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My Son Wants to Be A President!

15 December, 2018
Q As-salamu `alaykum My son—he is now 15—says all the time, “I will be the president to do what Allah has ordered us, forbid what he has warned us from, let the people believe in Allah, and fight to get back all Muslim land.”

I know that he will not be president, because a person that says I will do this and this, will not do it. However, how should I educate him? Maybe one day he will really be a president. What should I teach him, politics, economics, Islam, or what? And how should I teach him? Maybe one day, I will be the mother of a fair president. Thank you

Answer

In this counseling answer:

•Use all his energies to serve Allah to the best of his ability at this very moment.

•He should educate himself as far as his talents will allow.

•He should make himself a useful and valuable citizen, able to live a noble, independent and charitable life.

•Let him start to serve Allah by serving others.

•Let him find success in education in general terms as well as Islamic studies, if he wishes to enter politics for a career.

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Dear Sister, As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi.

I’m afraid that I would find myself very worried if I had a 15-year-old son who stated such things. To me, it sounds presumptuous, ignorant, and shows a desire to lord it over others that might indicate the beginnings of megalomania!

It is clothed in terms that seem to indicate a desire to serve Allah, but the spirit seems all wrong. This is not the example of all the good Islamic rulers of history—who were not ambitious for themselves, or self-seeking, or eager to take office, but rather they had office thrust upon them.

Personally, if it were a matter of voting, I would not vote for someone with your son’s attitude. Of course, it is easy for a teenager to engage in big talk and no one should try to crush his dreams and hopes if they are worthwhile.

My advice to your son would be to:

Use all his energies to serve Allah to the best of his ability at this very moment. He should educate himself as far as his talents will allow. He should make himself a useful and valuable citizen, able to live a noble, independent and charitable life. Let him start to serve Allah by serving others. Let him find success in education in general terms as well as Islamic studies, if he wishes to enter politics for a career.

He is only 15, and there will be a long road ahead of him. If, when he is adult, people observe how noble he is, how honest, courageous, charitable, and kind he is to his family and those in need, and how wise he is when asked his opinion, then maybe he will one day become a ruler.

Allah knows best.

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About Hwaa Irfan
Late Hwaa Irfan, may her soul rest in peace, served as consultant, counselor and freelance writer. Her main focus was on traditional healing mechanisms as practiced in various communities, as opposed to Western healing mechanisms.