Planning for Success: Ramadhaan 1436

Bismillah wa assalaamu alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

For major events in life, we usually make plans so that they will be a success. Well the "Month of the Year" is coming up, a month that can turn hearts, set lives in order or back on track, repair broken connections with our Creator, and be an expiation for all that has gone before it. Ramadhaan deserves planning - planning for success!

Something I find very beneficial in Ramadhaan is to have a study plan, or lessons, that fit the month -
30 days:30 lessons. Here are some suggestions for your Ramadhaan study plan.


SISTERS ONLY CLASSES: Making the most of Ramadhaan and The Qur'aan: A Light and a Mercy

This 29-day course consists of two daily classes during Ramadhaan:
Making the Most of Ramadhaan:
Using the book Fasting from Alif to Yaa, compiled by Umm Mujaahid, Khadijah bin Lacina Al Amreekiyyah, and
Sittings during the Blessed Month of Ramadan By Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Saalih Al-Uthaymeen
The Qur'aan: A Light and Mercy:
This interactive class will cover a Surah a day from the Surahs of Juz Amma as well as Suratul-Fatiha. It will include: Tafseer, rules of Tajweed and evaluation of recitation, tips on memorization and review, the importance and benefits of learning and reciting the Qur'aan, especially within the month of Ramdhaan, and much more.

Disciplining the Soul by Ibn Jawzi, raheemahullah. This is truly a self-help/self-improvement book for Muslims, maashaa Allah, with 30 short, life-changing chapters. We have recently read it as part of our Islamic Studies curriculum, so we are not including it in our Ramadhaan study plan, but it is something I plan to revisit yearly bi idhn Illah, ta'ala either in Ramadhaan or in preparation the month.

Shk Uthaymeen's Daily Sittings in Ramadhaan
We did these for 3 or 4 Ramadhaans in a row, maashaa Allah, and they are wonderful!

Bitesize Articles 2011
Short lessons for each day of Ramadhaan by Abbas Yahya, found on Al Miraath Publications website.

Bitesize Articles 2013
A different set of short lessons for Ramadhaan by Abbas Yahya, found on Al Miraath Publications.

Our family will be having a very international Ramadhaan, bi idhn Illah ta'ala, with the first week spent in Madinah, the second in Makkah, the third England, and the last traveling across the USA from Washington DC to New Mexico inshaa Allah. We are planning a course of study that can be done on the road, on the run, offline, and pretty much wherever we find ourselves. This year, we are focusing on tafseer of the Qur'aan. We seek greater understanding and connection with Allah's perfect words. What more appropriate time to do that than the month the Qur'aan was revealed?

We have found some wonderful technology to assist us, an application called Quran Tafsir Pro. This application has the Qur'aan ayah by ayah by a huge range of qaaris, including Ibrahim al Akhdar, the qaari we learn our recitation from exclusively. It also has the translation, and at one touch, the tafsir of each ayah. Not only that, but it has an ayah test and random ayah test feature where you are shown an ayah and have to chose the translation/meaning of each word and are scored at the end. On the touch of a word it will give you the grammatical information about it, maashaa Allah. Now that's beneficial entertainment we can all happily indulge in bi idhn Illah ta'ala! And lastly in my promo for this application (ha ha ha!), it has a feature where you can see the du'a from the Qur'aan - beautiful, wal hamdul'Illahi Rabbil aal ameen!

We will be tapping in to Umm Mujaahid's class, Making the Most of Ramadhaan whenever we can inshaa Allah. We are also planning to use the interactive Qur'aanic Arabic Quiz Programme, www.80percentwords.com These things, along with our goal to complete the recitation of the complete Qur'aan over the month, will be our plan for Ramadhaan 1436 bi idhn Illah ta'ala.

We seek Allah's success for our family, your family, and our whole ummah in reaching and exceeding our goals this  Ramadhaan - ameen!

Subhaanaka wa bihamdika laa ilaaha ilaa ant, astaghfirukah wa atoobu ilayk.

Self Development: Developing Love for Allah

We are working on our hearts and setting up disciplines and practices that will replace any negative things occupying our hearts with positive ones that will develop our love for Allah, subhaana wa ta'ala. We read the following and then did an exercise.

Developing Love for Allah

By Imaam Ibnul Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (d.751H)
 

Ibnul Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (rahimahullaah) said:

"People have discussed about mahabbah (love of Allaah); its causes and what brings it about, its signs and its fruits and its rulings. The most comprehensive saying about this is what Abu Bakr al-Kattaanee (rahimahullaah) relates about al-Junayd (d.279H).

