Home is the First
Training Ground
Our home is our first training ground. By receiving this training, we can fulfil the rights and obligations of God’s servants as well as the obligations we owe to God..
Chapter 46 of the Quran states: “We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: his mother bore him in pain and in pain she gave birth to him, and his bearing and weaning takes thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of full maturity and attains forty years, he says, ‘O my Lord! Help me to be grateful for Your favours which You have bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and to do good deeds that will please You. Grant me righteousness in my offspring. Truly, I have turned to You and, truly, I submit to You.’ We accept from such people the best of what they do and We overlook their bad deeds. They will be among the people of Paradise—this is a true promise that has been given to them.” (46:15-16)
Human procreation takes place through a father and a mother who nurture their offspring through infancy to adulthood. This is, so to say, the natural system of a person’s training, which ensures that he develops a keen consciousness of his duties towards human beings along with the feeling that he must acknowledge the grace of his Benefactor and discharge his duties towards Him. This feeling cultivates two principles in every person: firstly, to honour his pledges towards other people and, secondly, to fulfil important obligations to God, the Creator and Lord.
Those who learn a lesson from nature, the great teacher, who activate their sense of moral awareness to the extent that they properly identify and appropriately fulfil their duties towards all, ranging from their parents right up to God, are the ones who will be treated as deserving of the eternal grace of God in the Hereafter.
Everyone’s home is his first training ground. This training begins with one’s parents and then spreads out into the entire society. If a person fully accepts this training in the initial training ground, he will be able to fulfil not only the rights and obligations of God’s servants but also on a vaster scale, the obligations he owes to God as well.
