I attended a lecture by Shaykh Younus Kathrada last Saturday. Such an eye opening lecture, Masha Allah.
Our journey in life is to gain (Islamic) knowledge till we're 6 feet under and so I've decided to share this knowledge with you. Actually, I can't help but to share it with you because Allah Knows this is exactly what you need to raise your family according to the Qur'an and Sunnah.
The shaykh explained on how success is not measured by dollars and cents. In the world we live in today, parents play an important role in raising their children and shaping their mentality. In most cases today, success is often affiliated with the dunya where parents would go out of their way to send their children to the best schools and tell them to study hard to become a successful person when they grow up. While there is absolutely nothing wrong by doing this because as parents it is only natural to want to have the best for their children, Muslim parents often neglect to balance the dunya with the akhirah.
Shaykh Younus stressed that education is very important and the society needs Muslim doctors, engineers and architects. There is nothing wrong with educating your child into becoming these noble professions as the contribution to the society is invaluable. However, how many do we see of Muslim parents who stress Islam as much as they stress about the dunya? Hailing from Canada where there is only one masjid in the entire town, Shaykh Younus told us that he sees fathers bringing their sons as young as 4 years old to the masjid for fajr prayer while here in a Muslim country like Malaysia, he only sees old people in the masjids be it during fajr, zuhr, 'asr, maghrib or 'isya. A beautiful example was given by the shaykh about Imam As-Shafie and how his mother would walk with him to the masjid for fajr, send him to pray with the men while she waited outside until his son was finished, Subhan Allah!
This got me thinking.
When I was young, in fact when all of us were young (since I would assume we were raised somewhat within the same wavelength), our family (be it uncles, aunties, grandmas, grandpas) would consistently and perpetually remind us to study hard to be successful and never to leave solah. Well as a child, I did get the rotan if I get lazy for solah and I'm sure all my cousins experienced the same thing but our 'Islamic education' was nothing more than solah, mengaji and sometimes we are dragged to tazkirah at some ustaz's house. Okay we might experience differences in this but this was my upbringing. Don't get me wrong here, I love my upbringing and I am not complaining but I am just showing an example on how this could be improved with how we will raise our children one day, Insha' Allah.
Now back to the lecture.
The definition of success (for Muslims) should be taken directly from the Qur'an and Hadith(s). Do not be deluded by the success of wealth for this means nothing on yaumul qiyamah. One of the many hadith(s) that was read during the lecture was 'the bankrupt one' :
Abu Hurayra (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم once asked his companions: “Do you know who is the bankrupt one?”
The companions replied: “A bankrupt person amongst us is the one who neither has a dirham nor any possessions.”
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Rather, the bankrupt person from my Ummah is the one who will come on the Day of Resurrection with a good record of Salah (Prayers), Sawm (Fasts) and Zakah (Obligatory Charity) but he would have offended a person, slandered another, unlawfully consumed the wealth of another person, murdered someone and hit someone. Each one of these people would be given some of the wrong-doer’s good deeds. If his good deeds fall short of settling the account, then their sins will be taken from their account and entered into the wrong-doer’s account and he would be thrown in the Hell Fire.
[Sahih Muslim, Book 32, Hadith Number 6251]
There is a very important message for all of us in this hadith. Neither should we hurt, insult, and/or curse a person nor should we spread false words to damage someone’s reputation, Also, we must never unjustly consume the wealth of a person and must never indulge in any violent act with our brethren for we can see from the above hadith that these actions could render us bankrupt regardless of how punctual we might have been with our obligatory duties enjoined upon us by Allah سبحانه وتعالى. Hence we should be extremely careful with our words and actions as we will be held responsible for every deed on the Day of Judgment. On that day nobody would come for anybody’s rescue.
It is true that some people might get on our nerves, but instead of offending, cursing, slandering and/or beating, forgive them and teach them what is right in the most beautiful of ways. Be patient and polite with them. This way not only will you bring about a good change in the person who made you angry, but they will also realize their mistake and rectify it. Moreover your place in their hearts will also elevate, Insha' Allah. We all know how our beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم treated everyone, regardless of how rudely they behaved with him صلى الله عليه وسلم.
"Indeed in the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم you have a good example to follow for him who hopes in (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much. [Surah Al-'Aĥzāb, Ayah 21]
May Allah, the Merciful make us not among the bankrupt ones on the Day of Judgment, Ameen!
Sheikh Younus advised not to be envious of people who have the dunya in their hands, for this is not 'success'. If we are a righteous individual, Allah will cause us to live a good life as compared to those who turn away from His Guidance, they will lead a miserable life.
Muslim parents should surround their children with beautiful words and adab (manners) in the household, children should not be learning what to say before and after they eat from a book but rather from the very tongues of their parents.. A Muslim home should be furnished with dhikrullah (remembrance of Allah) so that their children will grow up saying "Subhan Allah, Alhamdulillah, Laa ilaha ilallah" and are in constant remembrance of Allah. Different from what we see today, kids as young as 2 years old are taught by the television, May Allah protect us.
I would like to remind all of you reading this as well as myself that rizq (sustenance) is from Allah, He is Ar-Razzaq (the Provider). He provides to the believers and disbelievers, He is Ar-Rahman (Compassionate), He is Al-Baseer (The All-Seeing) and He is Al-Samee' (The All-Hearing). If your intention is to raise your family for the sake of Allah following the commanded way by adhering to the Qur'an and Sunnah, then be rest assured that your family will be blessed by the Almighty. There is no better destination than jannah and there is no better feeling than tasting the sweetness of imaan.
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