How can people's natural abilities be discovered and how should we direct children?

Dear Brother / Sister,

How can people's natural abilities be discovered and how should we direct children?

First of all, this is an issue of expertise. It is necessary to benefit from specially trained people regarding the issue. However, parents can reach a conclusion according to their own foresight and direct their child accordingly. For example, it is possible to observe the tendencies of a child to social studies or science in elementary school - by doing some tests. Besides, there may be many branches of science in a field in which a person is skilled. It is also possible to choose some or one of them and direct the child accordingly.

Since the parents observe the child the most, it will be appropriate for them to guide their child by sharing the child's abilities with experts.

Undoubtedly, it is necessary to consider the hereafter while guiding the child. So, it is partially up to people to develop not only worldly but also the otherworldly abilities. Man is not a robot. We believe that the following statements of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi shed light on the issue:

“A small example out of hundreds is as follows: A compassionate mother undertakes every sort of self-sacrifice so that her child should not fall into danger in this worldly life and should receive every sort of benefit and advantage; she brings him up with this in view. Thinking, ‘My son is going to be a Pasha,’ she gives him all her property, takes him from the Qur’an school and sends him to Europe. But it does not occur to her that her child’s eternal life has fallen into danger. She tries to save him from prison in this world and does not take into consideration his being sentenced to the prison of Hell. Reversing that innate compassion, she makes her innocent child a claimant against her in the hereafter, though he should be her intercessor. He will rebuke her saying: ‘Why did you not strengthen my belief and so cause me to be lost?’ In this world too, since he did not receive a proper Islamic upbringing, he cannot respond to his mother’s wondrous compassion in the way it deserves; in fact, he does so very deficiently.” (Lem'alar, Yirmi Dördüncü Lem'a)

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