Islam & the Importance of the Family (Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B)

Muslim Teachings About the Purpose of Families

What Are Muslim Teachings About the Importance of Families?

• Islam sees the family as the foundation of the Muslim community

• It is the creation of Allah and provides society with stability

• The family is important for many reasons

The importance of Muslim families

AWAITING IMAGE

• The Qur’an and Hadith contain many teachings about the importance of family because it is such an essential part of the Muslim community

• The Hadith encourages all members of the family to be kind to one another:

• Everyone must treat everyone else with love and respect, and each member of the family has an important role to play

  • Mothers and fathers have a responsibility to raise their children as Muslims, teach them values and introduce them to religious activities such as festivals and prayer

  • Children must respect their parents, as the Qur’an teaches

• Children should also pray for their parents

• The prophet Muhammad (pbuh) taught that the reward for serving a person’s mother is paradise in the afterlife (akhirah)

Procreation & the Strengthening of Ummah

What is the Importance of Procreation?

• Islam teaches that one of the purposes of marriage is procreation or having children

• Married couples are expected to have children if possible and bring them up within the faith

  • This means that parents will

    • Teach their children about Allah

    • Teach their children to pray

    • Celebrate festivals as a family

    • Treat their children with love and respect

    • Set an example for them to live up to

    • Educate them in the faith

• Many parents make sure their children are educated properly about Islam by arranging for them to attend classes at a mosque or madrassah (Islamic school)

• The Hadith teaches parents about the importance of raising their children well

The Strengthening of the Ummah

• Raising children properly contributes to the strengthening of the ummah, the worldwide community of Muslims

• If each family does their part to raise their children correctly in the faith, they are helping to raise the next generation of Muslims and so make the community of Muslims across the world stronger

Divergent Muslim Responses to Different Types of Family

What are the Divergent Muslim Responses to the Different Types of Family?

• There are many different types of families in society today

• Nuclear – this is two parents (man and woman) with children

  • Muslims place the greatest emphasis on the nuclear family, as this is the ideal of a family and is how the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) lived

• Extended family - this is parents and other generations including children, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins

  • Often traditional Muslim families are extended and generations live together 

  • This is so that the younger generations can care for the older, which is a very important responsibility for Muslims

• Single parent family - this is one parent with children

  • Single-parent families are not the preferred type of family for traditional Muslims

    • They believe that a child needs both a mother and father for the best possible upbringing

  • There are many reasons why a parent brings up a child alone, such as the death of their partner

  • In these cases, the community can help if the single parent has any difficulties emotionally or financially

  • Other Muslims would say that there is no problem with bringing up a child as a single parent, as long as there is love in the home and the child is happy and raised within the Muslim faith

• Same-sex parents - this is two parents of the same sex and their children

  • A same-sex family would be opposed by most Muslims because of the teaching on homosexuality

  • They believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman

• Blended family - Stepfamilies who have joined together through marriage

  • A blended family would be acceptable to most Muslims and seen as preferable to single-parent families because it brings two different family groups together