Instil the love for him (saw), just as she did – Part 3

Anas Ibn Malik (ra), the gift to the Prophet (saw) – he was the topic of our family halaqa at the masjid tonight. I was so happy to see this sahabi was chosen for the halaqa. For so many reasons, especially because the gathering at the masjid is for families, this sahabi is perfect to learn about as a family; his life with the Prophet (saw) as a child, his life later on, and his mother.

I’ve read about him before, and many of the Islamic parenting related hadiths are from the ones narrated by him. Loved listening about him (ra), but this evening I loved listening about his mother too, because there was a big lesson for us as mothers in her story. The way she learnt the Quran and understood Islam as soon as she became Muslim – being an ansaar, she became Muslim without meeting the Prophet (saw). The way she had instilled the love of the Prophet (saw) in her son, even before he (saw) had migrated to Medinah. Her son (Anas) loved the Prophet (saw) so much he wanted to go to Makkah to meet him. This love was due to his mother’s teachings. And when she finally did meet the Prophet (saw), instead of gifting him with objects like others did, she gave in gift her son and his service to the Prophet (saw). How amazing was this woman?

This has made me think, she can be a spark of inspiration for us mothers. From her, we can learn that not seeing the Prophet (saw) shouldn’t be a barrier in us instilling the love of our Prophet in our children. Or even teaching ourselves about our beautiful Deen. She did all this, without the Internet, without hundreds of scholarly books and articles, or amazing lectures, without a lifetime of being Muslim. She did this because of her love for her Rabb.

May Allah grant us the ability to learn from these lives and want and do the best for our children like this woman (ra) did for her son. Ameen.