(For Part 1 click here)

After talking with Ismaa’eel, I noted that his surroundings weren’t what they used to be. He was in a place for over 8 hours a day with non-Muslims and most of his clients were non-Muslims as well. Even though that’s not an issue in general, it can wear you down over time and by missing the congregational prayers and closeness of the local Muslims, his family ended up suffering. Abdullah was growing and he was spending less time with his father in his formative years and unfortunately his family was missing from most Islamic functions at the few maasajid around town.

My oldest daughter is one year younger than Abdullah and we were present at his 8th grade graduation, ma sha Allah. I wasn’t ready for what was next for Abdullah in regards to schooling. Ismaa’eel told me that he had recently begun unschooling his children and that he is going to send his son to a public high school. This concerned me because Abdullah is a popular...

bismillah arRahmaan arRaheem

Allah t'ala blessed me to accept this wonderful deen and I wanted to make sure that my future family would also be grounded enough in it to keep it for generations. My fear was that when I got married and started a family that somehow my children would be weak because I was new to Islam and didn't know the Arabic language or much about Islam period. So alHamdulillah, I did what I could with what I had and studied the language, basic fiqh, and many other topics.

After marrying 19 years old and having my first child, a daughter, I knew that I had a great responsibility, especially living in the United States. I was to make sure my family was anchored with Islam so that they would be equipped to fend off any temptations and weaknesses.

In jahiliyyah, (before I accepted Islam) I was a Christian, went to a private Christian school for 10 years. I lived a fast lifestyle as a youth and detached myself from Christianity as a teenager because something just felt...

I had been Muslim no more than a few weeks when I remember going into the masjid one weekday and seeing this little baby boy, let’s call him Abdullah, waddle around and exploring by putting everything into his mouth like a 1 year old does. I recall how wonderful it must me to have a child growing up in Islam and I asked Allah to bless me with a son or daughter to raise up in this new deen I just accepted.

My wife and I had become friends with his parents, who we’ll call Ismaa’eel and Aaliyah, and found that we shared a similar background. They were both raised Christian and they both suffered ridicule for accepting Islam. I adored their little son because I saw this as a new beginning for the future for his family and later I found that my wife was pregnant with our soon to be first child.

The masjid we attended conducted classes on Sunday and a few nights during the week and being eager to learn our new deen, we attended a couple of times a week. At the beginning...

(Part 1 - click here)

Part 2...

So by this time we had waited for a little over 2 hours and the children were getting tired- they ate and read and observed passers by and had enough. Alhamdoulilah we had some more people join us. This was a family of 5 and Alhamdoulilah they had 3 children. (I needed this distraction desperately for my own children). They greeted us with Assalamu Alaikum and I soon learned that they were from Morocco, a Country dear to my heart as my hubby comes from there. Their children were aged 3, 6 and nine- all girls Masha Allah. We began conversing and they asked me if I was learning Arabic. I said that I had actually recently finished an amazing book called Nourania Qaida-it should be done with a teacher but they should not have a problem teaching it. With my very broken Arabic, they of course did not know book that was. I was happy to spell it for them and the husband was happy to look it up on his phone. He said that even though they knew Arabic they...

Everyone we meet, every experience we have is a gift from Allah. A moment in time to learn, a moment to teach, a moment to be grateful. We just need to open our eyes and hearts to these moments and get the most out of them.

As parents we all dread the times when our child gets seriously injured. Not a scrape on the leg, or a bruised knee, but those dreadful open wounds. This is exactly what happened recently to my 5 and a half year old son. One night as we were all just quieting down- getting ready for our bedtime routine, Omar was being his regular full of energy self- he ran into the kitchen and fell down and hit his head on the corner of the wall and voila his cries told me that  this was not an ordinary fall. There was blood….This fall warranted a trip to the hospital where daddy and son stayed the whole night waiting for two stitches. Omar was pretty brave Alhamdoulilah, his only tears were the ones he cried at home…Knowing him… his curiosity about the...

Allah t’ala says in Surah Tahreem 66:6

O you who believe, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are [appointed] angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded. Quran 66:6

Many times, as Muslims, our priorities are not in the proper order. We strive to take care of our families financially, which is commendable, we strive for higher education, which is commendable, and we strive for knowledge and recreation, which can also be commendable. But is it commendable if it is at the risk of losing your children to the pull of Shaytaan? Would you trade your child for the luxuries of this life? Would you trade your children for status and a degree? I highly doubt parents intend to disempower their children, but many of the problems plaguing our Islamic communities show the same end result.

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “When a man dies,...

Imagine changing your life and having your own mother and father reject and ridicule you for leaving the religion they taught you since you were young. Imagine adapting to a new lifestyle that regulated the type of food you eat and how you dress when you leave the home. Imagine getting married while you are young in order to obey your Lord and stay chaste.

Now picture being blessed with a beautiful son that you name Abdullah because he is a servant of Allah, the first Muslim born in generations. You promise yourself that you will do whatever it takes to raise your son to be strong on his deen and fight the challenges he will face as he grows up. Imaging life getting in the way and 16 years later this son is now taller than you, strong is his body, and also strong in his mind. You want to be proud but you can only cry as he has told you and your spouse that he doesn’t believe in Islam or Allah and is going to do his own thing… Imagine you then asking yourself,...