(E-Book) Change Or Lose

Let me say, with full conviction, that there is no chance for us, nor for any nation, to occupy a respectable place among the advanced nations without raising our cultural awareness – we are living in the age of knowledge, and we cannot do without information and books. Therefore, raising children who are really fond of reading is our first and foremost challenge – and it will take all our commitment to succeed there. Having this in mind I propose to tackle this issue in a book; and, as in the previous volumes in the series, I try to come upon solutions for the difficult dilemma – giving special attention to being true to the requirements of accuracy and reliability; maintaing, at the same time, an accessible and smooth reading. In which I hope to bring these concepts within the comprehension of a wide readership as possible.

What Allah the Most Exalted and the Most Mighty said concerning the meanings of love between spouses precedes what psychologists do say today. The psychologists emphasize the necessity of love in the human life and the need for every human being to love and feel the love of someone else. They assert that this human need is the foundation of rest of mind for an individual.

But how can one sustain affection throughout the years of marriage? What makes some people happy in their marriages while others fine marriage miserable? What is the real love that should prevail in every marital relationship? And what are the rights of the spouses on each other?

By Allah’s permission – this book provides comprehensive answers to these questions, compiled from a number of sources in order for us to quench the thirst of the thirsty about the issue.

“In this treatise, we wish to present certain concepts, tools and methods that will help the family to establish communication among its members; because next to Allah’s grace, it is communication that a family needs most to have mutual understanding, cohesion and success. And we would be unfair to ourselves if we find our families disintegrating before our very eyes, when there are several books and experiences that should have helped us to protect and make them choice families, happy and strong. I have tried to make this a good addition to what circulates around of literature on child upbringing available to parents. And because this work is addressed to a very wide audience, among whom are the educated and the semi-educated, I have striven to see that my expressions are as simple as possible; even though expressing ideas that have philosophical content in very simple language could do some kind of injustice to their meaning. This is why this attempt of ours is bound to still be imperfect; but sufficient it is that I have tried to aim clearly and closely as best I can.”

Here is the city of palm dates and lively hearts; here lives his heart. It is his place, his city, his people. It is the city in which everything came alight when he arrived. Its people and its very nature loved him. Here is Mount Uhud with which he had a relation of mutual love. These narrow alleyways will recognize his footsteps.

Here will be his mosque and adjacent to it will be his small rooms.

But here in the mosque will also gather a great band of men, eager to follow him and do his bidding. With them he will have a pure relation of mutual love. He is always with them; but his special relation is with God…We will look at Prophet Muhammad’s management of his day, hour by hour, to gain an insight into the simplicity of his great life, the spontaneity of his serious life, the perfect balance between his activities and the fulfillment of complementary needs.

The present volume of our series deals with adolescence and adolescents. It is true that much of what applies to a five-year-old applies to a fifteen-year-old, but it is equally true that adolescence does involve some real difficulties that are unique to this stage. It is as if an adolescent is passing through a violent storm that needs special training and skill on the part of the adults around him/her.

An adolescent is a child that is approximating or has gone beyond puberty. More specifically, adolescence covers three sub-stages: early-, middle-, and late-adolescence. Early adolescence starts at twelve or thirteen; middle adolescence starts at fifteen or sixteen; and late adolescence lasts until twenty one or twenty two. After this, an individual is a young adult. You can say that adolescence parallels three educational stages: middle school, secondary school, and college.

It is noteworthy that there exist today, many educational books of good value as well as inferior ones; a fact that has caused many people to be confused in the choice of books to enrich their ability to train their children wisely and successfully.

One the other hand, the list of needs that are considered necessary for education has now expanded very greatly. And we know well that when things considered to be crucial needs have reached a hundred or two, one naturally feels a weakness to confront the challenge of providing them; which may even cause one to turn away partly or completely.

From this standpoint, my thoughts have been arrested by the need for me to discuss the master key in interacting with young people and training them, which is the mother. Perhaps by this, I will help my reader to possess and expand his latitude in understanding the psychology of child upbringing and methodology.