Weekly email Advice or guidance to my children.
Open letter to my children – Advise for success and life lessons to be learned & follow from the life of Ahlul Bayt the role model for you all.
Greetings from Toronto to visit my brother Gulam Khaku (Mombasa), interview couple of people and then visit my daughter in Vancouver. You can see I am becoming a nomadic traveler and keeping a journal - I enjoy it, however I have to balance between home life in Allentown, grandchildren (twins + 1) and LEPOCO peace Center, but travel remains solid! I intend to keep a journal as I have done since 2010 with my children.
It's the perfect summer, read 125 post on justice issues and encapsulates my time traveling Iraq, Iraq, Southern State, Sapelo Island and legacy museum in Montgomery, Alabama to capturing my thoughts, reflections, feelings and enjoy . Traveling has allowed me to enjoy over and over again. Hopefully I will be able to reference people and events long forgotten by my fading memory.
On Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at 04:59:59 PM EST, Mohammed Khaku <mkhaku@phoenixtube.com> wrote: Letter to my bellowed Children.
Always aim for the stars, if you miss it you will land on moon.
As you are all in the college and I have some time. I thought to jot down a few reflections and words of consul, which might be useful before your graduation, marriage, and years after my demise.
I know that it is not my responsibility to pave the road, but to provide a road map. I will occasionally on Fridays being Juma’ah will send you an email under “gift for my children”
Somehow these numerous e-mails may become a little book for publication after my demise. And you may not agree to all the quotes, advice, suggestions, and writings but the to me it is a joy of writing.
I am making all efforts of fulfilling my responsibility of nurturing my children and maybe you can pass it to your children by adding a few more poems, advice, and quotes.
To my children - In many ways you are all my advisers. Bhaijan, you being the eldest, at time I had been hard, but I wanted you to be the best, which you are. Sure, I was very busy with the building of Al Ahad Islamic Center and community affairs, I miss you many of soccer, baseball, football and referring games. I apologies!
Remember the birthday of your brothers and sisters. “Happy Birthday Aliasgher.”
Remember the death and birth anniversaries of our 14 stars - Prophets & Imams
Remember to pray on time.
Have a firm handshake, say “thank you” & “please” a lot.
Always when you meet your parent kiss the hand and hug.
(More to follow in my future emails.)
Below is the long message, future message will be very short, BUT you all must read it numerous times.
“When the eagle sprit is awakened in the youth, it sees its luminous goal beyond the starry heavens.”
“Auqabi Rooh Jab Baidar Hoti Hai Jawanon Mein Nazar Ati Hai Iss Ko Apni Manzil Asmanon Mein”
Poet Allama Iqbal
The days of your youth are the days of your glory.
Prophet Muhammad said “three things are among the sign of a man’s nobility, and they are a virtuous wife, noble children, and righteous friends.
Today we have problem children as well as problem parents. Before we label our children as problematic, just consider whether we have fulfilled our role as parents and too are not part of the problem.
Parents have a big role to play in their children’s lives. Parents and children must take ownership of their lives by seeking knowledge and each one of us should be custodian of the religion of Islam.
Mass killing and wars all around the Muslims world is unjustified. Muslim parents we need to explain this human brutality to our children and not to hide behind the historical reality of ancient hatred.
We as parents, leaders of the community and nations should tell the truth and hopefully the coming generation will create peace, justice, economic fairness, equality and uphold human rights.
The religious hatred, racism and greed are still the headlines in newspaper, magazines, electronic and social media which continue to fan fire of wars for power and greed.
Will the you my children be able to surpass the religious hatred and the lust for power and wealth to foster a global civil society based on the principle of freedom and human rights for all.
My weekly email will teach and nurture you my children to be good citizens of the world.
Parents, teachers, philosophers, civic and religious leaders have all wrestled with the question of how to raise our children morally and ethically as responsible citizens.
The task before the parents is greater: They must raise them as good Muslims, but also to train them to be a good citizen of the world and be the part of humanity.
All parents have needs and desires; however, we increasingly rely on day care, babysitting, community, and Sunday school for education.
As partners in our children’s education, we simply cannot abdicate our nurturing responsibilities to the community or Sunday school to instill ethical and moral values in our children without having role models at home.
The most difficult and demanding challenge for parents today is to how effectively we can translate our religious as well as civic obligations to our young generation.
How can parents achieve this when both parents work, burden of economic pressure, crime, violence, stressful family relationships and confusing political environment?
Therefor parents also need guidance to help them translate into daily life and all this begins at home and before the marriage. You may call it marriage counseling, but it is vital and important if we are to create a balance Ummah promoting morality and ethical values.
“Countries do not prosper except with the help of its citizens, a community does not advance without the help of its congregation and religion does not gain strength except with its followers who are the role models for others.”
“What you sow shall you reap” is an idiom very apt to child/parent relationship. Parent sometime are the problem as they find faults in their children but rarely provide solutions to the shortcoming of a child.
The children are constantly under attack from Shaytan; hence we must love them, be kind to them, advise them and always help them with their fears.
Parents need to support, encourage, and build self-esteem of the children instead of finding faults. Your child is what you make of it.
Your character and attitude will either create the monster you cannot handle, or the angle that makes you proud.
A successful child is not only achieving A’s or attaining PhD but also has the best character - ethics, and morality.
Universities, schools, and Sunday schools cannot give this to your child. It is parents who can cultivate these values.
To be continued second part of the letter - Advise for the parents and youths.