Muslim Parenting

I’m not much into consumerism, so it was nice to come across this low-cost idea for a gift for a baby - a hand-decorated onesie.

With a little fabric paint and maybe crochet hook and thread Umm Nour created personalized, special little somethings for friends’ babies.

You can get as simple or fancy as you want.

For fancier ideas, I came across these appliqued versions.  If the results are good you may even be able to make a little money by selling them on Etsy (an online marketplace for handmade items).

If you aren’t up for crafting, maybe you can support another Muslim.

My rating ****/****

Although I’m not it’s target audience - I’d say that this picture book’s intended demographic is toddlers (as a read-aloud book) to 6 year olds - I really enjoyed “My Mum is a Wonder” by Michele Messaoudi.

The story follows a young boy through a typical day with his mother; the wonderful Mum of the title. The tale is told in perky rhyme.

What I liked…

- Islam is seamlessly integrated into the boy’s day. There is no awkward exposition during which the author through the boy explains that the characters are Muslim. We see Islam in the mother’s modest dress, the fact that when the boy greets her in the morning she is reading Qur’an and I think,the author intends, through her kindness to her son and to the others around her. As such the book would make a good subtle introduction to Islam for a non-Muslim child.

- Mum and son are not the Western stereotype of Muslims. I’m generally on the look-out for books with brown and black characters, but in this case I found the way in which the family was portrayed (they are both fair - the boy has red hair), refreshing. By making this choice, without being too specific (we don’t know whether Mum is an English revert, Bosnian, Aydge, etc.) the author is letting the world and our kids know that Muslims come in all sorts of packages.

-The real appreciation that the little boy shows for his mother. The whole book is an ode to Mum. Insha’Allah the book can reinforce respect for parents in little readers and encourage them to appreciate what their parents do for them. Again, refreshing, given the sometimes subtle, sometimes not way in which so much of what is out there for children’s consumption undermines these values.

Finally, “My Mum is a Wonder” is well-written, fun to read and it’s illustrations are clear and cute. One for the library.

I’ll keep an eye out for other books by the same author.

**Note - “My Mum is a Wonder” is put out by The Islamic Foundation - UK, and as such uses British spelling and phrasings. As an American, I didn’t find this to be a problem at all - just letting you know.

Mash’Allah! Today my 9-month old did sajda. She’d done it yesterday as well, but I thought I was seeing things. Today it was confirmed.

She crawls around nearby as I pray salat and I usually say it audibly so that she can benefit. Today I noticed that as I went down for sajda, so did she (though with her whole head, arms and torso touching the floor). And when I said allahuakbar for ruku she also did sajda.

Pretty funny to see a small baby, who does not even walk or talk yet, imitating me in prayer. Made me realize how important it is to stay steadfast in prayer and let my children see this.

Great lists from Umm Zaid’s Domestic Tranquilty (muslima blog). She shares her wisdom for preparing for pregnancy and labor here and here (really good advice on what to get for nursing baby).

These come from Kristie Karima Burn’s Islamic Waldorf School Online website and use the tunes to popular nursery rhymes to teach the basics of Islam - alhamdullilah!:

THE FIVE PRAYERS by Karima Burns

(sung to the tune of ‘Five Little Ducks’)

Five Muslim Prayers I’ll pray today.

As Muslims we pray five times a day.

Before I pray I do wudu

Before the sun rises I’ll pray Fajr with you.

Four more Muslim prayers I’ll pray today.

As Muslims we pray five times a day.

Before I pray I do Wudu.

Near lunch time I’ll pray Duhr with you.

Three more Muslim Prayers I’ll pray today.

As Muslims we pray five times a day.

Before I pray I do Wudu

In the Afternoon I’ll pray Asr with you.

Two more Muslim prayers I’ll pray today

As Muslims we pray five times a day.

Before I pray I do Wudu.

And at sunset I’ll pray Maghreb with you.

One more Muslim prayer I’ll pray today

As Muslims we pray five times a day.

Before I pray I’ll do Wudu

And at night I’ll pray Eisha with you!

WE’RE MAKING AN IFTAR CAKE Modified by Karima Burns
(to the tune of “The Farmer’s in the Dell”)

We’re making an Iftar cake, we’re making an Iftar cake;
We’re going to make it really big,
Because we’ve all been fasting.

Flour in the bowl, flour in the bowl;
Stir it with a great big spoon,
Flour in the bowl.

continue with other ingredients: sugar, salt,
dates, butter, etc.

Put it in the oven, put it in the oven;
Until it’s nicely cooked.

Alhamdullilah!

Icing on the top, icing on the top;
Spread it with a big, flat knife,
Bisimillah!

