Alhamdulillah last week I watched the documentary on BBC iplayer . It is not available on iplayer anymore. So I tried to search on YouTube. Alhamdulillah you all can watch this good video inshAllah. These three Muslims loved their faith and did their best to serve Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala. Do watch the video as it inspires us to be better Muslims inshAllah.
You can also watch another video done by Tim (Yusuf) Chambers as he explores the life of Henry William Abdullah Quilliam.
Abdullah Quilliam open the first Islamic Centre in 1889 en -in the heart of Liverpool. Abdullah Quilliam was born in Liverpool to a wealthy Manx family in 1856. His father, Robert Quilliam, was a watch manufacturer. William was educated at the Liverpool Institute and King William's College on the Isle of Man. He began work as a solicitor in 1878, building a successful legal practice in Liverpool.
Courtesy of BBC
Quilliam was brought up a Methodist but converted to Islam after visiting Morocco to recover from an illness at the age of 17. Returning to Liverpool, he began to promote Islam in Britain as Abdullah Quilliam. He had earlier learned about Islam while visiting southern France in 1882 and crossing over to Algeria and Tunisia.
Quilliam established the Liverpool Muslim Institute at 8 Brougham Terrace, West Derby Road, Liverpool in 1889, opening on Christmas Day. This was England's first mosque, accommodating around a hundred Muslims, This was followed by a Muslim college, headed by Haschem Wilde and Nasrullah Warren, which offered courses for both Muslims and non-Muslims. A weekly Debating and Literary Society within the college attracted non-Muslims.
Quilliam influenced the paths of other converts, including his mother Harriet, his sons, and scientists and intellectuals and his example lead to the conversion of over 150 Englishmen to Islam. Quilliam was influential in advancing knowledge of Islam within the United Kingdom and gained converts through his literary works and the charitable institutions he founded.
An active writer and essayist, he produced a weekly paper, The Crescent, from 1893 until 1908. He published three editions of his The Faith of Islam which, translated into thirteen languages, gained him fame across the Islamic world.
He travelled extensively and received many honours from the leaders of the Islamic world. He had contact with English-speaking West African Muslims and toured the region's coastal cities on his way to Lagos to attend the consecration of the Shitta Bey Mosque in 1894. He was appointed Sheikh-ul-Islam of the British Isles by the Ottoman Sultan, Abdul Hamid II in 1894 and Persian Vice Consul to Liverpool by the Shah. He also received money from the Emir of Afghanistan to help fund the Islamic Institute in Liverpool.
Western Muslims, particularly converts to Islam, see Quilliam as a pioneer of the path they have taken. His legacy is maintained by the Abdullah Quilliam Society which was formed in 1996. The Society is raising funds to restore 8-10 Brougham Terrace to re-open the historic mosque and establish an educational centre. For more info visit: http://www.abdullahquilliamsociety.org/aboutus.htm
Alhamdulillah this year so far has been quite a productive
year for me. At the start of this month I went to Being me Sisters event in London organised by Mercy Mission UK Alhamdulillah. Last year for the first time, they
organised a sisters only event at Tower Bridge. I really wanted to go but couldn’t
get the chance.
Alhamdulilllah this year they invited some great speakers. I
was really looking forward to sister Zohra Sarwari’s talks and workshops on home-schooling.
I have always been quite fascinated by education and tarbiyyah of children so
this was my opportunity to learn more. Alhamdulillah I wasn’t disappointed J
she is really inspiring mashAllah. I wish she was based here in London! Her first talk
was titled “Importance of Islamic Education, tarbiyah and manners in children”
No doubt, parenting is a difficult job, full of challenges.
We as parent can feel sometimes quite overwhelmed with all the problems. But we
should try our best to fulfil this great responsibility. Zohra told us that we
need to remember three points to tackle all the challenges:
First: Acknowledging the problem: Sometimes parents don’t
want to admit that they got a problem to deal with.
Second: Being proactive
Third: Waiting patiently (Sabr)
She mentioned a beautiful hadith “One who has good manners
may attain the same level of merit as the one who prays all night” Narrated by
Abu Hurairah (RAW) [Bukhari]
As parents our goal should be to teach children the best
manners and behaviour and not just that, they grow up to have a respective
profession. Unfortunately, we live in a world, where acheiving professional success is the ultimate goal. Life as a Muslim is more than that. We are here to serve Allah Subhan Ta'ala. Allah Subhana Ta'ala wants us to excel in both worlds.
