Muslim Parenting

Meccacentric.com, which sells audio and video of lectures by prominent Muslim scholars such as Hamza Yusuf, Siraj Wahaj, Abdullah Hakim Quick and others, has decided to stop offering audio tapes.

So, they’ve put all of the audio tapes on 50% off clearance. There are a number of interesting titles available (a bunch of stuff on Muslim families and youth, for instance), but since they are discontinuing the line, once something is gone (in audio tape) it’s gone.

To check out the list of on sale audio tapes click through and then click on the red bordered Audio Tape Closeout Sale 50% Off box on the upper right.

They ship globally.

Meccacentric.com produces and sells Islamic audio and video lectures from such leading lights as Siraj Wahaj, Hamza Yusuf, Khalid Blankinship and others.

There are a ton of titles, on all sorts of topics from a Muslim perspective (there are a large number of titles devoted to youth, family issues and marriage).

They ship globally.

Anyway, you can get 10% off your Meccacentric purchase by entering the code “WEB” after you checkout.

I Have Two Hands

I have two hands

To grasp and throw

My bouncy ball to you

We play together happily

And Allah I must thank you.

The above are the first few lines of a poem created by Sumayyah Umm Sadiqah wa Asma to teach her daughters about their bodies and how they were created by God. You can read the full poem here on Umm Sadiqah’s blog, Educating the Muslim Child.

MashAllah! There are so many other wonderful entries on Educating the Muslim Child. Umm Sadiqah has done an excellent job of thinking about and planning lessons and then kindly shared them with the rest of us.

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.

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

English Translation of the Qur’an read by JD Hall

My rating: ****

JD Hall is an African-American actor, known as “The Voice” because of his extensive voice work. He is also a practicing Muslim and Imam. Here he has turned his attention and skills to reading an English translation of the Qur’an and the result is brilliant.

His voice is deep and resonant and unlike some translations I have listened to is used to great effect- expressing the emphasis and emotion for which the Qur’an calls.

I’m not sure which translation was used for this reading. However, it is a translation that uses modern, accessible language (no thous or thees here).

The translation is divided into 30 juz (a traditional division for Qur’an). This is my only issue with the translation since one surah comes pretty quickly after the next and it can be hard to figure out just which surah translation is being read. I find it easier listening when a translation or recitation is divided surah by surah - that way I don’t get lost. But maybe this way, insha’Allah, I’m forced to pay very close attention to what is being said.

I have not seen this translation for sale - but instead only for download on the Internet. You can find it at Aswat al Islam and at Islamicity.

JD Hall has also released a CD ‘Tawheed - The Oneness of God (Monotheistic Praise Songs Drawn from the Islamic, Jewish and Christian Tradition‘).

I found the message of the songs (lyrics) to be pretty squarely Islamic. The CD is heavy on percussion and synthesizer (I know that there are differing fatwa about whether this kind of audio is permissable) and features JD singing praises to God, describing Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his mission, tauheed, etc. The sound is a kind of folksy-bluesy rock.

The CD was not really to my personal taste, but I think it’s a commendable effort. I especially liked “R.U.A Believer” and “It Grieves My Soul.”

All of the CDs tracks can be previewed and it is available for sale at CDBaby.com.

First posted on July 25, 2006.

The following ayat (in translation) truly encapsulates how God wants us to treat our parents:

‘Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you be kind to parents.
Whether one or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of contempt,nor repel them, but address them in terms of honor.

And out of kindness, lower them the wing of humility and say:
‘My Lord! bestow on them Your Mercy as they cherished me in childhood.’

Qur’an 17:23-24

First posted on July 26, 2006

From Tasmiya in Australia, who describes herself as “- Muslim - Australian- 30-something - wife - mother to 3 beautiful boys - owner of 2 boy cats - thoroughly enjoying being the matriarch in the home - part-time veterinarian - procrastinator extraordinaire”:

- You can wake up whenever YOU want to wake up. You don’t need to dress up and run around madly in search of that matching scarf

- You can relax. Breakfast is time for chatting, eating and joking. Not a time for yelling, “Hurry up - we’re going to be late!”

- Baby doesn’t get his routine interrupted while you pick up or drop off the school boy

- There are no emotional upheavals for you to deal with. Your child won’t be angry, tired or hungry in the afternoon because you will have taken care of his needs

- You can go on holidays ANYTIME instead of having to wait for school holidays (busiest and most expensive times of year)

- You can live abroad for a while, wherever and whenever since the kids’ school is wherever you are.

You can read Tasmiya’s great blog here.

First posted August 7, 2006.First posted August 7, 2006.

My rating: ***/****

The series bills itself as an international adventure travel guide and features various young hosts traveling to different countries or regions of the world and meeting the locals and seeing the sights. No luxury hotels here.The hosts all travel as the locals do, often stay with local families and eat at local markets and eateries as well.

I think this is a great series if you are covering social studies or just want to travel with your child (withoutleaving your house). Beyond just seeing the sites or activities a country or region has to offer, each episode also includes a fair amount on its history and politics.

That said you do need to preview the episodes before watching them with your kids, because some of them do contain objectionable segments.

For example, a trip to Mexico City has the host sampling tequilas at a bar and another episode’s trip to the ‘Deep South’ shows the host getting liquored up at a beach party and with a savage hang-over the next day. In the episode on Turkey, the female host visits a hamam (Turkish bath) and we see her bare shoulders and legs as she lies on a slab to be receive her post-dip massage.

I did not find anything sketchy like that in the episodes on Central Asia, or Iran. But as I said, as with every DVD/video you show to the kids, you probably should watch it first.

My favorite Pilot Guide hosts are Ian Wright and Justine Shapiro.

Ian is a young Brit and as intrepid as they come. By his own admission, he has a stomach like tin and dives right into eating camel with Bedouin men in Jordan and digs into an entire sheep (including the eyeballs,which he is offered as an honored guest) in Kyrgystan. He seems willing to try just about any activity on offer and generally seems to connect well with the people he meets, even if there are language and cultural barriers.

Justine,who is American, is more reserved - this may just be her style, but I think it also reflects the differences between traveling as a male and being a female traveler. That said, she still manages to try many things that she and certainly the audience have probably not experienced before.

Both Justine and Ian seem to be respectful of the people they meet, their customs and circumstances.

I would avoid episodes hosted by Megan McCormick. To me she came off as too priviledged - too happy that the a huge stack of local money was worth only $1 USD - too willing to casually touch the men who were her guides [when as a viewer one knows that due to culture and differences in race and class they do not feel they have the same right]. I felt that she really fed right into the stereotype of the clueless, ugly N. American and squirmed in my seat as I watched. I think I cannot express my distaste for her attitude enough.

I’ve given Pilot Guides a mixed 3 and 4 star review because while many episodes are absolutely excellent there are some that contain non-halal segments, so I can’t give the series an across-the-board endorsement.

Pilot Guides/Globetrekker is widely syndicated (PBS, Discovery Channel, etc.), various clips can be downloaded from the site so that you can preview the show and episodes of the series bought at their online travel shop.

First posted in July 2006.