You were with us up until the week of delivery, and it is good to know that you gave birth to a healthy boy. Sound in body, soul and mind he is, but for how much longer.

You made a choice, despite being aware of the consequences, but your desire for the love and attention of your parents, at a time, when any mother needs support, prevented you from seeing what you and your son is being subjected to now.

Prophet Muhammad said: "He who does not respect our elder, or is not merciful to the young, or does not feel indebted to the scholars, is not of my Nation" (Abu Dawud # 4921, and At-Tirmidhi #1925) 

Mercy and compassion are essential components of building a Muslim society, and it starts with how we raise our child, who afterall are the future. When we only expect obedience, we treat our children as extensions of ourselves to do our bidding, and to be who we want them to be. Their character, their feelings, and their needs are denied, because we are essentially treating them like slaves, which in Islam, was not how slaves were treated in the time of Prophet Muhammad, but is how slaves have been treated by the secular world. By showing respect to our children, and with that the compassion of mercy, we develop emotional ties, which all humans needs regardless of age, and in so doing we establish a loving, caring relationship that is reciprocated. In this way, the child learns, love, learns compassion, learns to give and learns to listen, because we too listen to them.

Anas (RAA) tells us: "I never saw anyone who was more compassionate towards children than the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). His son Ibrahim was in the care of a wet-nurse in the hills around Madinah. He would go there, and we would go with him, and he would enter the house, pick up his son and kiss him, then come back" (Muslim, 15: 75)

All human relations provide an opportunity to learn about ourselves because each person is like a reflection. Given that how a person relates to you is not always determined by you, but maybe due to someone or something else, but still there is a certain level of give and take in the interaction between two people. This is even more so with children, because they have come into the world through the mother , and are being raised in a social environment that will have the strongest influence on that child's perception of self and perception of human relations. Therefore how a child relates to you, is much more related to you and the environment that you have helped to create. If you demonstrate for example:

• Love as a convenience
• Backbiting
• Straightforwardness
• Keepiing promises
• Being lazy
• Compassion
• Inattentiveness
• Unworthiness
• Racism/bigotry
• Self hate

Then these are the qualities that a child will learn from you.

“Best behaviour is that which you yourself start to practice." 'Ali ibn A bu Talib

Yoru parents are creating an ugly environment in your presence, so the likelihood of that continuing when you are not present is apparent. You were wrong to expect your parents to change overnight, especially when they made it apparent when you was with child, how they felt about Muslims. You are helping them to buidl further resentment towards Islam, by "putting in your mother face", what she said would not be in her face when she agreed over the phone.

(And We have enjoined man in respect of his parents – his mother bears him with faintings upon faintings and his weaning takes two years – saying: Be grateful to Me and to both your parents; to Me is the eventual coming,

And if they contend with you that you should associate with Me what you have no knowledge of, do not obey them, and keep company with them in this world kindly, and follow the way of him who returns to Me…) (Al Luqman 31: 14 -15)

It is only through your acceptance that these are the feeling of your parents, that you abnd your son can survive in their home. It calls on you to be caring, loving and compassionate to your parents, and it calls on you to understand that Islam does not desire to be spoken about, but to be practiced. The anchor are the acts of worship, but the human relations of Islam requires the nurturance of love for the sake of Allah, which means accepting the faults of others, as we all have faults, and not discussing with them that which disturbs them. By approaching your parents head on in the manner that you have, can only make them feel that you think of thenm less than your religion, hence you bring into your relationship with them, a strong element of competitiveness.  

A child who is nurtured amidst faith and with that faith, mutual trust, mutual respect, mutual love, and mutual compassion will naturally develop a sense of belonging as well as a sense of self. They will develop skills and abilities according to their inclination. With a sense of belonging, comes taqlid, emulation, and in sha 'Allah, the child will have good role models to emulate. You have to decide, what it is you want your son to emulate, and if that process of emulation there is a core thread of self destruction.

Sitting down and fretting for your deen and your obligations is boudn to tie you in a knot whereby you find it difficult to make a decision, but a decision will have to be made. You have a choice regardless of your current situation.

If you Leave

• You have the choice to explain your intentions to the friends of your husband, so that they will be patient and know that your intention is good.

• You have the choice to return to work

• You have the choice to place your son in daycare where he will be other children whom he can relate to.

• You have the choice of allowing your son to learn self hate through his grandparents or to learn self respect through daycare of which there is many to choose from with a multicultural learning environment

• You have the choice, after a while, when you can afford to, to place your son with a trusted (licensed) Muslim sister who caters for small children as a nanny.

Ready or not, you have that choice.

What about a place to live?

• You can remain at your parents home in acceptance of who they are, so that there is a chance that they will acccept who you are. Stay away that causes contention between you and your parents, and take responsibility for your son in a way that he is not left alone with one or both of your parents. When they are busy, take the chance to do your prayers in your own room. Go out with your son, to places where Muslims habituate, or/and go to a place where you haver Internet access which would allow you to read the Qur'an online, or/and to print a copy of a verse/chapter of the Qur'an online. Regarding food, your son is too young to be taking food.
• You return south and stay with your sister-in-law, yes I know, you found it tough going, but you only stayed for a week, and maybe with time, your sister-in-law can adjust to accommodate your needs. In the meanwhile, you can place your name on a housing list, return to work, and learn to be patient – this is a challenge from Allah (SWT) which provides the opportunity for personal growth, and spiritual growth. I can tell you from experience, that cohnverting to Islam and living/workign with non-Muslims has its challenges, but also has greater reward.

And concerning the aqiqah (shaving the head and circumcision), it is a Sunnah practice, and it is not wajib (obligatory), but it is a practice, that some communities view as intended, a way of bringing a child into this world. Regardless of how you feel now sister, you have the ability to do what is best for you and your son, without hurting your parents, and without hurting yourself or your son. Discuss the problems that you have been facign with your husband, in this way, he will be fulfilling his role by sharing with you, even though it is via a phone. He may be upset, but it will not hurty you to learn to share and be honest with him, to help strengthen your marriage in whatever way you can. Allow him to play his role, and to have his say, and share in the final decision. By not doing this, you rob the marriage of its purpose.

We pray that with the recent changes in the spousal visa in the country in which you live, that obstacles will be overcome, and that you and your husband will be re-united under one roof, in sha 'Allah.