New Delhi, 18th Feb. 2023: A one-day training programme for all the staff and workers of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s (JIH) central departments and trusts was held at the JIH headquarters on Thursday, focusing on the importance of parenting.

Addressing a workshop on parenting skills, JIH Tarbiyah (Training) Department Secretary Maulana Waliullah Saeedi Falahi cited a verse of the Holy Quran in which Allah says, “O, believers! Save yourselves and your families from a fire, whose fuel is men and stones.”

In his inaugural speech, calling children precious and one of the greatest blessings from Allah, Maulana Saeedi emphasised providing them with the best training and education.

Terming children’s upbringing as a responsibility of the whole society, he cautioned that mistreatment or negligence towards their education and training is very dangerous.

Saying that a trained and educated child will prove beneficial to human society, whereas an untrained one can be harmful, the JIH Secretary asserted that a child has the right to be brought up in the right direction. Holding parents directly responsible for kids’ upbringing, he warned them that they would be accountable to Allah in case of failure.

Delivering his speech on the topic through Power Point Presentations (PPT), JIH Vice President S. Ameenul Hasan shed light in detail on the four main parenting styles — permissive, authoritative, neglectful and authoritarian.

Terming early childhood as a very crucial period in shaping kids’ behaviour, the JIH Vice President said that the surrounding environment, such as home, family and relatives, has had a profound direct impact on them. Therefore, he advised parents to adopt better strategies to avoid hostile home environments and use suitable language in front of their kids, as parents are children’s first teachers and role models.

Speaking about the positive parenting style, the JIH Vice President explained that the authoritative style is categorised by high responsiveness with high demandingness, in which precise rules and day structure are set with reasonable expectations for their kids while practicing healthy communication, understanding and warmth.

He said, “kids of those parents who adopt the authoritative style tend to be social, friendly, confident, religious and cultured and obedient with willingness.”

Mentioning the negative consequences of the permissive, neglectful and authoritarian parenting styles, Mr. Hasan cautioned that poor parenting caused the worst effects on children’s mental and physical development. But, calling children the future builders of society, he said, “if they are given proper education and training, consequently a good and strong society is shaped.”

Mr. Hasan also distributed a set of parent survey questions among participants for their self-assessment regarding their parenting approaches.

The training programme started with the Holy Quran recitation by Maulana Shakeel Ahmad Mazahiri, while Maulana Muhibullah Qasmi was the programme convener.