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Neglects his teenage children and blames their divorced mother

Question

What if a father who is well learned in Islam neglects his responsibilities towards his teenage children in regards to their proper upbringing and training and do not fail in blaming their mother for every mistake the children make. What is the position of the very distressed divorced mother?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

Neglecting the nurturing of the children is very serious and causes great harm especially if the children have reached the age of puberty. Neglecting them at this age, may cause spoiling them and losing them. So the fathers and mothers should fear Allaah and they should know that they will be held accountable in front of Him about what they were entrusted with. The Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said: "All of you are guardians and will be questioned about those under your guardianship." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] Neglecting the nurturing of the children according to Islamic principles and good moral conducts is even more serious and dangerous if they are living in a non-Muslim country where dissoluteness and fornication and adultery are widespread, and where there are very few righteous and pious people. So both parents should fear Allaah and make up for their negligence in bringing up their children before it would be too late.

The mother being a divorcee does not exempt her from nurturing her children especially the young amongst them whom she is fostering; so both the father and mother are responsible and held accountable for advising, counselling and nurturing their children.

For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 83178 on the method of nurturing the children according to the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ).

Allaah Knows best.

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