Rising Star
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Jummah Mubarak Fam ☪️💚
Jummah Mubarak Fam! 💚
How seriously do you all take evil eye / Nazr?
Jummah Mubarak Fam ☪️💚
Chief
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Wow. How did we get here ? You are questioning the obligations set by Allah? Fasting is a means for expiation of sins , nourishment for our soul , getting connected with the creator and also benefits the body. We should be grateful that Allah has blessed us with the Islam.
I am sorry I misunderstood. Yes , some of it you mentioned. You can also take them to iftar programs at mosques, give them presents on its arrival and ofcourse decorate the house . Perhaps, make a designated prayer area for Ramadan. You can aslo read from the books of Ahadith for 10 mins daily in which you try to instill the love of Allah and his prophet (s.a.w) in their hearts and read description of heaven as well as focus on the purpose and rewards of fasting. Iftar parties for kids can also be organized. You can also make their favorite dishes for iftar on a regular basis. Then , you can go for shopping for Eid and give them gifts on Eid as well. I definitely looked forward to Ramadan as a kid every year . We should try to make it special as you mentioned so they look forward to it every year.
Pro
Approach it with a focus on the message of love, compassion and mercy that Islam teaches.
Not the distorted messages of fear, intimidation and threats of retribution that were expressed in another post.
Bowl Leader
Great question, OP. Thank you for asking! I understand the struggle to make it enticing when it’s not a traditional (in the western world) holiday or occasion. When we were younger, my parents modeled good behavior and made fasting feel like a special privilege. We also made sure to eat iftar together, read maghrib together, and made it an occasion. There was always a treat and lassi on the table. We also went to tarawih together at the masjid. On eid, my family threw a big party for all of our family and friends in the area. My parents modeled always taking the day off and committing to having fun with us. To this day, I refuse to miss an opportunity to spend at Eid at home.
The way I approach Ramadan is that I recognize it for what it is and my ability to even be able to participate.
-I’m healthy enough to do so.
-I have food waiting for me at night with no worries.
-I can control my own desires and urges.
-it’s my choice to do so.
-true empathy for why we do it.
-family and friends to spend the month and iftars with.
I’m young enough to remember my childhood and it was the fact that everyone around me was fasting that made me want to do it to. I didn’t want to be left out.
I’m usually not a community person but in this case I think it helps. Especially if you create the festive mood during Ramadan and not only at eid
Fasting is not a holiday, so to compare it is such would not be helpful. As for me, I won't force my children to participate until they are old enough to understand the significance of fasting.
Rising Star
Agreed. Ramadan is not a holiday, but we need to make Ramadan more exciting for the kids - something they look forward too! I mean we do call Eid our Christmas, so maybe having Christmas type decorations isn’t too far fetched? Get the motions right, sooner or later the true essence will eventually flow through, iA!
My kids look forward to ramadan because I had been telling them stories of a blessed month and they had watched episodes about it on TV shows ( Omar &Hane and One4Kids). Although they are too young to fast, they spent the first few hours of every day on self imposed fast , they also make excuses to get dates at every meal because the are supposedly breaking their fast🤦🏾♀️
They also look forward to eid to sing the takbeer, eid songs and go around to share gifts with the neighbour
We live in England and most of our neighbours houses are decorated for Halloween, Christmas etc all. We always put up eid decorations so when the neighbours one goes up, they we don't celebrate Christmas, but we'll have Eid soon. Their minder is amazing although not muslim she makes sure to do eid related activities with them and the other kids.
It's also important to teach them to respect other people's holidays so I tell them why people celebrate the other holidays and how to respect their holidays