Reflection on Gender Stereotypes and the Sunnah.

Bit of a long title for a rather short post I know. Little Lady is enjoying exploring her embroidery materials at the moment. We have had a few goes at this together and she is happy to go off and try things herself now.

When Little Man wanted to have a try, I immediately put him off. Reflecting on this, I thought this was unfair - I had decided this was for girls and didn't want to encourage him. I would never discourage Little Lady from playing sports or similar activities which were traditionally considered "boys" activities, so it was unfair to disregard's Little Man's interest in this way.

The other thing that occurs to me is that it is of the sunnah of our beloved Prophet (PBUH) to mend his own clothes:

Hazrat Hisham bin Urwah has related from his father Hazrat Urwah (ra) that some one asked Hazrat `Ayesha if The Holy Prophet (pbuh) did some household chores or not. She said, "Yes, of course, The Holy Prophet would mend his shoe when needed or sew his clothes if they required repair and lived just like you live in your homes." ~ Ahmad

I could not think of a better reason that this to show Little Man how to thread a needle or execute a simple stitch. So insh'Allah when the children come home from madrassah today, perhaps we can give homework a miss and have some fun with the threads and little peices of aida fabric.