Sajid Ahmed Umar – A Mother’s Letter To Her Child

			Dear brothers and sisters at this particular juncture, I want to, I want to coin a question.
		

			And that question is what is our relationship with our parents? Right now I want you to ask
yourself, what is our relationship with our parents? Are we diligent children, with our parents, our
parents truly happy with us? Are there days in our parents lives when they sit, and they wish we
would be different children to what we are? Ask yourself this question, especially our mothers,
because Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam taught us about how the mother has a precedence in
our lives over the Father.
		

			And to make us understand this better, I want you to imagine a mother who writes a letter to her
child.
		

			What do you think this mother would say? In her letter?
		

			Would she not say,
		

			My dear son,
		

			a long time ago, I received the best news a mother can receive a human being can receive.
		

			And that was the news when I was informed that I was pregnant with you.
		

			And my dear child,
		

			I cannot express how happy I was on that day.
		

			And weeks passed by after that.
		

			And my body started changing.
		

			And I was scared.
		

			Because I could not eat, except that I would vomit what I ate.
		

			And I would feel weak.
		

			And my body started expanding as you grew in me.
		

			And my dear child, I promise you, that was all the fear that I had.
		

			I was loving you more with every day that passed. Even though all this was happening to me. The day
that I held you became even more dear to me.
		

			And my dear child, those weeks became months.
		

			And I became even more heavier. to such an extent who I couldn't stand for long. I couldn't walk for
long.
		

			And then the time came when I couldn't even sleep on my back. Because of the weight of carrying you
would cause immense pain on my chest. So I will sleep on my side. But I would fear when I would turn
to my side that I might roll onto my stomach and harm you. That was a fear in my mind right here.
But I will try my best. And every day that passed.
		

			My love for you grew stronger. And my desire to hold you grew stronger. Until my dear child a day
came when I felt a pain that I never ever felt in my life before. A pain in which I thought I would
die. Well ah he I thought I was going to die of pain which I would not wish that my enemy felt. And
it was the day when you are about to enter this world. And it lasted for long. pain after pain,
contraction after contraction. Second after second, minute after minute by Allah it felt like a
lifetime. I thought I wouldn't survive from this. But I promise you my dear child, that there was
never a moment, never a moment that I hated you to during that process. Never a moment we I said
		

			an evil word to you or an evil word about you. Rather, we desire for you. My desire to hold you my
desire to see you kept me going, that inshallah it's soon that inshallah it's soon and I carried on
going I never ever said that I will take revenge over you after you born. I never ever said that.
Woe to you. Woe to you. I never uttered a word of enmity and hatred towards you. As I suffered these
pains that felt like depends of death. And then my dear son,
		

			or my dear child, you entered this world. And when I saw you the pangs of death that I thought I
felt dissipated.
		

			And the tears that I had in my eyes became tears of joy. And the hurt that I felt in my body became
a hurt of joy as I held you and brought you to my chest and smiled and said so parent I hope
		

			Allah has blessed us with a great blessing. And then my dear child, it never stopped there. For the
sleepless nights came after. Why sleepless nights My dear child, because I could not tolerate I
could not tolerate you crying one day.
		

			I would be so tired from looking after you during the day, that when I finally got some sleep, and
you made one sound, it woke me up immediately because it would hurt me that you would be
uncomfortable. So I got up and said, rather, I'd be uncomfortable than you'd be uncomfortable.
		

			This is what you probably would write. And I would pick you up and pack your back and make sure you
fed and make sure the milk is at the right temperature, so that you would experience utmost comfort.
And then you grew up by the child, I saw you walking, and before that crawling, and then the day
came, which was difficult for me. And that was the day when I had to take you to school. And I held
your hand, my dear child, and I took you to school, and you cried there, and I cried too, but I had
to hold my tears because I knew it was good for you to be there. And I didn't want to make you upset
that I was upset as well. So I held my emotions, nephew, they, and then my dear child, you grew in
		

			that school, and you developed independence, and you did things for yourself.
		

			Until the day you came in your in your life and in my life when I was so happy for you, but I was
extremely sad as well. And that was the day my dear child and my dear son, when you were getting
married, when you found someone to get married to I was so happy for you when I saw your happiness.
But I was so sad as well. Why? Because my dear child, those few things, which I love doing for you,
somebody else is going to do them for you now.