Key messages from Islam and Christianity on protecting children from violence and harmful practices
This book explores the approaches to preventing all forms of violence against children from the perspectives of Islam and Christianity. It is intended as a guide for all those who work in the wide eld of caring for and protecting children including parents, servants, teachers, educators, imams, priests and others. It should be used in connection with protecting children from all forms of violence and harmful practices in the most important three circles that contribute to the development of the child’s personality: the family environment; the school environment; and the social environment.
The Islamic and Christian scholars and child rights specialists involved in researching the contents of this book have made greatly commendable reports. Such hard work will, God willing, undoubtedly lead towards the worthy goal of protecting children from all forms of violence and their harmful effects, allowing them to live their lives with the fullest level of physical, psychological and mental integrity.
To stress to people of both faiths the importance of protecting children from violence, religious scholars and experts from Al-Azhar University, the Coptic Church of Egypt and UNICEF have collaborated closely to develop two publications – e Islamic Perspective on Protecting Children from Violence and Harmful Practices and the Christian Perspective on Protecting Children from Violence and Harmful Practices, both available in English and Arabic versions – that reflect the positions of these religions on multiple aspects of violence against children. The publications cover various forms of violence against children such as child labour, sexual abuse, children without parental care or who live on the street, domestic and school violence, armed conflicts and child trafficking, as well as violence through the media and the Internet. They also discuss harmful customs and traditions such as gender discrimination, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and child and forced marriages. These publications, which draw respectively on the Holy Quran, Holy Bible and other sacred texts, were designed for use by religious scholars, imams or priests and others responsible for the protection and care of children within the two faiths, especially parents.
This joint document aims to share the main messages of the two publications with a wider audience of people and groups concerned with children’s rights. The authors aim to deepen the concepts of peace, love and forgiveness encouraged by all divine religions, which are needed around the world for the protection, development and welfare of humanity’s most precious wealth, our children.
Islamic perspective on protecting children from violence and harmful practices in English and in Arabic
Christian perspective on protecting children from violence and harmful practices in English and in Arabic