Society , Sunnah and Us

In the name of Allah, the most gracious the most merciful

There’s a word in Latin a dear friend once taught me ‘Tabula Rasa’, roughly translated in English it means empty slate, which is the most appropriate way to describe an infant’s intellectual perception. As a father of a fifteen-month-old I notice a lot about child behavior that’s interesting to say at least. When ever my wife would enunciate her Arabic letters in her online Tajweed classes he would chime in and try and copy her tone. In other instances, if he saw either of us pray, he would bow down along with us, move his finger in tashahhud etc (May Allah accept it from him and us)

On the other side of the spectrum you will notice many parents proudly displaying their children’s cute antics on social media and a lot of it includes dancing and emulating the latest Bollywood/Hollywood celebrities…these are Muslim parents.

At this point I might risk sounding a tad arrogant, just a bit ‘holier than thou’, but trust me, it is not the intention here…mostly. Point being, our children have no pre-conceived notions, mostly because they are yet to conceive almost anything and so what you feed them intellectually at an early age is likely to form their world view.

As a generation, raised deep within an era of western romanticism, be that by our education system, societal perception or hours of exposure to the television and more recently social media. Our touchstone of morals, values and traditions have been molded by ‘would the west accept this as being cultured?’ In such an environment the sunnah is seen as socially unviable and often as an object of shame. Anyone who grew up seeing a chiseled, clean shaved man flying around and saving people, would unlikely see a bearded man wearing his pants above his knees as being representative of masculine handsomeness. However, if the same beard were being sported by the so-called ruler of Asgard suddenly that’s what’s appealing. Similarly, when the niqab is referred to the image of oppression how is one to see that as a sign of respect and modesty?

This is what I like to call hard wiring of social perception and very few are able to change this world view, and so the convenient thing to do is go through some mental gymnastics convince ourselves that the sunnah is a good way but, we can choose if we want to follow it or not.

However, Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “None of you have faith until I am more beloved to him than his children, his father, and all of the people.” Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 15, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 44.

This love, by the way is not sharing that one hadith on WhatsApp that you like, about respecting mothers three times more than the father, or how raising three daughters is an easy way to paradise, or whatever other aspect of Islam is deemed palatable to the western apologist mind set or fighting with some bigot on a reddit post (okay so maybe I am being a tad judgmental, but give me a chance to redeem myself). What is meant by love is to emulate the manners, fashion and commandments of our prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

We now stand at crossroads; do we continue to repeat the mistakes the previous generations committed? Or give our children a better chance at perceiving the sunnah as the best way of life? Yes, this is a bit of a task, but consider your aakhirah and things become much simpler in the process. Here are a few possible ways we can instill the love for sunnah in our children

· Firstly, lead by example. This one is a no brainer isn’t it? I mean I once shaved when I was about seven because I saw my father do it and I felt like ‘wow my dad’s doing this? It must be cool’. Trust me, you are your child’s hero (mother and father), led by example and inshallah your children will follow

· Secondly, change your vocabulary at home. This might have a bigger impact than one would think. Small terms we use every day change our perspectives in ways we do not comprehend. So, for e.g. say jazakAllah Khair (may Allah will good for you) instead of thank you, barakallahu feek (may Allah give you wholesomeness) instead of welcome, alhamdulillah every time you sneeze instead of excuse me. This is the sunnah way of doing things and quite easy to establish at home

· Thirdly teach your children the biography of our prophet (sa) it is the best way to learn about his life, appreciate his struggles and form a love for him and all he did for us. My recommendation would be Shaykh Safi-ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri’s (rahimahullah) Raheeq al Makhtoum published by Dar-us-salaam publishing, it’s a simple version written for the everyday Muslim. Reading the seerah along with your kids is also an amazing way to spend time with them replacing other forms of ‘entertainment’ which invites more haram than halal.

· Lastly Buy Islamic book for kids (shameless product placement): instead of buying books about wall climbing eggs and blonde girl hating bears, make sure your kids have fun while reading books which teach them Islamic values. I have heard, the upcoming Abu Ibraheem’s tales are the best collection of kid’s Islamic book in the world! where did I hear it from? I heard myself say it.

Finally, I’d like to address those who are already trying to be upon the sunnah. Don’t be smug. It’s really off putting and if following the sunnah makes you arrogant, perhaps you need to take a real good look at your intentions. May Allah keep us all upon for the sunnah to please Allah alone, for those who are upon it and those who are striving to come closer to it.

Disclaimer:

The author of this blog is neither a scholar or a very good student of knowledge. Any and all content should be taken as brotherly advice, and at no point will he be answering any fiqh related questions. jazakAllah khair, asalamalikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.