The Parent Who Shows Up Anyway

Tariq didn't plan for it.

He walked through the door exhausted.

10-hour shift. An hour of traffic. Nothing left in the tank.

His 7-year-old son Yusuf was in the kitchen. Waiting.

Science project due tomorrow. He'd been asking for a week.

The Moment That Actually Matters

Tariq had two choices.

He could say, "I'm exhausted. Tomorrow."

Or he could sit down.

He sat down.

Not because he felt like it. Not because he had energy to spare.

Because he understood something it took him years to figure out:

Authority is not built in the big moments.

It's built in the small ones.

The ones where you're tired. The ones where showing up costs you something.

What Celebrity Actually Means

In the OMP framework, we call the first pillar Celebrity.

Not fame. Not perfection.

Celebrity is the earned status of being someone your child genuinely looks up to.

Someone they want to follow. Someone they come to first when something goes wrong.

It is not given by a...

Zayd didn’t say it angrily.

That’s what scared Hassan.

They were walking out of the grocery store when Zayd pointed at a poster. Music. Bright colors. A smiling face.

“That looks fun,” Zayd said.
Then, casually:
“Why can’t we do stuff like that?”

Hassan smiled automatically.
But inside, something dropped.

Because Zayd wasn’t asking for permission.

He was measuring.

And Hassan suddenly understood the danger.

The world wasn’t attacking his son.

It was recruiting him.

The World Never Stops Planting Seeds

Modern parents think danger comes loudly.

It doesn’t.

It comes softly.
Repeatedly.
With better marketing.

Your child is surrounded by:

• Images
  
• Messages
  
• Values
  
• Rewards
  
  

All of them answering one question for your child:

“Who should I be?”

If you don’t answer that question clearly, the dunya will.

Why This Is Happening (And Why It’s Not Your Fault)

Between ages 3 and 10, you are not competing on logic.

You are competing on influence.

This is where the first C matt...

The Afternoon Omar Asked a Question That Changed Everything

Omar was tying his shoes when the question came.

“Baba… why don’t we do what they do?”

His father, Kareem, froze.

They were late. Again.
School pickup traffic. A work call waiting. His phone buzzing in his pocket.

“What do you mean?” Kareem asked, distracted.

Omar shrugged. “My friends don’t pray. They say it’s old. Why do we?”

That was the moment.

Not because the question was hard.

But because Kareem realized something terrifying.

This wasn’t a rebellion.
It was a seed.

And seeds grow. Whether you plant them or not.

Every Parent Is a Farmer. Most Don’t Know What They’re Planting.

Children are not blank slates.

They are soil.

And soil is always receiving seeds.

From school.
From screens.
From friends.
From culture.

If you are not intentionally planting, something else already is.

That’s not fear-mongering.

That’s reality.

Celebrity Comes Before Identity

Between ages 3 and 10, your child does not form belie...

Fatima noticed it on a Tuesday.

It wasn’t loud.
It wasn’t dramatic.

It was quiet.

Maryam, her eight-year-old daughter, used to remind her about salah.

“Mama, is it time yet?”
“Can I put the mat next to yours?”

That Tuesday, Maghrib came and went.

Fatima glanced at the clock.
Then at Maryam.

Nothing.

Maryam was on the couch, legs tucked under her, scrolling through a children’s app. Her face was calm. Content. Unbothered.

Fatima felt a tightening in her chest.

She cleared her throat.
“Maryam… did you forget something?”

Maryam looked up. Blank.
“Oh. Do we have to do it now?”

Not rebellion.
Not defiance.

Disinterest.

And that’s when Fatima realized something terrifying.

Her daughter hadn’t stopped praying.

She had stopped caring.

Discipline Didn’t Break. Motivation Did.

Most parents panic at this point.

They clamp down.

• “No screen until you pray.”
  
• “If you don’t pray, there are consequences.”
  
• “Because Allah said so.”
  
  

And sometimes it works.

Short term.

But what...

Adam didn’t hear the heartbreak happen. He was too busy typing.

He was sitting at the kitchen table, the "command center" of modern parenting: laptop open, phone buzzing, mind halfway between a stressful email and the dinner dishes clinking in the sink.

Yusuf, his seven-year-old son, stood in the doorway. He was holding a crumpled worksheet. His eyes were bright, waiting for the "Celebrity" of his world to turn around.

"Baba," Yusuf said, stepping closer. "I got something today."

