Sr Alif blogs

During their theme on Outer Space, one Pre-K student was asked “What do you see in the sky after it gets dark?” The girl quickly responded with, “You see a sled with reindeer flying way up high”, “Yes, you go to sleep and someone brings you a surprise gift!” another chirped in.  Now all the Muslim children excitedly started calling out, “Santa! Christmas!” Well, it was interesting to know what was on the children’s mind when they were learning about the solar system.  The lesson began with the sun and ended up with Santa from outer space! As the teacher diplomatically changed the topic, you know her mind was racing with ideas, “OK, I need a quick lesson about the Islamic view on Christmas…”

But how do you teach that to a very young child bombarded with exposure to media (PBS, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network…..and the list goes on) with holidays that are not part of their religious tradition? You certainly don’t want the children to offend their Christian neighborhood friends by dropping the ultimate myth blower. I heard one Muslim girl tell a horrified Christmas loving friend on the school bus, “Don’t you know that there is no such thing as Santa!? Go to the North Pole and see for yourself!”

So how do you explain this day and respect it as a Christian Holiday, but at the same time understand that we do not celebrate it? Often I find that parents shun their kids away with a hard-hitting phrase that slips out of their mouth very easily and mindlessly, not explaining much or anything at all, “No, we don’t do that, it’s HARAM!” Or it is the opposite in some houses, “I’ll let my child celebrate and let him decorate his own Christmas tree, it’s the intention that counts after all. He just wants to have some fun. I’ll explain things when he gets older and when he is able to understand better.” Teaching Muslim kids about religions or ideas that do not belong in the fold of Islam can be a tricky thing. Teaching religious tolerance and at the same time appreciating and believing in what our teachings hold is a very fine balance. It needs to be tackled with love, care, and understanding. But most importantly, parents need to give clear answers and logical reasoning to their children starting at a very young age. Always remember that our children are born with an inborn Islamic fitrah or an inborn natural predisposition towards Allah and His deen.  It is the influence of the environment and negative exposure that change the child’s fitrah. Help retain this fitrah by protecting the child’s understanding and giving explanations before the child’s mind is trained into thinking a certain way.

Here are simple steps to tackling this curiosity in the classroom Pre-K to 1st Grade. Teach a lesson on Christmas with the Islamic perspective. And if you have ideas, don’t forget to email them to jannahsteps@gmail.com. We would love to share them with the rest of the world so we all benefit. Inshallah.

Approach this at a “Circle Time”:

1. Discuss with the children what they have seen and heard these past few weeks on TV and around them. Of course, you will hear the jingles of “Christmas trees”, “reindeer”, “sleds” and “Santa”. Christmas Templates Download Here. Have these pictures available on these Christmas “characters” to help with the circle time discussion. Help them understand that these characters are not part of the original Christmas celebrations. They actually do not exist, characters much like Spiderman and Dora. However these fantasy creatures are used to tell a pretend story- one that includes Santa coming down a chimney and bearing gifts, encouraging you to be at your best behavior if you want to receive a special something! They frighten us with stories of Santa secretly watching over us to see if we are good or bad…help the kids understand that only Allah can know what we are up to and if we’ve been at our best behavior or not. You will be surprised at how much the kids comprehend this idea. They actually are more mature than we take them to be!

2. Tell them that in Islam we respect other people’s religion by not ever making fun of others beliefs, traditions or culture. But we do not participate in them either. For example: We do not get a Christmas tree and decorate our homes with lights during this time. We do not sit on Santa’s lap. We do not exchange presents. Remind them that we have our two Holidays: Eidul-Fitul and Eidul Adha. Have pictures of that as well such as Mosques, Iftar dinners, Eid Prayer. Ask them of their favorite Eid memory and include that in the discussion.

