MUSLIM CHILDREN STUDYING ABROAD

By

Ibn Abdillah As-sudaisiy Al-Iloori

I watched an interview this morning where a woman from Canada was advertising that parents in Nigeria should allow their children to come to Canada early for their secondary school education as this will give them easy access to many opportunities including scholarships into reputable universities in the world.

As interesting as this may look, this kind of initiative is not advisable for Muslim parents. It is only parents who either place this world above hereafter or who those who do not even care about hereafter at all.

If at all you want your children to study abroad, I think the best thing is to at least allow them to finish their first degree in Nigeria under your close watch and assess them if going there will not be detrimental to faith and life dreams. The experience around us has shown that it is not even easy to train children in Nigeria, let alone taking them out there. A lot of children have been indoctrinated with many evils right under the noses of their parents. So, taking them out of the country at their vulnerable ages is dangerous. These are countries where organized evils are state backed. There is no need to mention any, we are all aware of them.

Therefore, before you send your children outside the country for whatever reason, raise them with knowledge of the Qur’ān and Sunnah and assess them critically. At least, let them finish their university education in Nigeria first. Even if you are sure of their knowledge of tawhid and Sunnah, it is still dangerous to release them to travel abroad early.

May Allāh guide us aright.