, the education will prove more effective for them

17. It is Harmful to be very Strict on the Student • During education and teaching, it is harmful to be very strict on the student especially if the student is of young age. • This sort of aggressiveness negatively influences the child. It may affect the psychology of the child and create unhappiness as well as corrupt his desire to work and study. This will drive the child to misbehaviour and to lie out of fear.

18. Imparting Information to Students at their Level of Comprehension • Information should be given to students gradually in stages, lower to higher, which they may understand. If teaching methods are gradually applied to students, the education will prove more effective for them.

19. Appropriate Length of Subjects Taught • According to Ibn Khaldun, an over-summarized text on certain information as well as an over-extended text will create difficulty in learning the actual information.