What is the ruling on hitting children before they reach the age of seven (a collection of questions)?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Shaykh, regarding the issue of hitting children, I think you once mentioned that it is not permissible to hit them, considering that the Wise Lawgiver explained to us that we should hit them for the sake of prayer. In reality, we hit them, but what is the nature of this hitting? It is not severe beating, but rather a disciplinary hit, perhaps on the back of the head or the hand, to correct a mistake.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Is there any blame in this?
The Shaykh : Is the hitting, specifically regarding prayer, permissible as a disciplinary hit, as I mentioned?
The questioner : No, it is not permissible, of course.
The Shaykh : So what is the difference?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And who is the one who should be hit?
The questioner : Yes, of course, prayer is a religious obligation. Now, Shaykh, truly, among the social matters that we have come to know, meaning from our fathers...
The Shaykh : If I were to put it more precisely, we lived through it.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : We did not just come to know it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : You may have lived in... without knowing it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : ... .
The questioner : We lived through it, yes, heh heh. The issue of hitting, meaning...
The Shaykh : It is necessary.
The questioner : Yes, it is necessary.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : I am asking you.
The questioner : Please go ahead.
The Shaykh : Is it necessary... in your expression, was it something you knew, or in my correction, did you live through it in an Islamic society?
The questioner : No, of course not.
The Shaykh : What is its value?
The questioner : Yes, here is the connection.
The Shaykh : Heh
The questioner : This connection. Now, what is the situation of the Islamic society...
The Shaykh : ...you should raise yourselves before you raise your children, heh heh.
The questioner : Yes, oh Allah.
The Shaykh : Allah is the One to be sought for help.
Another questioner: Most children are [poorly raised] due to bad upbringing, a bad environment.
The questioner : The point is that we...
The Shaykh : The problem is that people today do not know justice.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : Oh, the child lives and reaches manhood without ever being touched... Oh, you will find the father and mother hitting the boy when he is two years old, and the hitting is not just as you said, it is severe beating.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : And the hitting is not intended for upbringing, but to vent one's anger.
The questioner : Yes, that is right.
The Shaykh : What is this life?
The questioner : Yes, that is correct. The point, my Shaykh, is that regarding us, a person in his home, meaning to a certain extent, he can be in a small Islamic state in his home, but this goes beyond the door to his father's house or his wife's father's house. The children are not raised [properly], they are street kids, they are left to their own devices. The child cannot be kept with me all the time. This is also one of the great calamities we are falling into. In my home, I can control my child to a certain extent. We ask Allah to bless us.
Another questioner: Hitting, you do not hit them, the boy... hitting, hit them.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Is there any blame in this?
The Shaykh : Is the hitting, specifically regarding prayer, permissible as a disciplinary hit, as I mentioned?
The questioner : No, it is not permissible, of course.
The Shaykh : So what is the difference?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And who is the one who should be hit?
The questioner : Yes, of course, prayer is a religious obligation. Now, Shaykh, truly, among the social matters that we have come to know, meaning from our fathers...
The Shaykh : If I were to put it more precisely, we lived through it.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : We did not just come to know it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : You may have lived in... without knowing it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : ... .
The questioner : We lived through it, yes, heh heh. The issue of hitting, meaning...
The Shaykh : It is necessary.
The questioner : Yes, it is necessary.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : I am asking you.
The questioner : Please go ahead.
The Shaykh : Is it necessary... in your expression, was it something you knew, or in my correction, did you live through it in an Islamic society?
The questioner : No, of course not.
The Shaykh : What is its value?
The questioner : Yes, here is the connection.
The Shaykh : Heh
The questioner : This connection. Now, what is the situation of the Islamic society...
The Shaykh : ...you should raise yourselves before you raise your children, heh heh.
The questioner : Yes, oh Allah.
The Shaykh : Allah is the One to be sought for help.
Another questioner: Most children are [poorly raised] due to bad upbringing, a bad environment.
The questioner : The point is that we...
The Shaykh : The problem is that people today do not know justice.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : Oh, the child lives and reaches manhood without ever being touched... Oh, you will find the father and mother hitting the boy when he is two years old, and the hitting is not just as you said, it is severe beating.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : And the hitting is not intended for upbringing, but to vent one's anger.
The questioner : Yes, that is right.
The Shaykh : What is this life?
The questioner : Yes, that is correct. The point, my Shaykh, is that regarding us, a person in his home, meaning to a certain extent, he can be in a small Islamic state in his home, but this goes beyond the door to his father's house or his wife's father's house. The children are not raised [properly], they are street kids, they are left to their own devices. The child cannot be kept with me all the time. This is also one of the great calamities we are falling into. In my home, I can control my child to a certain extent. We ask Allah to bless us.
Another questioner: Hitting, you do not hit them, the boy... hitting, hit them.
The questioner : Yes.