Are You a Concerned Parent?

Assalam u ‘alaikum.
Bismillah.

A lot of time Muslim parents or concerned elders want to know the kind of fun and enjoyment to have with their families which is not against the pure Islamic values, and would fill their house with peace and barakaah.

So, here are a few tips of halal entertainment. Share your own ideas in the comments section below.

• Put up a new verse or hadith every day in your house. Fix turns for kids and let them compete each day that whose verse or hadith was more interesting. Hang a small white board on a central wall, for this purpose. Or put it next to the dining table or wherever your family gathers for, say, breakfast so that everyone can read it and benefit from it.

• Inculcate in yourself the habit of reading. Kids would automatically follow your example and settle down with books when they see you reading. And this habit would then benefit them for their lifetime.

• Plant vegetables or flowers in your garden, with kids. Nowadays children are so used to ordering food that they don’t even know where the ingredients come from. Let them know it. They’d get a sense of achievement that we helped dad or mom with growing this and now it’s ready to eat. Plus they’d learn that food does not appear in a wink. It’s a whole growing process. And they’ll also learn how Allah brings life in a dead seed. Moreover, it would be healthier to eat.
  Take them on nature walks. Or hiking. Do this on a one-on-one basis too and you’ll also get time to talk with them and know them better. Take a walk with your parents too.

• Let the young boys lead salah every now and again. For teaching purposes and for developing a sense of responsibility in them. Produce imams in your house.
  Umar r.a used to wake up his whole family for tahajjud. Wake your family for tahajjud and Fajr. This would be the real love.

• Travel with your family, to know Allah. Go to places and learn collectively.

• Whenever you eat out, give charity with it, in the form of food. If you have something of Rs. 1000, give food out worth Rs. 500 (or more). Let the children calculate how much we owe to the poor people this time.

• Play sports and involve kids in it too. For boys specially, target shooting and riding are really good. Don’t let them be couch potatoes. Play with them.

• Give them Islamic education. Teach them all about Islam (not just basics) at home, and also try to send them to Islamic schools.

• Get involved in da’wah, as a family. Dawah includes giving out books, DVDs, letters, emails, text messages, one-to-one talks, lectures etc. Children will start doing da’wah at their own level.

• Visit friends and family, especially for da’wah purposes.

• Volunteer with charity organizations. Clean out the cupboards and give out extra stuff every 6 months. Teach this to children too. Tell them to sort out their extra toys every 6 months. Teach them that Allah will replace it with something much better.

• Take the kids to different lectures and halaqahs. Take the boys to the masjid (even for Fajr salah).

• Watch good, healthy movies and documentaries with them. (Check them first and don’t leave it unsupervised). Like Universe series etc. Ones that are actually eman-boosters.

Taken from Br. Raja Zia ul Haq.
Follow him on his blog: http://rajazia.blogspot.com/

Wassalam.