Positive Parenting in the Muslim Home

by Noha Alshugairi, Munira Lekovic Ezzeldine, Jane Nelsen (Foreword)

The Islamic tradition is rich with values that parents strive to imbue in their respect, responsibility, integrity, love and more. Parenting is all too often filled with sleepless nights, tears, and anxiety followed by endless "Did I do my best?" "What could I have done differently?" "Am I responsible?" Positive Discipline, a philosophy conceptualized by Dr. Jane Nelsen, provides a powerful model for channeling parenting struggles into proven methods that yield results.

Positive Parenting in the Muslim Home addresses real challenges faced by real families. This comprehensive book is essential for parents, caregivers, and educators seeking to nurture a grounded parent-child relationship built on connection. It is a book of hope. It invites the reader
- Approach parenting in Islam as a process of love and guidance
- Apply Positive Discipline tools to nurture Islamic values in matters of faith, relationships, and everyday life
- Empower children to be responsible, capable and proactive individuals
- Address sensitive issues constructively, including sex, drugs, bullying, and youth radicalization
- Resolve conflicts by focusing on solutions rather than punishments

Authors Noha Alshugairi and Munira Lekovic Ezzeldine share timeless principles, describe 49 effective parenting tools, and guide through various parenting challenges. Their experience spans all stages of development from birth to adulthood. The authors masterfully transform theoretical Islamic principles into living realities.

Genres: Parenting, Islam, Psychology, Family

398 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 24, 2017

Reviews

[Norah Al Kasabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book that incorporates Islam and parenting in relatable context. In a time where living, and raising children, by Islamic principles is hard, this book recharges your faith-based-living. It discusses real issues and frames them with understanding and faith. It does not go deep a lot but it gives a solid foundation for parents to adjust them based on their family culture.

I am not sure if I enjoyed the book more because I read Positive Discipline by Dr. Jane Nelson first. Highly recommend it.

[Maram Alghamdi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book in parenting, explain techniques required for positive partnering, I wish I had this book earlier

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who read the original one by Jane Nelsen will know this is a summarized version. I recommend the original.

I wanted more from the book in the islamic part, maybe it is good to someone naive about the prophet’s PBUH stories. I knew them all.

A 4 star is for being a great basic parenting book that covers most subjects and infuse islamic lessons.

[Narmeen · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Do not try to ‘fix’ your child; rather, recognize God’s Perfection and Wisdom in selecting you as this child’s parent. There must be something extraordinarily special in you for God to choose you for this important role!”

A book of personal reflections rooted in Islam and science, on how they embarked on their parenthood journey. A lot of good reminders for those interested in pursuing Gentle / God-Consious parenting!

[Marwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, great tips .. but most of the examples are based on Muslims Kids not living in a Muslim country as the writers are living in the state. Recommend 💙

[Bismillah Nasir Ishfaq · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly beneficial read. May Allah bless all writers and contributers.

[Kash Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book that incorporates Islamic values into the Positive Discipline model. Many of us culturally have grown up with authoritarian style of parenting, where parents make the decisions and have complete control over children's life. This is a very natural way of parenting and without us even realizing it we blame, shame, and pain our children. However this style of parenting can have very negative long term impacts on the child.

Instead the book focuses on helping parents achieve an authoritative style where both parent and child have a voice. It teaches us to discipline without punishment and rewards, as both of these are short term behavioral modifications and overall don't address the root of the behavior. Instead the book presents a list of 49 Positive discipline tools (Chapter 5) that can be used for parenting in a manner where children will feel empowered and encouraged and develop thinking that will benefit them long term. Not all the tools will be practical for all families/children, but the benefit of having so many explained is that families can pick and choose what can apply to them. The biggest challenge is obviously recalling the tools in the heat of the moment during a situation with your kid(s), so I would recommend bookmarking Chapter 5 and re-reading it constantly. Perhaps just focusing on a few tools at a time will also help to implement those. I have not read the original book by Jane Nelson, but will look forward to reading that to get more info on the tools.

One really big negative about the edition I had was that in many pages the images were completely missing. So when the book referenced an image/graphic, where that should have been was blank. this was extremely disappointing considering I paid almost $40 for the book - I would have expected they would have caught this in editing.

[Aisle of Misfit Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was not just instructional, but also lead me to self-discovery. This addresses many psychological aspects in terms of parenting and behavior, for which I believe that this book shouldn't just be for parents only - but for everyone. I had to pause in between some chapters as I actually got triggered in realizing how my own parents didn't do such a great job in many aspects of raising me, which clearly explains why I struggle morally and behaviorally in certain situations as an adult. Having read this, children are obviously their own person and a single formula of parenting will never work on each and every child, as all humans were created differently. But for me this book still covers the essential aspects for a solid foundation of connection and communication between the parent and child, and I therefore believe that I will (God willing) be able to raise (if blessed with) children the best possible way in the future.

[aperul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and the examples it gave from the therapist's perspective, but I wish there was more references and correlations to Hadiths of the prophet (saw).

I would recommend reading this book, but it wouldn't be my top recommendations.

[Nabeela Tamkanath · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best parenting book I’ve ever read! It taught me so much about authoritative parenting. A lot of information but I have been practicing some of the things discussed in this book with my own kiddos!

[Aisha Mai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took soo many tips from this book. Lots of highlights and notes on my copy.