A Great Responsibility.
“Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.”
As mothers we are with our children most. Many times you see your children imitating you cooking, or ironing or reading a book. This shows that mothers have a great influence on their children without even trying. It is more important than ever for us mothers to set a good example for our children.
Allah SWT has given mothers a huge responsibility of rearing good Muslim children. Although our daily chores take over our lives it is important to prioritize and set aside some time for our children. As housewives we often feel it is part of our job description to be able to multi-task at all times. I often find myself doing the usual routine of life and of course Isra is with me at all times and I would play and read to her in between cooking dinner and studying for Al Huda. So I thought I was spending a good amount of time with Isra. In reality we need to ask ourselves how much of this time is quality time? I mention quality time because this is when you have 100% of your focus on your child.
Rearing Good Muslim Children.
Many times we think sending our children to Sunday school makes a good Muslim. This cannot be the primary source of Islamic education. Instead it can be a supplemental source of knowledge. The foundation of our children becomes strong and firm starting at home. If we surround our children with a good Islamic environment by reading Quran, reading them stories from “Heroes of Islam,” and minimizing the amount of T.V. they watch, they will naturally be more inclined to Islam and be strong in their beliefs. Another thing us mothers need to remember is if we want our children to do something or have certain habits, we need to be doing these things as well. For an example, if we want our children to read Quran daily, mothers should also be doing the same. It goes back to what I mentioned earlier about how children imitate their mothers.
Change.
Trying to achieve the goal of raising children with a strong Islamic foundation takes a lot of patience and determination. You may find that you have to change many of your habits before telling your children to do so. Because as we all know the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. How can we tell our children to do things we want them to do when we don’t do it ourselves, right? So for those who are mothers, soon to be mothers, or inshallah will be mothers in the future check yourselves. Try to instill the habits you want to see in your kids in yourself first. I bet once we do this we will automatically see some change in our kids. Lastly, we all need to remember that raising children with a strong Islamic foundation is not just good for their lives and society as a whole, but it benefits us as well. Raising good children will ensure, inshallah, that they will be a source of sadaqah jariyah when we leave this world to return to Allah SWT.
