I love my mother.
Her strength, her courage, her love for her children. I guess we will never know how much our mother loves us until we ourselves become a mother. The beautiful thing about learning Islam is that you want continue to strive to be the best in everything you do. You want to be the best servant of Allah, the best student, the best mother and the best child to your parents. Your mother is your ticket to Jannah, Allahu Akbar..
A mother has a fragile heart, you need to handle it with care. Once damaged, the cut it deep and the scar remains. Allah Knows what's hidden in our hearts, He knows the sincerity we have towards our parents and He knows us better than we know ourselves.
Allah says in the Qur'an :
"Your Lord knows best what is in your hearts. If you are righteous, then, surely, He is forgiving to those who turn (to Him)." (Al-Isra' 17:25)
I remember as a child, my mother would pick me up every weekend to bring me out for rendezvous. It was the only two days of the week that I look forward to after a tiring five days of school and tuition. She was a single mom who runs a PR firm with her business partner. The ever so busy mom with jobs pouring in at that time, she still made time to bring me out for a quick lunch and to my favourite place, the bookstore. I have many fond memories of my childhood, despite my parents' divorce in 1987, my love for the both of them never faded even once. My mother is a book lover, one of the first English books she read as a child was 'Reader's Digest' bought by her late grandfather who she fondly calls
Tok Ayah. I remember her telling me that she started reading at the tender age of 5, it wasn't the norm for a little
kampung girl from
Bukit Besi, Terengganu to read books at that age, let alone English books. To top it all, her eyesight went bad and she had to wear spectacles well before entering high school. It must have been a funny sight, a little girl with big spectacle frame sitting on her tiny nose.
My mother had always reminded me on the importance of reading books. Showering me with Enid Blyton's collection and encyclopedias during my first year in primary, I thank her for being the teacher I've never had and I thank Allah for choosing her to be my mother. What's hidden in this little heart is only known by the Creator and I cannot imagine anybody else being my mom other than her. May Allah preserve you, increase His blessings upon you, grant you happiness in this life and the Hereafter and grant you Jannatul Firdaus Mak, Ameen.
Allah says in the Qur'an :
"And lower to them the wing of humility out of compassion, and say: "My Lord! Be kind to them as they brought me up when I was young." (Al-Isra' 17:24)
There were times when my mother was too busy and could not fulfill her weekly visits but even that, she still made the effort to drop by the house to pass the cookies she bought for me or sometimes even a new book. She knows I love the smell of a new book, Subhan Allah.. May Allah really grant her Jannah for all the sacrifices she has done for me. I could not repay her sacrifices and even as I am writing this, tears start flowing down my cheeks. Allah is
Al-Wadud (The Loving), Allah is
Al-Aziz (The Almighty), Allah is
Al-Sami' (The All Hearing), Allah is Al-Muhaymin (The Guardian), Allah and His perfect attributes have bestowed this feeling of gratitude in me towards my mother. My aim in life apart from being a humble servant of Allah is to satisfy my mother in every possible way that I can. We can be the best Muslim in our community but if our mother is not pleased with us, Jannah is not within our reach. May Allah protect us.
Allah says in the Qur'an :
"And your Lord has ruled that you worship none but Him alone; and that you do good to the parents. If either of them or both of them reach old age while you are alive, then say not to them a word of disrespect, and scold them not, and speak to them with noble speech." (Al-Isra' 17:23)
Have you ever thought about the trouble your mother went through every night putting you to sleep, sleepless nights watching you over your cradle, feed you with the best food, clothe you with the best clothes, send you to the best school? Can we ever repay back all these things? A friend once told me, a mother can take care of ten children but ten children may not be able to take care of one mother. Subhan Allah, this is true. May Allah protect us, Ameen. A mother would do anything in her might to help her child but a child may not do everything in his might to help his mother. I pray for Allah to make you and I amongst those who are kind to our parents and to make you and I a
soleh and a
solehah. Pious children are a bonus for parents, always make du'a for Allah to grant you a righteous offspring.
The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said :
"When a man dies, his acts come to an end, but three :
- Recurring charity
- Or knowledge (by which people) benefit
- Or a pious son, who prays for him (for the deceased)"
(Sahih Muslim)
My mother is the most generous person I have ever known. Often children are unaware of their parents' generosity but I am very much aware of it, I see the things she does for us and I truly am grateful. My siblings are in their 30s and my mother still thinks of them when she goes shopping. Although my two brothers are no longer staying with her, she still cooks their favourite food and calls them up hoping they would drop by - this normally works especially if spaghetti bolognese is involved. If she does grocery shopping in the morning, she makes sure she buys extra food for everyone in the house although sometimes it is left unfinished. Its the thought of "I must buy something for everyone at home, just in case they're hungry" - a mother's thought. It is true that a mother is never a retiree, my mother is always busy cleaning, washing, running errands, reading, facebook-ing and most importantly blogging. Her chores are never ending but Alhamdulillah she has found her therapeutic comfort zone for blogging. I received many amazing reviews and feedback from people I know who reads her blog, Allah has blessed her with the ability to write beautifully, Masha Allah Tabarak Allah. Her reading habit has helped her with her writing skills and no words can truly describe her love for writing. She was a journalist with
The Malay Mail back in the 70s for almost 20 years and her reporter instincts has never quite ended since then. I on the other hand, did not quite inherit that graceful skill of hers.
Learning Islam is a wonderful journey even as a born Muslim. My love and dedication towards my parents grew stronger everyday just by the learning the teachings of this perfect
Deen. Allah speaks highly of parents in the Qur'an and I try my level best to be the best child for them, obeying and respecting is an obligatory act a child should possess. My mother just like any other mother, have her moments too. There were times when she was at the highest peak of sadness and there were times when she was at the highest peak of joy. As a child who craves for the Mercy of Allah upon her mother, I too become sad when I see her feeling upset over something. It breaks my heart to see my mother sad and it makes me smile to see her smile. I, being the youngest among my siblings am the closest to my mother. She pours her heart out to me when something unpleasant lingers in her mind, I am glad to know that she finds comfort in talking to me. What can a child do during moments like these? - Listen.
We as children can never deny that mothers are emotional human beings. My mother once told me (when she was feeling a little sad) "my children may not see it now but they will come to realize when I'm long gone, and by that time, it will all be too late." - Mothers are like that when they speak, they will always generalize all the children when they're upset (even if you know you didn't do anything wrong). Mothers tend to say "all my children" when in reality she is only upset with one person. To sum it all up, be kind to your parents. They are the ones who raised you, educated you, stuck to you through thick and thin, loved you from the day you were born, wants only the best for you simply because they are your parents.
On a lighter note, you may say that your mother is the best cook but my mother is a walking dictionary of jokes. Beat that. Her sense of humor will surprise you and I wouldn't exchange that for the world.
I am truly blessed to have a wonderful mother. She is my best friend and my pillar of strength, my
du'a for her comes sincerely from the
qalb.
I Love you Mak
your little girl,
Awwa
