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Teach, Don't Preach
By Shariffa Carlo
One of the factors which attracted me to this great deen of ours was the fact
that so much of it can be understood based on logic and reason. that is why I
feel that many Muslims parents do themselves a great disservice by not
explaining more to their children. The old, "Because I say so...", or because
you are an Arab, Pakistani, Somali, (fill in your cultural preference)..." never
has worked and never will work. Human beings have a natural desire to understand
what they do and why they do it, that is why Islam is such a great religion,
because it satisfies all of our basic intellectual and emotional needs; it does
this simply because it is the truth, and the truth is always easy to understand
and defend.
When we teach our children, we should use the same sound reasoning and logic
that we use to convince ourselves that a particular deed is beneficial. Thus, as
we accept it, so, inshallah, will they because it will be understandable. Of
course we preface every instruction with the understanding that we do what we do
to please Allah and Allah only, even if we can not understand it, but
alhamdulillah we have a means to understand the majority of what we do and avoid
as Muslims.
For instance, we know that we don't eat pork because Allah commands us in the
Glorious Quraan to avoid it. Then, we know that our beloved Prophet (Sal Allahu
alayhi wa salam) commanded us to avoid it. We need to tell this to our kids, and
as they grow and increase in their understanding we need to show it to them.
This teaches them some important lessons. It shows them Allah's commands; it
shows them the importance of the Prophet's (Sal Allahu alayhi wa salam)
commands, and it shows them the basics of researching into the deen. Then, once
we set this as our base, we need to explain to them the wisdom of this command.
Talk about the diseases associated with eating pork. Discuss the unsanitary
living/eating habits of this animal. Essentially, teach them those things which
help you to avoid this sin. Teach them to use their faith and their mind in
unison as tools towards achieving the ultimate goal of reaching Jannah.
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