Eid reflections and writing therapy

I haven't posted for a couple of weeks. But I did think about it every single day. Inshaa Allah I hope to try giving the blog some more time in the future and instead of just hurriedly jotting down posts about my Sunday class, I want to make it a little personal by letting you into my mind a bit. Lots of things bubbling up there and this is the perfect sounding board to pour those thoughts and ideas on to. Writing always helps the thought process by making things clearer. Putting them out there in black and white. You can pour out your heart and then look at those nuggets of your heart from all angles and decide which ones you want to pick and take forward with you in life, which ones you want to throw away, and which ones you want to keep dormant for a while and pick up later. It's therapeutic, this art of writing. I hope inshaa Allah to instill the habit of writing in all the kids in my Sunday class. That just gave me an idea of an activity for the older kids! See what I mean?! :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Eid with your loved ones. We had a fun filled but a super hectic Eid, this time. We had neighbours, friends, and family over and most importantly lots and lots of kids! By the time the last guest has left the house looks like a tornado hit it. SubhanAllah! No matter how much I sulk while cleaning up the gigantic mess, I know I wouldn't have it any other way. Eid just wouldn't be Eid if the kids didn't have a blast. I try my best to make Eid the party of the year for them! Inshaa Allah, may Allah give me the strength to continue this self-inflicted tradition year after year! :P

As I mentioned, we had neighbours and friends (Muslims and non-Muslims) as well, so I made both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. This is what my Eid menu looked like:

1. Jeera rice
2. Chicken Angarey
3. Mutton Koftas
4. Malai chicken kabab
5. Paneer chili fry
6. Bhindi fry
7. Tamatar Baingan
8. Dahi wada
9. Raita
10. Sheerkurma

Yes, yummy! And yes, my legs were killing me when I was done. :)

The Sunday after Eid we had a potluck party after the class. The kids were so excited about getting something yummy from home. It was lovely to see them all gather around and share a meal together. I hadn't taken down my Eid party decorations so that they get the feel of Eid and we played a few beautiful nasheeds, just loud enough so that the neighbours don't complain. :)

Overwhelmed with love!

Is it possible to be so overwhelmed with Allah's (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) mercy and compassion that I can't stop pinching my arm to see if I'm dreaming or awake?

Today's class was very very special to us all Alhamdulillah. Today, apart from the nine children already attending, we had two new kids gracing our class with their presence. And from these two, one is my daughter's very close friend, who happens to be a Hindu. Why would a non-Muslim child, a 5-year-old at that, join a Islamic Sunday school, you ask? Let me explain.

This child, R, spends a lot of time at our home. She is always welcomed with open arms and we love having her over for play dates with my kids. She spent a few hours with us yesterday when her parents were at work and her mom came to pick her up in the evening. While chatting about our day, I mentioned to R's mom that I was preparing for my Sunday class. She was immediately interested. She asked me what was taught in the class and when she heard words like 'Arabic alphabet' and 'Islamic prayers with meanings' she asked me if it was open to only Muslims. I think it took me a moment to answer. I repeated that the class focused on things that Muslim children need to learn, only the approach was different. She then said something which blew me away. She said she would love for R to be part of this class because she wants her to be more aware of different faiths and cultures. She said it would be an important part of her development as she would grow up to be more accepting of other people.

I cannot even begin to explain how wonderful it felt to hear words like that. We live in a world where intolerance is rampant, where people brutalise, kill and commit crimes in the name of religion. In the name of religions that themselves talk about peace, love, brotherhood and coexistence. In many parts of the world children are brain washed into hateful attitudes towards people of a particular faith. It is a shameful irony. But, apparently, like I found out today, there is hope for our kids.

So after I finished gaping at her with my mouth open, I recovered and told her that we would love to have R in our class and that she was always welcome in our home.

So R joined our wonderful class today, and I cannot stop thanking Allah for his mercy on us. All this while, here I am trying to get more Muslim kids to join our class and fretting over why the numbers don't grow fast enough. And then, POW!! Allah blesses us with an honour and responsibility beyond my wildest dreams. Alhamdulillah! I only pray that I am able to shoulder this responsibility and that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is pleased with my efforts. I pray that I am worthy of the love and trust I see in the eyes of the parents who are sending their precious little angels to our home every Sunday. Aameen!

Laundry Letters

I hope all of you had a wonderful and blessed weekend. We surely did, alhamdulillah!

Thanks to the grace and mercy of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, Sunday mornings are the highlight of our week. Gone are the lazy Sunday mornings. For the past 6 weeks, our Sundays are active and productive. Though we still try and squeeze in a relaxed and big, heavy family breakfast, post that, it's all about hurriedly cleaning up the house, showering and dressing, and getting the material ready for our class. Alhamdulillah, our class has given so much, not just to the kids who attend, but to me, to my husband, to my kids and to our family. I can think of no better way to spend quality time with my family. This 'team' effort is so precious to me that I cannot express gratitude enough to Allah for giving me this opportunity.

The kids had a fun, fun session this Sunday. It was more or less a recap session, where we just revised whatever we had learnt over the past weeks. Since, we had covered the five pillars of Islam last week, I went over them again with the kids. We sang the pillars of Islam song, but this time we stood and did it with actions. Let's face it, it's a Sunday morning and just listening to a woman talk and talk can tend to get boring. The mind is prone to wander. Especially if you are a child. So I needed to shake them up a bit and also get some action into the class. And it worked!

We resumed our recap session with energy levels magically multiplied.

We then had an interesting game called Laundry Letters. I found the game on this site where it's used for the English alphabet. There are lot of amazing resources out there which can be easily adjusted to your particular needs.

I started out by cutting out little dress shapes from different coloured chart paper.

Then I wrote an Arabic letter on each one of them.

We tied up a length of rope in the living room. Then I told the kids to hang the laundry out to dry alphabetically! :)