Educating a Muslim Child....

Islam is not a set of rules and regulations to be followed at certain ceremonies or occasions..

Islam is not a bunch of rituals to be performed or a collection of verses to be memorized

Islam is a way of Life ..... to be followed .... to be practiced ...... to be proud of.

Its a complete way of life.

Every activity / deed we do on a daily basis has an Islamic perspective. Allah SWT and his messenger Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) have not left any stone unturned regarding this matter. We are even taught how to enter the bathroom and how to even clean ourselves afterwards. These beautiful methods... these beautiful practices are not found in any other religion in this world.


     I have been taught religion by my parents ( was born and brought up in Saudi Arabia) ... we had the environment there... we had like minded gathering and get together parties  and halaqas so we never felt out of place or odd practicing our Deen ......but i dont see that kind of environment for my children  ( S1 5yrs, S2 4yrs ,  A1 2.5yrs,and A2 1.1 yrs Alhamdulillah )  here in India ( i have been here since i got married for past 6 years alhamdulillah) . The environment is mostly unislamic the culture is so diverse and many of the Islamic beliefs have addition and subtractions and multiplications and divisions done to it (seriously).....  One cant take children out shopping you have these almost naked music videos going on on these huge flat screens just behind the billing counter and as it is one has to wait in the queue with nothing else to do except watch it..I mean even if you dont have such videos going on at home (alhamdulillah we dont have TV ) the children are exposed to these haraam scenes everywhere billboards shop windows streets newspapers etc etc etc.  
      
         I know I dont have the power to change all this and I cant have my kids trapped inside the house for the rest of their lives either so what can be done in such situations???  I will tell you what I do ( I learnt it from my parents....even though in Saudi the environment is totally different i still try their way)


Firstly: Get rid of the big devil at home 
There is nothing that a television can give your child. Its just a waste of time and health that Allah has blessed one with. Even the innocent cartoons of Tom and Jerry, Bug Bunny or whatever, they have an impact on a child's behavior.A child finds it funny seeing one torturing the other. Their hearts becomes hard towards ill treatment and injustice and they dont see it as something wrong later. A child will then not have  feelings of mercy and compassion towards other fellow humans. This stiffening of the heart starts young  and just imagine what a daily 2 hour dose of these so called entertainment can do to a young mind.
A young child grasps and takes in more of the environment than an adult. A small child will notice every little minute detail which a grown up might very easily overlook.  


Secondly: Gift your child their very own library  of educational and Islamic books:
Gift your child their very own personal Quran ( if they know how to read ) or the Quran for Beginners (if they are just beginners) Children have a sense of pride in owning something. what better gift is there to gift a child than their very own mushaf .Encourage them into reading. Books can be a child gateway to imagination and understanding. 

(This happens to be my children's library Alhamdulillah .Without a TV they find a lot joy with these friends)

Thirdly: Involve them: 
Involve the children in what ever activity you do be it folding clothes or drying dishes or dusting or cleaning windows and doors etc etc . Teach them to do dhikr when they are working instead of humming any tune randomly. The parent and the child can say it loudly so that it encourages each other to keep going on. My Mom would not ask us to do Dhikr she would herself start and naturally when the child sees the mother they try to copy and that way we did n helped around the house Alhamdulillah.May Allah reward her.


Fourthly: Fun Activities: 
Keep the child busy with hands on activities, which they can spend a lot of time on .. play doh activity,  painting, beads , writing a diary or playing educational games online or cooking  or baking etc etc etc.

(A simple vegetable painting to pass their time and then I stuck it on their bedroom wall)

Fifthly: Going out: 
Instead of having the child stick their head out the car window looking at the ugly scenes have them revise the suwar (chapters of the quran) and the ahadith ( prophetic sayings) and the dua n adhkaar (supplications) they have learnt. When we were school going kids ( i am third child among eight children alhamdulillah) dad used to teach us in the car. from the time we left home till we reached school we would recite the chapters learnt and learn new chapters alhamdulillah and on the return trip from school to home we would do the same with the ahadeeth.one child narrating after another and the hadith shouldn't be repeated by anyone else  during Ramadan on the return trips we would have competition as to which one of us could relate most of the ahadeeth. This way SubhanAllah the time was spent very well in the car .( May Allah reward them  for all they did for us to raise us as Muslims)
And yeah at the billing counters I leave my husband with that task and take my kids out for some popcorn n fresh air .


Finally: Narrate Stories of Virtue and Character:
Instead of  fairy tale stories before bedtime one can always narrate stories of the prophets and the ashaab and sahaabiyaat and then explain to the child and relate the situation in your child's own world . Dad would usually recite the Quran till we all fell asleep then blow on us and then leave.


These are some of the many methods I can remember because we were raised without a TV at home and we had classmates who used to wonder how anyone could live without a TV or how can anyone entertain themselves without one.n how boring life would be without it..... but Alhamdulillah we didn't need one.

     And  In order to raise our children as  Muslims Insha Allah ( need lots of Dua ) we have alhamdulillah decided to home school them.we try to make my own syllabus (incorporating Islamic thoughts and knowledge with their regular subjects).we don't want them to feel Islam is only during Sunday Classes ( Burooj Children s Circle ) and  once they are out of Burooj they can do whatever they please..

May Allah Guide us and Help us in raising pious young Muslims Insha Allah.
May Allah Bless Our Parents with the best of Eeman and Health.
Ameen
Fi Amanillah
UMM ABDURRAHMAN