Want to succeed ?

Assalamo alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu,

Ramadan is almost coming to an end. It's just a matter of hours that we will be standing in the Masjid praying Eid Salah. The last few days are always makes me wonder where time flew and wishing that Ramadan doesn't finish so soon. May we live to see another Ramadan Ameen.

 May Allah accept all our fasting and ibadah and keep us steadfast on His path Ameen.

HOW TO ACHIEVE TRUE SUCCESS

 When the Sahabahs, stood up from a gathering they used to recite Surah tul Asr to remind themselves of not wasting their time in useless activities and never giving up striving in the path of Allah.

The following prtesentation really highlights why it is such an important Surah of the Quran and how crucial it's message is

Success in this life and the Hereafter

A 4 step process very simply said, eloquently described and effectively depicted in less the 8 minutes....... Mashallah !

Please share your reflections

What's our Excuse ?

SOMETIMES WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS 

WHAT ONE FEELS THIS VIDEO DOES THAT! 

I HOPE IT DOES THAT FOR YOU TOO

May Allah bless this child in this world and th3 Hereafter, May He protect and preserve this boy in this Dunya and the Hereafter, May he reach the highest levels of Jannah.......Ameen

May we strive hard to purify our hearts and not deviate from teh straight path  Ameen

Best Ramadan Ayah

HE IS WAITING TO RESPOND 

ARE WE CALLING ON TO HIM ?

The beauty of Allah's words Subhanallah !

1st Revelation

RAMADAN LESSON # 6

For this lesson we concentrate only on the:

The very 1st Command of ALLAH

IQRA - READ

Allah's 1st Command

One really needs to contemplate why Allah chose this word to be the first word of Divine revelation ? It is actually a VERY IMPORATNT COMMAND to always seek and pursue knowledge, cause not doing so causes stagnation and downfall.

This can be further illustrated by the following points:

• The life of Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho alaihi wasallam's life was spent teaching and spreading Allah's message
• The Shabah's looked up to each other and respected the more on the basis of their understanding of the Quran, sunnah and the deen. 
• We are expected to follow the example of the people of knowledge from the Sahabah, the Ta'abi'een and Ta'aba ta'baeen based on their exemplary and profound understanding in the matters of the deen.
• Cordoba, Isfanah, Kufa, Baghdada and so many other cities of the Muslim Empiure were considered as high seats of learning. Peopel would travel thousands of miles to be in company of men of knowledge of deen, fiqh, sciences (astronomy, botoany, engineering, mathematics etc )
• When the Muslims ruled for almost a 1000 years, those years are considered as the golden age. The European Renaissance has it's roots in the knowledge the got from the works of the Muslim scholars and Scientists
• We are expected to seek the company of the people of knowledge.

What gave all the above mentioned people an edge ........ their KNOWLEDGE which only comes by seeking it and learning which in turn comes by READING !



The knowledge from which no benefit is derived is like a treasure out of which nothing is spent in the cause of Allah. Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 108

Copywork : print or cursive

REFLECTION: imporatnce  is  not only of READing but also of reading what is Beneficial Inshallah

This was our drive for  our :

  

Beidhniallah, we hope to continue seek knowledge with our Ramadan Readathon Reading baskets from this Ramadan to the next.

INSHALLAH

Downloads:

The 1st word of revelation shown above can be printed from here. To make it decorative we cut it out and stuck it on construction paper. 

Other related activities and printable (jeem-jabal, ghain-ghar, waw-wahi) can be seen here

Our 1st Wahi activity from last year can be seen here 

Quran Translation

WHAT HAS ALLAH SAID TO US ?

In the past we have discussed the meaning and explanation of the Quran while memorizing surahs, discussing stories of the Prophets or other topics.

This Ramadan by the Grace and Mercy of Allah we have embarked on the Beautiful journey of reading the Translation of Quran from the beginning, while discussing the backgrounds of certain verses and all that comes with it. We are trying to know what Allah has said to us, so we can improve our understanding of the Quran and Allah's expectations from us.... Beidhnillah

We are using Yahya Emerick's .............

Click on image to see inside the book

A kind friend introduced us to this wonderful translation. May Allah make it one the best source of sadaq e jariah for her Ameen. It is indeed a very easy read with kids compared to other translations available. It is unique in it's approach for facilitate understanding for young children. It is a complete running translation of the Quran in simple English with wonderful introduction to surahs or topics,  back grounds of verses, simple illustrations. The best feature in my opinion is the division of Ayahs under headings as the topic changes within a surah. It is a wonderful project and a must have for every home with kids 7-18. May Allah bless and reward all the people responsible for publishing this much needed book.


I am trying to read it with Lil Muallim # 1 and 2, with Lil Muallimah sitting with us at times. I have to admit she can get interruptive at times. Then, boys are boys and can be quite fidgety, so I am trying to keep them engaged by showing them related material and short discussions in the middle, keeping it interactive. I also let them fiddle around with something in their hands, which somehow makes them sit it out for longer.... Alhumdolillah. Within a few days I should be able to figure out the right time for this important work as well as the duration so it runs smoothly (like me not having to close the translation in the middle as  I felt that we were loosing the adab) Baidhnillah!

