M.A. / A child cannot be treated like an adult in many way. Therefore, the approach towards children in all respects of human life are totally different from that of adults. In the field of rights too, the child is vulnerable and often is unaware of his rights given the age, let alone fighting for them. While an adult often fights for his rights, a child requires some sincere person in authority to identify the rights of children, and implement it for them. This thesis aims to introduce to the scholar the intricate and careful approach a society and an individual should have towards that sensitive child. This being the case, children's rights are sometimes manipulated against them by their guardians or those having direct access or influence over them . The severity of this abuse can be gauged from the fact that, whereas the damage of an external attack can be ascertained, the damage left by internal abuse of children cannever be ascertained, and is thought to leave lifelong physical as well as emotional scars. The need to protect children against such a background in this day and age is as acute as ever. The necessity of a work of this nature fills the void in the human rights arena towards defenceless children and provides ammunition to combat abuse, while not actually delving into the aspect of childabuse. The main thrust of this thesis is to highlight the attitude of Islam towards children from the pre-Prophetic times of the Holy Prophet of Allah, Muhammad ibn `Abdullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, to modern times. To what extent has the shari`ah of Islam attached importance to the identifying and implementing of children's rights, and for that matter, what is the true status of a child in Islam to be accorded with such numerous protection and rights. It may be argued that this thesis would have been much more fruitful had the aspect of child-abuse been also included. In response, child-abuse is another dissertation of its own and by only educating on the rights of children, child-abuse can be easily identified if these are denied or withheld from any child. It can be safely said that in this fast changing times, the adage of the jungle law survival of the fittest most aptly applies. Not so with the case of children, who have not the makings and capabilities of surviving in a world which they expect their very abusers to reveal to and make comfortable and safe for them. Those in authority got to protect them, and reveal a generation of children untarnished by an abusive background or badly illusioned mode of thinking.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:2754 |
| Date | 20 August 2012 |
| Creators | Dhorat, Khâlid |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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