The Quran is filled with many stories that teach us valuable morals. It’s nice when parents can be creative and diligent in connecting the lessons and beauty of the Quran to children. In our family, we look for “teachable” moments to share and explore Quranic lessons. A few weeks ago, I had an interesting car ride…
I was driving my 5 year old son to school and he said to me, “Mom, I’m nervous about my presentation today.” I paused for a moment and wondered why he was nervous. He was excited about the animal he researched and the poster board he decorated. I wanted to say something gentle and encouraging. It was his first presentation. I knew he could be shy, and even stutter at times. At that moment, I remembered the story of our beloved Prophet Musa (ASWS).
“You Know, it’s okay to be nervous, so was Prophet Musa ( ASWS).”
“A Prophet was nervous?”
“Yes, He had to speak in front of a big king. The King ruled his people in an unkind and unfair manner. Sometimes Prophet Musa even stuttered. Sometimes, people could not understand what he was saying. Prophet Musa was very worried. He was nervous and a little scared. He knew he had to be brave in order to speak in front of the king.
My son was silent, gazing out the window and thinking. I thought perhaps I lost him. A few seconds later a meek voice perched out, “ So what did he do?”
“Do you mean Prophet Musa?” he nodded affirmatively.
“He prepared and practiced the best he could. He also did something very important. He remembered Allah SWT. He remembered that Allah always wants us to do our best and to put our trust in Him for help. He made a special dua to Allah. This dua was so special that Allah included it in the Quran. Do you want to recite the dua with me?”
“Ooookay, I’ll give it a try.”
“Oh my Lord, open my chest, and ease my task , and remove the stutter from my speech so that they may understand me.” This means, help me to be brave and confident, make things easy for me, help others to understand what I say.
We drove through another traffic light and down the steep curvy hill.
Another moment of silence.
“Do you feel any better?” I asked.
He groaned, “Being brave is a very, really hard thing to do. I wish Allah did not want me to go to school today.”
I was nervous for my son all day. I was not sure if the advice was too advanced for him. I do know that he listened and heard some of it. After school, my son smiled and said “It went well, I couldn’t read one word and Ms. Pat helped me.” I asked him, “Did you remember Allah?”
“Oops I forgot.”
InshaAllah next time…
Sharda Mohammed
Sharda Mohammed is a Canadian born mother of two young children. She has a keen interest in learning to foster leadership, self esteem and empathy in young children. She works part-time as a physical therapist.