As we are moving along we hope to make mind maps, watch some short videos, make timelines, maps etc to consolidate our learning. 

Alhumdolillah we have had some moments where I feel Allahs words sinking in to their hearts, with their gaping eyes and serious questions, seeking better understanding. With time I hope for them to crave and ask for the translation time themsleves every day Inshallah!

I pray to Allah to give us istiqamah to continue this task on a daily basis to the end. May He grant me with patience and my children to sit and listen respectfully and diligently. May He enable us to understand, reflect and improve ourselves and guide us to the straight path.... as He is Al Qadir (Al powerful) and Al Hadi (The one who Guides)  

Qualities of a momin

MOMINS TREASURE CHEST

The kids did a Momin's treasure maze in which they had to collect 5 different qualities (treasures) of a Momin. It led us to the following idea.

We made a treasure chest out of brown bristol borad and decorated it with brown and golden marker. The kids then stuck gold and silver coins inside it cut out of silver and gold cardstock found at the $ store. Boys love treasure and gold coins (atleast mine do). And seeking out a momin's treasure chest is far too great a thing than a pretend pirates treasure chest.  Alhumdolillah. They especially loved how the picture came out with the glow.

Check it out:

QUALITIES OF A MOMIN RAINBOW

Once the treasure chest was made we coloured in a rainbow with the 2 lil ones. We wrote 7 qualities of a momin that we want to concentrate on for a couple of months to get an understanding of them and practical application too Inshallah.

The Qualities we chose were:

1. 
   
   Taqwa
2. 
   
   Sabr
3. 
   
   Shukr
4. 
   
   Ihsan
5. 
   
   Haya
6. 
   
   Salat
7. 
   
   Dhikr

See Picture

TAQWA CHART

Now that we had the qualities out. It was now time to start studying them SO first ofcourse was Taqwa. We made the following wall chart. First we stuck a textured red paper from the scrapbook papers available at the $ store. Then the chart was given a title and 15 points were written out. The points were all thought out and written by Lil Muallim # 1 with the help of the following poster and Ummi :). I will Inshallah be adding a downloadable file of all the points soon Inshallah.

http://www.ramadan.com.au/images/banners/2010/wallchart.jpg

 See pictures

Quran Stories

PROPHET'S STORIES MOBILE

Lil Muallim # 2 and I started out to make a Prophet's story mobile. We have been discussing prophets stories and the lessons we get from them. Stories are always done, but this time to be able to go back over them independently we collected some images through google image search , re sized, printed and coloured them. Stuck them on a bristol board, gave it a silver border and wrote main story points at the back. Lil Muallim # 1 helped too. ( I wrote, the kids traced ... to make sure all points fit in ) Then we pierced a very tiny hole at the top of the card and inserted a ribbon through it. Lastly, we tied the ribbon onto a multi shirt hanger. (came with a 5 undershirt set) :)

Here's the first picture. We will add more pictures as we complete the project Inshallah.

The ribbons will be cut of different lengths so as to fit in all the cards Inshallah.

Prophet's stories being covered are:

1. Prophet Adam (A)
2. Prophet Nuh (A)
3. Prophet Musa (A)
4. Prophet Yunus (A)
5. Prophet Yusuf (A)
6. Prophet Saleh (A)
7. Prophet Sulaiman (A)
8. Prophet Ibrahim (A)
9. Prophet Ismail (A)
10. Prohet Isa (A)
11. Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

Besides doing the stories we will also be looking into history and geography  and a bit of social studies, of where the Prophets were. This would include a time line, the area then and now, important places, community and living etc. Will post deatils as we do them Inshallah.

ANIMALS MENTIONED IN THE QURAN

  Kids love animals. What better way to incorporate an awe for the Quran by discussing how many animals are mentioned in the Quran and their related stories. So many lessons in it Mashallah.

  We used a book called Animals mentioned in the Quran by Abdur. We were also fortunate enough to find a wonderfully sturdy card game on Smart Ark called Animals in the Quran Snap Cards http://www.smartark.com/userimages/procart3.htm

We love playing the game in different ways. My favourite one being memory game, (placing all the cards face down and looking for pairs) cause I just mention the reference of the animal in the quran casually while we are looking for the match and soon Lil Muallim #2 starts asking the story with each card he opens. Alhumdolillah. It's animals and pictures so Lil Muallimah plays the game a lot too. Mashallah.

The Science and Geography factor: Besides doing the stories from the Quran related to the animals we are also studying:

1. classification of animals (animal kingdom or complete scientific classification as per age level of  my Lil Muallim)
2. their diet : by studying the structure of their mouth (omnivore, herbivore or carnivore)
3. their food chain or food web
4. the country and biome they are found in.
5. their habits and home

For display we made a wall chart showing the pictures of all the animals and their names in Arabic, English and Urdu. As we go along completing the wall chart we get many opportunities to discuss the stories. Alhumdolillah.

Here's what our chart looks like at present.