Rejab Sunrise

I think no beauty and grandeur in the natural world today could parallel that of the rising and setting of the sun. SubhanAllah. Alhamdulillah we had the opportunity to catch the sunrise for a week. Some days it was cloudy and we couldn’t even see where the sun was on the horizon. Some days it was clear and we were awed and humbled at the beauty and grandeur that we were witnessing. Subhanak ya Khaaliq! How perfect are You, O Creator!

Sunrise of 13th Rejab 1441H

Kids’ painting of the sunrise 

Just like the rising sun in the sky, the Truth may not always be clear to us. It may be more apparent to us on some days, and not so on other days. But it does not mean that the Truth has diminished. Because the only ones who are veiled are us. And that is why our Teachers will always ask us to recite this prayer. 

اَللّٰهُمَّ اَرِنَا الْحَقَّ حَقًّا وَّ ارْزُقْنَا اتِّبَاعَهٗ وَ اَرِنَا الْبَاطِلَ بَاطِلًا وَّ ارْزُقْنَا اجْتِنَابَهٗ

O Allah! Enable us to see the Truth as Truth and give us the ability to follow it. And show us the falsehood as false and give us the ability to refrain from it.

And the following beautiful morning invocation is part of the Wird Al Lateef. Reading it while watching the sun rise was an indescribable and moving experience for me. MasyaAllah. I copied the translation from the book The Gifts of Imam Al Haddad which you can get from Wardah Books. The book does not only give the Arabic text and its English translation but also quotes the hadith and ayat of the Quran for every line of the Wird Al Lateef. MasyaAllah. If you love to read the Wird Al Lateef and the Ratib Al Haddad and you wish to know more about them, it is a book that I highly recommend.

“We are present this morning facing the nature of Islam, with the true speech, and upon the religion of our Prophet Muhammad, may Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family, and grant them peace. And upon our forefather Ibrahim, who was true in faith and bowed his will to Allah (which is Islam) and he joined not gods with Allah.

O Lord, we are with You this morning, with You in the morning, with You when we live, with You when we die, only to You do we return, this morning we are present in the Kingdom of Allah, praise to Allah, Lord of the Universe.

O Lord, I seek from You blessing of good tidings in the beginning of this day its convenience, its shining light, its blessing and guidance.

O Lord, I seek from Your blessing of the good tidings that this day may offer and I seek Your protection from the negative events that is awaiting in this day that may befall upon me.

O Lord, the blessing that I received this morning from You or those received from all Your creations from You, can only be from the One and only You, and no partners have You, and praise and thanks to You and we are grateful to You.”

Jumu'ah Rangers - As Samee'

A week after our previous session of Jumu'ah Rangers, we had another one at Botanic Gardens. That week, the children learnt the hijaiyah letter س with a lacing activity, stamping, and tape-resist painting.

Lacing activity

Stamping

Happy to be on the purple mat during circle time

Painting with friends

Glamming it up with glitter

Removing the tape

And the letter س is revealed

After some songs, off they went to Drama Land, which later proved to be the most remembered piece of drama for the little girl. At Drama Land, they met Khadijah the Cat who was hungry, so the children helped by catching some fish (سمك) for her.

Off to Drama Land!

Look at how worried they were for Khadijah the Cat!

Catching some fish for Khadijah

Putting together the letters to form سمك

Giving the fish to hungry Khadijah

When the children were walking back to Khadijah the Cat to give her some fish, Khadijah was seen making du'a. When asked what she was doing, she said that she was making du'a to Allah as He is As-Samee' (The All-Hearing).

Then the children listened to the story Swimmy by Leo Lionni which was accompanied by beautiful hand-drawn storyboards. This was followed with some stamping with fish-shaped sponges on a big fish.

Stamping away with سمك

After Jumu'ah Rangers had ended, the children ran to the grassy area nearby to pick up twigs, play with dried leaves, swing on low branches, and run around under the shade of trees. I stood nearby and watched as the little girl, who is turning 3, laughed and chatted with other children of her age or older. They created their own adventures, exchanged stories, and laughed themselves silly. 

Exploring the low trees nearby

Playing with fallen leaves and twigs

Yes, it was a blistering hot day, but moments like these were too precious to let the heat spoil my day. I was so grateful that I had a chance to witness the little girl interacting with her friends and with nature. They even chanced upon a swarm of fire ants and I asked them not to go near the ants as they might get bitten by them. Then I pretended to be a fire ant, with fingers on my head as feelers, and chased after the children, which sent them screaming and scampering away. What a delight!

At home, we tried the tape-resist art again, this time for the hijaiyah letter ش. I also let the little girl watch another episode of Misri Bunch to enforce the lesson learnt that Allah is As-Samee'. 

Jumu'ah Rangers - Al Baseer

When I got to know that two of my mummy friends were going to organise weekly playdates on Asmaul Husna (Names of Allah) at Botanic Gardens, I knew the little girl had to be a part of it. With His Will, she got a place in the weekly Friday playdates which ran from May till late June.

For the first playdate, the children were introduced to the hijaiyah letter ب with two activities. One was a lacing activity and the other was decorating the letter with glitter glue and paint.

Lacing the letter ب

Getting in on the action

Decorating the letter ب

Then during circle time, the Jumu'ah Rangers were each given a personalised badge with his/her face on it, to hang around their necks. Then out came a magic bag with magnifying glasses and cameras inside them. The children then got to make their own binoculars for them to bring on their adventure.

What's in the magic bag?

Ready to make her binoculars

Pasting stickers after taping up the rolls

Choosing stickers is always fun

And after some songs were sung, off they went to Drama Land to help Ranger Ba (ب) look for the missing dot. During the search, the children were told that Allah is Al Baseer (The All-Seeing) and He can see everything at all times. 

Listening attentively to Ranger ب

Off to Drama Land to look for the missing dot

After they were back from Drama Land, it was time for stories! Oh how I love stories. The first was the story of ب ت ث. The story was accompanied by lovely hand-drawn story boards and I'm so glad that I took a video of the story being told. 

Next was the story of Ilyas and Duck Search for Allah. That's a story that all the children were familiar with and masyaAllah it was accompanied by the prettiest hand-made backdrops. After that, the children got to tie up twine for their very own goggles!

Beautiful backdrop for Ilyas and Duck Search for Allah

Posing with their goggles

We got to bring home a print-out of Al Baseer and so the next day, the little girl used an ice cream stick to smear blue glitter glue all over it. And we also made our own craft activity of ب using glittery paint, twine and googly eyes. I also enforced the lesson learnt on Al Baseer by letting the little girl watch an episode of Misri Bunch on YouTube.

Our take-home activity

Our follow-up activity

Jumu'ah Rangers may have ended last Friday but the little girl and I will have fond memories of our playdates at the park. Both of us have benefitted greatly from the sessions and I'm glad I had made numerous video recording of songs and stories. May Allah reward the mothers immensely for all their efforts in putting together the programme for us and may their plans for the future be realised.