‘Abdul ‘Azeez bin Marwaan had sent his young son, ‘Umar bin ‘Abdil ‘Azeez (rahimahullah), to the blessed city of Madeenah Munawwarah to acquire the knowledge of Deen and to learn etiquette from the great personalities residing there. One of these personalities was Saalih bin Kaisaan (rahimahullah), to whom ‘Abdul ‘Azeez wrote a letter, requesting him to pay special attention to the upbringing and development of his son, ‘Umar (rahimahullah).
Saalih bin Kaisaan (rahimahullah), as the person responsible for seeing to ‘Umar bin ‘Abdil ‘Azeez (rahimahullah), would emphasize and insist that he perform all his salaah with the congregation in the masjid.
On one occasion, ‘Umar bin ‘Abdil ‘Azeez (rahimahullah) was delayed and missed the salaah in the masjid. When Saalih bin Kaisaan (rahimahullah) questioned him as to why he had missed the salaah, he replied, “My slave girl was neatening my hair.” Saalih bin Kaisaan (rahimahullah) was deeply disappointed on hearing his reply and remarked, “The importance that you attach to neatening your hair has caused you to prefer it to even your salaah!”
Saalih bin Kaisaan (rahimahullah) thereafter wrote to ‘Abdul ‘Azeez, who was the governor of Egypt at the time, informing him of what had transpired. ‘Abdul ‘Azeez, on reading the letter, was so affected that he immediately dispatched a messenger to Madeenah Munawwarah. The messenger had strict instructions to shave the head of ‘Umar bin ‘Abdil ‘Azeez (rahimahullah) before even speaking to him.
(Siyaru Aa’laamin Nubalaa vol. 5, pg. 116)
Lessons:
1. If our child has to lose a large sum of money or cause a loss to the business, we will immediately reprimand him and adopt measures to ensure that it does not happen again. Does it ever disturb us when our children miss their salaah?
2. The one who is responsible for the upbringing of the child has to ensure that the basics of Deen (salaah, etc.) are ingrained in the child.
3. Let alone making the salaah qadhaa, ‘Abdul ‘Azeez could not tolerate that his son missed the congregation in the masjid. Unfortunately, small children who create a disturbance in the masjid are nowadays brought to the masjid while the older sons are kept at home to complete homework and assignments. Are these trivial assignments more important than salaah in the masjid with the congregation?
4. For the sake of instilling correct values in the child, anything which deters him from his Deeni obligations must be removed. Hence ‘Abdul ‘Azeez had his son’s head shaved because grooming his hair had caused him to miss the congregational salaah in the masjid. When our children are committing a whole host of evil due to the abuse of the cell-phone and social networks, does this not demand that we put a stop to it or at the very least, control its usage?