How can I make my home an Islamic household for my children?

It is the right of the child to have a good environment, meaning the home should be an Islamic household. It is not an Islamic house, if there is an Ayatul Qursi on the walls. This is not what makes an Islamic household. What goes on within that household makes it Islamic or not. So we should have all the necessary elements in the home which make the child remain in an Islamic environment.

Parents should maintain a peaceful environment in the home. It should be free of conflict. Of course there will be conflicts between husband and wife, but it should be done quietly, behind closed doors and not in front of children. This is not a form of hypocrisy. The children will not interpret why you are fighting.

Children should not see their mother acting in a disobedient fashion to the father nor should they see the father insulting the mother. This is a negative home environment for the child.

Parents should also be consistent in dealing with children. It should not be that the mother says one and the father says another. Children then quickly learn that they can have their way by approaching anyone of the parents. So it is important to have consistency. As parents, when dealing with your child, you must have a unified approach.

The Qur'an should be heard in the home. We should create a religious environment at home by calling religious people. Prophet (ﷺ) said that only the righteous should eat your food. They should be a part of your home.

No unislamic magazines or books should be present in your home.

We should teach the children how to deal with people who do stuffs which they are not allowed to do. We cannot tell them that it is ok for them but it is not ok for us, but we have to teach children certain amount of diplomacy. Children are quick to pinpoint things in others once they have learnt that those things are wrong, which could be embarrassing, but the bottom line is that they need to know that it is wrong. It is better that it maybe embarrassing for you at times than creating a vague understanding of right and wrong in these matters.

Good environment involves the one outside the home too. When we are choosing schools, we should put them in Islamic schools, even if it has a lower academic standard than the regular schools. What is more important is their Islamic upbringing. So it is better to put our children in Islamic schools of inferior academics than to put in a non Muslim school of superior academics. You may think that we have to survive in this world which favours those who are superior academically, but we do not know the future. It is with Allah, and it is our duty to give them the best we can while we can. So we choose the Islamic school. But we should strive to upgrade the academics of such Islamic schools. In some countries, the Muslim schools are at the top competing with the top institutions in their country.