ABSTRACT

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Abstract
There are two views about children in the Glorious Qur’an. One is that children are means of prettification (ziinat) in life. The other is that children are causes of trouble (fitnah) in life. The line of demarcation between the two views is the way and manner in which a child is brought up. A child brought up in a Godly manner becomes (a means of) titivation for his parents, the society in which he lives and the world at large. One brought up in an ungodly manner becomes an (agent of) destabilization in the society and consequently a curse to the whole world. Hence, the many cases of crime experienced across countries of the world. This paper therefore makes an attempt to present the Islamic paradigm for raising children, particularly adolescents in a manner in which they become means of ornamentation in the society they live. The paper adopted an analytical method. Following the introduction, it justifies why the contemporary world is referred to as a vicious one. Thereafter, the paper looks at adolescence as the stage of human development mostly prone to risky and bad behaviours and links it with the danger that eventually pricks the society. It then discusses the western approach to child upbringing after which it presents the Islamic perspective of the adolescent child and the Islamic viewpoint on raising them (i.e., child upbringing). The paper draws its conclusion and offers a number of recommendations.
Keywords: children, virtues, vices, contemporary world, Islam

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