The Importance of Being Aware of Parenting Process with an Emphasis on Minimum Educational-Psychological Expectations of Islam from Parents

Abstract

In family, one of the most important expectations from parents is to educate children in accordance with moral, social, religious, and cultural norms. In Islamic teachings, there are minimum and maximum expectations about educating children. The key question is: what advantages do parents achieve in being aware of parenting process, and what are minimum expectations of Islam from parents in parenting process? This study attempts to explain the importance of being aware of parenting process from the perspective of Islam and psychology, and to extract the expectations of Islam from parents about parenting. This study applied a descriptive-analytical and Ijtihadi method. Thinking deeply and applying Ijtihad in Islamic and educational-psychological teachings results into a conclusion that parents have different expectations about parenting. The minimum (not maximum) expectations of Islam in parenting process are as follows: 1. the importance of responsible interaction with children; 2. the observance of priorities in parenting; 3. taking advantage of smart encouragement and punishment; 4. putting an emphasis on cognitive change; 5. strengthening self-control in children; 6. appropriate negligence; 7. intimate behavior with children; 8. the observance of alignment with biological and psychological changes; 9. being tolerant of children.

Keywords

• cognitive change
• parenting
• responsible interaction
• observance of alignment
• appropriate negligence
• minimum expectations