Question Summary:
Are teachers responsible for the children not praying Fajr at home?

Question Detail:

As we all know that a common problem in non boarding madaaris is the absenteeism for fajr salaah!
many children say that parents donot wake them up or bcoz they are sooo tired due to the previous days strenuous tarteeb of school and madrassah and then homework,sabaq etc..they cannot wake up!
1. Is a naaim mukallaf?
2. We as ustaads can we reprimand some1 who didnot do this on his own will
3. Are we ustaads responsible to make fajr class laazim so that they can come for fajr salaah n say its for their tarbiyat.
4. Because they are students who are coming from home daily,does it myk us responsible if we never get them onto a fajr tarteeb.
5. If yes then we ought to implement magrib n easha classes too bcoz many small ones are asleep by easha

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
The main thing that needs to be addressed is cooperation between the parents and the teachers for the proper tarbiyyah of the students.
For this, the parents and teachers need to get together and decide how they will pursue this joint goal. Here are a few methods that you should implement:
→ By giving the students regular targhib for praying salah. This can be done by relating stories of our pious predecessors and their acts of worship. This method requires much more effort than simply ordering the students to pray Fajr, but this method is much more successful and it is all the more necessary in our times. Some time has to be taken out on a daily basis for inspirational, motivational stories that instill the love of worship in our children. In fact, Shaykh al-Hadith (may Allah have mercy on him) relates in Aap Beti that a regular distinction of students in his time used to be that they used to regularly read up about the mashaikh whereas nowadays this is no longer the case. In Tazkirah al-Khalil, it is mentioned that in Mawlana Raipuri's (may Allah have mercy on him) school, the hifdh students would be up by tahajjud. This method is all the more successful if its done at the school and at the home since the students are not boarding and it serves a two-fold purpose as explained in the next point.
→ By giving regular targhib to parents and emphasizing the importance of 'aml as an integral element of 'ilm. This can be done through joint parent-teacher conferences where the parents are made aware of their responsibilities and shown examples of how they can plan their kids' schedule so that everything is done at its proper time. As noted above, the parents should also narrate stories of the pious to their children. This serves a two-fold purpose: makes parents more aware and responsible towards their own responsibility for their children while at the same time instilling love of worship in the child's heart.
→ Having students bring signed sheets from their parents noting whether or not they prayed Fajr, since something written makes it easier to commit to. If they regularly miss Fajr, then their sabaq may be stopped as a corrective measure since some parents might only take action if their children do not get regular sabaq.
→ By helping the students devise a schedule that balances their need for rest with homework and sabaq but at the same time does not neglect the most important thing: salah.
In short, it is a combination of targhib, communicating with the parents and students regularly on this issue and making it a central aspect of their lives, and corrective measures such as withholding new sabaq to correct this issue if the parents do not cooperate.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Sohail ibn Arif,
Assistant Mufti, Darul Iftaa
Chicago, USA
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.