In the Qur'an Allah Subhans Ta'ala teaches us an amazing dua:
Our Lord! Grant us
good in this world and good in the hereafter, and save us from the chastisement
of the fire [2:201]
Usually people tend to take these steps below in bringing up
their children:
Blame game: “Oh
he learns all bad stuff from that certain kid at school”
Sunday school: Unfortunately,
most of the parents expect the Sunday schools ( most of the times taking place in the mosques) to teach their children about
Islam. “My kid will learn everything from his mosque teacher.”
Bribery: Always
telling the children that if they listen then you will give them something nice
in return. “Honey, if you do your homework, I will give you a candy.”
Punishment: If
they don’t listen, just punish them.
Now the tips for effective parenting according to sis Zohra:
We must stop blaming others if our children misbehave. We
are the parents so who should teach our children the right behaviour. If we rely on the
Sunday schools to teach our children manners and values of Islam, then shame on
us! Wow! I thought it was just me who thought like that! I definitely agree with her on this point. I still don’t get it why people
send their children to the mosque to learn about their faith. I strongly believe
that this is our responsibility to educate our children about Islam as a way of
life inshAllah. No way I would like to delegate this huge responsibility on someone else. My husband also believes that we need to teach them about our faith. Also we need to remember that our children are our investment. If we help them to be better Mislims, we will get the reward from our Rabb Insh-Allah. Why would I want somebody else to gain that reward?
She also told us to be proactive as parents. What do you
want from your kids? What is your goal? I want my children to behave well and
grow up in a good environment. Then I must get rid of all the bad influences
i.e. TV, video games, internet, PlayStations and all the distractions.
We need to check who they befriend and advise them to
befriend the right kind as bad “friends” are too easy to find. Some may think “Do
we isolate the kids then?” “Yes! For a while.” She said.
When they are growing up if we as parents can isolate them
from satanic tricks, deceit and means then when they are responsible young kids
, they will Insh-Allah have a strong enough imaan to avoid the evil influences
on their own.
“Richness does not lie in the rich goods and the person but
it lies in the richness of a pious heart.”
Focus!
Focus only on bringing the kids up the best way possible
insh-Allah. If they make mistakes, try to bring them back with your help and
tenderness. Reward them occasionally when they do something good. Don’t get mad
when they do something wrong. Explain to them what they have done wrong. Don’t
hit them as they are weaker than you and helpless too.
You need to fill your home with books. Books on our faith,
history, sociology, science and so on. The more books our children can read the
better inshAllah. Instead of buying all the brand stuff and hi-tech gadgets to
kill their time, buy them good books which will broaden their mind inshallah.
MashAllah her talk was so captivating that I really didn’t
have that much time to take notes. I just kept listening. She mentioned about home schooling and how this is the best option for our children. I can't agree more with her alhamdulillah.
Below is an interview of her on the Deen show where she talks about homeschooling. Do listen if you are interested in educating your own children inshAllah.
MashAllah she is
indeed a very inspiring sister. Alhamdulillah I have managed to buy some of her
books. You can find more about her at http://zohrasarwari.com/
I believe that duas are the essence of good paretning. We cannot be good parents without duas. Here below are some great duas you can keep making inshAllah:
Supplication to protect children from Shaytan (dua of Maryam’s (AS) mother):
“Allahumma inni u-idhuha [hu] bika wa dhurriyyataha [hu] mina’sha-shaytani’r-rajiim(i).”
“O Allah, I put her [him], and her [his] progeny under Your protection from Satan, the accursed” - (part of Qur’an Surah 3:36).
Supplication to have children (dua of Zakariyya (AS)):
“Rabbi laa tadharnii fardaw wa Anta Kharu ‘l-waarithin(a).”
“O my Lord! Leave me not without offspring, though You are the best of inheritors” - (part of Qur’an Surah 21:89)
Supplication to have a blessed family:
“Rabbanaa hablanaa min azwaajinaa wa dhurriyyatina qurrata a’yun(iw), wa ‘j’alnaa li’l muttaqiina imaaman.”
“And who say: Our Lord! Bestow on us from our wives and our offspring, the comfort of our eyes, and make us leaders for the Muttaquun (pious).” - (part of Qur’an Surah 25:74)
Entitled, "Bad Trendsetters", this thought-provoking lecture is by mashAllah the highly-intellectual and articulate brother Nouman Ali Khan. May Allah reward him for his brilliant efforts, masha Allah! His style of lecture is quite commendable, his analogies and comparisons made to today's lifestyle is usually spot on! His reminders may drive some up the wall, but it is totally necessary to teach many of today's (culture-based) Muslims who may have been brought up in a wrong way or two. Everyone needs to be reminded constantly that Islam is such a beautiful, simple yet complete religion and way of life. It is perhaps time to shake off those terrible traditions and cultures that one may have been burdened with all one's life!
