The charter states the ideal bringing-up of Muslim children

By Sobhi Mighad, IOL Staff

CAIRO, May 8 (IslamOnlin.net) – The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is discussing the first charter on the rights of child in Islam to be adopted in its upcoming summit.

The charter will cover the different stages of child’s life, starting from pregnancy, and will be an alternative to western initiatives, which are not compatible with Shari’ah.

"The OIC has already opened debates on the charter, which is drawn up by the Islamic World Council for Dawaa and Reliefs (IWCDR)’s International Islamic Committee for Woman and Child," committee director Kamilia Hilmi told IslamOnline.net.

She described the debate as a concrete step that would lead to the implementation of the charter by Muslim countries.

The OIC foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 14 to set stage for the summit of the Islamic body.

Hilmi said the charter is the fruit of two years of thorough discussions and earnest efforts by top Muslim scholars like Sheikh Youssef Al-Qaradawi, Egypt’s Mufti Ali Goma, Egyptian thinker Mohammad Emara and Jamal Attiya of Saudi Arabia.

She said it is primarily based on the Noble Qur’an, the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the agreed-upon basic principles of different juristic schools.

Every OIC member state will be free to choose how to implement the charter in a way that suits its interests, Hilmi said.

She recalled that the text was ratified by Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni world, last August to counter international conventions on women and children, which disregard the Islamic values.

"It addresses the public opinion in general and Islamic media to clarify what Islam says about children," Hilmi said.

"It is also directed at the Islamic governments and judiciary systems to bear it in mind when ratifying relevant international conventions and adopting home regulations."

The 137-page charter consists of 33 articles that tackle child care, human rights, personal status laws and the ideal bringing-up of Muslim children.

The seven-pronged charter underlines the great importance of closely-knitted family to children nowadays.

The family "is the first school which teaches children human, ethical, spiritual and religious values," reads the charter, warning of the current western trends that lead to the disunity of families.

It further stresses that the fetus should be safe from any harm and provided with good nutrition, in reference to children born out of wedlock.

It also protects the child's identity, language, culture and religious background.

The charter also safeguards Muslims' genealogies and counters the weird moves taken by extremist feminist groups in the West.

Therefore, it prohibits adoption in accordance with Islam, a religion which caters to all children, including the orphans, the foundlings, the poor and those with special needs [the handicapped].