Ummati Homeschool Co-op

The object of education is not to fill a man’s mind with facts; it is to teach him how to use his mind in thinking. Tarbiyah is the goal, not just Taleem.

Homeschooling allows you to make the curriculum fit the the child, rather than making the child fit the curriculum. Lets Homeschool with Love

Homeschooling can be an absolute joy. Ask us how

𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔.

When your kids were small, they used to tell you everything after coming back home. They used to tell you even if you did not ask. You had to listen even if you did not have time. Today you run behind them asking what they did the whole day. Does it not happen? Earlier they used to come behind us to tell us things, today we run behind them. But they close their room doors and add passwords on their phones. They do not tell you even if you ask them. And if you pressurize them to answer, they may not say the truth. Where and when did the relationship change?

They used to tell us everything, but now they have stopped telling us. Why? Because when they were small and shared things, we would feel happy to listen to them. We used to accept them. Every soul needs acceptance. So when they shared things while they were small, we used to feel happy and accept them as they were. They used to tell us something daily. Once they grew up, they came to you and suppose they told you “Mom you know what happened today, we bunked classes and we went for a movie“. How did we react to that? Did we smile? No.

That kid shared it using his habit of honesty, just as he did when he was younger. But that day from our side, instead of acceptance he got a rejection for the first time. After a few days, he said something else and again got a rejection from us. So gradually he stopped telling us. We thought he stopped doing those things. But he did not stop doing anything, he only stopped telling us.

Is going to a movie by bunking school wrong? Is it wrong for them to try a cigarette if they are at a party? Is it wrong to come back late in the night from a party? Is it wrong to over-speed his car when driving? Yes, it is. But when everyone in the class is going out and if someone does not go they make fun of him and then they separate him from their group. He wants to be a part of that group. Now is it right for him to feel tempted to go? But we did not say this to our kid that day. We had to say and we had to believe that “you feeling like that, like doing what everyone around you is doing. Your feeling like doing whatever is in the vibration around you. It is right from your side.” If you had spoken like that, your kid would have come so close to you. And then you could have told him “whatever you are thinking of doing, it is not right for you. You are right, but that thing is not right for you.” Is there a difference between them?

You are right. Your temptation is also right. But, this thing is not right for you. Now you got their respect, they became closer to you. So there is a higher chance that they will be influenced by what you say. But we said, “You are wrong. What are you doing? Is this what I taught you? What will people say?” Kids will distance themselves from you. Now they will start bunking classes and not even tell you. In today’s world if you want to protect your children then there is only one way and that should be they should be able to come and tell you everything happening in their life. And that everything may not be what you always will like. You had to listen and respond politely as you used to do when they were younger, but you didn’t.

We as mentors receive long emails from children about so many issues they have and the last line of every email states, “Please do not tell my parents“. And that is why there are counselors in schools, colleges, and universities today. What is the difference between a counselor and a parent? Why is there a difference between a counselor and a parent? When we were in school there were no counselors. Today every school is mandated to have a counselor. Why does a child go to an absolute stranger to talk about his problems, instead of going to his parents? Why?
A counselor won’t scold and the most important thing, if you are a counselor and if I come and tell you that I made this mistake. Not just a mistake, suppose I have committed a huge blunder. It is possible for children to commit blunders today. If I come and tell you then while listening to me, within you, there will be no critical or judgmental thought created for me. So when there is no such thought created within you about me then what kind of vibration will I get from you? Respect and acceptance in spite of what I have done. This is unconditional acceptance. And because I am getting those vibrations from you, I am comfortable telling you everything. But what happens when the child says the same thing to his parents? Not just in words, even in thoughts. This (negative) vibration stops the child from telling us anything. And then who will help them?

A counselor can only listen to them. But they cannot give love, power, and blessings like parents. So the need of the hour is that every parent will need to become a counselor. And this means that every soul will need to become a counselor to every other soul. Which means that we will see the soul, their habit, their behavior but inside? No critical or judgmental thoughts and no questioning of their behavior. But we will be able to do it only when we will remember, He is a soul carrying his habit. If parents criticize him. So the child who already has carried pain with him if he gets criticized and gets ridiculed then what happens to the power of the soul? It will get further depleted. Even when his physical body grows, today the body is 5 years old, tomorrow it will be 50 years old. But what will keep happening to the soul? (Keeps depleting). So parents should be healers and healer means which will heal every soul.

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝’𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝
𝐴 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑'𝑠 𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑏𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑.