Abu Bakr al-Kattaanee (d.322H) said:

"A discussion about mahabbah took place in Makkah during the Pilgrimage month. The Shaykhs who were present spoke about this matter and al-Junayd was the youngest of them. They said to him: O 'Iraaqee, what do you have to say? So he bowed his head and tears were flowing from his eyes and he said:

"A servant should overcome his soul;

And be continuous in the remembrance of his Lord;

Establishing the Rights of his Lord;

Focusing upon Him with his heart;

The late of fear setting a blaze upon his heart;

Whilst drinking from the vessel of true love;

And certain realities become unveiled to him;

So when he talks, it is due to Allaah;

When he speaks, it is from Allaah;

When he moves, it is by the command of Allaah;

And when he is serene, then it is from Allaah;

He belongs to Allaah, is for Allaah, and is with Allaah."

So the shaykhs began to weep and said: How can that be increased upon? May Allaah reward you with good, O crown of the knowledgeable ones!" [1]

Imaam Ibnul Qayyim (rahimahullaah) further said:

"The reason which cause the mahabbah (love of Allaah) to develop are ten:

Firstly: Reciting the Qur`aan, reflecting upon it and understanding its meanings.

Secondly: Drawing closer to Allaah through the performance of optional deeds, after fulfilling the obligatory deeds.

Thirdly: Being continuous in the dhikr (remembrance) of Allaah - in all circumstances - with the tongue, the heart and the limbs. The more constant the dhikr, the more mahabbah intensifies.

Fourthly: Giving precedence to what Allaah loves - when being overcome with desires - over what one personally loves and desires.

Fifthly: Causing the heart to contemplate over the Names and Attributes of Allaah. Being a witness to what they necessitate and causing the heart to be enlightened in the garden of this realisation.

Sixthly: Witnessing the blessing and the favours of Allaah; the apparent and the hidden.

Seventhly: Subduing the heart and humbling it before Allaah, causing it to be in awe of Him.

Eighthly: Being in seclusion during the time in which Allaah descends to the lowest Heaven; reciting the Qur`aan, and finishing this recitation with seeking Allaah's forgiveness and sincerely repenting to Him.

Ninthly: Sitting in the gatherings of the sincere and true lovers of Allaah; reaping the benefits of their teachings, and not speaking except when you know there is benefit in doing so and that such speech will increase you in good and benefit others as well.

Tenthly: Keeping clear from all those matters which will cause the heart to distance itself from Allaah - the Mighty and Majestic.

So these are ten matters which cause the lover to reach the station of true love for Allaah, so that he may then reach Allaah - his Beloved." [2]

Footnotes:

[1] Madaarijus-Saalikeen (3/9)

[2] Madaarijus-Saalikeen (3/17-18)

Self Development Exercise:

Make a beautiful little summarized reminder of these 10 points - either on an index card, bookmark, daily event on your phone, poster on the fridge, etc. - that will serve as a checklist on a DAILY basis. Use this as a reminder every day to include these things in your day and keep your whole day busy with something from them, trying to cover each thing on the list. 

This is a practical way to occupy your heart with Allah and all that He loves, and bring true happiness to yourself bi idhn Illah, ta'ala.

Self Development: Occupation of the Heart

We read this gem in our hadeeth class, and did a self development exercise afterwards.

An Occupied Space cannot Contain two Opposites

By Imaam Ibnul-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (d.751H)

A beautiful example of the contents of the Heart by the great scholar, Imaam Ibnul-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah.

It is better for your mouths to be full of pus until it makes it go bad than to be full of poetry.

For a space to accept what is being put in it, it has to be emptied of the opposite. The same way this is relevant with individuals and objects, it is also true for beliefs and wills. So, if the heart is occupied with loving and believing in falsehood, then it has no space for loving and accepting the truth. Just like if a tongue is busy uttering what does not have benefit, then its owner will not be able to utter what has benefit for him except if he stops talking about what is useless. Also if the different body parts are busy doing what is not obedience then it is not possible to keep them occupied in doing what is obedience except if he (the owner) frees them of the opposite. In the same way, a heart full of loving other than Allaah, wanting him, longing to meet him, and enjoying his company cannot be occupied with love for Allaah, wanting Him, longing to meet Him except by emptying it (the heart) from attachment to anything other than Him (Allaah). And the tongue cannot move to remember Him nor can the body parts move to His service except if he (the owner) frees them from mentioning and servicing other than Him. So if the heart is full of occupation with creation and sciences that do not have benefit then there is no space for being occupied with Allaah and knowing His Names, Attributes, Laws. And the secret of that is that the Isghaa (listening in concentration) of the heart is like the Isghaa (listening in concentration) of the ears, so if he listens to other than the Hadeeth (meaning speech , words, subject) of Allaah, then there will be no room to listen to or understand the Hadeeth of Allaah. Just like if he is inclined in love towards other than Allaah then he would have no room to incline in love towards Allaah. If the heart utters other than the remembrance of Allaah then it will not have any space to utter His remembrance by using the tongue. And that is why we find in an authentic narration from the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam):

