Imagine your child.... Part 1

Imagine changing your life and having your own mother and father reject and ridicule you for leaving the religion they taught you since you were young. Imagine adapting to a new lifestyle that regulated the type of food you eat and how you dress when you leave the home. Imagine getting married while you are young in order to obey your Lord and stay chaste.

Now picture being blessed with a beautiful son that you name Abdullah because he is a servant of Allah, the first Muslim born in generations. You promise yourself that you will do whatever it takes to raise your son to be strong on his deen and fight the challenges he will face as he grows up. Imaging life getting in the way and 16 years later this son is now taller than you, strong is his body, and also strong in his mind. You want to be proud but you can only cry as he has told you and your spouse that he doesn’t believe in Islam or Allah and is going to do his own thing… Imagine you then asking yourself, “where did I go wrong?” Was it the schools, working all the time, keeping him from the masjid, not spending enough time with him, allowing him to be around non-Muslims so much, keeping him with bad kids at the masjid, etc?...

Now imagine dreaming of coming to America to escape poverty, persecution, or so that you can make more money and craft a better life for your family. Imagine you leaving your country of birth and establishing yourself in the United States. You marry and have children and begin to provide a life that was only a fantasy "back home". You are sending money back home and enroll your children in the best private schools money can buy.

You simply want your children to become doctors or lawyers so that they may have a good life. Imagine that your business is going well and you are taking care of family overseas and even visiting them from time to time. Imagine as time goes by and your children are now living a life of luxury that others can only dream of, including some of the indigenous people of the land. Imagine your daughter as a teenager attending a private school, likely a Muslim school, how shocked you feel when you see her not practicing Islam and going around with no hayaa (shyness) and you hear about her boyfriend or see photos from an online social network with the new tablet or device you bought her. Imagine the horror you feel when you find out that she is pregnant at 17 years old to a Muslim or a non Muslim boy! Imagine how others that have sent their children back home looking for a solution now feel…

It was after seeing many of the above circumstances that Outstanding Muslim Parents was born. It hurts to see close friends lose their kids to kufr and its influence. It’s not easy to see some friend’s children headed straight for a train wreck while their parents try to remain optimistic. Imagine the little child you raised since birth, the one you fed, the one who depended on you to change their dirty diapers, the one that needed help walking, talking, and seeking comfort in your arms. The little child that caused you grief when they were sick and even irritated you when they broke things or threw tantrums. How would it feel if that same child who caused you to feel proud and grateful when they tried to pray as a toddler or first said Allahu Akbar decides to leave Islam or displays a reckless disregard for it? It would be painful, very painful. Unfortunately the stories that I shared above happen to be the most common types of stories that many of our Muslim communities face.

After accepting Islam, I saw there was a command that Allah gives us that I chose to take as very serious..... Stay tuned for Part 2

Remember a WISH changes NOTHING but a DECISION changes EVERYTHING!

jazkAllahu khayr,

 

Nazir binNaseeb Al-Mujaahid

Author of Muslims Parenting on Purpose Vol. 1

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