Weekend Iman Refresher

Last weekend I had guests from another part of the UK who were in London doing dawah work mash’Allah. They were absolutely wonderful and we had lectures from the imam from our local masjid and sisters circles over the course of the two days. The focus was mostly on Tauheed, or the belief in one God and everything this means and entails and also on valuing and adopting the Sunnah (traditions and habits) of our beloved Prophet (PBUH). The other main elements which came up a lot were around setting a good example, through our kindness and sincerity, to non-Muslims as a form of dawah and preparing for Ramadan which has come upon us so quickly mash’Allah.

One of the good things the weekend was that lots of women from my neighbourhood who I have never met before came to visit to listen and help out.

Another big benefit for me was that I got to meet lots of other mothers and ask them about some of the things they do with their children. One of the sisters whose children are now teenagers, told me that she used to sit them down with one big plate of food and one glass of water and feed them with her own hands at the same time. I have been doing this for the last few days and you won’t believe the amount of food I am getting them to polish off mash’Allah!

Another sister advised that although she doesn’t celebrate birthdays, she made a big fuss when her child turned 7 as this is considered the age of tarbiyyah (good upbringing and manners). This was to reinforce that they were now old enough to behave well, have some responsibilities and begin to pray five times a day with their parents.

It was a good weekend and a good reminder of what life is about for Muslims, what the purpose of our being here is and what is important. My children managed to misbehave through every single talk and circle, including Gorgeous singing “LALALALALA!!!” at the top of his lungs through one talk while I chased him around the room. My husband saw how tired I was by Sunday night and sensibly packed the older two off to their cousins, where Little Man promptly broke a wardrobe. You can bet the cousins were trying to send them back early the next day.

One other positive legacy is that we will be having weekly a weekly sisters circle every Sunday and insh’Allah this will set a good example for my children and an opportunity to learn for me as well as get to know sisters in my community insh’Allah.