"It is better for your mouths to be full of pus until it makes it go bad than to be full of poetry." [1]

So he made it clear that a mouth can be full of poetry and therefore it also becomes full of doubts, fictions and unexisting measures. Also the sciences that have no benefit, jokes, comedies, stories and so on. If the heart is full of that, then when the truths of the Qur`aan, and the sciences that can make it experience its full function and happiness, come to him, it will not find any space for itself and no acceptance (from it), so it bypasses it (the heart) and moves to another place. If you give advice to a heart full of its opposite, it will not find a way in and (the heart) will not accept it. It does not enter inside but it only passes by briefly and not from the inside. That is why it was said:

"Clean your heart from other than Us , and you will find Us

For our Highness is compatible with every clean heart

And patience is a chest for the treasure of being associated with Us

He who makes the chest compatible wins its treasure."

Footnotes:

[1] Narrated by Sa'ad Ibn Abee Waqqaas in Saheeh Muslim, Kitaabush Shi'ir (Book of poetry) (27/5610).

source: Troid.ca

Self development exercise:

What Occupies your Heart?

List the beneficial and the harmful things that occupy your heart. 

After listing the things occupying your heart, consider what needs to be evicted (kicked out) and what needs to be brought in, in order to make your heart clean and a source of happiness for you.

What we're reading in May 2015

We are reading The Fallacy Detective, as a series of lessons on how to recognize bad reasoning. It is valuable and eye-opening for adults and older children alike, maashaa Allah. Even though we are only on lesson 10, it has everyone going around recognizing red herrings, ad hominems, appeals to false authorities, etc. in each other and in the media. This is a book that will expose invalid excuse makers and enable them to see their own errors bi idhn Illah, ta'ala.



In addition, with it's wide variety of answers to modern issues relating to women and family matters, our girls have been avidly reading/re-reading A Treatise on Hijab.

Self Development: How to help ME!

Indeed he succeeds who purifies his ownself (i.e. obeys and performs all that Allah ordered, by following the true Faith of Islamic Monotheism and by doing righteous good deeds).

And indeed he fails who corrupts his ownself (i.e. disobeys what Allah has ordered by rejecting the true Faith of Islamic Monotheism or by following polytheism, etc. or by doing every kind of evil wicked deeds).

A Muslim understands that happiness and success in this life and the next is dependent on the extent that he disciplines, trains, purifies, and improves himself. The following assignment, part of our Usool ud-Deen class, is based on the above ayaat from Surat-ush-Shams.

How to Help ME!

Come up with a plan to refine, purify, and cleanse your soul. It must include strategies for:

- Repentance, which means to stop all sins and acts of disobedience, with sorrow and regret for them and a resolution never to return to them.

- Watchfulness, where you make yourself aware that you are being watched by Allah and develop your awareness in your actions and thoughts.

- Taking Account, where you think about yourself and your actions, monitor your deeds, find ways to increase awareness of where your deeds will be recorded, and ways to improve your account bi idhn Illah ta'ala.

- Struggling and striving against yourself, realizing that by finding strategies to troubleshoot your weaknesses, course correct your bad habits, and fight your harmful desires.

Self Development: MyTrue Intentions

Following a lesson on the hadith, "Actions are by intentions," the blog post Be Real with Yourself was read and an essay was assigned as follows:

My True Intentions

Introduction: Give the proof you know about actions being rewarded as per the intention and any relevant explanation.

Paragraphs 1-3: Give three examples of incidents when your actions weren't in accordance with your intention; be honest.

Conclusion: What have you learned and what strategies might you use to align your actions with good intentions in the future?

Self Discovery Exercise through Poetry

I am  (2 traits that describe you)
I wonder if  (what do you wonder?)
I hear (what sounds fill your ears?)
I see (what visions fill your head?)
I want (what desires fuel your actions?)
I dream (what might your dream?)
I worry (what bothers you?)
I feel (what do you feel?)
I am (2 different traits that describe you)

You can see my completed poem over at Mai to the Extreme in the post, Looking Inward...

