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Islam came to address the entire world and this means that it is open to everyone to embrace. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.} [Quran 21:107]
As a result of that openness, which is characteristic of the Islamic religion, many aspects from the East and West might infiltrate into the Muslim community in general, and the Muslim family in particular, which are unfamiliar to the Muslim society, its principles and objectives.
From this perspective, the role of the family is to fortify the Muslim household against such negatives, and it is a great and important responsibility that the parents have to shoulder. Such openness and great mixing have caused many negatives to infiltrate into our homes while we are heedless. Many Muslims might be careless about them, even though they are very dangerous and harmful.
The Prophet, 
, warned about blind imitation, saying: “You will follow the ways of those who were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit, to the extent that were they to enter a lizard’s hole, you would enter it [in imitation of them].” [Al-Bukhari]
, warned about blind imitation, saying: “You will follow the ways of those who were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit, to the extent that were they to enter a lizard’s hole, you would enter it [in imitation of them].” [Al-Bukhari]The result of such openness to the world appears in the form of different imported aspects that are unfamiliar to our society. Islam does not reject such things altogether but adopts a systematic methodology concerning them:
a. It accepts and even cherishes whatever agrees with Islamic principles and objectives.
When Tameem Ad-Daari, may Allah be pleased with him, came from Ash-Shaam (greater Syria) where he had learnt how to light up lamps, wherewith he illuminated the Prophetic mosque, the Prophet, , invoked for him that Allah The Almighty would illuminate his grave. In this way, the Prophet, , accepted this new import from him which did not disagree with the Islamic principles and benefited Da‘wah (Islamic call and the Ummah (Muslim nation).
, invoked for him that Allah The Almighty would illuminate his grave. In this way, the Prophet, , accepted this new import from him which did not disagree with the Islamic principles and benefited Da‘wah (Islamic call and the Ummah (Muslim nation).b. It rejects anything that disagrees with the Islamic principles and objectives with relentless decisiveness out of keenness on the independence of Islam and Muslims.
In this respect, it is narrated on the authority of ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Messenger of Allah, , said: “Whoever introduces into this matter of ours [i.e. our religion] [anything] that does not belong to it, it will be rejected.” [Al-Bukhari]
, said: “Whoever introduces into this matter of ours [i.e. our religion] [anything] that does not belong to it, it will be rejected.” [Al-Bukhari]This is how Muslims today should deal with such imports.
The family is born in the same way a child is born, and the golden period of raising the family is the same period of raising the child, that is, during its early age after birth. Unfortunately, a lot of spouses begin their marital lives while failing to adhere to the teachings of Islam, and thus, the family, during the golden period of upbringing, is lost, without knowing any method or way to follow, and some children are brought up in the same incoherent manner.
The Prophetic method of handling Sharee‘ah violations in the family, was clear and evident. He did not allow any of those violations to remain undecided or unsolved for one night in the house. His method was to be “decisive in dealing with violations.”
It was narrated on the authority of ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that she said, “I hung a curtain with pictures on it on the door of my house, and when the Messenger of Allah came to enter [the house], he glanced at it and then tore it to pieces. I took it and cut off [and made] two cushions from it.” [Ahmad] When the Prophet, , saw something that contradicted the teachings of Islam, he adopted a decisive attitude towards it, to the extent that he tore those pictures with his hands, as stated by Imaam Ahmad 
in his narration.
came to enter [the house], he glanced at it and then tore it to pieces. I took it and cut off [and made] two cushions from it.” [Ahmad] When the Prophet, , saw something that contradicted the teachings of Islam, he adopted a decisive attitude towards it, to the extent that he tore those pictures with his hands, as stated by Imaam Ahmad in his narration.On another occasion, ‘Aa’ishah spoke badly about Safiyyah, may Allah be pleased with them, thereupon the Prophet, , adopted a decisive attitude towards her. It was narrated on the authority of ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that she said, “I said to the Messenger of Allah ‘It suffices you of [the defects of] Safiyyah that she is such and such.’” According to a sub-narrator of this narration other than Musaddad ‘Aa’ishah was referring to Saffiyah’s short stature. On that the Messenger of Allah, , said: “No doubt, you have said a statement that if it were to be mixed with the water of the sea it would change it [i.e. a statement evil enough to contaminate the sea].”[Abu Daawood]
, adopted a decisive attitude towards her. It was narrated on the authority of ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that she said, “I said to the Messenger of Allah ‘It suffices you of [the defects of] Safiyyah that she is such and such.’” According to a sub-narrator of this narration other than Musaddad ‘Aa’ishah was referring to Saffiyah’s short stature. On that the Messenger of Allah, , said: “No doubt, you have said a statement that if it were to be mixed with the water of the sea it would change it [i.e. a statement evil enough to contaminate the sea].”[Abu Daawood]Having a decisive attitude towards violations of the rules of Sharee‘ah during the early years of the family’s life plays a very important role in getting that family to follow the right way. However, if the man delays in following a decisive attitude and putting an end to such violations committed by family members, it indeed does not mean that he should despair, for he is obligated, under Sharee‘ah, to remove them, but that would take greater effort and wisdom.
Keeping silent about violations of Sharee‘ah that are committed in the household causes such violations to overlap and accumulate to form an impregnable dam in the way of amending the family, which Allah The Almighty obligates us to amend. It is even more dangerous that the guardians of the family, that is, the parents themselves, who establish those different negatives, fail to observe them, and thus, the family is brought up quite far from the straight method and the even path. There are many examples of that, like smoking in front of the children, sitting in the house with ‘Awrah [the parts of the body that must be covered even in front of Mahram(non-marriageable) men and women] exposed, spending many hours watching television and so on, even though Allah The Almighty made the father a ruler over his house: who then could prevent him, at least, from not putting the teachings of Islam into practice in his house?
