Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 352
! ! 352 Otherwise, why would a person, who earnestly wishes to rid himself of a bad habit, not succeed in doing so? Had he been properly trained, that would have been sufficient to convince him that such a habit i s wrong , and he would have immediately quit. O r , if such a habit is good , he would have adopt ed it straightaway. Now, I will tell you how to safeguard your children from developing this weakness. The first door of sin is opened by the sway of the parent’s thoughts , rooted within their hearts, before their child is even born. It is important to close this door first. Thus, people should show mercy to their children and purify their thoughts. If they are unable to succeed in this the whole time, they should at least follow the solution given by Islam to protect their children to a certain extent. Islam has prescribed a cure for inherited sin. When the husband and wife come together, they should recite this prayer: ا ` ﻟ ¨ ﻠ O ُﻬ ﻢ ﱠ َﺟ ﻨ ﱢ ~ْ َﻨ ﺎ ا ﻟ ﺸ ﱠ 'ْ ٰﻄ َﻦ َو َﺟ ﻨ ﱢ ِﺐ ا ﻟ ّﺸ 'ْ ٰﻄ َﻦ َﻣ ﺎ َر َز ْﻗ َﺘ َﻨ ﺎ [O Allah! Keep us away from Satan and keep Satan away from the children you will bestow us. ] O Lord! Protect us from Satan and pr otect from Satan the children Y ou have provided us. This is not a charm or m a gic spell, and it is not necessary that you say it in Arabic. Yo u could say it in your own language, ‘ O Allah ! Sin is harmful. P rotect us from sin and protect our child from sin. ’ The intention or thought made at that time , will sta nd as a wall between Satan and the child. The Holy Prophet Muhammad sa said if this prayer is said at the time [of conception] , the child is born free of satanic influences. Some people raise the question that although t hey recited this prayer several times, it did not show the specified result. The answer to their doubt is that firstly , they did not re cite the p rayer as it should have been re cited but said it as a charm. Secondly, by no means is this a solution for all sin. It is only for such sins as are hereditary. After inherited sin, the person’s thoughts regarding sin start to become tainted in childhood. Islam has resolved this problem in the following way. The Holy Prophet Muhammad sa told us that moral training begins at birth and I believe that if it w ere possible the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa would have s aid to start while the child wa s still in the