Parenting: Answering a Reader's Question

"How do you and your family memorize specific ayat or hadith, then encourage each other to implement it? Also how do you handle those in household who refuse to implement the guidance or make excuses about them not wanting to change their character to be more like the believer? I don't want to be a dictator, but I want improvement in our characters so we can be of those who Allah loves."

Before I answer the first and second parts of the question, I must address the last sentence. Allah has put us in authority over our children, over our families, those in our care or guardianship. Allah has told us to save ourselves and our families from the fire (Surah at Tahreem). Allah has put obedience to and good treatment of parents right up there in the same sentence as tawheed! It is second only to tawheed, if looked at from that perspective. In fact, in being teamed with tawheed in the Qur'aan, the two become contingent on each other, with tawheed not being perfected without obedience to parents and vice versa. Subhaan Allah, it is the first subject to be covered in Adab ul Mufrad - the book of Manners by Imam Al Bukhaaree, raheemahUllah! So, my husband and I ARE dictators in our household. We are in authority over our children and we are responsible for their tarbiyyah - upbringing, education, practice, and correction. Even when they are teenagers or young adults, we continue to be responsible. We will answer to Allah for it, and we will do our best to enforce it.

As for memorizing ayaat and hadith and then encouraging each other to implement them, I remind and make connections ad nauseum. I mean, I feel like I should make recordings of my reminders, I have to say them so often. However, every time I remind, I have enjoined the good - improved my emaan and every time I forbid a wrong, I have fulfilled my duty to my fellow Muslim as per Allah and His Messenger's command. I have no qualms whatsoever about continuing on my path, even though I might be construed as Mean and Monstrous Mama Mai!  I have written about the reminders from the Qur'aan in Theme Ayah and Ayah of the Moment. Also about reminding and guiding in The Bad Guy-ette. When it comes to teaching them, I also involve them in lessons and their application to bring about a greater understanding and appreciation of my role as a parent, which you can read about in Parenting Audit. Also about setting examples in How our Children help our Islam and also in If you can't make it, Fake it.

For those difficult cases, we are straight talkers. There is no vague suggestion or warning look, but simply clear statements that their behavior is displeasing to Allah and therefore unacceptable to us. Over the years, I've learned various things about discipline, one of which was This Epiphany. When those behaviors are persisted upon, and as we have other children who are influenced by such behavior, they are at times put under a gag order, not permitted to speak to their siblings until an improvement is seen. We have even exiled older children to their rooms for periods of up to one month as part of their rectification program.I wrote about our discipline system on Parenting without Punishment. In Islamic terms, such punishments are called at-ta'zeer, which is to discipline by beating, scolding, shunning, or expelling and is considered obligatory for every sin for which Islamic Legislation has not stipulated a Hadd or an expiation. It is done to educate, refine, and discipline.

And, lastly, remember that our first port of call should be The Parenting Help Hotline.
Dua' is the most powerful ally of the believer and the dua' of a parent for their children is one of the most powerful. I recommend My Mothering Dua' and some Golden Rules for Mothers.

Mothering is such a big issue that I wrote a poem about it, LOL!

A mother's tears are never for transitory things; they are not worth misery or heartache.
A mother's tears are for the souls she bears the responsibility of raising for Allah's Pleasure.
A mother's tears have names written on them.
That is what makes her a mother.
That is why Jennah lies at her feet.

What we're reading in January 2015

In avoiding fiction books for our children, we struggled when it came to phonics books, early readers, and simple chapter books. However, Allah opens every door for the believer in good, and we found these over the summer, maashaa Allah.

This Floppy Phonics Fact Collection is both interesting and educational. There is a parents book along with the set and each book has two parts, including projects and fun activities.





In addition, we bought the Wonderwise Collection of 20 books, another non-fiction set that is geared for 5+ years, but maashaa Allah, our 2 year-old carries the books around from both sets and looks through them himself, identifying things and commenting when he isn't being read to.






We have recently found that Oxford Reading Tree does a Treetops Non-Fiction series of graded readers for higher levels up to stage 15 or above, which will inshaa Allah, give us a much wider range of books for advanced reading.

Once children are well established readers, there are many lovely books to be found that are non-fiction or based on true stories. One set we are looking at is this:

Hopefully, this will help others who want to raise avid readers with entertaining books that are the truth! 

