Rania Awaad – RamadanCountdown – How to instill the Love of Ramadan in Our Children
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The speakers discuss the concept of instilling love and inspiration in children, particularly children who are not previously knowledgeable about their responsibilities. They also talk about the struggles children face in achieving their goals, such as cutting back on activities that are not productive or creating new interests. The speakers encourage parents to help children grow in a way they can achieve their goals.
AI: Summary ©
question, the idea of instilling the love of
Ramadan or instilling the concept really of Ramadan
in the hearts of our young people, right,
children and adolescents, that it's not just leaving
food and drink behind.
And that's exactly I think what we're talking
about with the three levels that Imam al
-Ghazali talked about, right, where the first level
is just food and drink.
And you're right that most children, you know,
the concept of what they can attain is
kind of like, okay, this is a month
where we don't eat and drink from these
hours to these hours, right?
But Mashallah, children are amazing creatures, they really
have the ability to understand a lot more
than you think they can.
So even when we talk about very theoretical
ideas, like we just shared, right with Imam
al-Ghazali when he talks about the fast
of the Khawas and the Khawas al-Khawas,
right, the elect and the elect of the
elect, right, this too, they can grasp.
So when you say to them, the month
of Ramadan is also the fasting of the
heart.
This is a concept, interestingly enough, that children
can actually grasp.
But let me give you a couple of
examples how.
We said, for example, that Ramadan is a
month of charity.
Well, that's not just a matter of putting
some, you know, money into their sadaqah box
for the poor, but rather going out of
their way to do something that truly is
filled with charity.
So maybe perhaps you kind of get them,
you have to purposefully put them in situations
they can do that, and really feel that
they're giving and contributing to somebody.
Maybe they're going to make something, maybe they're
going to sell something, maybe they're going to
do something that they take the profits of
which, and they feel the struggle in doing
that, to then be able to give to
the poor, right?
For some kids, it's easy for them to
put their hand in their little bank and
give sadaqah away, charity away.
But for others, it's very difficult.
So you know your children, which has more,
which one, there's more of a struggle.
And for the one who it's easy to
just give money away, maybe you do something
completely different to really teach them and instill
in them the real concept of Ramadan.
So you put them in a situation where
there's something that they're not really too excited
about, right?
Giving more time and more energy, as opposed
to just monetary, right?
Charity.
You take children, for example, and you work
with them on getting rid of the lahu
and the lahu.
So what does that mean for children?
Well, they have to feel that they're cutting
back on something that is very otherwise totally
fine and normal, like maybe extra playtime, right?
Extra time on the trampoline, or maybe extra
time playing, watching something, right?
You kind of curb, or even reading, right?
Novels and things that they're interested in doing.
And it's not that you have to substitute
it with Quran per se, although that would
be best, right?
But you're substituting it with extra remembrance of
Allah in some way or the other, right?
Even if it means that instead, you're going
to sit with them and actually do some
dhikr with them, or teach them, or do
some nasheed with them, right?
Kind of remembrance of Allah.
But in that, they're understanding that I have
to cut away some of my extra playtime.
I have to cut away some of my
extra whatever that's considered extra.
They go into their closet and they pick
a new shirt they hadn't worn yet, and
they give that away in charity.
This is the instilling, the concept of Ramadan
that's really we're trying to instill, even in
children.
But never belittle their ability to understand.
Never belittle their ability to really grasp concepts
that we think sometimes are too big for
them.
But subhanAllah, they have much purer hearts than
we do, mashallah.
And they're much more generous, subhanAllah, sometimes than
we are as adults.
So don't superimpose your adult mind, and soul,
and heart onto them.
Let them grow in a way that they
can, subhanAllah.
But give them the tools to do that.