ভূমিকা

وَلا قُوَّةَ إلا باللهِ. And the right of your child is that you should know that he is from you and he will be ascribed to you in this world due to both his good deeds and his evil deeds. And you are responsible for what has been entrusted to you in teaching him good conduct, and guiding him toward his Lord and helping him to obey Him on your behalf and for himself. Then you will be rewarded for so doing, and you will be punished.

[^1] Then regarding his affairs, act like one who will be proud of bringing him up in this world, and one who is excused by his Lord for what is between you and him for taking good care of him, and the good results you achieved. And there is no power but in God. Imam Sajjad mentions the following points regarding the rights of children: 1 A father should not forget that the child is his and that the child’s good or bad deeds will be ascribed to him.

2 A father is responsible for guiding the child to obey God, and to teach and educate him. 3 A father should not be indifferent to the result of the deeds of his child. There will be rewards for the child’s good deeds, and punishment for the child’s bad deeds for the father, too. 4 A father should do his best to raise the child so that his excuse is acceptable both to his child and God. The rights of parents were presented in previous chapters.

In this chapter, Imam Sajjad presents the rights of children incumbent upon parents. There is no doubt that the very foundation of each child starts when a couple gets married and realizes that the fruit of their love and mutual life will be the children that they have and raise. Some of the traits of the children are genetically inherited from their parents. Children are thus a reflection of their parents’ characteristics.

The issue of genetic inheritance of traits also holds true in plants and animals, and is not to be discussed here further.