3. Introduce Prophet Isa (AS) or Jesus. Explain what Christians are celebrating on Christmas Day. Tell them about the one thing that we have in common with this Holiday – celebrating the great Prophet of God-Isa (AS). We believe that Jesus was a great prophet, but not the son of God. Help them understand this important difference. Islam teaches us that God does not give birth or have children. He is too special to have a life like us humans. He created us that way, but it does not mean that he shares the same lifestyle as us. Only Allah is to be given the right to be God as He is our Creator and also the Creator of Isa (AS).

3. You can also  listen to Surah Ikhlas on this CD: Quran for Little Muslims 2 (Noorart). Your kids will be delighted to listen to a captivating Christmas story with an Islamic perspective. Written and recited by Noor Sadeh, an American Muslimah revert from New York.

4. Finally, teach students the core belief of the existence of One God. First introduce the meaning of Surah Ikhlas. Download here: surah ikhlas template . Print this file and fold it from the top to the bottom and right to the left to make a book. Discuss each ayah and what it means in detail so the children comprehend each point clearly. Allow them to color the pictures and understand the concept in each ayah clearly. They can even create a cover for this book and write Surah Ikhlas in arabic and english.

5. Help them understand the importance of the words from Surah Ikhlas and why Allah would want to tell us this again in the Quran. Remember that they are young children, so you want to emphasize basic points. 1.Allah is one. 2. He lives forever.3.He does not have a family. 4.He is nothing like us.

6. Review Surah Ikhlas and its meaning before the break. Have them review the points from each ayah. If they memorize the surah and its meaning in English they get a “gift” after their winter break.

Sr Alif blogs

It’s that time of the year again when Muslims begin their debate about celebrating Thanksgiving.  Is it considered unIslamic if it does not fall into our two Eids, or should we  argue that Thanksgiving has a very Islamic theme of getting together and Thanking God for the bounties that He has given us?  Others will argue that the day contradicts the historical atrocity committed to the Native American people.

Well, no matter what, it is a federal holiday, and everyone is off. Turkey is on special, and there are no signs of pagan worship here. Your whole family wants to get together on this day (both Muslims and non-Muslims),  so what’s the harm?

You can’t stop people gathering and having fun feasting, but you can educate your child about the significance of this day both historically and Islamically.

I use this national holiday to  focus on the colonial history of America, and read books related to Native Americans and their lives and their views (since mostly you do not get to hear this point in school).  Some good reading during the weekend holiday and have a POWWOW book discussion afterward.

I also use this time to introduce Muslim and American Indians History to my students in class,  and have my students find information and write a small booklet about it or an interesting book report.  And if they are older, they can even have a two sided debate about this event. If you can, bring in an expert from both sides to talk about their views and opinions.

And for the rest of us who want to just enjoy this long break with a turkey feast, here’s a link to watch a video on how to make your own Halal turkey!!

Sr Alif blogs

Let’s admit it,  the candies, costumes, parties, all equate to fun in the minds of our innocent kids. Even the best behaved children can be tempted by the lure of piles of candies all in one night.  Older kids delight in nothing more than fake hands, and  bloody eyeballs,  scary tales of mummies, monsters and ghosts.  It isn’t easy to compete for their attention during this time. How do sunnah savvy mothers combat this tricky holiday situation looming over us?  Here are some ways to enjoy the autmn activities without joining the “Trick Or Treat” bandwagon.  Share the activities  as a family, school, or masjid…. your imagination is the limit!

• Fall Carnival or Festival – Organize Fall Fun Fair or Fall Fun Party where you can have carnival like atmosphere with fall themes (gourd tossing, hay rides, animal petting, pumpkin painting, candy apple making)
• Pumpkin or Apple Picking – Go for a fall field trip and explore Allah’s natural phenomoms
• Pumpkin Fundraiser- Have children grow a pumpkin patch or other fall vegetables and muslim youth can sell the fall vegetables and the profit can go to charity organization of their choice. It’s a lot better than wasting your pumpkin on a Jack-O-Lantern.
• Have an Apple or Pumpkin Bake off Contest with the older girls.
• Leaf Hunting and Collage Art – Have children reflect on Allah’s infinite beauty by collecting different leaves and making collage.
• Write a book report on the origin of Halloween-Older Students will be surprised with some of the information!
• Islamic History Plays- Have kids dress up and act out scenes from Islamic History. It could be another Fundraiser as well, as they can sell tickets too!

