Document Type : Original Article

Author

• hojjatollah dehghani

feghe ne3zam

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to examine the jurisprudential basis of parents’ responsibility for commanding their children to perform prayer and to determine the scope and educational structure of this responsibility. The central question is whether the available Islamic textual evidence establishes a specific responsibility for parents to command their children to pray and, if so, how this responsibility can be understood within a gradual and systematic process of religious upbringing.
Method: The study employs an analytical-inferential method based on library research, drawing on the Qur’an, hadiths, jurisprudential works, and relevant rijāl sources. Textual evidence on children’s prayer instruction was collected and classified into three categories: (1) explicit texts identifying parents or guardians as responsible for prayer instruction; (2) implicit evidence of parental responsibility; and (3) narrations concerning children’s performance or combination of prayers.
Results: The analysis indicates that the available textual evidence supports parental responsibility for commanding children to pray through both explicit and implicit indications. Explicit narrations directly establish the responsibility of parents or guardians for prayer instruction, while other reports support this responsibility indirectly by describing the process of teaching and training children. Narrations concerning the gradual instruction of children and the facilitative practice of combining prayers further demonstrate that prayer education is not conceived as a uniform obligation applied identically throughout childhood. Rather, the evidence supports a gradual educational process that takes account of children’s developing capacities. 
Conclusion: The analysis shows that Islamic textual evidence establishes parental responsibility for commanding children to pray through both explicit and implicit indications. The narrations also demonstrate that prayer education is not a uniform obligation throughout childhood but a gradual process adapted to children’s developing capacities. Accordingly, a three-stage model is proposed: cognitive preparation before the age of seven, practical initiation after acquiring a basic understanding of prayer, and reinforcement of commitment from the age of nine through appropriate preventive and disciplinary measures. Thus, parental responsibility for prayer education is grounded in jurisprudential evidence and implemented through a structured process that progresses 

Keywords

• Prayer
• religious
• upbringing
• parental responsibility
• Jurisprudence of Education
• Educational Model
• Gradual Education

Main Subjects

• Duties of coaches in training