The parents' obligation regarding commanding their children to pray
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, this sister, Umm Abdullah, is asking about a group of children she has who are fourteen and fifteen years old, in their adolescence. She says that she suffers greatly regarding their prayer; some of them fall asleep, and some go to the second room. Their father is lenient and says, "Leave them alone until they grow up and become sensible, and they will pray."
Answer:
What a bad thing this father said! It is obligatory for him to help the mother of the children in commanding them to pray. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan ad-Daraqutni 3:5 Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: [Taha 20:132] A person must be patient in commanding his children to pray and in compelling them to pray, and in striking them when they reach the age of ten. He must be patient with this, for it is certainly difficult for him, but he must be patient until they grow up and Allah guides them. This is part of the good upbringing that is obligatory upon both parents. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, this sister, Umm Abdullah, is asking about a group of children she has who are fourteen and fifteen years old, in their adolescence. She says that she suffers greatly regarding their prayer; some of them fall asleep, and some go to the second room. Their father is lenient and says, "Leave them alone until they grow up and become sensible, and they will pray."
Answer:
What a bad thing this father said! It is obligatory for him to help the mother of the children in commanding them to pray. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Command your children to pray at the age of seven, beat them for it at the age of ten, and separate them in their beds
مروا أولادكم بالصلاة لسبع، واضربوهم عليها لعشر، وفرقوا بينهم في المضاجع،And enjoin prayer upon your family [and people] and be steadfast therein.
وَأْمُرْ أَهْلَكَ بِالصَّلَاةِ وَاصْطَبِرْ عَلَيْهَا
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/128 — archive.org (5:32)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.