Lucy Maud Montgomery said: “That the daisies that dance and twinkle so/ Were the laughter of children in long ago.”
Indeed, children and their innocence are inestimable. It is up to us parents to channelise this innocence in the right direction. We must instil in them the love of our faith, the importance of being consistent and steadfast in our Deen.
Our children should know that we’re primarily inhabitants of Jannah. This duniya is our examination session and the pay-off of this test will be Jannah. Therefore, for every single thought, for every single conduct, for every single word we would be accountable. Our mission in this life is to procure Jannah in the afterlife.
Just like any organisation or any company clarifies its own mission statement and elucidates its own vision, we must also instruct our children that our sole purpose of this life is Jannah. Jannah’s our vision. We must not only be for ourselves, but also as a family be united in our vision.
Bearing this vision in mind, we must plan our familial activities. Our children, at all times, must demonstrate that nothing and absolutely nothing is greater than our love for our Deen. We learn this from none other than Abu Bakr – The Siddiq رَضِيَٱللَّٰهُعَنْهُ. The teenaged Asma رَضِيَٱللَّٰهُعَنْهُ had to tinkle pebbles in a can only to reassure and shun away allegations put forth by her blind grandfather that her father had abandoned them and left them penniless. This is the kind of love for our Lord, for our Messenger, for our Deen that we need to inculcate in our children.
Another lesson that our progeny must realise is that our lives and our journey towards the hereafter are not directed upon our wishes and dreams. It is our Lord who plans, who plots and executes. We have to be submissive to every decision He takes for us. At times, we may dislike things that have been happening in our lives, but in Allah’s wisdom and astuteness, nothing else would be perfect. Just as the Sahaba called Hudaibiyah the day of fitnah but Allah wished it to be Fattahun Mubeen.
Also, excellence and expertise should be the next instruction for our kids. In whatever profession they choose, they must simply be the best. Prepare them to be irreplaceable. Upgrade them to be limitless. Wind, storm, eclipses, rains, thunder, lightning – did these ever hamper Bilal’s رَضِيَٱللَّٰهُعَنْهُ acuity of time because of which he delayed the azaan? He knew his job and did it with precision without science and technology. In modern times, when we’ve reached the moon and with AI at our aid, what stops us from producing world class leaders and scientists?
This children’s day – let’s pledge ourselves to gift our children these moral values, explicate and nourish their lives with imaan, be united in our vision and hope for their bright future.