Alhamdulillah, Victorian Muslimah has successfully added English subtitles to this video, which is adapted from the video first uploaded by NAKcollection's Youtube Channel. Its original form has been put together by the Islamic Institute of Orange County (IIOC), at Masjid Omar Al Farouk, Anaheim, California, USA. Jazakallahu khair for everyone who contributed to the making of the original video. Now with subtitles, this video is specially dedicated to those who are hearing-impaired, who are new to English, new to Islam or just wanting English subtitles to learn better and more effectively, insha Allah.
Mashallah these four videos are one of the best set of videos I have watched. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward brother Nouman for his great work, ameen, ameen, ameen! He talked about two different sorts of people; the trendsetters and the trend-followers. I think most of us belong to the trend-followers category. Although he talked about our kids being the potential trend-followers, we adults are also , more or less, guilty of being among the trend-followers. Unfortunately, every single day we are facing societal pressure in various form to follow the trends around us. Living in an age of technology , it's so difficult not to notice all the trends :-( and get deceived by them and also people in the form of family and friends are always there to influence you to follow the trends. As a parent , it is a very daunting job for me to save my children from all the bad influences but I fear that as an adult myself, I have to , first and foremost, save myself from following the blind culture or tradition and be a role-model for my kids. THAT IS NOT AN EASY JOB :'-( Even being at home as full time mother and trying to spend lots of time with my kids, they can get influenced by society thanks to TV, Internet and so on. We have to be very careful and always talk to our children, explaining them why certain things are not appropriate. My children are still very young so alhamdulillah they do listen and understand us. But I am worried when they hit the scary teenage years when peer pressure will be there to haunt them :-( I hope and make dua that we can do our best to raise our children as confident and Allah conscious kids INSHA-ALLAH. Everyone need to listen to these awesome videos and prepare for the best insha-Allah. May Allah subhan wa ta'ala give us the tawfique ( ability) to follow our father Ibrahim Alaihis salam and be the best of Muslims, Ameen!
My three kids love nursery rhymes. Almost every
day Imi (4) and A'ish (3) love singing rhymes and Yosho (10 months) is more than
happy to be the lucky audience! I have been doing rhymes since they were very
young and I can see the improvement mashallah. Rhymes make communication easier
for babies. It's a great way of spending some quality time with them. They have
learnt quite a lot of new words through rhymes alhamdulillah. Imi has started
nursery in September 2011 and has been learning more rhymes with activities.
The nursery has given us a rhymes CD and on a weekly basis provide us with homework
to practice whatever rhymes they are doing at the nursery. It's a good way of
getting parents involved in childrens' education. I am a big fan of home
education but yobo is not very keen of home education. So we have decided that
Insha-Allah our kids will go to school but we will do our bit of teaching
whenever we can. I have done my istikhara to ask Allah to guide to the right
path and make our children have the best education insha-Allah. We have applied
for the school we really want Imi to attend. Insha-Allah I am eagerly
waiting for the result in April this year. I hope he can go to the best one
insha-Allah or whatever else Allah subhana ta’ala decides for us. He is the
best of planners and He knows everything.
I am very aware of what Imi is learning at the
nursery. Alhamdulillah the teacher and the assistants are very friendly.
Sometimes it's quite difficult for me to do my prayers whenever I am outside.
There is a mosque just in front of the nursery but they don't allow women in
:-( It makes me so angry and annoyed but I hope Insha-Allah they will change
their silly policy soon. Once I did try to pray there and one kind guy let me
pray at the back of a house just attached to the mosque. I didn't really feel
that safe being on my own with kids in an empty house. So I have stopped trying
to get them to let me pray in the mosque. Once I asked the nursery if I can
pray there and alhamdulillah they provided me with a room and mashallah with a
prayer mat too! May Allah subhana ta'ala reward them for their kindness, ameen!
Sometimes I see Muslims criticising people in the West but I strongly believe
that most of them are very good and open-minded. Their characteristics are more
like proper Muslims! We got lot to learn Insha-Allah.
Now, where was I? I keep digressing :-(
Anyways, at the moment, the rhymes below are my
kid's favourite...
Twinkle, twinkle little star
The wheels on the bus
Old Mac Donald
The grand old duke of York
Incy wincy spider
Baa baa black sheep
Row row row your boat
One two three four five
Round and round the garden
Ring a ring a roses
Humpty dumpty and the list goes on....
