يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ
“Oh you who believe! Protect yourselves and your families against a fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones”
(at-Tahreem 6)
The above verse will make any parent worried about how they will be able to fulfil this important obligation in a world which rapidly seems to be secularising and subsequently reducing the awareness of the Rabb.
لَمَّا أنزلت هَذِهِ الآيَةُ: ﴿قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ﴾، فَقَالُوا: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، لَقَدْ أَوْقَيْنَا أَنْفُسَنَا فَكَيْفَ بِأَهْلِينَا؟ قَالَ: «تَأْمُرُونَهُمْ بِطَاعَةِ اللَّهِ وَتَنْهَوْنَهُمْ عَنْ مَعَاصِي اللَّهِ»
It is narrated that upon the revelation of the above verse, a companion inquired:
“How may I preserve my family from Hellfire?”
The noble Prophet ﷺ replied:
“Through enjoining the good and forbidding the evil.”
Our worries should increase when realising that teaching our children to enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil has become a process that is often restricted to our own homes. The days that parents could send their children to school and feel reassured that their children were being instilled with the love for their Rabb and that obedience to Allah was the main goal in life are no more.
We see, for example, that in Bangladesh in the name of cultural education, the organization of drama, music, opera and dance programs were made highly recommended. Moreover, in Pakistan we see that music, dance and late-night concerts have become the norm. A shocking report by a NGO stated that 44 to 53% of student in elite private schools in Islamabad were addicted to drugs.
When reading the above verse during the nights of Ramadan, it should not only make us greatly worry; it should give us the strength and courage to stand up to this corrupt agenda that secularises the world around us. It should encourage us even more to enjoin what is good and to forbid what is evil, so that we are not only fulfilling our obligation to our Lord but setting the correct example for the future generation.
Yasmin Malik
Member of the Women Section in the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir