You’re scrolling through content you know you shouldn’t be watching. You’re in a haram relationship. You’re lying to your parents. You’re wasting your time on things that don’t matter.
And you’re thinking: “It’s just me. I’m not hurting anyone.”
But you’re wrong. You are hurting someone. Someone who doesn’t exist yet but will one day call you “Mom” or “Dad.”
Your future children.
Every sin you normalize today will be a battle your children fight tomorrow. Every bad habit you form now will be a weakness they inherit. Every compromise you make with your faith will be a crack in the foundation you’re supposed to build for them.
You’re not just living for yourself. Whether you realize it or not, you’re building a legacy. And that legacy will either save your children or destroy them.
The question is: what are you building?
The Hadith About Righteous Offspring
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, as recorded in Sahih Muslim: “When a person dies, his deeds come to an end except for three: ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge, or a righteous child who prays for him.”
Notice what he said? A righteous child. Not just any child. A child who loves Allah ﷻ, who prays, who makes dua for you after you’re gone.
But you don’t automatically get righteous children just by having them. Righteous children are the result of righteous parents.
If you’re living in sin right now, if you’re neglecting your prayers, if you’re prioritizing dunya over deen—what makes you think you’ll magically become a good Muslim parent when you have kids?
The person you are before you have children is the blueprint for the parent you’ll become. Your habits now become their habits later. Your priorities now become their priorities later.
You’re not waiting to be a parent. You’re already building the foundation for the kind of parent you’ll be.
How Your Sins Today Affect Your Future Children
This is going to sound harsh, but it needs to be said: your sins don’t just affect you. They affect generations you haven’t even met.
Your addiction to haram content now will make it harder for you to teach your children about lowering their gaze later. They’ll sense your hypocrisy. They’ll know you’re telling them not to do things you couldn’t stop yourself from doing.
Your habit of skipping prayers now will make it impossible to wake them up for Fajr later. How can you discipline them for something you don’t do yourself?
Your involvement in haram relationships now will damage your ability to guide them toward halal relationships later. They’ll inherit your patterns—the emotional baggage, the broken boundaries, the normalization of sin.
Your neglect of Quran now will result in children who have no relationship with Allah’s words. You can’t give them what you don’t have.
Children inherit more than just genetics. They inherit spiritual states, emotional patterns, and moral frameworks. If you’re spiritually bankrupt now, what will you pass down to them?
The Dua Every Single Muslim Should Make
Even if you’re not married, even if you’re not planning to have kids anytime soon, you should be making this dua right now:
The Quran teaches us in Surah Al-Furqan:
[Surah Al-Furqan, Ayah 74]
“Our Lord, grant us from among our spouses and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous.”
وَٱلَّذِینَ یَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا هَبۡ لَنَا مِنۡ أَزۡوَ ٰجِنَا وَذُرِّیَّـٰتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعۡیُنࣲ وَٱجۡعَلۡنَا لِلۡمُتَّقِینَ إِمَامًا
And those who say, “Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous.”
[25:74]
This dua isn’t just about wanting kids. It’s about asking Allah ﷻ for children who will be a source of joy—not because they’re successful in dunya, but because they’re righteous in deen.
“Comfort to our eyes” means children who pray, who obey Allah ﷻ, who bring you closer to Jannah instead of being a fitna (trial) that pulls you away.
But here’s the reality: you can make this dua all you want, but if your own life is a mess, if you’re not living according to Islamic principles, if you’re not preparing yourself spiritually—Allah ﷻ might not give you what you’re asking for.
Why? Because He knows you’re not ready to raise righteous children. You can’t raise what you’re not.
The Legacy of Prophet Ibrahim ﷺ
Let’s look at one of the greatest examples of a parent who built a legacy. Prophet Ibrahim ﷺ—according to the Quranic narrative—made dua for his children and future generations constantly.
Allah ﷻ says in the Quran:
[Surah Ibrahim, Ayah 37]
“Our Lord, I have settled some of my descendants in an uncultivated valley near Your sacred House, our Lord, that they may establish prayer. So make hearts among the people incline toward them and provide for them from the fruits that they might be grateful.”
