Children exposing their private parts to one another

 

I am a very distressed father, I caught my two young children (7 yr boy and 5 yr girl) exposing to each other their genitals. In my shock I severely beat them, but I don't know if what I did was correct. My two children have withdrawn from me and only speak to their mother but rarely also. We are both worried. What is the best way to resolve this situation ? We need your help and advise!

Praise be to Allaah. 

The
most important thing is for a father to deal wisely and in a balanced
manner with his children’s mistakes. He should beware of letting his
eagerness to deal with and correct the mistake cause him to make an
even greater mistake.

 Children
at this age may not understand the implications of such actions. What
usually leads them to do such things is seeing certain things on TV.
So we must try hard to know the source of this behaviour and where the
children have learned it from, and we should try to protect them and
keep them away from the sources of such things.

 The
feelings that your children have will most likely disappear after a
while, especially if you treat them gently and deal with them in a kind
and loving manner.

Shaykh
Muhammad al-Duwaysh

 Do
not forget to pay attention to the hadeeth of the Prophet SAWS (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “… And separate them in their
beds” (Narrated by Abu Dawood, and classed as saheeh
by al-Albaani. See Saheeh Sunan
Abi Dawood, 1/97)

 Try
to explain to them how ugly this action is, and tell them that this
is something the Shaytaan likes, as Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“O
Children of Adam! Let not Shaytaan (Satan) deceive you, as he got your
parents [Adam and Hawwa’ (Eve)] out of Paradise, stripping them of their
raiments, to show them their private parts

[al-A’raaf
7:27]

  It
was narrated that Bahz ibn Hakeem said, my father told me, from my grandfather,
who said: “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, what about our ‘awrah?’ He
said, ‘Conceal your ‘awrah from everyone except your wife and female
slaves whom your right hand possesses.’ He said, ‘ What about a man
with another man?’ He said, ‘If you can manage not to let anyone see
it, then do so.’ I said, ‘What if a man is on his own?’ He said, ‘Allaah
is more deserving that you should be modest before Him.’” (Narrated
by Abu Dawood. Classed as hasan by al-Albaani. See Saheeh
Sunan Abi Dawood, no. 3391).

 And
tell them that this abhorrent action is something which is done by evildoers
and immoral people who are hated by their Lord. May Allaah make your
children righteous. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad.