ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Codes of Training The Child & Theological Education The human beings are instinctively attracted towards God and religion. The fountainhead of this instinct is the human nature. Allah says in the Holy Book: Then set thou thy face uprightly for (the right) religion, in natural devotion to the truth(following) the nature caused by God in which He hath made the people.

30:30 Every child, by nature, is a worshipper of God, but the influence of the external environment might bring about change in this condition; as the Prophet of Islam has said: Every child is born with Islamic Nature, but later on the parents might make him a Jew, a Christian or a Geubre (Zoroastrian) [1] It is the responsibility of the parents to give birth to their child in such an environment that the naturally endowed instinct of Religion in him is properly [1] Bihar al-Anwar, Vol.

3, page 281. nourished.. The day a child comes into this world, he is attracted towards the Power that will provide him his needs. But the child will not have his understanding developed to an extent to express anything about the Focus of its attention. But, in stages, the understanding dawns on the child. A child, who gets his upbringing in a religious family, starts recognizing Allah from around the age of four years.

This is the age when different questions start cropping up in the mind of a child. Sometimes he utters the name of Allah. His questions indicate that his nature is awake and is keen to gather more and more information: The child thinks about: Who made the sun? Who has created the moon and the stars? Does Allah love me? Does Allah like sweet things? Who brings the rain? Who gave birth to Dad? Is Allah listening to our talk? Can we talk with Allah over the phone? Where does Allah live?

How is His face? Does Allah live in the skies? From the age of four years the child starts to think of thousands of such questions. It is evident from these questions that the instinct of Godliness is awakening in the child. By asking these questions he tries to quench his thirst for knowledge. It is not known, at that tender age, what opinion the child has of Allah. He perhaps thinks that Allah is like his Dad, but is definitely bigger and more powerful.

As the child grows, his understanding of Allah too grows. The parents shoulder a big responsibility at this stage. They have to play a very critical role in shaping the beliefs of their child.