So, we live in a roomy suburban house in Virginia.\u00a0 We have a big yard, albeit one that has sandy rocky soil that can only support moss and anthills.\u00a0 One one side we have a small forest.\u00a0 On the other,\u00a0 a sloping hollow that gathers leaves and children\u2019s toys.\u00a0 The house needs some work, and this year we may be in a position to be able to do some stuff.\u00a0 But as we talk about adding on a few bedrooms, I find myself feeling guilty about the size of my house relative to the modest abodes that so many people live in.<\/p>\n
At the moment, we have five kids scattered about.\u00a0 Our oldest has his own room, but we recently put his toddler brother\u2019s bed in there because we wanted him out of my room so he\u2019d stop trying to get into our bed at night.\u00a0 The two middle boys have another room, and our daughter still bunks in our room on a toddler mattress.\u00a0 As you can see, these sleeping arrangements are a bit haphazard.\u00a0 We finally decided to add some rooms on so our daughter could have her own room and then the three younger boys could share one larger room created by knocking down the wall between the two smaller bedrooms we currently have.\u00a0 All this is in the planning and budgeting stage now, so we\u2019re still waiting to hear how much this is going to cost.<\/p>\n
So while this planning is going on, I\u2019m thinking to myself, subhanAllah, here I am unhappy with my split-foyer home and there are people living ten to a room in places like Palestine and Sudan.\u00a0 People who would be overwhelmed by all the room we have.\u00a0 In my desire to give my kids their own rooms, am I being ungrateful?\u00a0 Should I just be content with what I have and manage the bedrooms according to what we already have?<\/p>\n
Of course, when I have a question, I look to Islam for the answer.\u00a0 There\u2019s no one \u201cright\u201d answer, and my answer might not work for another person.\u00a0 I have decided to go ahead and do the rooms.\u00a0 It is the \u201curf\u201d, the custom, in America for the kids to sleep in their own rooms and not with their parents.\u00a0 Of course this will become a bigger issue as they get older and they, and we, want to ensure our privacy.\u00a0 Our daughter of course needs to have a space of her own.\u00a0 She\u2019s the only girl so the three boys who will room together might feel it\u2019s unfair that she has a whole room to herself, but that\u2019s balanced out by the fact that she\u2019ll be dealing with four brothers for the rest of her life.<\/p>\n
If you have to live in very modest circumstances, you do the best you can with what you have.\u00a0 If Allah has blessed your legitimate, permissible income so that you have some extra, then surely there\u2019s no sin on making your home a place of tranquility and comfort for everyone living there.\u00a0 As long as we don\u2019t go overboard and put gold taps on the bathroom sink and tub I figure we\u2019re doing okay.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m looking forward to the project.\u00a0 Doing the kids\u2019 room means we can\u2019t do anything with the kitchen and dining room for a while, but I can still manage in the kitchen and once again when I compare my decent if ugly stove and pots and gadgets to some of the primitive conditions other people have, I don\u2019t have anything to complain about.\u00a0 I have a fridge, food in that fridge, and someplace warm to sit to eat in.\u00a0 I can make do with what I have.<\/p>\n
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So, we live in a roomy suburban house in Virginia.\u00a0 We have a big yard, albeit one that has sandy rocky soil that can only support moss and anthills.\u00a0 One one side we have a small forest.\u00a0 On the other,\u00a0 a sloping hollow that gathers leaves and children\u2019s toys.\u00a0 The house needs some work, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-islam-2"],"yoast_head":"\n