My Blessings, My Voice

"My Blessings" poster by our 11-year-old daughter (maashaa Allah)

It is easy to turn a lesson into an assessment and child-centered form of expression. For example, when covering our adab with Allah, the children were given free reign to do a poster on their blessings. This was fun for them, maashaa Allah, but also was an excellent way to gauge their thinking and development. Each year they will be given a similar assignment, perhaps expressed in a different form, inshaa Allah. In this way, we can see how their understanding develops and deepens with education, age, and exposure bi idhn Illah.

My Blessings poster by our 8 year old daughter, maashaa Allah.

We have also done infographic-style posters to remind about different aspects of etiquette and manners, al hamdu'Illah. It isn't about the children just repeating what they heard in the lesson; it's about them internalizing it and making it their own. How do they understand the manners for sitting in class? What strategies do they think might work to include the Qur'aan more in their lives?

Another way of encouraging many beautiful and positive forms of expression, is through a blog. We set up a blog, originally for the girls in a monthly book club we hosted, that has now become our children's. They include a variety of things on the blog, and it is a wonderful way to encourage them to write. Although still in it's infancy, you can view their blog here: Little Women on the Prairie

Small but Lofty: Additions to our homeschooling schedule.

Our homeschooling curriculum is always evolving to improve and provide the framework and content for excellence in Islaam. We are developing it, not only for our own children, but as a prototype for other families.We seek Allah's Guidance and Aid for success in this - ameen!

We have added ten precious minutes to our daily schedule: 5 minutes for Salat ad-Dhuha before classes start in the morning followed by another 5 minutes for a daily ta'aboor (assembly) in which one of the students does a 5 minute presentation of an ayah or hadith of their choosing, telling why they chose it and it's significance to them. It is done on a rotation basis so everyone gets a chance to present regularly. This builds up their confidence in speaking, communicating ideas, and encourages them to identify the personal connections they make. They also have the added reward of sharing/teaching good - something huge in itself maashaa Allah!

The Healing Earth Family Cemetery

Another thing taken care of over the summer was the designation, zoning, and permission to have a private cemetery on our land. This, by the Mercy of Allah, was an extremely easy thing to do. We now have an area of between a half to one acre plot which will be used as a family cemetery, al hamdul'Illah.

It is part of our compulsory learning to know how to prepare, bury, and pray for a Muslim - males and females. This will also end up being the subject matter of yearly workshops to teach others, thus ensuring that we are prepared when someone dies,  inshaa Allah.

Inna l'Illahi wa inna ilayhi raaji'oon - We come from Allah, and to Him we return!

Our New Schedule

Everything we do is, in some way, training for this life and the Next. We have changed our daily schedule for this school year, in order to prepare ourselves for the daily structure we will have when we return to Healing Earth next summer, inshaa Allah. We will have to stay up after fajr prayer to feed and milk the animals, our school day will be split up to ensure the the focal point - Islamic education - has greater weight, and the times are conducive to the milking and farm chores.

To get everyone's internal clock  adjusted, we all stay up after fajr prayer and walk to a local park. There are three within a 10 to 20 minute walk from our building. There, the children have a chance to play while we catch up on our reading. The school schedule is five days a week, but Arabic and Qur'aan are every day of the week, as they must be an integral part of our everyday life.

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
5:30 – 6:45 a.m.	Walk to Park  (children play & parents read)	Walk to Park	Walk to Park	Walk to Park	Walk to Park	Walk to Park	Walk to Park
7:00 – 8:00	Shower & Breakfast	Shower & Breakfast	Shower & Breakfast	Shower & Breakfast	Shower & Breakfast	Ghusl & Breakfast	Shower & Breakfast
8:00 – 9:00	Arabic Lesson	Arabic Lesson	Arabic Lesson	Arabic Lesson	Arabic Lesson	Arabic Lesson	Arabic Lesson
9:10 – 9:55	Qur’aan & Tajweed	Qur’aan & Tajweed	Qur’aan & Tajweed	Qur’aan & Tajweed	Qur’aan & Tajweed	Qur’aan & Tajweed	Qur’aan & Tajweed
10:00 – 10:45	Hadeeth	Hadeeth	Hadeeth	Hadeeth	Hadeeth
10:55 – 11:40	Usool-ud-Deen	Usool-ud-Deen	Usool-ud-Deen	Usool-ud-Deen	Usool-ud-Deen
11:50 a.m. – 1:50	Break time to include lunch and salaat.	Break time	Break time	Break time	Break time
2:00 – 2:45		English	English	English	English
2:55 – 3:40		Math	Math	Math	Math
3:50 – 4:30		Science	Social Studies	Science	Social Studies