A child’s education is influenced to a large extent by how much parents act upon what they believed in align what is expected from the child. If you want your child to be loving Allah, then he needs to be in a relationship with someone who fears Allah. Right now it’s the opposite as he is surrounded by those who want others to be fearful.

The child is confused that the person who wants me to be loving & fearful of Allah SWT is not afraid of Allah himself. This is a big concern of the child. If a child comes in a relationship with someone whose eyes get tearful with the remembrance of Allah SWT, that child will automatically develop a strong belief in Allah SWT, no curriculum will be needed.

If you yourself come in a relationship with someone whose voice shivers while thinking of Akhirah; who sheds tears out of fear and remembrance of Allah SWT, everything will be straightened up by itself just by being in a relationship with him/her.

A child is already getting educated in the best madrassa whose mother is fearing of Allah SWT. Similarly, the child is already getting educated in the best school whose father is fearing of Allah SWT and is also the favorite person of his child. If the father of a child has his eyes wet out of fear of Allah SWT and he is the favorite person of his child (if these two conditions are fulfilled), the child is already enrolled in the best religious education program. Their relationship is already doing that. In fact, education is nothing but a relationship with a mentor and school is where the mentor is. Our society has failed to realize that.

The importance of being a mentor and developing a relationship with the child is not realized nowadays. If you are very religious but you don’t have a good relationship with your child then you will be the one who will keep him away from being religious. You like religion very much but are not the favorite person of your child, then you will not make it any easier for your child to come close to religion.

At Ummati we take great pride in our mentors/teachers. 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴? 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦@𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢.𝘰𝘳𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 813.922.8684

𝗔 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗡𝗮𝗳𝗹 𝗛𝗮𝗷𝗷

𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦

The great Imaam and Muhaddith, Abdullah bin Mubarak (Rahimahullah), would perform hajj very regularly. He would carry along a lot of luggage and travel in a caravan of many servants and others whom he would sponsor.

On one of his journeys for hajj, he was accompanied by a servant who had a partridge with him. One day during the journey they sent the luggage ahead and were packing up their camp to continue travelling when the servant saw that his partridge had died. Knowing that it was carrion and could not be eaten, the servant left it at a dump nearby.

Abdullah bin Mubarak was, in the meanwhile, seated on his horse when he suddenly caught sight of a young girl who kept peeping from the door of a home close to the dump. Realizing that she was trying to avoid being spotted and was waiting for a chance to emerge unseen, he turned and pretended that he had not noticed her. As soon as he turned, she came running to the dump wearing only a lower garment. As quickly as she could, she grabbed the dead partridge and darted back home. Concerned that this young girl should not consume carrion, Abdullah bin Mubarak instructed his servant to knock on the door of the small home. The servant did as instructed and the girl came to the door.

Abdullah bin Mubarak approached her and asked her why she had taken the dead bird to which she replied, “I live here with my sister. We own nothing besides the lower garment I am wearing. Our father was a wealthy man but when he passed away, we were oppressed and our share of the inheritance was snatched from us. We have, ever since, lived in such poverty and hunger that even carrion is permissible for us to consume. There is nothing in this home besides this lower garment. When I wear it, my sister has to go without anything to wear. This lower garment is our clothing, our bedding and even our blanket.” Abdullah bin Mubarak enquired, “Do the two of you have no guardian?” “By the oath of Allah, no.” she replied. Abdullah bin Mubarak immediately felt sympathy for the sorrowful plight of the two girls and took pity on them. He sent a servant to catch up and bring back the luggage.

Thereafter, he turned to his treasurer and asked, “Where is the money we brought for our travelling expenses?” “Around my waist” he replied. Abdullah bin Mubarak had brought along a thousand gold coins. He instructed the treasurer: “Keep twenty gold coins which will be enough for us to return home and give the girl the remainder.” On arriving back at the campsite, somebody asked him why he had cancelled his hajj to which he replied, “𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐟𝐥 𝐇𝐚𝐣𝐣.” (Al Muntazam li-ibnil Jawzi vol. 9 pg. 62)

𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀:

𝟏. It is extremely important to determine our priorities and act accordingly. Abdullah bin Mubarak understood that although his plans for hajj had already been made and he had already covered some of the journey, the need of the hour – and more virtuous act – was to assist the girls in need.

