Parents not responsible for the actions of children if they are not a cause
14-1-2015 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalamuilaikum. Before i reached puberty i committed kufr but i know im not responsible for that because i didnt hit puberty yet at that time but is my parents responsible for that sin i committed before i baligh? And im just curious how the parents being responsible for the child's sins. Is it like when the child committed a sin like swearing, then the parents are responsible for it like As if the parents are swearing instead of the child. So if the child who is not yet baligh committed kufr/shirk the child's parents is responsible for it and as if the child's parents is committing shirk/kufr instead of the child? Jazakallah.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The parents are responsible for providing their children with a good upbringing, raising them with good morals and keeping them away from places of evil and corruption because if they are negligent in this, they are sinful. Allaah says (what means): {O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones.} [Quran 66: 6]
Also, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Every one of you is a guardian and is responsible for the people under his guardianship." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
However, this does not mean that the parent is responsible for every act that his child does, in such a way that he becomes sinful if his son does something wrong for which the parent was not a cause. Allaah says (what means): {And every soul earns not [blame] except against itself, and no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another.} [Quran 6:164]
This is one of the principles of genuine Islamic justice: everyone is held accountable for his own sins, and not for the sins of others, unless he is a cause in them.
Allaah Knows best.