A sermon on thanking Allah for His blessings, raising children, and making the most of the vacation.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, abundant, good, and blessed praise. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, a testimony that saves its speaker from the punishment of the Fire on the Day he meets it. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger, the best of those He sent to His creation, and the most diligent in fulfilling the trust and conveying the message. He brought glad tidings, issued warnings, and conveyed the clear message. May Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. As for what follows:
O people, fear Allah the Exalted and thank Him for the blessing of Islam He has bestowed upon you. That is a blessing that no other blessing can match. It is a blessing that brings success in this world and the Hereafter. It is a blessing that saves a person from the Fire. It is a blessing that a person takes pride in and boasts of. It is a blessing that, if a person appreciates it truly, victory is written for him in this world and the Hereafter.
And thank Allah Mighty and Majestic for the intellect He has bestowed upon you, by which you are distinguished from all other creatures that have no intellect. And thank Allah Mighty and Majestic for having granted you, O Muslims, the use of this intellect in what pleases Allah Mighty and Majestic. How many a person has been given intelligence but not spiritual purity, so he did not use his intellect for the purpose for which it was created. So praise Allah Mighty and Majestic for these intellects by which you were guided to the religion of Allah and His Shari'ah.
Then praise Allah Mighty and Majestic for the security and prosperity He has bestowed upon you in this land, while many Islamic and non-Islamic lands have been afflicted with trials and harm from hunger, poverty, and fear.
Then thank Allah Mighty and Majestic for the blessing of children. Know that the blessing of children is a trial and a test for the servant. It is either a gift that becomes the coolness of the eye in this world and the Hereafter, a joy for the heart, a relaxation for the soul, an aid in enduring the hardships of this world, and a righteousness that leads them to good deeds in life and after death, a gathering in this world in obedience to Allah, and a gathering in the Hereafter in the abode of Allah’s honor.
This is the great gift that comes in children. Among its causes is that the parents, the mother and the father, fulfill their duties, and the father is the primary responsible party because he is a shepherd over his family and responsible for his flock. Each of the parents must attend to their children with the care, attention, and righteous upbringing that is obligatory upon them, so that they may leave behind a righteous offspring that benefits them and benefits the Muslims. Indeed, when a servant rectifies his relationship with Allah, Allah rectifies his relationship with creation.
With good intention, seeking help from Allah, frequent supplication to Allah, and turning to Him, much good and righteous upbringing is achieved. Listen to the words of Allah Mighty and Majestic in describing the slaves of the Most Merciful. He says, Exalted is His mention: By Allah, they did not ask for that and sit idle from doing the causes, for both intellect and the Shari'ah dictate that when you ask Allah for something, you must do what you are able to do of its causes. Do you see, if you asked Allah the Exalted to provide you with a child, would you remain unmarried, or would you strive for what brings about a child through marriage? This is the reality. As for the second aspect of the blessing of children, it is that this blessing becomes a calamity, hardship, misery, and misfortune for the family and society. This happens to those who do not fulfill what Allah has obligated upon them regarding the care and righteous upbringing of their children. It happens to those who neglect them and do not care about them, whose greatest concern is to seek a marriage to satisfy their lust, without caring about the matters that follow, for which they bear responsibility. Such a person is a loser in this world and the Hereafter. Allah Mighty and Majestic says:
And among the foolishness in minds and the misguidance in religions is that a group of people concern themselves with developing, caring for, protecting, preserving, and managing their wealth, occupying their minds and bodies with it, neglecting their rest and sleep, but they have forgotten their families and children. What is the value of this wealth compared to the family and children? Is it not more worthy for you, O Muslim, to dedicate some of your mental and physical strength to raising your family and children so that they, thereby, are thankful for the blessing of Allah and obedient to the command of Allah? Allah Mighty and Majestic says: And if I were to ask each of you, collectively or individually, who issued this statement, you would say, individually and collectively, that it was issued by the Lord of the servants, who owns the heavens and the earth. And if I were to ask each of you what the purpose of this statement is, every knowledgeable person would say that the purpose is for us to bear the responsibility of the family so that we protect ourselves and them from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones. So fear Allah, O servants of Allah, and monitor your families and children in their movements and stillness, in their going out and coming in, and in their companions and friends, so that you are aware of their affairs and certain of their directions and progress. This is a great responsibility. So fear Allah, O servants of Allah. O people, schools used to take up a lot of the children’s time, both boys and girls, and bore a heavy burden of their upbringing. But now, as they are about to close their doors for this year and the days of the summer vacation have approached, the children will find a great amount of free time, whether they are male or female. They will find a great amount of free time mentally and temporally. We must try to fill this void and make use of this opportunity in the lives of our youth with what is beneficial for them, so that their minds do not become idle or are exploited for what is idle talk or harmful. I tell you that this opportunity can be utilized by reading beneficial books, each according to his level and what his intellect and scientific and mental level can bear, or by reviewing the curriculum of the year in which he succeeded, or by doing beneficial works such as buying and selling, or helping his father in his work, or by other beneficial occupations, such as joining a group for memorizing the Noble Qur'an or the summer centers that have responsible managers. And our youth, both male and female, should know the value of time, especially in youth, and occupy themselves with what is beneficial, and they should beware with the utmost caution of reading books, magazines, and newspapers that contain in their folds tools of corruption and destruction, in the form of deviant ideas, base morals, and styles far from Islamic dress.
And I offer advice to the old and the young, and I say: Beware of traveling to non-Islamic lands, for you will not benefit from it except by spending exorbitant expenses and wasting time in what is of no benefit, or even in what is sometimes harmful to religion and character. And our land, praise be to Allah, has enough means of comfort and enjoyment, along with the safety of the person from the dangers feared in traveling to other lands. Guard your time, guard yourselves and your children, and guard your wealth, for you are responsible for all of it. Your travel to foreign lands will bring wealth and economic enrichment to the countries you travel to, and this will diminish your wealth considerably. This is in addition to the fact that your morals may be affected and your ideas may be affected. Therefore, I see that you should look into this matter, and whoever among you has thought about it should change his thinking to the opposite, to