Assalamualaikum and hello!
Even since I was little, my favourite sport to watch during Olympics would be gymnastics. I love everything about it; the beautiful costume, glittery make up, the confidence, dancing, tumbling, flexibility, everything. I always asked my mum “why didn’t you send me to do gymnastics?” And everytime I watch gymnasts perform, I feel this yearning in my heart. It is something I had always, always wanted to do.
With the Olympics going on now, the feeling is back, although much lesser.
It is funny. Even as a kid, I always told myself “when I have my own daughter, I’m going to send her for gymnastics!” or maybe ballet, or anything that requires dancing, confidence, flexibility, glittery make up and costumes.
See, ever since I’ve started to learn more about this faith of mine, becoming more involved, it is a dream of mine to build a family with Islamic values.
From finding a good man that could help me in this faith of ours to raising my kids with the awareness of being a good Muslim that love Allah with all their heart. Yes, some might think it is too early to think about all these stuff. But there’s a story about this Islamic scholar. The Islamic scholar’s dad has prepared to build a family even before he was married, even before he had the son. It is never too early to have a vision.
Anyhow, as you can see, it is kind of conflicting to raise my children in an Islamic environment and still send her for gymnastics classes and perform in front of a big audience in costumes that do not cover up. Honestly, I am always having this conflict with myself. Especially the part about wearing hijab “should I make them wear since little?” or “should I just let them discover the beauty of hijab on their own like me?” There are other things as well. Lately I’ve been meeting a lot of girls that went to International Islamic integrated school. They are smart, beautiful, have Islamic values, speak very fluent English and just so….wonderful. They had the advantage of growing up in a very Islamic environment surrounded by not just family but friends that support one another in becoming better Muslimahs.
While me? I started my teenage years quite rough, not interested in this religion at all, just thought that “hey, being good is enough”, made silly mistakes, had no respect for myself, and today I find that this religion is the most beautiful thing ever and am trying to be better than I was previously making Islam the centre of my life, insyaAllah.
So you see, there’s this conflict in me. To raise my children in a very Islamic environment or let them learn on their own, like me. But I know one thing that I want; I want the house to be filled with so much love, they don’t feel the need to seek love from outside. And of course, first and foremost teach them about Allah’s love and the love for Him and His Messenger (pbuh).
So anyhow, during this holiday, I had this thought “hey Atiqa, you know. You could always train your daughters at home. Do stretching, tumbling, dancing. Make beautiful costumes for them, make up and glitters. And you could make them perform in front of family. Or gather your friends’ daughters and let them perform together.”
Yes. Islam should never be an issue.
If there’s a cause that I’m really interested in, it will be making people especially teenagers understand what Islam truly means and feel accepted even if they don’t wear hijab, even if they don’t pray, especially if they had a bad past. I have this interest in me to establish a Muslim Youth Club. To invite them to learn more about Islam. It will act as a support group for young Muslims with love as the theme; love for Allah and His Messenger. I believe in love so much. I believe making them realize about Allah’s love will insyaAllah make them want to strive to be better Muslims. And insyaAllah this love that they are feeling will make them live their life as Muslims that will please Allah. It’s not just about being a good person. Because at the end of the day, who do you give your thanks to, for every wonderful things that happen in your life? And I want to help those children that had a rough upbringing maybe from a family that is not quite perfect, say a father that is a drug addict or a child that does not know who is his father. We could have sharing sessions (usrah), learning sessions (teach them about Islam in a non-academic, non-monotonous way unlike what the schools are doing) and activities for boys and girls, separately of course. Maybe dancing class for girls, competitions and the likes.
Some might think using love as an approach is too soft. But different people require different approach and why does it matter (‘soft’ or ‘hard’ approach) if in the end the main goal is to be the best Muslim we could ever be and the most beautiful in His eyes?
As for myself, it will be nice to have girlfriends that have the same visions as me as we grow older. So we could have our own usrah sessions, our own mini gymnast competitions and everything that we could do with our daughters, especially the things that people think in Islam, the girls can’t do. But of course insyaAllah with the certainty that those things could be done.
I will be brainstorming more ideas! Who is with me? : )
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