How do you deal with your child's mistake? Do you frighten him? Do you punish him out of anger? Do you leave him without correction? How did the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, deal with mistakes? Did he frighten the person? Did he frown at him? Or did he correct with gentleness and mercy? Muawiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Sulami, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "While I was praying with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, a man among the people sneezed. So I said, 'May Allah have mercy on you.' The people stared at me, so I said, 'May my mother be bereaved of me, why are you looking at me like that?' And they began striking their thighs with their hands. When I saw them signaling me to be silent, I fell silent. When the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, finished the prayer, by my father and mother, I have never seen before him nor after him a teacher better in his teaching than he was. By Allah, he did not scold me, he did not strike me, he did not insult me. He said: This prayer is not fitting for any speech of people. It is only tasbih, takbir, and the recitation of the Quran." Narrated by Muslim. Where did we get the idea that we must frighten our children and make them hate themselves in order to correct their behavior? Does discouragement and fear correct behavior, or does it raise slaves? Fear raises cowardly slaves. Trust, gentleness, and good faith raise free and courageous individuals. So which are you? A nurturer of slaves or a nurturer of the free? Correct the mistake without frightening your child.