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Formation, not techniques
We work on the parent's posture and intention rather than on methods of reward and punishment. The aim is a heart reoriented, not a longer list of tactics.
A Course in Parenting · Suhba Consulting
Raising children as a trust and a provision — tending, not engineering.
A four-week formation for mothers and fathers — and for everyone: to set down the weight of an outcome that was never ours to carry, and to tend the child before us with patience and trust in Allah.
The invitation
If such a place existed — somewhere a parent could stand in line and be promised that a child would turn out well — every one of us would make the journey. There is no such place, and its absence is not an oversight. A child is a amānah (a trust), not a formula; a rizq (provision), not an achievement. We are handed something precious, and no manual comes with it.
This course is a formation, not a set of techniques. Over four unhurried weeks it gently reorients the parent — from controlling a child toward tending one, from anxiety over outcomes toward tawakkul (reliance upon Allah) — and walks the seasons of a child's life through the classical tradition. You will not leave with a list of tasks. You will leave seeing differently.
Who is welcome
Whether you are cradling a newborn, walking beside a seven-year-old, learning to counsel a teenager who is pulling away, or still praying for a grown child whose path has worried you — this course meets you exactly where you stand.
Mothers and fathers are both at its center. And if you are tending the garden alone, you are honored here, not overlooked: part of what we build together over these four weeks is the village that stands in the gap.
You need not have children of your own to belong here. Those preparing for marriage and parenthood, and those who help raise the children of others — grandparents, aunts and uncles, teachers, and mentors — will find that much of what this course asks of a parent, it asks of anyone who loves and shapes a child.
The four weeks
The course grows the way a child does — from the seed placed in our hands, through the seasons and the long work of cultivation, to the release of the harvest, in hope, to Allah. Each week closes with a small practice to try at home and a page in the companion couples' workbook, so that what is taught is lived a little before the next week begins.
"What is this that has been placed in our hands?"
"What does each age of childhood ask of us?"
"How do we correct, and how do we tend together?"
"Who carries the parent?"
What makes it different
We work on the parent's posture and intention rather than on methods of reward and punishment. The aim is a heart reoriented, not a longer list of tactics.
Every session is anchored in the Qur'an, the example of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and the wisdom of the tradition.
Four weeks, two hours each, with room to breathe between sessions. Nothing is rushed — because tarbiya (nurturing) itself is never rushed.
Gentle exercises, honest reflection, and the company of other parents walking the same long road, so that no one carries it alone.
Your facilitator
Suhba Consulting
Abdul-Malik Merchant teaches in the register of the classical tradition, made plain for the modern parent. Drawing on his Khawatir writings on parenting, mercy, and reliance upon Allah, he leads not from a podium of techniques but as a fellow traveler on the same long road.
His voice is unhurried and candid, anchored throughout in trust in Allah and patience — inviting parents not to master a method, but to see their children, and their own hearts, more truly.
Reserve your place
The course runs live online over four Thursday evenings, in a group kept small on purpose so the room can stay a conversation rather than a lecture. The fee is $125 for the four weeks — and one fee covers a couple attending together. Add your details below and pay to confirm your seat; we will send the Zoom link before we begin, in shā’ Allah (God willing).
If the fee is ever a barrier, please tell us — no one is turned away for cost, in shā’ Allah (God willing).
Guidance belongs to Allah; even a prophet could not compel the heart of his own son. What is asked of you is faithful tending — to show up, to model, to pray, to keep the door open — and then to entrust the rest to the One who gave you the child in the first place.
لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللّٰهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا
"Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity." (Qur'an 2:286)
Come and set down the weight you were never meant to carry. Tend your garden with patience, and leave the harvest, in hope, to Allah.
Reserve your place →