Memories of Muharram 1432…

The following article is from 2010… an old story with a timeless lesson for parents… especially mothers!!

Since I heard the lecture on the importance of Muharram and its link to Hijrah of our Prophet (s.a.w) I was longing to inform my kids but they are not usually receptive to what I tell them so I was waiting for the right time because I didn’t want to spoil this exciting information which I thought would surely light up their heart if conveyed in the right manner. Yesterday I got my moment in a totally unexpected way and I want to share it because it might work for other moms too:)

Since I came back from Hajj I have realized things in my life which had never bothered me before. One of them is my lack of quality time with my children. so I tried to sit and talk with them but found that it was not working. It made me think: why not get out of the house and take a walk. My youngest child was at once willing to accomany me and so we drove to the nearest walking track. When we got on to the track I was expecting that he would start jogging but he didn’t do that… I was really thrilled at this unexpected change because now was the chance to be together. I kept quiet for a while and waited for him to speak because suddenly I realized that may be they are put off by always thinking that the moment I open my mouth I am going to start a lecture. Well I didn’t know it then but Allah was allowing me to taste a glimpse of “wisdom” which is his ultimate gift to a believer… but we seldom make dua for it…

Anyway my son started talking about his day at school and I listened with interest. After some time I asked him did he know anything about muharram? He said yes “karbala”… I said what else? he was quiet so I asked him another question… What was the sacrifice of Ibrahim (alaihissalam) ? and what was the sacrifice of our Prophet (s.a.w)? He said Hijrat… How happy I was to hear this word from him:) because this was the key which opened the door of further discussion… why is Muharram the first month of the hijri calendar? He tried some guesses until I gave him a couple of hints which led him to the correct answer… making him feel as if he had “discovered” the solution to a riddle… it made him happy and excited because children love to “win”… and they will never forget something which made them feel good. During all this time we also observed the beautiful colours of trees and the sky with its amazing transformation from brightness towards sunset… He looked so happy mashaAllah… calm and relaxed…

Now there is a connection in all of this… Next time if I ask him a question it will inshaAllah bring forth this memory of a good time, pleasant evening, soft cool breeze, lovely trees with gold and red leaves and the excitement of learning something so important about our history… I just hope and pray to Allah that he enables us to remember this great clue to success… that to achieve something we need to do hijrat… we need to get out of our comfortable routines and sacrifice our time and energy to prove our sincerity. There is no shortage in Allah’s treasure but it is up to us how much we ask Him and how sincerely we want His pleasure.