Answer
In this counseling answer:
The counselor advises the questioner that the child is only 4 years old and It is never too late to make tawbah (repentance) to Allah and rededicate himself to the deen both for himself as well as for his family.Allah is truly the Most Merciful and all He asks of us is our sincere repentance and gratitude. So he shouldn’t feel that he cannot change his situation and to start to introduce Islam into his home.
As-salamu `alaykum,
First off, please know that names do not make one Muslim. Of course, Islam encourages us to take and give good names with good meanings, but just because someone does not have an Arabic name, it does not make him or her not a Muslim, and having an Arabic name alone does not make someone Muslim.
I am assuming what you mean by your question is that in your home you are not practicing Islam and, therefore, you are not teaching your child Islam either. However, being that the child is only 4 years old, he is still Muslim, as according to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) all children are Muslims until they reach the age of discretion (taklif), at which point they either continue to live in Islam (as Muslims) or according to some other faith and creed, often depending on the teaching and lifestyle of their parents. As such, children are children.
However, I must admit I am a bit perplexed as to your question. As you are evidently not practicing Islam, nor have been since the birth of your child, why do you ask this question? You say that you regret not raising your child according to Islam, but the child is only 4 years old. It is never too late to make tawbah (repentance) to Allah and rededicate yourself to the deen both for yourself as well as for your family.
Allah is truly the Most Merciful and all He asks of us is our sincere repentance and gratitude. Don’t feel that you cannot change your situation. Start—slowly, if necessary—to introduce Islam into your home.
Of course, two of the most important things you can do first are to pray the five obligatory prayers and eat only halal (lawful) foods. These are both so critically important for our physical and spiritual health.
Here’s one way to think of it: Every time you consume haram food or drink, or even food or drink that is acquired by haram means, every morsel of that food goes into your body and is consumed by it. After a while, every cell in the body will comprise that food or drink. That means that if the food or drink that we continually ingest is haram, every cell in our bodies will eventually comprise unlawful nourishment! Spiritual poison!
Not only are you doing this to yourself, mind you, but to your child as well as to your wife, even though she may not be Muslim. Nevertheless, she is still subject to this, as Islam and its laws are for all mankind, whether they acknowledge them or not. Lawful food is lawful food, and it dramatically affects our physical and spiritual health, not to mention how it will affect us on the Day of Judgment.
Thus, brother, I strongly urge you to make tawbah to Allah and bring yourself and your family back to the natural, healthy, and spiritually uplifting life of Islam.
All the best to you.
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