رَّبَّنَاۤ إِنِّیۤ أَسۡكَنتُ مِن ذُرِّیَّتِی بِوَادٍ غَیۡرِ ذِی زَرۡعٍ عِندَ بَیۡتِكَ ٱلۡمُحَرَّمِ رَبَّنَا لِیُقِیمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ فَٱجۡعَلۡ أَفۡـِٔدَةࣰ مِّنَ ٱلنَّاسِ تَهۡوِیۤ إِلَیۡهِمۡ وَٱرۡزُقۡهُم مِّنَ ٱلثَّمَرَ ٰتِ لَعَلَّهُمۡ یَشۡكُرُونَ
Our Lord, I have settled some of my descendants in an uncultivated valley near Your sacred House, our Lord, that they may establish prayer. So make hearts among the people incline toward them and provide for them from the fruits that they might be grateful.
[14:37]
Ibrahim ﷺ didn’t just make dua for his children to be successful. He made dua for them to establish prayer. To be close to Allah ﷻ. To worship Him consistently.
And from Ibrahim’s line came prophets—Ismail, Ishaq, Yaqub, Yusuf, Musa, Isa, (Peace be upon them all) and finally Muhammad ﷺ. His legacy was prophethood because he built his life on faith and raised his children with that same foundation.
What legacy are you building? Will your great-great-grandchildren benefit from your righteousness? Or will they inherit the consequences of your spiritual negligence?
When Your Children Ask Why You Didn’t Teach Them
One of the most painful moments of Judgment Day won’t be your own accountability—it will be when your children hold you accountable.
Imagine your child—now an adult on Judgment Day—standing before Allah ﷻ and saying: “Ya Allah, I didn’t know how to pray properly because my parents never taught me. I fell into sin because they never warned me. I lost my way because they were too busy with dunya to guide me.”
And then they turn to you and ask: “Why didn’t you save me?”
Parents will be questioned about their children. Not whether they provided food, shelter, and education—those are baseline responsibilities. They’ll be questioned about whether they provided spiritual guidance.
Allah ﷻ says in the Quran:
[Surah At-Tahrim, Ayah 6]
“O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones.”
Notice that command? Protect your family from Hellfire. Not just yourself. Your spouse. Your children. That’s your responsibility.
If you’re not protecting yourself from Hellfire right now—if you’re engaging in sins, neglecting worship, living heedlessly—how will you protect your children later?
The Generational Curse You’re Creating (Or Breaking)
Sins have a way of cascading through generations. Not because children are punished for their parents’ sins—the Quran is clear that every soul is responsible for its own deeds—but because children learn from their parents.
If your parents were absent from your religious education, you might be absent from your children’s. Unless you consciously break that pattern.
If your parents normalized certain sins, you might normalize them for your children. Unless you consciously break that pattern.
If your parents prioritized dunya over deen, you might do the same. Unless you consciously break that pattern.
Many Muslims today are living out the unresolved spiritual issues of their parents and grandparents. The prayer that was neglected two generations ago is still being neglected. The Quran that was abandoned by your grandparents is still abandoned in your home.
But you have the power to break that cycle. You can be the generation that says: “It stops with me. I will be the one who returns to Allah ﷻ. I will be the one who builds a foundation of faith for my children.”
What Your Future Children Need From You Right Now
You might be thinking: “I don’t even have kids yet. How am I supposed to prepare for them?”
Here’s what your future children need from you today—long before they’re even conceived:
1. A solid relationship with Allah ﷻ. Start praying consistently. Read Quran regularly. Make dua daily. Learn your religion properly. You can’t give your children what you don’t have.
2. Good character. Your children will copy you, not your lectures. If you’re angry, harsh, dishonest, or arrogant, they’ll be the same. Work on your akhlaq (character) now.
3. A halal income. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “Whoever earns money from an impermissible source and spends it on his family, it will be a means of his going to the Fire.” Your rizq (provision) has to be clean for your children’s upbringing to be blessed.
4. A righteous spouse. The person you choose to marry will be the co-parent of your children. Choose someone who will help you raise them upon Islam, not someone who will lead them away from it.
5. Freedom from major sins. Every sin you commit now will haunt you when you try to parent later. Repent now. Clean your record. Break your bad habits. Because once you have kids, it becomes exponentially harder to change.
6. Knowledge of Islam. You can’t teach your children about salah if you don’t know the rulings. You can’t explain aqeedah if you never studied it. Start learning now.