We’d love to hear what your creative ideas are for this time of the year!   Let us know your favorite activities this season!

Sister Reminder blogs

“Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!” It’s that time of year again when many parents are deciding whether or not to have some “harmless” fun with their child by celebrating Halloween. Before we jump on the bandwagon, a quick history lesson is in order to rethink our actions.

Halloween is celebrated each year on October 31, and it originates from the Celtic Festival of honoring Samhain, the so called “lord of death”.  The ancient Celts believed that the border allowed spirits to pass into our world on this night. Ancestors were welcomed, whilst harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off ghouls led them to wear costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as one of them and thus avoid harm. On All Hallows’ eve, the ancient Celts would place a skeleton on their window sill to represent the departed.

A pagan festival of the dead huh…to ward off evil spirits? Sounds really harmless and fun. So we convince ourselves that it’s ok…the kids just dress up and ask for candy…it’s just risk-free enjoyment! As Muslims we need to think about what kind of mixed messages we are giving our kids. Sure, little kids dressed up in costumes are cute to look at, but Santa and his elves look cute too… it doesn’t mean that we’re going to start celebrating Christmas! Not to mention capitalism working at its best. According to data by the National Retail Federation, Americans spent $5.8 billion in 2008 on Halloween items! I’m sure we can think of better things to do with our halal money!

Many of us will be surprised to learn that these beliefs and practices still take place today, and it is an active night for modern day witches and devil worshippers to offer their sacrifices and invoke their deities. In fact Halloween night is regarded as the high “Sabbath” for practicing witches.

From Islam, we know that in matters of deen, intention and action always go hand in hand. Similarly, if you look at any of your endeavors in life, logic and experience tells us that the formula for success is always correct intention followed by correct action. By celebrating non-Islamic holidays, we reinforce quite the opposite message. We essentially say to our kids that it’s ok to do what is incorrect, or what is ‘borderline’ behavior, as long as our intentions are ok. Our children look to us for values, it’s not ok to dress up on Halloween unless you want to set an example that may lead your child out of the fold of Islam.

“Has not the time arrived for the believers that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of Allah and of the Truth which has been revealed to them? That they should not become like those to whom was given the Book aforetime, but long ages passed over them and their hearts grew hard? For many among them are rebellious transgressors.”  (Qur’an 57:16)

“When it is said unto them, ‘Come to what Allah has revealed, come to the Messenger,’ they say, ‘Enough for us are the ways we found our fathers following.’ What! Even though their fathers were void of knowledge and guidance?”  (Qur’an 5:104)

I think that as a Muslim mom living in the West, I’m always trying to give my kids balance. I love enjoying time with my kids and having fun, but I try to put it in a framework that is Islamically acceptable. It can still be exciting and fun…the question just becomes… am I willing to be a little creative in finding alternatives for my kids that can be just as wonderful and fun? And we should make a conscious effort to educate our children early on, as to why we choose not to observe these and other traditions which are not based in Islam. By explaining things to children and not brushing it under the rug, it helps quell many of their questions and gives them a sense of identity. And you may be surprised to find that your kids will agree with you and will want to follow the path of Allah all on their own! Last year my son was six years old and he said to me, “So and so person celebrates Halloween, and you know what mom, it’s because he doesn’t understand Islam. We don’t have Halloween in Islam.” And I was just floored! Masha’Allah, like I said, you may just be surprised! All it takes is a little creativity, and the willingness to go that extra mile for our kids. Besides, who wants to celebrate the festival of the dead anyway?