Bismihi Ta’ala
A Muslim home is not a place where there are only frames with Aayats of the Qur-aan, Ahaadith or Arabic inscriptions on them or a Kalimah sticker on the front of the door or some taweez’s hung up here and there. A Muslim home is really a place in which 5 times salaah takes place (by the females and males in the masjid), Nafl Namaaz take place, tilaawat (recitation) of the Qur-aan Shareef, Zikrullah, duas, muraqabah (meditation) and very importantly TA’LEEM takes place. Good Islamic characteristics are also displayed by all inhabitants of the home.
Ta’leem is of vital importance in every home for the layman or the learned, for it serves the purpose of learning & teaching and revising. By repetition one is encouraged to practice upon what has been learnt. If there is an Aalim in the house, advantage should be taken of Tafseer and Hadith lessons as well. If there is a Haafiz or a Qaari, advantage can be taken of Tajweed lessons as well.
Allah Ta’ala reminds the wives of Nabi-e-Kareem (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) of His special favours upon them that the Ayaat of the Qur-aan and Hikmah (Hadith) being recited in the house referring to Ta’leem taking place. When the wives of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) requested an increase in their allowance, they were told amongst other things to make Ta’leem, as a special favour of Allah Ta’ala upon them.
Hadhrat Umar (radiyallahu anhu) was on his way to take the life of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) when he was told that his sister had also embraced Islam. In fury, he went to his sister’s house where they were busy conducting Ta’leem. With the barakah (blessing) of this Ta’leem, Hadhrat Umar (radiyallahu anhu) was blessed with Imaan. With the barakah of Ta’leem, a person who was going to take the life of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) was blessed with Imaan and he became Khalifatul Muslimeen.
Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) himself was commanded by Allah to make dua “O Allah, increase me in knowledge” that is obviously Deeni knowledge. With regards to other knowledge, Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) made dua, “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from knowledge that does not benefit.” The school home-work is taken as a fardh, leaving no time for Deeni Ta’leem at home.”
It is narrated in a Hadith that the azaab (punishment) of Allah Ta’ala does not descend in a place where the Hadith of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) is read. SubhanAllah! By making Ta’leem in our homes, we will be saved from the azaab of Allah Ta’ala. A vacuum does not exist anywhere. If there is no Ta’leem (rahmat) of Allah Ta’ala in the house, then there will be all types of ghaflat (unmindfulness) like television, videos, newspapers, magazines, radios, phone, idle talk of dunya, etc. which all draw the azaab of Allah Ta’ala. This azaab then manifests itself in the form of the children being disobedient to their parents, and choosing the horrible ways of the west in their attitudes, dressing, speaking, etc. The azaab also manifests itself in the form of no communication between husband and wife. Many people complain that we have got everything of dunya but there is no muhabbat (love) in our home or we are earning so much but there is no barakah in our rizq. Before the end of the month, all the money is finished and many bills still have to be paid. This is yet another form of azaab of Allah Ta’ala. By having ta’leem, Deen will prevail in our homes and then, barakah and rahmah will descend in the form of love and respect between all the family members. Money will not only be sufficient, but there will always be extra as well. We will be saved from terrible diseases, accidents and problems. We will experience a life of Aafiyat (a comfortable life).
Which kitaabs to read?
A few humble suggestions to follow: – Ta’leem should be made of:
- Fazaail-e- Aamal and
- Fazaail-e-Sadaqaat
- Behishti Zewar
- A kitaab on Sunnats
- Seerat (Life of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam)
- Aadabul Muaasharat (social conduct)
- Remembrance of Death
- A miscellaneous kitaab. When one is finished, start another one.
The ta’leem should be collective – the family members preferably sitting together and let as many participants read the kitaab. Each kitaab should only be read for about 2 minutes. Beheshti Zewar and a Sunnat kitaab should be read in this way that the first day one mas’alah/ sunnat be read, which will take about 15 seconds each, the next day repeat yesterday’s lesson and read another mas’alah/sunnat, which should take about 30 seconds, the third day repeat the previous 2 day’s lessons and read a third mas’alah/sunnat. This should take about 1 minute each. The daily total Ta’leem should not be less than 10 minutes and not more than 15 minutes. Which Muslim can say that we cannot spare 10-15 minutes a day for our families with so much of benefit? We all can and we all will, Insha-Allah.
A woman who was so impressed with the ta’leem started doing Ta’leem for ± 2 hrs. Naturally the young children could not manage and started to object and rebel. So do not lengthen the collective Ta’leem – keep it at 10-15 minutes only. Yes, if you are so enthusiastic, by all means carry on individually without trampling on other’s rights.
Choose a most suitable time for Ta’leem, i.e. when it is most suitable to every individual in the family, for example perhaps before or after supper. This collective Ta’leem will have an added advantage of the family meeting and uniting together which is of vital importance. Unfortunately, the meeting of the family as a unit has become very rare today.
An ordinary person in Karachi is known as Mufti Achaar. He is not even an Aalim, forget being a Mufti. He sells achaar on a bicycle and anybody who asks him a mas’ala, he gives the answer immediately and correctly how? He reads (makes ta’leem) of 10 pages of Behishti Zewar daily! Similarly, if we will make our daily home Ta’leem punctually and with interest, we ourselves will be surprised with the goodness and the knowledge that we will acquire. People will ask where we studied and where we became Aalim’s and Aalima’s.
This Ta’leem will also serve as a great refresher for the knowledge of the Ulama. Their knowledge will remain fresh all the time.
Weekly Halqah
We should also institute a weekly halqah (group) programme in the homes. Choose a suitable time and sitting in a circle (only preferable) and one by one repeating, The Kalimahs, the entire of salaah, from Alhamdu to the end of Attahiyaat, janaazah salaah dua’s, after azaan dua, morning and evening dua’s etc. This will make everyone learn these duas, keep them refreshed and correct our mistakes.
May Allah Ta’ala make Ta’leem in our homes easy and a reality for us, Aameen. We will never be able to be grateful and thankful to Allah Ta’ala and ourselves for the great goodness and benefit gained from this Ta’leem.
