How to be a better Baba
So you want to know what the Qur’an and Islam say about being a good dad, right?
While I won’t write a whole article proclaiming to know how, I will point you to resources I used to write, “My Baba, My Wali-der.”
Here’s what I feel is a very powerful hadith for gentlemen to pay attention to:
Jāmiʿ al-Akhbār (Collection of Reports): From ʿAlī (peace be upon him), who said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) came to visit us while Fāṭimah was sitting by the cooking pot and I was sorting lentils. He said: “O Abū al-Ḥasan!”
I replied, “At your service, O Messenger of Allah!”
He said: “Listen to me—and I only speak what I am commanded by my Lord. There is no man who helps his wife in her house except that for every hair on his body, Allah grants him the reward of a year's worship—its days in fasting and its nights in prayer. And Allah gives him a reward like that given to the patient ones: Prophet Dāwūd (David), Prophet Yaʿqūb (Jacob), and Prophet ʿĪsā (Jesus), peace be upon them.
O ʿAlī, whoever serves his family at home and does not feel ashamed of it, Allah records his name in the register of martyrs. For every day and night he spends in service, he receives the reward of a thousand martyrs. For every step he takes, he is given the reward of a pilgrimage (ḥajj) and a minor pilgrimage (ʿumrah). And Allah grants him for every vein in his body a city in Paradise.
O ʿAlī, an hour spent in serving the household is better than a thousand years of worship, a thousand pilgrimages, a thousand minor pilgrimages, the freeing of a thousand slaves, a thousand battles fought, visiting a thousand sick people, attending a thousand Friday prayers, following a thousand funeral processions, feeding a thousand hungry people, clothing a thousand naked people, sending a thousand horses in the path of Allah, giving a thousand gold coins in charity to the poor—and better for him than reading the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, and the Qur’an—and better than freeing a thousand prisoners. And Allah will not take him from this world until he sees his place in Paradise.”
(Bihar ul Anwar, Volume 101)
Did you catch the part about not being ashamed? Or begrudging? And here are links to other resources:
Mashyekhi, G. (2002). Right n. 24: The Right of the Child. In A Divine Perspective on Rights: A Commentary on Imam Sajjad's Treatise of Rights (A. Peiravi & L. Z. Morgan, Trans.). Ansariyan Publications. https://al-islam.org/a-divine-perspective-on-rights-a-commentary-of-imam-sajjads-treatise-of-rights/right-n-24-right
Mutahhari, M. (1997). Story 125: Housework. In Narratives of the Veracious (Vol. 2, Trans. R. Hamidi). Islamic Propagation Organization. https://al-islam.org/narratives-veracious-vol-2-murtadha-mutahhari/story-125-housework
Sabouri, A. (n.d.). Family Interaction. Al-Islam.org. https://al-islam.org/family-interaction-abolfazl-sabouri
Sabouri, A. (n.d.). Verses & traditions about family. In Islam and interactions in social life. Al-Islam.org. https://al-islam.org/islam-and-interactions-social-life-abolfazl-sabouri/verses-traditions-about-family
Sadr, S. M. (n.d.). Rights of the relatives. In The Ahlul-Bayt: Ethical Role-Models. Al-Islam.org. https://al-islam.org/ahlul-bayt-ethical-role-models-sayyid-mahdi-sadr/rights-relatives
Tahmasebi, M. H. (n.d.). The humane qualities of Imam ‘Ali (as). In Imam ‘Ali: Sunshine of Civilized Islam. Al-Islam.org. https://al-islam.org/imam-ali-sunshine-civilized-islam-muhammad-husayn-tahmasebi/humane-qualities-imam-ali
