وَأَمَّا الْجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلَامَيْنِ يَتِيمَيْنِ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنزٌ لَّهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَن يَبْلُغَا أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسْتَخْرِجَا كَنزَهُمَا رَحْمَةً مِّن رَّبِّكَ ۚ وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِي ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَأْوِيلُ مَا لَمْ تَسْطِع عَّلَيْهِ صَبْرًا
And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure for them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. And I did it not of my own accord. That is the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience.” (Surah al Kahf: 82)
As parents, sometimes we tend to worry about the Deen of our children. At a time when there’s just so much fitnah all around us, we are rightfully concerned about their future, about their iman, about the friends they make and the company they keep, about the places they go and the things they see.
However, we need to understand something important.
If we want to preserve our children’s future, then we need to start with ourselves today, by investing in acts of righteousness and piety. We need to reform ourselves and improve our relationship with Allah first, by increasing in acts of Ibaadah. We need to fix our relationships with other people, starting with our parents. We need to ensure all our dealings are sound and that every single penny we earn is through lawful means. Our actions as parents today, will affect our children’s future tomorrow.
In Surah al Kahf, in the story of Musa (as) and Khidr, we learn that Khidr restored a wall belonging to two orphans, that was about to collapse. In ayah 82, we learn the reason behind this, that it was done in order to protect a treasure that was hidden beneath the wall. Allah was the sole Guardian of these orphan boys and He was protecting them and their interests. And this was all because their father was a righteous man.
وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا
He was God-Fearing, and this shows that if parents are righteous, then the benefit of that piety reaches the children even in this world. By virtue of our worship, Allah protects our children.
It is reported that Ibn al Musayyib said to his son: ‘My son! I will increase my prayers for you, hoping that Allah will preserve me by preserving you.’ He then recited وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا
In another incident, there was a man who would give some sadaqah whenever his child misbehaved, saying “This is for the spiritual purification of my son O Allah, because that is more difficult on me, than his physical illness”
There was another man who would not have anything to give in sadaqah, so whenever his son would overcome him (i.e. misbehave), he would pray in the night and he would recite Surat al Baqarah and he would make du’a saying “O Allah this is my sadaqah, accept this from me and fix my son for me”
And there are so many examples in our own history where Allah protected the children of righteous men and women, even after they had passed away. In fact some of these children grew up to be legendary scholars, whose works we are still benefiting from today!
When Imam Bukhari was still a child, his father passed away. But before he died, he is reported to have said: “I know of no dirham from my wealth that was earned through unlawful means, nor of any dirham from my wealth that was earned through dubious means”. Such taqwa, that resulted in his child becoming one of the greatest scholars we have ever known!
So it is by virtue of our piety and worship, that Allah will protect and preserve our children InshaAllah. So invest in acts of righteousness today!
