Then, any 4-year old child has 50% intelligence and the...

Then, any 4-year old child has 50% intelligence and the changes between the ages of 2 and 3 are far more important than the changes between the ages of 8 and 9.”[^2] How to Begin the Child’s Upbringing and Instruction For training to be effective, one has to begin much sooner than is generally thought nowadays, i.e. from the very first weeks after birth. First, one has to consider the physiological issues and from the first year, the psychological issues.

One point to consider is that the value of time is not the same for a child as for an adult. One day at the age of 1 is much longer than the same period of time at the age of 30 and it perhaps includes six times the physiological and psychological occurrences.

Therefore, one should not leave such a fruitful period of childhood unused, for in the first six years of life, the outcome of the performance of the rules of life is more definitive.[^3] It is because of this that Imam ‘Ali said, “He who does not learn in childhood, cannot progress in adulthood.”[^4] Therefore, childhood is the best time for learning the right way of living because the child is very apt to imitate, adopt and learn.

At this time, the child records in himself all the movement, speech and behavior of the people surrounding him, with the utmost care, as if recorded on film. Therefore, the child’s psyche needs to be guided to the right path simultaneously with his physical growth and development because it becomes very difficult at the adult stage to change the character of one who was not properly instructed in childhood.

The happiest people are those who have been reared in a correct and healthy manner from the very beginning and who have adopted good characteristics. According to some psychologists, a child is like a sapling that the gardener can easily change according to his own plans. Yet, correcting those who are like old trees and have grown accustomed to bad ways, is very difficult indeed. One who intends to change the attitudes of such individuals must endure many hardships[^5].

The Prophet as an Example for the People God says in the Qur’an, “You have had a good example in God’s Messenger.” [^6] The Prophet of Islam has been the greatest example for humanity throughout history because, in addition to teaching and guiding the people with his words, he instructed them with his personal behavior. The Prophet’s personality is not an example for a specific period, generation, nation, religion or place.