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Fatwa CenterEnrolling child in Islamic nursery with possible Shariah violations
Question
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu. Dear Shaykh, I pray you are in the best of health. All praise is for Allah. Is it permissible to send a young child (aged 2-3 years) to an Islamic nursery in the UK if the parents are told that the staff do nursery rhymes there? Does the content of the rhyme matter, as well as whether they are sung by the female staff or are recorded on a tape, and whether they are or are not accompanied by musical instruments? Also, is it allowed to send the child there if the parents are told that the staff do activities relating to festivals of other faiths, such as Christmas? Is it permissible if we request for the child to not be included in these activities? Please advise. May Allah, the Most Merciful, reward you greatly. Aameen.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The father should choose a good environment for his child that helps in raising him upon a sound methodology. The child is born innately good, but he can easily be influenced by the surrounding environment, and whatever he hears or sees impacts him.
Abu Bakr ibn Al-ʻArabi 
said:
"The child is a trust with his parents, and his pure heart is a precious jewel that is free from any inscription or image. He is ready to learn anything that he is taught and to incline to what he is made to incline to. If he is accustomed to doing what is good, he will continue to do what is good and will be happy in this worldly life and the Hereafter. Everyone who taught and participated in raising him will share the reward with the parents. If he is accustomed to doing what is evil and is neglected, he will be miserable and doomed..."
There is no harm in enrolling the child in that nursery if the children therein listen to Islamic songs void of Shariah violations like music and the like. If the songs are accompanied by music or there are other violations of the Shariah, such as celebrating the religious festivals of non-Muslims, for instance, then it is impermissible to enroll the child in it. Although the child is below the age of accountability, his parents are responsible for him and he is a trust deposited with the parents, who are obliged to keep him safe from whatever may corrupt him. Allah, the Exalted, says (what means): {O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones.} [Quran 66:6]
Shaykh As-Saʻdi said in his Tafseer (Quran exegesis):
"It means: O parents, your children are trusts deposited with you, and Allah has enjoined you to take care of them. You must strive to preserve their religious and worldly interests; you should teach, discipline, and protect them from corruption and evils. You should command them to obey Allah and adhere to Taqwa (piety and mindfulness of Allah). Allah, the Exalted, says (what means): {O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones.} [Quran 66:6] Children are entrusted to the parents; the parents either honor the trust or they neglect it and accordingly incur the relevant warning and punishment upon themselves..."
The parent should look for a good nursery for his child. If he can find one, then all praise be to Allah, and if he cannot find one and there is no alternative but to enroll his child in this nursery, then if he can ask the administration to not let his child witness any (Shariah) violations and he believes that they will comply with his request, there is no harm in enrolling the child in it in that case.
Allah knows best.
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