I still vividly remember the first night I spent by myself in the hospital after delivering my son Ziqry. The guests were gone for the day.. the hallway lights were dimmed.. the nurses were speaking in muted tones.The nurse wheeled in the crib that held my newborn.. only a few hours old at the time. She cooed over him as I struggled to sit up.. then efficiently handed him into my waiting arms, bustling out after giving me a few words of encouragement. I pulled the blanket away from his cheek & smiled in awe at this fragile, little creature who was being left alone with me for the first time ever. I felt privileged to be trusted with his care, overwhelmed with the weight of responsibility. No one was watching over my shoulder; he was all mine & I could do whatever I wanted.
I felt it was an appropriate time to take care of something that no one had thought of arranging so far. “Assalaamu alaikum,” I whispered to the warm bundle nestled against my chest, “I'm your ummi.” I stroked his face & then asked the rhetorical question that every mother has asked since time immemorial. “Now… how am I going to raise you?” It's a question that I have continued to ask since that first magical night in the maternity ward.
Any family whose practice of Islam has impressed me, any child whose manners have stunned me, any teenager whose conduct with his or her sibling has given me reason for pause, any adult whose balance of religion & world has wowed me, I have accosted & asked,
“What exactly did your parents do with you?!”
“How did you raise your children?!”
“I beg you, tell me the secret of bringing up Mukminin like the ones I see”
A sign of someone whom Allah SWT loves is that when you see him/her, you remember Allah. The examples I have listed here are all people who have caused me to wonder about my own station with Allah in relation to theirs; they have motivated me to at least try to change, to improve. Although Allah alone knows the hidden reality of hearts, these people at least seem to have triumphed both in their embodiment of the true spirit of Islam & in their practical participation in the world. I pray that Allah SWT will continue to send examples like them into our lives so that we may continue to learn and implement that which draws us closer to Him. Amin
And those who pray, "Allah Grant unto us wives and offspring who will be the comfort of our eyes & give us (the grace) to lead the righteous." (Quran 25:74)
Children are the delight of our hearts in their childhood, our companions & comfort in our old age..& the only source of doa in our graves. all in all, they are the means by which we earn the fruits of this life & the reward of the hereafter. Muslim parents should teach their children all about Islam and show them how to worship Allah, with no compulsion or force. Insyallah. They should also guide them to the stairways to Paradise & protect them from falling into Hellfire.
Islamic Law has given children the right to a good life & ordered the father to guarantee them the resources that can make them live well. Even in cases of divorce, fathers are asked to be fully responsible for their children regarding food, clothing, schooling & health expenses according to the father's standard of life. Children are a blessing from Allah & to thank Allah for such a blessing, parents should fulfill the duties Allah prescribed on them towards their children.
xoxo,
Seri.
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