The institution of family is an important component of society. The way we shape up our family will be reflected in our society and eventually it would turn out to be an image mirror of our society. The lessons of pluralism, inclusiveness, brotherhood, togetherness, unity and tolerance can evolve from our family if it is guided by our religious scriptures, faith and belief. Eventually, the institution of family will determine the future of India.
The belief of rights and responsibilities in the family system will make us aware of our rights and responsibilities towards the society. Respect for one another in the family will give birth to we-feeling, togetherness and develop respect for countrymen and make a tolerant society. In 1987, Daniel Patrick Moynihan said in Family and Nation: The Godkin Lectures, Harvard University, “The institution of the family is decisive in determining not only if a person has the capacity to love another individual but in the larger social sense whether he is capable of loving his fellow men collectively. The whole of society rests on this foundation for stability, understanding and social peace.”
Gradually we have witnessed moral degradation in our family system and it is true of every faith. The very institution of family has been facing threats, internal and external. The emerging materialistic trend, greed and absence of spiritual guidance have weakened the fundamentals of our family system.
According to Marco Rubio, “The most important institution in society is the family. If the family breaks down, society breaks down.”
According to Goswami Sushil Ji Maharaj, National President Bhartiya Sarva Dharma Sansad (Parliament of all Religion), “It has been our tradition for long to respect our elders and tender love and affection towards children. This respect and love and affection were not based on caste or religion but on the culture of our villages and traditions. This very culture is vanishing and it is likely to damage our unity and integrity. If the children of today lack these values and culture, how will they keep this country? Our country is not known in the name of religion but it is known by its unity and diversity. The culture we used to develop initially was from our homes and family. This basic education we used to get from home was through joint family system. Our family system is becoming nuclear instead of joint system and people are moving out from the villages to towns and cities. These issues are weakening brotherhood.”
“What I believe is that we keep on reforming our education system. I strongly believe that there should be lesson of brotherhood and togetherness in every school. Religious leaders of different faiths should be invited in the school to make children aware of the culture, brotherhood and togetherness we had cherished in the past. Myself as president of Bhartiya Sarva Dharma Sansad has been working on it. It was delayed due to lockdown. I think every month one religious guru should visit schools to make children aware of our history, our culture and traditions. I am saying all these because children of today will be the family of tomorrow and the kind of family system they will develop will determine the kind of country they will make,” he said.
Dr Muhammad Raziul-Islam Nadvi, Secretary Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, said the institution of family and family system has been very clearly defined. Marriage should be very simple but people are spending more and more on it and it has resulted in many problems. The concept of Nikah, Talaaq, life after marriage, relations and inheritance has been given very clearly and if it is performed in accordance to the Qur’ān and Sunnah, there will be no problem in the family system. Islam has emphasised on women rights in inheritance and their share in parental property.
Nadvi added, it is therefore necessary to create awareness about the guidance of the institution of family in Islam and all the wrong practices like that of spending more on marriages, people should be educated about talaq and asked to refrain from wrongdoings. Islam has very aptly defined the rights, duties and responsibilities of each and everyone in the family. A good family system will give rise to a good society.
Victor Edwin SJ, Lecturer, Theology and Christian-Muslim Relations, Vidyajyoti College of Theology, Delhi, said, “Today the institution of family is under attack in several ways. Poverty, illiteracy and violent conflicts plague families and communities. We must protect the family, the fundamental nucleus of society and safeguard the gift of life. All those practices that are a threat to life such as genocide, acts of terrorism, forced displacement, human organ trafficking, abortion and euthanasia must be condemned. We must work with different individuals and organisations to protect life, alleviate poverty, and bring the light of knowledge to millions of children. I feel we must work with all people of goodwill to protect families.”
Acharya Vivek Muniji, spiritual guru of the Jain community said every individual wants that his family should lead a happy and prosperous life. But today it is not the case in most of the situation and in many families there is tug of war, jealousy, pulling down one another. Sometime they don’t even hesitate to indulge in violence. Instead of cooperation people are creating hurdles for one another and it is therefore resulting in animosity, hatred and bitterness in relations. It is therefore important that the family system should be based on the values and principles of the divine guidance and scriptures.
Acharya Muniji added, “In our Jainism tradition it is believed that there will be love and affection in between families. They will come forward and cooperate with each other. There will be respect for elders and love and affections for younger ones. Instead of creating hurdles, they will help and facilitate one another and cooperate with one another. People in the family should focus more on their responsibilities and not only demand or think of their rights in the families. With all these we can help create and good families and a good society.”
Gyanaditya Shakya, Assistant Professor in Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, said the relationships between parents and children, husband and wife or of relatives are very well defined. The problem is we only think of our rights but we don’t care of our responsibilities and this has been the major cause of problem in the family system. Our respect for elders has decreased dramatically and as a result of it we can see a large number of age-old homes and it is only because of decrease of respect for our parents and elders. In Buddhism rights and duties of parents and children have been very clearly defined. When everyone will do his or her duties and responsibilities then surely we will have a good family system.