In the later part of the Quran , Allah begins to tell us in depth about The Hereafter. This is not a coincidence. 

It is as if reading the Quran is like the extent of your life. You begin with strong belief in Allah and understand His rules. 

Then you learn to implement those rules by reading about the prophets, you also learn how to return to Allah after breaking some of these commandments, as we all make mistakes. 

And then your life comes to an end and you are awaken by The Hereafter 

But as long as breath remains , you must restart again and your heart will be revitalized for the process again. This time knowing the outcome you will follow the commandments with more importance. And the cycle continues. 

Almost as if reciting the Quran again is the second life you got , when asking Allah for another chance. 

#MASRamadan2020
#Night24

In Surah Saaffat verses 83-109 contrast how Prophet Ibrahim AS was treated by his father and how Ibrahim AS as a father dealt with his son.

The elders are vexed by Ibrahim AS incessant preaching of one God and desire to keep worshiping idols. 

This reminds me of generational differences and also generational trauma due to ungodly, ill informed elder-youth relations. In particular, the father - son relationship. Many young Muslim men today have an overly formal and awkward relationship with their father rendering them unable to truly exert their manhood because they've had their wings clipped from a lifetime of being berated. And you wonder how much we need to reflect and understand what the purpose of our parent-child relationship is in light of how Ibrahim AS interacts with Ismail AS. 

Often young people face a lot of restrictions and resistance from the elder generation when it comes to implementing something new. From everything to choosing a profession which is not in line with what the elders perceive as status worthy to marrying outside of the village the elders hail from to even mundane things such as unreal expectations of how much food needs to be cooked when entertaining guests.

And though our elders aren't telling us to worship idols, the manner in which they dismiss some of our ideas is not very different to how young Ibrahim AS is dismissed. 

We contrast this with how Ibrahim AS prays for righteous children, works with his son, builds Allah's house together with his son, consults with him and treats him with respect. 

This reminds me of how today, there is so much focus on conscious parenting, mainly to undo elements of the rough parenting that many of us may have received. But not only that, some elders still laugh at this generation saying we may be overdoing how much attention we give to our children (snowflakes etc). They may mock parenting courses and classes and dismiss any suggestions of therapy or addressing generational trauma. And perhaps in some areas they have a point whereby now we have an overload of parenting consultants on every single innocuous thing.  Of course, this can drive us to the other extreme of forgetting tawakkul and believing that unless we follow X routine promoted by X parenting influencer, our child is destined for failure.

But what I found very inspiring about these verses is that, Islam has always cut through the extremes in every single generation and cuts through the garbage. Islam preaches the middle path, always, and firstly teaches us how to be the best slaves to Allah. By putting Allah first always, we have to train and teach and discipline our character traits in line with what earns Allah's pleasure. 

Whilst some in the older generation may gawp at fathers in this generation today and how they change nappies and do childcare and feed their children and stay at home with them without the mum present - I am reminded by this beautiful interaction between Ibrahim and Ismail AS. And that perhaps, as flawed as we all are, are perhaps moving more in line with Abrahamic ways of fathering/parenting than the previous generation - but must ground and center that move with taqwa and tawakkul.

We shouldn't seek to emulate how Ibrahim AS was treated by his elders but rather seek to emulate how Ibrahim AS broke the trend and treated his young son with ihsan, fisabililAllah.

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V83-109
Verily among those who followed his Way was Abraham.
Behold! he approached his Lord with a sound heart.
Behold! he said to his father and to his people, 'What is that which ye worship?
'Is it a falsehood- gods other than Allah- that ye desire?
'Then what is your idea about the Lord of the worlds?'
Then did he cast a glance at the Stars.
And he said, 'I am indeed sick (at heart)!'
So they turned away from him, and departed.
Then did he turn to their gods and said, 'will ye not eat (of the offerings before you)?...
'What is the matter with you that ye speak not (intelligently)?'
Then did he turn upon them, striking (them) with the right hand.
Then came (the worshippers) with hurried steps, and faced (him).
He said: 'Worship ye that which ye have (yourselves) carved?
'But Allah has created you and your handwork!'
They said, 'Build him a furnace, and throw him into the blazing fire!'
(This failing), they then sought a stratagem against him, but We made them the ones most humiliated!
He said: 'I will go to my Lord! He will surely guide me!
'O my Lord! Grant me a righteous (son)!'
So We gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear.
Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: 'O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view!' (The son) said: 'O my father! Do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if Allah so wills one practising Patience and Constancy!'
So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice),
We called out to him 'O Abraham!
'Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!' - thus indeed do We reward those who do right.
For this was obviously a trial-
And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:
And We left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times:
'Peace and salutation to Abraham!'

#Parenting

Allahumabarik! Beautifully written. I really value this reflection as someone with that type of mother-daughter relationship, and I like how you pointed out Islam preaches the middle path, always.
