Aashuraa and Children

Rubayyi’ bintu Mu‘awwiz bin ‘Afraa’ (radhiyallahu ‘anhuma) mentions that Nabi (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) sent the following message to the various localities of the Ansaar on the morning of ‘Aashuraa, “Whoever began the day fasting should complete his fast, and whoever is not fasting should complete the day without eating.” Rubayyi’ (radhiyallahu ‘anha) further says, “After that (the announcement) we would ensure that we fasted on the day of ‘Aashuraa (in the years that followed) and would even make our small children fast. We would make toys out of wool for them. When one of them would cry for food, we would give him the toy to distract him until iftaar.” (Saheeh Bukhaari #1960)

A mother wishing to wean her child doesn’t introduce him to a diet of 100% solids overnight. She understands that the child’s digestive system will not cope with such a sudden, drastic change and therefore makes small, gradual adjustments to the diet. Similarly, when a child becomes mature (reaches the age of puberty), it is now obligatory for him to perform the 5 daily salaah, fast in the month of Ramadhaan, etc. If these obligatory ‘ibaadaat are introduced to the child all at once, he may find it difficult to make an “overnight” change. Therefore the Sahaabiyyaat (radhiyallahu ‘anhunna) would begin training their children to perform ‘ibaadaat long before they reached the age of puberty. In this way, they ensured that their children were not only accustomed to all the ‘ibaadaat but that the ‘ibaadaat were actually a second nature to them. Nabi (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) himself has taught us to train our children in this manner. He instructs us to make our children perform salaah at the age of 7 and to punish them for not performing salaah when they reach the age of 10 – emphasizing the importance of giving the child the correct training early in life. (Abu Dawood #494)

When a tree is a young sapling, it is easy to guide it and ensure that it grows straight. If left without guidance, however, it will grow crooked and become set in its crookedness. To adequately train the child for the duties he will face later on in life is actually kindness to the child – not cruelty. If we do not inculcate the Islamic way of behaving, dressing and speaking and the habit of ‘ibaadat into our children from a young age, thinking that they are “still too small”, what will we do when they are suddenly “too big” to heed our “too-late” guidance?

Nabi (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) recommendad that one fasts on the day of Aashuraa and coupling this with either the day before or a day after Aashuraa.

Day of Aashuraa 12^th of October 2016 / 10^th Muharram 1438

Muharram & the Islamic New Year

Muharram & the Islamic New Year 1435

The month of Muharram heralds the beginning of the Islamic New Year. The advent of a new year generally coincides with the adoption of new resolutions. Generally these resolutions are directed towards our material needs: our homes, cars, assets; or our person: becoming healthier, improving our education, etc.

However at this juncture let us focus on the deteriorating conditions facing the Muslim Ummah at large. We need to analyse our position in the midst of all this turbulence and seeks ways of reversing these calamities and drawing Allah’s Mercy instead. To win Allah’s favour we need to bring a change into the lives of Muslims the world over. But for change to take place globally it must first start locally.

In order to achieve this there needs to be a shift of focus. Instead of aiming at material growth, let us aim for spiritual growth. Instead of worrying over our physical appearance, why not aim at improving our inner selves? Wealth and physical beauty seem to be on everyone's agenda but what about our humanity that gives us value as humans? Honesty, integrity, trustworthiness and love for humanity are also precious resources. Though they may not have monetary value, they are indeed more valuable than gold and silver. They are the values that give us true worth as humans and make us assets to our communities.

As Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam profoundly observed,

“Verily, Allah looks not at your wealth or your physical features. Rather, He looks at your hearts and your deeds.”