Category: Raising children in Islam

I have a few questions concerning parents:
1. What right does my Mother have over me? 
2. What right do I have over my mother? 
3. What do I have the freedom to do (which is Halal or Mubah, Ofcourse) without my Mother having the right to stop me? 
4. When does the Father have the final say in a matter? 

I love my mother very very very much. She is very over protective, and sometimes I feel like I'm in chains. I know she is doing it out of extreme love for me. How can I tell her that I need a little choice of my own in life.

A very common problem seen in youth in western countries is that their parents allow them to indulge in some form of haram in the hope that will stop them from committing worse haram. An example of this is that parents will say that they allow their children to indulge in music in the hope that will stop them from going out with bad people or leaving their home all together. Parents are afraid that if they enforce the law of Allah in their homes, that their children will leave. 

What is Islam's position on this sort of compromise? Some parents also say that they only have the duty to tell their children something is haram, and then their children have to choose for themselves because they are already young adults (i.e. 13 -18 years old and unmarried, living at home). Don't the parents have to forbid haram by all means, or do they just say that is haram and then leave them be? To what extent do parents have to go to forbid their children from haram?

Parents also believe that once their children reach the age of puberty they are no longer responsible for their sins or actions, and so say they will have no sin if they advise their children something is haram and then leave them. Is this true? Or do parents always have the responsibility of forbidding their children from haram, and will they be responsible if they see their children doing haram and just leave them after advising them?

How do we as Muslims living in the west maintain an Islamic Education for our children. Primary and secondary education up to the age of 15/16 may be provided in Muslim schools (which are also very expensive), but as for Higher Education there is no such Islamic Institute. 

Even on the secondary school level on the agenda of Curriculum, we do not have books that deal with the branches of knowledge that are available in secular institutes, such as; Political science, Sociology, Psychology, Pedagogy. Please advise on how we should go about bringing about an Islamic Education system for our Youth in the west (bearing in mind that it is near impossible for us to migrate to Arab/Muslim countries because of the restrictions on immigration etc.).

Is it true that the person who is used to studying in Islamic schools, and has no previous experience of studying in non-Islamic schools, will never be able to connect with the environment that surrounds him, where most of the people are non-Muslims and that he will grow up shy and will never find any way to succeed either in his academic life or in the workplace? What is your opinion about that?

How can we teach our children the adhkaar (words of remembrance) to be recited every day and night?

How can we help a child to know his Lord?

I want to make my children keen to pray, because they will pray once then forget about prayer many times. I always advise them and pray to Allah to guide them. How can I encourage them and make them love prayer?.