Today’s short reminder in the my child and me series is on ridiculing and belittling a child. To belittle and ridicule any person is not allowed and impermissible for anyone, even in the case of one’s child. In this part of the world, it is normal to ridicule a child or any of his features: “Your head is very big!” “Look at you, at your age, you can’t even do this!” All these in addition to not being permissible, actually reduce the self-esteem of a child.

Furthermore, A parent is required to be respectful to his child and out of that respect is choosing a good name, having a good meaning, to prevent any mockery of his/her name that may occur later on.

During the time of ‘Umar ibn Khattab, a man came to complain of his disobedient son and the son when asked, replied: “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 Qur’an” Umar (RA) then showed disapproval to what the father did.

A lot of parents who ridicule say they are joking, but let’s ask ourselves, what is actually the point of that?

We really need to abolish this culture of ridiculing and belittling children. May Allah aid us and guide us to the right path.