RIGHTS OF CHILDREN IN ISLAM

The topic of Islam and children includes the rights of children in Islam, children's duties towards their parents, and parent's rights over their children, both males and females, biological and foster children. Also discussed are some of the differences regarding rights with respect to different schools of thought.

Children in the Qur'an

The Qur'an uses various terms for children (e.g. Arabic terms "dhurriyya; ghulām; ibn; walad; walīd; mawlūd; ṣabī; tifl; saghir) but according to Avner Giladi, the context seldom makes it clear whether it is exclusively referring to the unmatures.The Qur'anic statements about children, Giladi states, are mainly concerned with "infanticide, adoption, breast-feeding, and fatherless children." These statements were of a normative-ethical significance for later Muslim jurists who formed the foundations of Islamic legislation.

Against children as property

In the pre-Islamic Arabia, the children were considered to be the properties of their fathers. The Qur'an rejected this conception. A. Giladi holds that Quran's rejection of this idea was a influence and was a response to the challenge of structural changes in tribal society.

Against infanticide

Pre-Islamic Arabia
The pre-Islamic pagan Arab society also practiced as a form of "post-partum birth control".Regarding the prevalence of this practice, we know it was "common enough among the pre-Islamic Arabs to be assigned a specific term, waʾd".Infanticide was practiced either out of destitution (thus practiced on males and females alike), or as sacrifices to gods, or as "disappointment and fear of social disgrace felt by a father upon the birth of a daughter".
Advent of Islam
The Qur'an rejected the practice of infanticide. Together with polytheism and homicide, infanticide was regarded as a grave sin. Infanticide is also implicitly denounced in the story of Pharaoh's slaughter of the male children of Israelites. The Qur'an also mentions the story, not intended as an example to be followed, of the killing of an unbelieving young man by khidr. This was done in order to preserve the young man's faithful parents from disobedience and ingratitude which the young man was destined to bring to their life .

Adoption

Adoption was a common practice in pre-Islamic Arabia. According to this custom, the adopted son would take the name of his adoptive parent, and would be assimilated into the family in a "legal sense".

Advent of Islam

The Quran replaced the pre-Islamic custom of adoption by the recommendation that "believers treat children of unknown origin as their brothers in the faith and clients". Adoption was viewed "as a lie, as an artificial tie between adults and children, devoid of any real emotional relationship, as a cause of confusion where lineage was concerned and thus a possible source of problems regarding marriage between members of the same family and regarding inheritance." After the cancellation of the Arabic custom of adoption, Muhammad married Zaynab bint Jaysh, the divorced wife of his adopted son Zayd, thereby confirming the rule that forbids father and son to marry the same woman, Avner Giladi states.

Breast-feeding

Pre-Islamic Arabia
In pre-Islamic Arabia, like the Jewish and Christian tradition, sexual relations between males and their milk-mothers or milk-sisters are looked upon as incest.
Advent of Islam
The Qur'an forbade sexual relations between males and their milk-mothers or milk-sisters. According to Avner Giladi, verses and aim at "protecting repudiated but still lactating women and their nurslings by guaranteeing them economic support from the father for at least two years and by sanctioning non-maternal nursing when needed."
Fatherless children

The Qur'an in 19 verses forbids harsh and oppressive treatment of orphan's children while urging kindness and justice towards them. Muhammad himself was an orphan and an early Qur'anic verse celebrates God's providence and care towards him. Other Qur'anic verses identify those who repulse the orphan as unbelievers, rebuke those who do not honor the orphans and encourage the unbelievers to feed the orphans .The Qur'an speaks of the reward waiting for those who feed orphans, poor and the prisoner for the love of God.It also warns those who wrongfully consume the property of orphans that they will be punished in the hereafter with "fire in their own bellies". The Qur'an also gives concrete instructions to guardians regarding the orphans, particularly on how to protect their wealth and property rights.
According to Avner Giladi, these verses were not only a reaction against the injustice and violence against widows and orphans before Islam but were also meant to strengthen and unify Muslim converts against the growing threat from outside and from within the group.

Rights of Children

Children have the right to be fed, clothed, and protected until they reach adulthood.
Children must have the respect, to enjoy love and affection from their parents.
Children have the right to be treated equally, vis-a-vis their siblings in terms of financial gifts.

A tradition reports:

Prophet Muhammad was reported as saying: "Be fair and just in terms of the gifts you offer your children. If I was to give preference to any (gender over the other) I would have preferred females over males (in terms of giving gifts)."
Children have the right to education. A saying attributed to Muhammad relates:
"A father gives his child nothing better than a good education."
Parents are recommended to provide adequately for children in inheritance.
Umar in a Sunni tradition summed up some of the rights of children in the following anecdote:

One day a man came to Umar ibn al-Khattab to complain of disobedient son. So Umar had brought the boy to him and he blamed him for his disobedience. Then the boy addressed Umar by saying "O Commander of the faithful: Are there no rights for boy against his father?". Umar said "yes". Then the boy said "What are these rights O Commander of the Faithful?" Umar said, "To choose a good mother for him, to select good name to him and to teach him the Quran" Then the boy said: "O Commander of the faithful; my father has not accomplished any of these rights. As for my mother, she was a black slave for a Magian; As for my name, he has named me Jual (beetle); and he has not taught me even one letter from the Quran". Then Umar turned round to the man and said "you came to me complaining disobedience on the part of your son, whereas you have not given him his rights. So you have made mistakes against him before he has made mistakes against you".