Development and Promotion of Willpower

development and promotion of willpower

raising the child to have a strong will and high aspiration depends on some points:

* strengthening the will of the child by respecting his opinion, consulting him and giving him space of freedom. we should not despise or insult him because that would make the child despise himself in return, and it would give him a feeling of smallness and insignificance. we should train him to have patience, self-control and self-determination because when he is able to control and direct himself in certain way to achieve favorable aims on the long run, that will give him a sense of pride, satisfaction and complacency.

* habituating him to seek perfection and innovation in anything he does. but we should be careful not to seek perfection in terms of clothes, food, residence and vehicles, yet that is what most people are after despite the fact that only seeking these things leads to committing sins for the sake of having temporary worldly pleasures. the kind of perfection here is in terms of morals, religion and goodness. he should be raised to give willingly to the needy, so if he has food or money he would give to the poor and distressed. if someone violates or transgresses him, he should be taught to meet that with forgiveness and forbearance.

* encouraging him to care about important matters such as seeking knowledge to be an imam or scholar who would help the people to be closer to islam so that they become closer to paradise. he should be trained not to fear and be brave to strive for the sake of almighty allah. he should be encouraged to earn money to spend it in goodness and charity. parents should be careful and prudent; they should not encourage their child to spend his time aimlessly and just follow worldly pleasures that would make him an equal to a disbeliever such as the want to have the best food, drink, pleasures and desires. this kind of thinking drains the energy of the human, makes him a slave to his own desires, passions and trivialities. it would make him pleased with the worthless matters ([2]).

* educating him about role models and inspirational leaders by teaching him about battles and autobiographies of great muslim characters such as companions and predecessors. we should introduce our child to the early muslims who strived to spread islam, became committed to religion and sacrificed for it with their money and lives. we should also teach the child about people of high morals and ambitions and connect him to such great figures by naming him after their names or nicknames and telling him about their life stories to follow their footsteps.

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([1]) al-tibb al-rawhani by al-razi: page 37 and mas'ulayet al-abb al-muslim fi tarbiyat al-walad by adnan bahareth: page 330-331.

([2]) min akhta'na fi tarbiyat awladna by mohamed al saheem: pages 28-30.