Dilemma of a Seeker

Truthfully, sometimes I feel guilty that in seeking knowledge, I don’t get to spend time with the children. Or they are with me but we are not doing more “fun” stuff like going to the beach or the zoo. But then again, it all comes down to intentions, doesn’t it? And when I asked Big A if she wanted to go with us for a 2-day workshop, studying parables in the Quran with Shaykh Ahmed Saad, she said yes! 

MasyaAllah she totally surprised me, sitting right in front with me and quietly drawing and colouring. It doesn’t mean that she wasn’t paying attention though. That’s just her style. Many times she had quoted things she had heard in class from different teachers while following me, when I thought she was just busy doodling in class. This style of learning most probably won’t be tolerated in a school setting.

Alhamdulillah Ihsan Institute has a branch now in Singapore for the teaching of traditional Islamic Knowledge. According to Shaykh Ahmed Saad, this is what Traditional Islam is versus what it is not:

- sitting with scholars for years to learn knowledge vs learning from YouTube and social media

- learning ideas that have gone through rigorous debates, discussions and verifications vs novice ideas with little or no testing

- ijazah and sanad vs degrees and certificates

- teacher-student relationship vs teacher-class commitment

- tolerant and inclusive vs too rigid or too liberal 

- specialisation up to the point of being encyclopedic vs superficial learning

May we see the true value of sitting with our teachers to seek knowledge. Truly it is a jihad fisabiLillah.

Fiqh Tahawwulat

For the longest time I had wished that I could sit with a teacher to learn this book in its entirety. I had learnt some of the knowledge through teachers like Ustazah Farhana in her classes. I was hoping the translator of the book, Shaykh Ahmed Saad, would be able to teach the book in SG as he had done elsewhere. Little did I expect Allah ﷻ would send another teacher for me to sit with. Alhamdulillah for the blessing!

Fiqh tahawwulat is such an important knowledge to have as we navigate our lives at the end of times. It affirms the beliefs that I have when it comes to raising children and reminds me that in fact, there are more to be added to the long list. That I’m not being overly strict for saying no to a lot of things for my children because I’m trying biidznilah to protect them from possible fitnah which is real, and not imaginary as some would say.

Just to share something that happened on the last day. On Friday morning during recitation of the Burdah, after we had completed learning the book the previous night, I realised that my water bottle had not been properly capped and it had emptied itself into my bag. Amongst the items that were drenched was my book, Al Nubdhah Al Sughrah. All my handwritten notes inside the book was smeared beyond comprehension. The first thing that came to mind was the lesson from the life of Imam Al Ghazali.  One day while travelling, his caravan was attacked by bandits. He begged the bandits not to take his notebooks as they contained precious knowledge. The chief bandit laughed at him and said, “What kind of knowledge is this if it can be so easily taken away by the likes of me?”

May the knowledge learnt not be mere words on papers and in books but knowledge that is kept in the hearts, to be practised and passed on from one to the other. Ameen.

Al ilmu fi sudur

La fi sutur

Ramadan Crafts

Two weeks of Ramadan have passed and how grateful I am to The Almighty for all the blessing and opportunities He has bestowed upon us. Alhamdulillah the little girl has been meeting her friends too during the weekly Ramadan co-ops that we've had and the terawih playdate at Masjid Kampung Siglap.

To welcome Ramadan, a few of my friends had put up beautiful hand-made buntings with glitter foam papers. As much as I had wanted to make one too, time was of the essence. Alhamdulillah I chanced upon free printables online for Ramadan bunting and lanterns. I printed and cut them, laced and put them up with the little girl, and we have our very own bunting. 

 Ramadan bunting

I found the Ramadan Road Map online too and printed it out so that the little girl could colour the numbers as we track the days. And following Zakiah's advice on how to cut beautiful hijaiyah letters, I printed the word Ramadan that I found online, cut it out, traced the letters on glitter foam, and cut it out again. First hijaiyah letters cut out and more to come inshaa Allah.

Ramadan tracker

On the first Friday of Ramadan, we had our very first Ramadan co-op. Alhamdulillah! Mothers who attended each contributed an activity for the children. Some activities were carried out during the session itself while the rest were taken home as takeaway activities so that mothers have some prepared activities for the children during the week. The following are books and activities for our Ramadan co-ops.

Book reading, painting of silver fanoos, and learning the letter ف

Decorating fanoos with dot markers

Creating a crescent mosaic with glitter foam

Creating a masjid mosaic with glitter foam, and a full moon made of beads

Book reading and making a hilaal (crescent) with aluminium foil

Sponge painting with stencils

Making a shield

Singing Mr Sun/Shams song, making a sun wand, and learning the letter ش

Making a mini prayer mat with felt, cut-out glitter foam and tassles

Book reading and making a flower craft with stickers and embellishments

Decorating an Eid bag with cut-out felt and embellishments

Story-telling of Surah Al Fiil (The Elephant) and making elephants with handprints

Singing Itsy Bitsy Spider/Angkabut, making a spider with paper plate, and learning the letter ع

Creating a masjid with glitter glue, acrylic paint, cut-out glitter foam and embellishments

Painting a silver masjid and decorating it with cut-out glitter foam and embellishments

Making a star with ice-cream sticks and decorating it with glitter glue and embellishments

Making a star mobile and decorating with glitter glue and embellishments

Creating a night scene with glitter foam and cut-out glitter foam, and learning the Arabic words

Inshaa Allah may you find them beneficial for your little ones.

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'.