A young child is like a recorder. Every laugh, cry, scream and sigh around them is recorded. However, on account of the recorder being silent, nobody realizes that they are being recorded.

These recordings are thereafter played, from time to time, through the years that follow. If not played through the ‘speaker’ of the child’s mouth, they play out through his actions – and actions speak louder than words.

Every child starts with a clean slate and thus has the potential to record anything – be it good or bad. The environment which the parents create for the child thereafter determines what the child will record and re-enact later on in life. If the environment was polluted with sin and evil, the child will be corrupted – often for the rest of his life. On a positive note, if the environment is one of Islam and Deen, the child will be a reflection of the pristine teachings of Islam for the rest of his life.

The child’s recording cannot simply be ‘deleted’ and ‘rewritten’. Hence we have to exercise the greatest level of caution in ensuring that it is only the values and qualities of Deen and Islam that are recorded by the child. Doing this will ensure that the child will succeed in this world and the next.