A Comparative Study of Western and Islamic Parenting Styles Based on Child Parenting Hadith by the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh)

The holy religion of Islam has proposed precise and truthful instructions for all human affairs, especially for parenting children. Parenting styles are important issues about which lots of studies have been conducted in the West. The purpose of this research is to compare parenting styles of the West and those of Islam based on a Hadith by the holy prophet (pbuh). This is a comparative qualitative research which brings about applied results and follows an exploration purpose conducted through George F. Brady method. The findings revealed that there is a perfect match between the facilitator, authoritarian and connive styles and the definition, interpretation and concept of the terms Sayyed (master), Abd (servant), and Azad (free) in the Hadith. However, there is a slight difference between the authoritative style and the Vazir (advisor) style. Moreover, the Western theory considers the authoritative style suitable for all ages, while the Hadith considers each of these styles proper for a certain age. The results indicate that this Hadith is potentially appropriate to be introduced as the Islamic style of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) for the Islamic countries and even for the whole world.