Read by the name of you Lord who has created you.
Al-Imran 18-19
Allah witnesses that there is no deity except Him, and [so do] the angels and those of knowledge - [that He is] maintaining [creation] in justice. There is no deity except Him, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. And those who were given the Scripture did not differ except after knowledge had come to them - out of jealous animosity between themselves. And whoever disbelieves in the verses of Allah , then indeed, Allah is swift in [taking] account.
Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ
Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim.
Uthman bin Affan reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
خَيْرُكُمْ مَنْ تَعَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ وَعَلَّمَهُ
The best of you are those who learn the Quran and teach it.
Islam is religion that appreciates, encourages and command to acquire knowledge, first ayaah in Islam is guide the prophet Muhammad to read.
Islam has given great importance to the process of seeking knowledge. If we look at the first five verses revealed from the Holy Qur’an, we can see that the word “اقـــــرأ” (read) is repeated two times, the word "قـــــلــــم" (pen) is mentioned once and the word "عــــلَّـم" (teach) is repeated twice.
Let us have a look at the following verses in Surah Al-‘Alaq. “Read in the name of your Lord Who created. He created man from a clot. Read and your Lord is the Most Honorable. Who taught by the pen. Taught man what he knew not.” (Qur’an 96:1-5 )
Teaching others is one of the good deeds that will get us great rewards even after death. Whoever leaves behind beneficial knowledge will get rewards as long as people are still getting benefits from his knowledge. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “When a man dies all his deeds comes to an end except for three: an ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge and a righteous son who prays for him.” (Bukhari)
In a world that increasingly debases the Islamic deen (religion) and khuloq (morals), raising your kids to be righteous Muslims is a challenge.
With all the detrimental influence lingering around the corner, even raising them in countries where Islam is the main religion is challenging due to the globalization of practices that are foreign to Islamic ideals.
At times, raising them in places where Muslims constitute a minority poses even more threat, as the mainstream society hails from other beliefs and practices that often clash with the former.
How can we raise our children to become practicing Muslim pioneers in a non-Muslim country?
First and Foremost, we must renew our intention. Do we want kids just because this is the norm in most cultures; or do we intend to have offspring in order to worship and serve Almighty by implementing Allah’s words in the Quran of being His khalifa (vicegerent) on earth?
Finally we must provide our children correct Islamic understanding that they could learn value of Islamic life and practice the revered ideology of way of life chosen by Almighty Allah.