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We
all love our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Simple
because he brought us Divine guidance and helped us a lot find our
way to Truth. He is called the light, as Almighty Allah says: “Now
hath come unto you light from Allah and a plain Scripture”
(Al-Ma’idah: 15) It is thus natural to instill into our kids the
Prophet’s love. We also should make sure that his love grow daily
in our heart.
But
we'd like to stress that our love for the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) should be a motivation for us to follow the
noble principles he set to govern our lives. It's inconceivable for
us to be claiming of loving the noble Prophet and, at the same time,
doing all what contradicts his teachings. That is not love. That's
self-deception!
“The
tongues of Muslims all over the world never cease to mention the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and send blessings to him.
But why not organize a week-long family activity around the life of
the Prophet? Why not spend one day of the week on each of these
activities, devoting the whole seven days to a different project? Or
we could incorporate some aspect of each activity daily. Whatever
method we choose, these are rather token present we could offer in
showing acknowledgment to the great role the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) played in our life.
In
order to promote such noble feelings inside one’s family, let
every one sit down with a pen and a paper, think and decide together
about the activities you can do concerning the life of the Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon him).
Following
are some tips that help in this concern:
1.
Travel with the Prophet:
Get
a map of Arabia, or better yet, get the kids to draw or trace one
from an atlas. Then, note down the different places he traveled to
from Makkah or Madinah. Each voyage should also be researched and
presented to the whole family by one person in the course of a
family discussion or meeting.
2.
Wake up with the Prophet:
The
Prophet would wake up everyday before Dawn (Fajr), to worship Allah
through and make Dhikr (Remembrance of Allah). While looking
at the sky, he would read the last portion of Surat Al
`Imran, thinking and reflecting on the universe and its Creator.
This is an excellent way to get closer to Allah, at a time when
concentration is at its peak, minds are clear of daily worries and
according to one Hadith, Allah is very close to us. Once Fajr began,
the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would pray and then
chat with people who stayed behind for some time.
Get
the whole family to get up in time to perform this special prayer.
Encourage them, to the best of their ability, to awake to worship
Allah as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did.
3.
Organize Storytelling Night:
This
can be done at bedtime, after the kids come home from school or any
other time conducive to learning. The first step of loving and
learning from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his
life is to know about him and what made him great. You can buy
children’s books about his life, or even listen to them on a
cassette tape while you are in the car on your way to or from
school. Maybe each person in the family can choose their story to
tell. This will allow some research and reading as well.
4.
Sleep Like Him:
The
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to sleep in a unique
way and would say a supplication or two before it. Maybe as a token
of your love you want to sleep one night the way he slept. Some
Muslims do sleep that way all the time, although it is not a
requirement of our faith. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) used to sleep on his right side, with his right hand under his
right cheek. He used to make Wudu' before going to bed also.
He used to recite one or two supplications before sleeping and
recite a few short portions of the Qur’an.
If
you adopt this item, you can memorize the supplications, understand
their meaning and make copies of them for everyone.
5.
Eat Like Him:
There
are reports about the type of food he used to eat or liked most.
Make a list of those items. Once the whole family is together with a
selection of his/her favorite food, why not have one person talk
about it and remind everyone of his table manners? A young person
may be the best one to do that. For instance, he advised Muslims to
eat in a way that after eating, the stomach is only one-third full.
We also should wash our hands before eating, recite “Bismillah”
(in the Name of Allah) and other supplications before we begin, as
well as eat only with our right hand. These are just some of the
ways the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ate.
6.
Pray Like the Prophet:
During
the lifetime of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) if a
person made a mistake in the recitation of the Qur’an, he would be
corrected by others present during the prayer. This is exactly the
way it is done throughout the Muslim world in Ramadan. During this
week when you're teaching your kids how to live like the Prophet,
have a different person lead prayer each day and correct their
mistakes if they make any. This will not only be an exercise in one
aspect of the Sunnah, it will also be one teaching humility.
7.
Play like the Prophet:
The
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) understood the importance
of fun and games. He would race with his wife `A'ishah who used to
outpace him most of the time (may Allah be pleased with her). He
would swim and wrestle with his Companions. He would joke with them
too. He played with and loved children. Muslims mustn't forget this
aspect of his life. Race with your spouse in your backyard; set up a
swimming pool for the kids; enroll the kids in an archery class.”
*
Excerpted, with slight
modifications, from: www.soundvision.com
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