Bisimillah, we all have a piece;
Some for you and some for me,
Alhamdullilah!

And now it’s all gone, and now it’s all gone;
Yumm it was very good,
Alhamdullilah

DATES FOR IFTAR By Karima Burns

One date, two dates,
Three dates, four;
We Break our Fast with Dates,
But can I please have some more?

FIVE PILLARS HAS ISLAM by Karima Burns
(to the tune of Old Macdonald Had a Farm)

Five Pillars has Islam.

The first pillar is Shaahada.

La ilaha Ilallah

Wa Muhammedan Rasuulallah

Five pillars has Islam

The second one is to pray

Muslims pray five times a day

Each and every day.

Five pillars has Islam

The third pillar is zakat

Zakat Means to give Alms
We All give Zakat

Five pillars has Islam

The fourth one is Siyam

Siyam means to fast

The month of Ramadan.

Five pillars has Islam

The fifth one is the Hajj

Hajj means to make pilgrimage

to Mecca.

First posted on July 18, 2006

Before becoming a mother I never thought about or imagined that I would be spattered with and cleaning up urine (and that other stuff) so much.

But really every body fluid is represented. Often my husband and I have mused that if a crime scene team were to come to our house they would find traces of pee everywhere throughout the house (even though we’ve cleaned).

What does that mean for cleanliness for prayer?

I have not found any hadiths specifically related to breaking wudu by tending to one’s child (if someone knows of one please send it in), but did find several that indicated that if children soil you it is enough to wash the area on which they urinated with water.

This makes sense since Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his companions could not always count on having several garments into which they could change because a baby peed on them.

I’m not sure what they did for baby fecal spills. Again, if you do know, please comment.

Here are the hadiths I found (all from Bukhari) pertaining to children’s urine on one’s clothing:

Volume 8, Book 73, Number 31:

Narrated ‘Aisha:

The Prophet took a child in his lap for Tahnik (i.e. he chewed a date in his mouth and put its juice in the mouth of the child). The child urinated on him, so he asked for water and poured it over the place of the urine.

Volume 1, Book 4, Number 222:

Narrated ‘Aisha:

A child was brought to Allah’s Apostle and it urinated on the garment of the Prophet. The Prophet asked for water and poured it over the soiled place.

Volume 1, Book 4, Number 223:

Narrated Um Qais bint Mihsin:

I brought my young son, who had not started eating (ordinary food) to Allah’s Apostle who took him and made him sit in his lap. The child urinated on the garment of the Prophet, so he asked for water and poured it over the soiled (area) and did not wash it.

Volume 1, Book 4, Number 227:

Narrated Asma’:

A woman came to the Prophet and said, “If anyone of us gets menses in her clothes then what should she do?” He replied, “She should (take hold of the soiled place), rub it and put it in the water and rub it in order to remove the traces of blood and then pour water over it. Then she can pray in it.”

Volume 1, Book 4, Number 223:

Narrated Um Qais bint Mihsin:

I brought my young son, who had not started eating (ordinary food) to Allah’s Apostle who took him and made him sit in his lap. The child urinated on the garment of the Prophet, so he asked for water and poured it over the soiled (area) and did not wash it.

The Times (London) reported last week that Muhammad is now the second most popular baby name in Britain.

“Muhammad is now second only to Jack as the most popular name for baby boys in Britain and is likely to rise to No 1 by next year, a study by The Times has found. The name, if all 14 different spellings are included, was shared by 5,991 newborn boys last year, beating Thomas into third place, followed by Joshua and Oliver.”

Demographics are driving the name’s popularity. The Times reports that “Overall, Muslims account for 3 per cent of the British population, about 1.5 million people. However, the Muslim birthrate is roughly three times higher than the non-Muslim one.”

You can access the full article here.

Big news out of Britain this week: A new bill that would support the rights of mothers to breastfeed their babies has been put forward. This is wonderful news as there has been a bit of a war on in recent years with breastfeeding Mums routinely being asked to leave restaurants, stores and other public places while mothers bottlefeedings were unmolested. Under the bill businesses who harass nursing Mums could be fined thousands of pounds.

While I think it’s important to be discreet when feeding baby, I do think the whole world should be available for doing so. It is a baby’s right, is better for baby and increasingly they are proving for mothers as well. Alhamdullilah - insha’Allah the bill will pass.

It’s already passed in Scotland.

Here Umm Zaid of Modernmuslima.com gives a detailed explanation of the merits of breastfeeding and even covers its mention in the Qur’an and praying while breastfeeding.

Worth a read, especially if you are pregnant and are deciding between feeding your baby naturally or feeding her with a bottle.

First posted on August 6, 2006.