A billboard showing a picture of a grave with the message “Your return is to me” in front of Hawazen Elementary School in Taif, Saturday. – Al-Watan photo TAIF – Teachers, parents dropping off their children, and the young students themselves were stunned and disturbed to find a large billboard over the entrance to an elementary school in Taif with the picture of an ominous grave and the message: “Your return is to me”. This foreboding image greeted the students of Hawazen Elementary School on Saturday morning as well as motorists passing by one of Taif's main streets. Many onlookers were appalled by this picture and questioned the purpose of hanging it over an elementary school that welcomed young children every day. They said more positive, promising, and optimistic messages should be directed towards an audience of such a tender age. Children should be motivated to love learning and seek education with open hearts and minds and not shown images of death and darkness when coming to school, parents said. One concerned father told Al-Watan newspaper: “Such a picture of a gloomy grave will instill in our children a fear of death and a phobia of dying. Such images are inappropriate for young children and are counterproductive and may create an obsession with death.” Residents in the neighborhood of the school are also complaining about the picture of the grave amidst their homes and right above a school for young boys. They urge the Directorate of Education to immediately remove this large, depressing sign. Dr. Saad Al-Luhaidan, consultant psychiatrist for the World Health Organization, said: “Remembering death, the fact that one day we will be held accountable for our actions, and remembering the return to Allah and the Hereafter is imperative on every Muslim. However, hanging a picture of a grave with such a warning and negative message over a school entrance has no basis in the Islamic tradition and has not been practiced by the great Muslim scholars who preceded us in time. “This sign is an example of misunderstanding the true spirit of Islam and its teachings. In fact, mankind's return is not to the grave, but to Allah Almighty. The grave is only a temporary dwelling that people will pass through until they meet their Lord.” Dr. Al-Luhaidan urges all those involved in da'wah, guidance, and educating the public about Islam to focus more on essential matters, such as Tawheed, morals, values, and shaping the conduct of Muslims. The message carried by all the Prophets of God focused on reforming and improving mankind's character and conduct. Abdulrahman Al-Shehri who works in the Taif Directorate of Education said: “Children respond much better to positive messages and motivation when it comes to introducing them to religious practices. It is enough that children have to cope with the repeated sayings from their parents that “this is prohibited and this is permissible”. “Children are strongly influenced by their surrounding environment and the picture of a grave may confuse and frighten young children. Their environment should foster a love for learning and for Islam. Such pictures and reminders of death should not be enforced upon young children and this sign may have been suitable for other places frequented by older and more mature Muslims, but not an elementary school,” Al
