Religiously Sanctioned Child-Beating

Cynthia Yacowar-Sweeney has published an examination of the Koranic justification for beating children in school if they are inattentive or lax in their memorization of the Koran.

Below are excerpts from the article at Canada Free Press:

Education in Egypt, Shariah Style — Islamic Teachers Beat Children

The harder the OIC pushes for a worldwide caliphate governed by Shariah, the more we will see Shariah creep into the West. Where there is Shariah, there is violation of human rights

by Cynthia Yacowar-Sweeney

Why is it that we so often hear of Muslim children being subjected to severe physical abuse in Madrassahs or Islamic educational institutions, in Islamic countries and here in the West? Instead of receiving bad marks on their school papers for alleged poor academic performance, these children are instead receiving bad marks on their frail little bodies from their teachers, sometimes to the point of death.

Here’s why. Hitting children is religiously mandated in Islam and is often quite severe. According to the following Hadith on prayer (Abu-Dawud): “ The Prophet said: ‘Command your children to pray when they reach the age of seven and hit them if they if they do not do so by the age of ten…’ “

Similarly, in the Umdat al-Salik or Reliance of the Traveller —a 14th century manual of Islamic law certified in 1991 as a reliable guide to Sunni Islam by Cairo’s al-Azhar University, Egypt’s highest religious authority—we find the following: “F1.2When a child with discrimination (O: meaning he can eat, drink, and clean himself after using the toilet unassisted) is seven years of age, he is ordered to perform the prayer, and when ten, is beaten for neglecting it (N: not severely, but so as to discipline the child, and not more than three blows).”

In line with the two above-mentioned venerated Islamic texts, is Fatwa 127233“How do we smack children to make them pray” (Fatwa Noor ‘ala al-Darb, 13/2 by Shaykh al-Fawzaan), which states that: “Smacking (lightly) is one of the means of child rearing. The teacher may smack, the trainer may smack, the guardian may smack for disciplinary purposes…” And the same Fatwa 127233 (Fatwa al-Subki, 1/379) states that: “With regard to smacking a child for not praying, it is stipulated that the smacking should be light and should not be painful and should not break the skin or break a tooth or bone. It should be on the back or the hand and the like, and the face is to be avoided because it is forbidden to strike it, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) forbade that. It should not be more than ten blows, and it should be done for the purpose of discipline and teaching. So he (the parent etc) should not show his desire to punish, except when there is a need to show that, such as if the child is turning away from prayer and forsaking it, and the like.”

Given these three highly venerated Islamic sources, is it any wonder why a seven-year Muslim old boy was beaten to death and then set on fire by his own mother in the UK in July 2010 simply because he had trouble memorizing the Koran? According to the aforementioned Islamic texts, it is an obligation for parents and teachers to hit children for prayer neglect, because the Prophet Mohammed deemed it so. For those strict followers of the Koran and the Sunnah (how the Prophet lived his life), the Prophet is viewed as the sacred role model of all mankind, to be emulated in every way. Whatever He says, goes. Therefore, child beating becomes allowed for prayer neglect at the age of ten.

However, sanctioning child beating under one circumstance and beginning at a certain age, is effectively a green light to beat children under other circumstances at any age…

Read the rest at Canada Free Press.

Previously by Cynthia Yacowar-Sweeney: One-Sided Indoctrination in Montreal Schools

2 thoughts on “Religiously Sanctioned Child-Beating

  1. There was a case recently in England of a woman who beat her son to death for not studying his Koran. Chilling!

    As an ex-teacher of the old school I saw nothing wrong with moderate physical discipline for insolence, but never for inability to study and understand.
    The way we’re travelling today, many people regret the passing of the tawse and cane. But that’s a story for another day………..

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