In my own world

Well… i actually loved today’s khutbah. It was just another reminder…that manners mean everything in Islam. The sunnah we so closely try to follow is all about manners. All of Prophet’s actions, and words were all about extremely good behavior…kindness, charity, how to treat elderly, your parents, your kids, your neighbors. If you don’t show good manners, praying 5 times a day won’t take you anywhere. Respect and good behavior is KEY to being a good muslim. Speak to people kindly, show patience, give charity, hold a door open, bring someone water, don’t raise your voice with your parents, talk nicely with your grandparents, help your neighbors, show love to your siblings, and listen to your friends….these are a part of MUSLIM characteristics that we shall instill within ourselves, and our children, these are the things the Prophet taught us to do…without which we are nothing. 

If we cannot follow the simple Sunnahs, we won’t be able to teach the generation after us anything, and we’re letting both Allah (swt) and the Prophet down. The imam encouraged us that whenever our children do something RIGHT, we shall praise them by saying, “that is something the Prophet would approve of, or did”, and when they do something wrong, we shall discourage their behavior by pointing out that our Prophet would disapprove of such actions/behavior. This will slowly instill some respect within for the Prophet, as well admiration, and a need to follow his Sunnah. Although I don’t have kids, we have plenty lil ones in the family, and you don’t need to be a “parent” to do parenting…or teach a child something valuable. I hope to start pushing the lil ones into some simple Sunnah Insh Allah.