Adam didn’t turn. He nodded at his screen. "Put it on the table, buddy."

Yusuf hesitated. The brightness in his eyes flickered. "It’s about school."

"Yeah, yeah. I’ll look in a minute."

Yusuf walked over. He placed the paper neatly next to the laptop. He waited.

Thirty seconds.

Then a minute.

Adam kept typing.

Eventually, Yusuf picked the paper back up. He folded it carefully—the way children do when they are trying to protect themselves from the pain of being invisible—and walked quietly to his roo...

December 25th is the biggest holiday in the West for non-Muslims. It is a consumerism frenzy and shirk at its greatest and unfortunately many Muslim parents don't know how to use Christmas to their advantage! What? Did I just say to their advantage?

Let me explain, during this time of the year, non-Muslim parents go out of their way to violate numerous moral principles and they usually do it against the ones that are defenseless, helpless, and trusting... yes, their own children.

Most non-Muslim parents that are Christian have forgotten how hurt, shocked, and betrayed they felt when they found out that Santa Claus wasn't real! As a former Christian, I was deeply hurt and couldn't believe how my father and mother lied to me for all those years with no apology. I felt betrayed and that was emotional pain that just multiplied when it came to the Easter bunny, tooth fairy, and other 'childhood tales'.

Those who celebrate Christmas and push the consumerism, materialism and debauchery tha...

When I began my search for the truth, I was a 16 year old who attended Christian school my entire life but I had my doubts. As I began to study the Bible more, I noticed how pagan holidays were simply replaced or absorbed by the Church in order to increase its following. I knew that whatever my search led me to, it had to be free of these things and stand on its own.

Studying the life of Malcolm X, I ended up sifting through elements like the Nation of Islam (Min. Farrakhan and/or Elijah Muhammad) until I finally came upon information about the Life of Prophet Muhammad (sws). I began to study more and more and after reading Surah Ikhlas, I accepted Islam. Upon my acceptance, I decided to start fresh so I threw every holiday I ever participated in, religious, secular or otherwise in the trash. I decided to do my best to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (sws).

I began to explore the principles of Islam and saw many of them as ...

Establishing family traditions starting with an easy one

There is something special about a family that works and acts as a team. Each individual is part of a unit and contributes and benefits from the whole. It warms my heart to see people that work together as a cohesive unit who were basically chosen by Allah to be family.

When I was growing up as the eldest of six children, both my mother and father were present up until I was about 12 years old. Of course the dynamic was different as I was raised as a Christian albeit my family wasn’t that religious, however they did enroll me in a Christian parochial school where I studied and really learned the Bible well, which eventually led me to Islam after studying what Jesus (‘Isa [as]) allegedly preached. However that’s not the reason for today’s post, I want to talk about building culture within your family.

Cultures aren’t only specific to places like countries, cities, states, religions or universities. Cultures and subcultures and ...

I just wanted to share a short video with you that some Muslim youth made about saying “I Love You” to their parents and I think you should see the reactions and the emotions from both the parents and the children.

Just take a few minutes to watch it because it will drive home the importance of those three words and the effect is has on our children’s hearts (and ours too).

After you watch the video, let your child(ren) know how much you love them and make a special dua for them. Our courses and trainings are about building love and influence based on Islam and nothing will work until you as a parent touch the heart of your child in sha Allah.

Talk soon and I pray Allah makes your children a coolness for your eyes and means for you to enter the highest ranks of jannah, ameen.

Your brother and fellow parent,

Nazir binNaseeb

Author of Muslims Parenting on Purpose Vol. 1

If you want more info on our high level Parenting courses or join our email list for our FREE video series, get de...

bismillah arRahmaan arRaheem

as salaamu alaykum wa rahmatullah,

(If you have not read Part One, click here)

In Stage Three (Teenagers) is when we begin to reap the harvest of our action or inaction. During the early teen years as our children’s bodies develop and they go through puberty is when there tends to be a lot of emotional uncertainty due to hormonal changes as they transition through the process. We must be that much more strategic in our praise by reminding them of successes they’ve had and lessons they’ve learned from things they may have failed at. In the Coach role, we build them up and continue to support them on their road to independence.

One thing we must do as Muslims is to infuse the lessons we have learned from the Seerah of the Prophet (sws) and from the Quran. If we only focused on our children’s psychology without infusing our Islamic beliefs then we are doing our children a disservice. Reminding our children of the jealousy of siblings we can share the story...