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Having attended an Islamic school, we were in an environment where we were always reminded of being Allah-conscious. We had daily reminders of what was expected of us as Muslims. Even if we were not practicing it at that particular moment, with time and repetitively hearing something, it instilled the desire to bring what was heard into our lives.
Fast forward 18 years and I find myself yearning to be in such an environment again. Where I can constantly hear what is expected of me and in turn make positive changes in my life, drawing nearer to Allah.
We go through our daily lives, doing things according to societal norms and our own personal preferences. We have learnt the sunnah method of doing things – we know it! -but we find ourselves doing things contrary to this.
In one of her online lessons, Umme ‘Abbad speaks of how our attention is focused on this temporary world around us, when in actual fact we need to turn our attention to the heavens. I found myself identifying with this.
Day in and day out, it is a rush getting the kids out of the house by 7am so that they are on time for school, spending my whole day working, coming home and having to see to supper, homework and generally whatever the family wants and/or needs in the evening. We become so immersed in the happenings of the day, that we move on autopilot. Doing things in the quickest way possible to get it done with. Each day feels like a rinse, rinse repeat of the previous day.
How often do we take a moment and ask ourselves if this action of mine is in accordance with what Allah wants from us – if it is in accordance with the Sunnah of our beloved Nabi S.A.W?
Alhamdulillah – through the Mercy of Allah – a few years ago, Allah accepted me out in His path. I spent some time in the path of Allah with my late father, aunt and uncle. May Allah fill all their qabrs with Noor. This trip was an eye opener for me. One of the things that I realized was that the yearning I had to again be a part of a Deeni environment where I was constantly reminded of what is expected of me could be easily accomplished. This very thing was something that could be achieved within my home.
Through halqas of taalim – within our homes as well as the weekly local taalim – we are reminded of our purpose in life. For that little while we give da’wah to our hearts and desire to be closer to Allah SWT. We hear and utter the hadeeth of Nabi S.A.W in these gatherings until it settles into our hearts and we desire to make amal upon it. I learnt while out in the path of Allah the importance of the role that the mother of the home has in bringing Deen into the home. We are not there only to make sure that we give the best food to our husbands and children. We as woman have to take responsibility for the spiritual growth of our family as well as their physical needs.
Returning home I had very big plans to ensure that I bring the Sunnah into our home and that I instill it into my children.
Initially, I corrected actions of theirs I saw were contrary to the Sunnah. Eventually I realized that it was being done because “Mummy said”. With time, “life happened” and it slowly unraveled. Slowly slowly we started doing things contrary to the Sunnah again.
I found myself thinking that I need to change my approach. Not just for my kids – but for myself and my husband too… I kept putting it off – tomorrow, this weekend, in the school holidays, during ramadhan… But something always came up and my desire to bring the Sunnah into our lives took the back burner.
A few weeks back I was driving home and again thinking I need to bring the Sunnah into our lives. I began thinking of ways we can incorporate it one Sunnah at a time. Towards the end of his life, my father dedicated a lot of his time to the work of Da’wah and I found myself thinking that I need to think of a way to use social media to spread the love of the Sunnah so that we all can benefit.
A few days later I was contacted by Umm’Abbad to be a part of this initiative. I was overjoyed! Alhamdulillah…Allah heard me and He opened a way for me! And this was the push I needed out of my comfort zone. The time for procrastinating is finally over.
Social media has recently been flooded with the happenings in Palestine. During my time at school we were taught that if we wanted to know the condition of the Ummah we need to look at the condition of Aqsa. Viewing the horrors of what Muslims are facing there, hurts me – making me reflect on the extreme weakness of my Imaan.
We all find ourselves wishing to be of assistance to the people of Palestine. And I have decided to use this as the basis of introducing the Sunnah into our lives.
My sons are aged 12 and 10, and I thought of a way to appeal to them. We have discussed what’s been going on at the supper table, so they are aware of the suffering of the Muslims.I asked them if they want to help the people of Palestine. Their immediate answer was that yes, they would. I used the idea of joining the military to fight against shaytaan. Nabi S.A.W has set the way for us and shaytaan will do anything to distract us from Allah and doing things according to the Sunnah of Nabi S.A.W.
I created a Sunnah Academy, where we would all be cadets in training. Our ultimate goal is to defeat shaytaan and become strong like the Sahabah (RA) and thereby being a force goverened by Iman.
1. I made a poster trying to create excitement in them, making them feel like they can make a difference.
2. The idea of the being cadets in training is to realize why we should love Nabi S.A.W more than any other person, and to create a love for his Sunnah. I found an amazing book online – The Gift of Durood – which I am using for this purpose.
3. This is is the focus for the month of August inShaAllah… Falling in love with Nabi S.A.W and his sunnah. Nabi S.A.W was the best person to walk this earth and his Sunnah is the only way that we will be successful – in this world and in the aakhirah!
4. Once we have this ingrained in us inShaAllah, we graduate from being cadets and start incorporating various sunnats in our lives one at a time.
5. The more sunnats we introduce in our lives, the further up we get promoted in our Sunnah Academy ranks.
For now we sit together for approximately 10 minutes,reading the glorious words of the Hadith after which we speak a little of who Nabi (SAW) was and what he endured for us.
Alhamdulillah these stickers and motivation are all to build a deep connection with the Sunnah in my home.
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