Dr. Habeebah Oladosu of Department of Arabic and Islamic studies, University of Ibadan has said that parenting in Islam starts from the choice of a partner, since without a partner, no one can become a parent.

In a post-Ramadan lecture tagged: Parenting in Islam: The challenges of the 21st century, organised by University of Ibadan Muslim Graduates Association held at the university Central Mosque recently, Dr. Oladosu emphasized that conscious Muslims must be careful in the selection of partners, adding that the selection of a partner goes a long way in determining the type of values that would be inculcated in the products (children) of marriage.

She admonished the men folk to be co-operative and supportive of their spouses as they play more roles in marriage than their men counterparts. She observed that a woman plays the role of a mother, a wife and a guardian in a family set up.

The Islamic scholar appealed passionately to leaders in the country to respect the rights of every Muslim, particularly those of the womenfolk, adding that most of the human rights entrenched in the United Nations Bill of Human Right are sourced from the Glorious Qur’an and Hadith.

She therefore appealed to all and sundry to support the education of the girl child in all ramifications while also identifying peer pressure, individualism, modernity and over indulgence of children as some of the factors militating against proper parenting in the 21st century.

“Again, adherence to social media, such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc is doing great havoc to proper upbringing of children nowadays,” advising parents to be observant of the level to which their children are attached to such distractive and destructive mechanisms.

Earlier in his welcome address, the President of the Association Dr. Saka Adewumi, stated that the Post-Ramadan Lecture was an annual programme designed by the Association to articulate and sensitize Muslims in the country about the lessons learnt during the Ramadan period. He equally appealed to Muslims across the country to collaborate with the Association in its quest to assist more indigent Muslim undergraduates.