I remember a time when neighbourhoods were safe and the streets were free from threats and dangers. We could leave home on our bicycles, ride to play at a friend’s home, and return to our own home hours later, and there would be no great cause for concern or worry. This was despite the fact that from the time we left home until we returned, we were unreachable as we did not have phones in our pockets at the time.

Compare that era to the present, and the contrast is as clear as chalk and cheese. In today’s times, kidnappings, muggings, hijackings, assaults and the like are rife and perpetually on the increase. However, many parents have identified these threats and have taken certain steps in an attempt to mitigate the danger. Neighbourhood patrols and guard huts are some of the measures implemented, together with keeping the children at home, or at least under adult supervision at all times, so that they may be protected from harm.

All this is done in order to secure the physical safety of the child, as the physical safety of the child is taken very seriously.

However, far more disastrous than any physical danger or harm befalling the child is for the child to suffer imaani danger or harm. The reason is that the child may recover from physical harm, or if not, then being a Muslim, he will gain entry into Jannah. However, if the child loses his imaan and grows up on kufr, then he will be doomed to eternal misery and suffering in the Hellfire, and this is infinitely worse than any physical harm he may suffer in this world.

Therefore, just as parents are wary of physical dangers, they need to be doubly or triply wary of any and every fitnah that threatens the imaani safety of the child. ‘Hijacking hotspots’, where the child’s imaan may be waylaid and looted, must be identified and avoided at all costs, as it is not merely one’s wallet, car or even life on the line – it is one’s eternal salvation that one may lose.

From all the hotspots where imaan is lost, one of the hottest hotspots at present is the school. It is an undeniable reality that many schools teach theories and espouse values that are diametrically opposite to the pure and pristine beliefs and values of Islam.

In these schools, children are taught the Big Bang theory – that the origin of the earth was a Big Bang, not the creation of Allah Ta‘ala. They are taught that man descended from apes – not from Nabi Aadam (‘alaihis salaam) who was created by Allah Ta‘ala. They are also taught that LGBTQIA+ is acceptable, and to speak against it is a crime – and this directly clashes with the Quraan Majeed which unequivocally declares that it is filthy and immoral.

If our children are attending such schools, then it is almost certain that they have been exposed to such ‘atomic bombs’ which blast their imaan to smithereens. As parents, have we ever sat with our children and asked them what they have learnt in school? Are we aware of the values they are imbibing and information they are receiving in school, or are we wilfully ignorant, congratulating ourselves with the fact that they are receiving a ‘quality education’?

The fact of the matter is that countless youth, and even adults in their advanced years (a long time later), have come forward and confessed that on account of the seed of atheism being planted in their mind at a young age in school (through being taught Darwinism, the Big Bang theory, etc.), they have always had doubts regarding Islam.

Shockingly, such people are sometimes seen to be pillars of the community, coming from good homes, leading respectable lives and are even seen in the masjid. However, one now wonders whether their lifetime of ‘ibaadah was even valid, considering the doubtful condition of their imaan, and one similarly wonders what their outcome will be if they pass away in such a state. Similar is the case of the increasing number of boys and girls who are falling into the trap of LGBTQIA+, as regarding such filth to be permissible and acceptable causes one to lose his imaan.

Can such a severe danger ever be ignored, side-lined or overlooked? Never! No parent who claims to love their child and wishes well for him can ever leave him defenceless and exposed to such fatal threats.

The hadeeth mentions that it is mainly the parents who plot the course which their children will follow in life. (Saheeh Bukhaari #1358) If we fall short in protecting the imaan of our children, by placing them in the wrong schools and not seeing to it that they are taught the correct Islamic beliefs and values, then we will be risking their eternal salvation and entry into Jannah, and we ourselves will also be held accountable and will face the consequences for neglecting to safeguard their imaan.

May Allah Ta‘ala protect our imaan and the imaan of every child in the Ummah, aameen.