[Captain]

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a
prophet of God. On his shoulders lay the heavy responsibility of the
guidance of the world. He is the role model of the whole of
mankind. The founder of Islam has told us the golden principle in
the following words, “A person who does not deal with children
with love and affection and does not respect the elders, does not
belong to Islam.” (Tirmidhi) This means to treat children well is a
part of religion.
Whenever his daughter Fatima (May Allah be pleased with
her) visited him, he would stand up to welcome her, show his
affection and give her his own seat. Thus it is necessary to take care
of children’s self respect. He always addressed children with love
and honor. He treated them with justice and never preferred one
over the other without any reason.
Once the father of Nu‘man Bashir came to the Holy Prophet
(peace be upon him) and asked him about the gift he’d given his
son. He asked have you given the same gifts to all your children?
The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Fear Allah and apply
justice among your children.” Whenever the founder of Islam
passed by children he always said, “Assalamu Alaikum” to them.
He dealt with children with utter affection. Sometimes he would
ask his grandsons to stand on his feet and then he would ask them
to rise and thus would indulge them in play. Sometimes when the
Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) offered his prayer, children
would get on his back during sajdah (prostration) and he remained
in sajdah till they got off by themselves. He taught manners with
great kindness.
I pray for all parents, “May Allah enable them to treat their
children kindly and in the same way, according to the Holy
Prophet’s teachings and may Allah shower his great blessings and
peace upon them.”