𝙎𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮, 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙩𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙩𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙉𝙖𝙛𝙡 𝙐𝙢𝙧𝙖𝙝, 𝙃𝙖𝙟𝙟 𝙚𝙩𝙘. 𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙚, 𝙞𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙪𝙜𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙉𝙖𝙛𝙡 𝙐𝙢𝙧𝙖𝙝 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥 (𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙣𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨, 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙛𝙛 𝙚𝙩𝙘.) 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩.

𝟐. If a person is not blessed to journey to the Holy Lands for hajj, it does not mean he has to be deprived of reward. By exerting ourselves in the Ibadah which is most important at that moment, we can sometimes gain greater reward.

𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝟭𝟬 𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗿'𝗮𝗻

Raising righteous kids in this day and age is not the easiest. We are living in a time where there are so much corruption and immorality happening around us. Many things which are deemed bad by society 10 years ago, has been normalized.

I remembered a show in the early 2000s, the mother told off her daughter for running in shorts. Now? Women are walking around in mini skirts and shorts literally everywhere, even those who are in their 60s. May Allah protect us all.

So how do we navigate this world while trying to raise our kids to be upright Muslims?

First, I would like to tell you about a family of 10 siblings who were all memorizers of the Qur'an. In fact, they were termed as 'ahlul Qur'an' which meant that they specialized in its sciences too. Not only that, 5 of them specialized in hadith, the best of whom was named Ishak who was the teacher of Imam Malik.

Now, I am not going to talk about the mother of these 10 amazing individuals. I am going to track back to their grandmother because she is the highlight of the story.

Their grandmother was Ummu Sulaim (radhiaAllahu anha). She was the great companion of the prophet (salallahu alaihi wasalam) who was guaranteed paradise. If you know about her story, you will understand why and subhanAllah, you will fall in love with this great companion.

One of her sons was ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Talha who was also righteous, and from him were the 10 sons who memorized the Qur’an.

𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧

How exactly did Ummu Sulaim able to raise righteous children, who raised more righteous children? I am going to give you one takeaway, which is the hadith that I have been wanting to tell you about:

𝓘𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓐𝓵𝓵𝓪𝓱.

This was how Ummu Sulaim was granted such a progeny. She took care of her rights with Allah. Due to that, Allah preserved her and her children. And not only that, Allah preserved her children’s children too. SubhanAllah.

So whenever we worry about how to protect our child from the trials and tribulations of this world, let's remember the hadith above.

Be mindful of Allah; take care of your obligations, stay away from the haram, do more righteous deeds.

Memorize and implement. Wallahi Allah will not only preserve us, but He will also preserve our lineage.

𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒆

There was once a teacher who asked the students, “What do you want to be in life?” The children gave varying replies, typically ranging from ‘doctor’, to ‘lawyer’, to ‘accountant’ etc. However, from all the answers given, there was one answer that really stood out, an answer that the teacher had never heard before. The child spontaneously replied, “I want to be a Sahaabi.”

Obviously, nobody can become a Sahaabi, but what this ‘career choice’ said about the child is that he aspired to be like the illustrious Sahaabah (Radhiyallahu Anhum). While the other children were impressed with the lifestyle and wealth of doctors and lawyers, he identified with the beautiful qualities of the Sahaabah, such as their piety, generosity, love for Rasulullah (Sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), disinterest in the world, loyalty to Islam, etc. and wished to follow in their footsteps. How proud his parents must have been to hear that he gave this amazing answer!

Now, the question is, “What was it in the life of this child that molded his mindset and prompted him to give this response?” The answer … It was the effort of his parents at home.

As parents, we chart the course of our children’s lives, give them direction, instill values in them and place them on the paths that they will follow. Let us ask ourselves, “What course are we charting for them, and what values are we instilling in them?”

Generally, from the tender age of six, the child is already enrolled in a school, and his schooling career lasts for a whole twelve years. At 190 school days a year, and seven hours a day, that equates to almost 16 000 hours spent in school! All this time spent in school is for one purpose – to one day enjoy a successful career and earn a lot of money.

Now, let us compare that to the amount of time dedicated to a child’s Deeni education. If the madrasah year is also 190 days, and the Maktab session lasts for two hours, and the average child attends the Maktab for five years (if he even attends punctually for the full period), this equates to a paltry 1 900 hours in comparison. Worryingly, it is in this meager amount of time that the child is expected to learn the entire Deen on which his eternal success depends. This disparity is obviously a major problem…

This problem is compounded when the parents, directly or indirectly, ‘teach’ the children that Deen and Deeni education is unimportant and insignificant. For example, most parents will seldom allow their children to ‘bunk’ school, yet frequently allow them to bunk madrasah. Likewise, many children miss madrasah due to studying for school exams, yet a child has perhaps never missed school due to studying for madrasah exams.

