\u201cIf you are talking to your children about the demonstrations in Egypt, how are\u00a0you going about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe in discussing politics and world affairs with our children. If we want to raise children who are not only God conscious, but are also active and passionate about social justice and reform, then I think we best engage them. We should definitely be conscious of the child\u2019s age and level of maturity and address our children depending on their stage of development.\u00a0 With the current affairs, when I told my 5-year-old that the Tunisian President fled the country, she laughed. I think she got it\u2014sort of. I attempted to brief my kids on the situation in Egypt and prepped them for a demonstration that we were to attend the next day.\u00a0 I explained to her why we were demonstrating here in the United States, so many miles away. We talked about the different messages we wanted to send to our President, Mr.Obama, and together we came up with the words on our poster that she wrote in.<\/p>\n
My kids were taken aback when we first arrived to the demonstration; they were in shock and in awe.\u00a0 My 5-year-old didn\u2019t want to hold the poster at first as she took in the scene of people marching and chanting. I took the time to explain every word they were saying and soon enough, she asked for the poster and we all joined in.\u00a0 We even got a chance to discuss why some protestors were chanting in Arabic (our first language) and how it didn\u2019t make sense to do so in a protest in the United States.\u00a0 So together we decided to refrain from repeating the Arabic words and focused on getting the message across in English, the language of our country, the United States.<\/p>\n
The process was very important to me. I probably made mistakes\u2014I know I did, but I also know that they\u2019re mistakes I will learn from and will help me the next time I need to address another important and relevant issue, God willing.\u00a0 I want my children to fully understand and live by the hadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him, \u201cWhoever amongst you sees anything objectionable, let him change it with his hand, if he is not able, then with his tongue, and if he is not even able to do so, then with his heart, and the latter is the weakest form of faith\u201d\u2014and so at the end of our brief discussion we raised our hands together in Dua\u2019a that Allah brings victory to the people of Egypt, Tunisia and everywhere around the world.\u201d\u00a0Submitted by K.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the recent events in Egypt unfolded, I wasn\u2019t initially thinking of how I would talk to my 7-year-old daughter about it; I was more focused on the situation itself. It wasn\u2019t long, however, before she started asking questions. My husband and I, after all, were completely glued to all the media sources from al-Jazeera to facebook. There was a brief moment when I wondered how I should handle her inquiries, and then quickly decided that I would just be completely honest with her. I gave her the history and explained to her why these events are happening, and she responded with great interest and more questions. She learned many new words such as \u201cdictator,\u201d \u201coppression,\u201d and \u201cpoverty.\u201d<\/p>\n
On one of our homeschooling days, I decided she could forgo all of her typical school work, and just follow the news along with me. I know that the experience of following real world events would be far more beneficial to her understanding of the world and of people. I also remembered that the duaa of children are more likely to be answered so I\u2019ve asked her and remind her to continuously supplicate for all those who are oppressed and suffering. We are also planning on writing letters to President Obama, asking him for\u00a0\u00a0his\u00a0\u00a0support.\u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0\u00a0will, insha\u2019Allah, continue to keep her involved and updated, honestly and openly.\u201d\u00a0Submitted by H.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/em>In addition to the above suggestions MAS Tarbiya Lighthouse Team released one of its episodes on current events. \u00a0There are many discussion points on the video\u00a0and the blog\u00a0that\u00a0could be used with children. In addition, they are asking\u00a0everyone to submit their personal reflections\u2026..or drawings.:) <\/em><\/p>\n\u2013 The Egyptian Uprising-100 Reflections<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nusayba (5) draws her feelings about the protests in Egypt. This week, we asked two of our GrowMamas\u00a0this question: \u201cIf you are talking to your children about the demonstrations in Egypt, how are\u00a0you going about it?\u201d Here are their responses: \u201cI believe in discussing politics and world affairs with our children. If we want to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1573,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[198,286,364,497,630,830,988,1225],"class_list":["post-1354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-growmama-roundup","tag-children","tag-current-events","tag-egypt-revolution","tag-growmama-round-up","tag-islamic-parenting","tag-muslim-moms","tag-protest","tag-struggle"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n