The Children Who Will Make Dua for You
Here’s the beautiful part. If you raise your children properly—if you teach them Islam, model good character, and prioritize their spiritual development—they will become one of the best investments you ever made.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, as recorded in authentic hadith: “When a person dies, his deeds come to an end except for three: ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge, or a righteous child who prays for him.“
When you’re in your grave, unable to do any more good deeds, your righteous child will be making dua for you. Every prayer they make on your behalf increases your rewards. Every good deed they do that you taught them—you get a share of the reward.
Imagine dying and having your son or daughter stand at your grave and say:
“Ya Allah, forgive my father/mother. They taught me to pray. They taught me Your book. They sacrificed for my faith. Ya Allah, grant them Jannatul Firdaus.”
That dua—that sincere supplication from a child you raised properly—can elevate your status in Paradise. It can erase sins you forgot about. It can be the reason Allah ﷻ forgives you.
But that only happens if you invest in their faith now—starting with fixing your own.
When You See Your Children Follow Your Path
There’s a moment every parent experiences, when they see their child doing something and realize: “That’s exactly what I do.”
If you pray with focus and love, you’ll see your child naturally drawn to prayer. If you read Quran daily, they’ll want to read with you. If you speak gently, they’ll speak gently.
But if you’re harsh, they’ll be harsh. If you’re neglectful of religion, they’ll be neglectful. If you prioritize entertainment over worship, so will they.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, as recorded in Sahih Bukhari: “Every child is born upon fitrah (natural disposition of Islam), but his parents make him a Jew, Christian, or Magian.”
Your child’s default setting is Islam. Every baby is born with an innate recognition of Allah ﷻ. But parents either nurture that fitrah or destroy it.
Which one will you do?
The Story of the Man Who Cried for His Children
There’s a story Islamic scholars share about a man who came to a scholar asking for advice about his rebellious teenage children. They wouldn’t pray. They wouldn’t listen. They were on the verge of leaving Islam completely.
The scholar asked him: “When they were young, did you pray with them?”
The man said: “No, I was too busy working.”
“Did you teach them Quran?”
“No, I hired a teacher for that, but they didn’t take it seriously.”
“Did you spend time with them discussing Islam, answering their questions, modeling good character?”
The man broke down crying. “No. I thought as long as I provided for them financially, that was enough.”
The scholar told him: “You cannot reap what you did not sow. You neglected their souls while focusing on their bodies. And now they are lost because you were not there to guide them.”
Don’t be that parent. Don’t wake up fifteen years from now realizing you failed the most important job Allah ﷻ ever gave you.
Start preparing now. Even if you’re single. Even if marriage is years away. Start building the character, knowledge, and faith that your future children will need from you.
The Dua That Saved His Lineage
There’s a powerful verse in Surah Al-Kahf that Islamic scholars reference when teaching about protecting future generations.
Allah ﷻ says:
[Surah Al-Kahf, Ayah 82]
“And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure for them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord.”
Read that carefully. Two orphan boys—their father had already died—received protection and provision because their father was righteous.
According to Islamic scholars, the father’s righteousness extended protection to his children even after his death. His good deeds became a shield for them. His relationship with Allah ﷻ became their inheritance.
That’s the legacy you want to leave. Not money. Not property. Not status. But a relationship with Allah ﷻ so strong that He protects your children long after you’re gone.
The Bottom Line
Your future children—whether you have them in five years or fifteen—are already being affected by your choices today.
Every prayer you establish now makes it easier to raise them with prayer later. Every sin you abandon now makes it easier to teach them boundaries later. Every moment you spend strengthening your relationship with Allah ﷻ now becomes a foundation they’ll build upon later.
You’re not just living for yourself. You’re building a legacy that will either curse your descendants or bless them.
So ask yourself: If your future child could see your life right now—the content you watch, the prayers you skip, the sins you commit—would they be proud of you? Would they want to follow your example?
If the answer is no, then it’s time to change. Not tomorrow. Not when you get married. Not when you have kids. Now.
Because the parent you’ll become starts with the Muslim you are today.
Fix yourself now, and you’ll raise righteous children later. Neglect yourself now, and you’ll spend their childhood desperately trying to teach them lessons you never learned yourself.
Your unborn children are watching. What are they seeing?
Disclaimer: This article is provided for general educational and informational purposes only. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy in presenting Islamic teachings, readers are strongly advised to consult qualified Islamic scholars in their local area for specific religious rulings, detailed interpretations, and matters requiring expert guidance.