𝗜𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗵, 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗵!

In essence, the child is taught that Deen is absolutely unimportant, as making money and living luxuriously is the goal in life.

If our children are acquiring a school education, there must be an accompanying effort, from the parents, for the Imaan and Deeni education and security of the children. In order to achieve this, due importance must be shown to the Madrasah, and there must be a strong environment of Deen in the home (through making Taleem, reciting the Sunnah Duas, teaching good manners and respect, performing all Salaah, etc.). If this is done correctly, then throughout the child’s life, whenever there is a clash between his material interest and Deeni interest, he will make the correct choice and remain loyal to Allah Ta‘ala – safeguarding his entry into Jannah.

Remember, a child can be born a Muslim, but not born a Jannati, as Jannah has to be earned. Just as we prepare our children to earn a living, let us ensure that we prepare them to earn Jannah.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟵𝟵 𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗕

Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was not happy at all.

One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked. This fascinated the King; why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy?

The King asked the servant, ‘Why are you so happy?’
The man replied, ‘Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don’t need too much – just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies.’
The king sought the advice of his most trusted advisor. After hearing the story, the advisor said, ‘Your Majesty, the servant has not yet joined “The 99 Club”.’

‘The 99 Club? And what is that?’ the King inquired.
The advisor replied, ‘To truly know what The 99 Club is, just place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant’s doorstep.’
When the servant saw the bag, he let out a great shout of joy… so many gold coins. He began to count them. After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were only 99 coins.
He wondered, ‘What could’ve happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins!’
He looked everywhere, but that final coin was elusive. Finally he decided that he was going to work harder than ever to earn that 100th gold coin.
From that day, the servant was a changed man. He was overworked, grumpy, and blamed his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin.
Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled. The advisor said, ‘Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined The 99 Club.’

He continued, ‘𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟵𝟵 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮 𝟭, 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀, “𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲.”

We can be happy with very little in our lives, but the minute we’re given something bigger and better, we want more …and even more! We lose our sleep, our happiness, as the price for our growing needs and desires.
𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟵𝟵 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯”… 𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗳𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲!

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿

Sayyiduna Haarithah bin Nu’maan (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was an eminent Ansaari companion of Nabi (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) who had fought in the Battle of Badr. From all the virtues of this Sahaabi, it was the love, respect and selflessness with which he served his mother, Ja’dah (radhiyallahu ‘anha), that stood out the most.

Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) once mentioned to the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum), “I entered Jannah (in a dream) and heard the sound of someone reciting the Quraan. I asked, ‘who is this (reciting the Quraan)?’ They (the angels) replied, ‘Haarithah bin Nu’maan (radhiyallahu ‘anhu).’” Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) then mentioned to the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum), “𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨! 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨!”

The extent to which Haarithah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) went to see to his mother’s comfort can gauged by the fact that he would feed his mother by placing the food in her mouth with his own hand. Furthermore, if his mother gave him an instruction, but he failed to hear what she had said, then he would not inconvenience her by asking her to repeat what she had said. Rather, he would later on turn to those who had heard her instruction and ask them what she had said.

It was this quality, of serving his mother with complete love, respect and consideration, that earned this Sahaabi (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) the rank where Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) himself heard him reciting the Quraan in Jannah.(Usdul Ghaabah, Majma‘uz Zawaaid, At Tabsirah libnil Jowzi)

𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻:

Obedience and service to parents is a path to Jannah that is often overlooked. However, seeing to their comfort, fulfilling their needs and showing them the love and respect that they deserve is a great ibaadah (act of worship) that earns one tremendous rewards in this world and the next. Furthermore, if we make their hearts happy, they will give us their heartfelt Duas which will assist us in both worlds.

On the contrary, neglecting our parents and hurting their hearts is a severe sin that will deprive us of goodness, happiness and blessings in our lives. It is nevertheless important to remember that if one’s parents demand that one should do something contrary to the Shariah, one must respectfully refrain from such actions. Obedience to Allah Ta‘ala is the first priority.

At UMMATI, we try several ways to get children to come up with questions. The internet is full of amazing content…
Sometimes it’s just challenging to find it! One such website that spotlights a wide variety of short, videos that can start conversations, spark questions, & inspire offline exploration for all ages. Selections are grown-up-friendly, too.

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Why Ages 2-7 Matter So Much for Brain Development Rich experiences—from play to the arts and relationships—fundamentally shape a young child’s development.