The story of Thawban, a sahabah of Nabi Muhammad (SAW)

A recording of my voice narrating a story that I have rewritten in simplified form about the case of Thawban for Taufik and Inaaya. MP3 file. Written in a rush, with no time to edit, the writing contains some grammatical and errors and the recording is far from perfect. But here it is anyway.

Thawban, the Sahabah of Nabi Muhammad.

This is a story about a sahabah of Nabi Muhammad, whose name was Thawban. Do you know what ‘sahabah’ means? It means ‘best friend’. I’m sure you have got at least one best friend. Now, Nabi Muhammad (SAW) had several best friends and we call them ‘sahabah’.

Thawban, was one of Nabi Muhammad ‘s (SAW) sahabah. He was always by Nabi Muhammad’s side. He loved Nabi Muhammad so deeply that he could not bear to be apart from him. Day and night Thawban would follow Nabi Muhammd wherever he went. When he went to the market, Thawban followed. When he went to the masjid, Thawban followed. Just about everywhere Nabi Muhammad was, you would also see Thawban.

Sometimes Thawban could not be with Nabi Muhammad, perhaps he had woken up later than usual. Or he had been sick and could not get out of bed. When this happened Thawban would be filled with sadness because he would be missing Nabi Muhammad ever so much.

One day, Nabi Muhammad saw Thawban in a very sad mood. He looked weak, tired and so sad. Nabi Muhammad asked him, “O’ Thawban, what has happened to you?” Thawban replied, “O Messenger of Allah, Nabi Muhammad! I am not ill nor do I have any pain. But I am worried that I might be far from you when you are in Jannah. And I shall miss you very much if this happens. You will be far from me O’ Nabi Muhammad, because you are going to be in the very best part of Jannah. And I might not be able to see you again.”

Isn’t it incredible how much Thawban loved Nabi Muhammad? Even though he might be in Jannah, which is the best thing that a Muslim could ask for, but still he was going to be sad if he was to be far from Nabi Muhammad.

Allah (SWT) who is ever watchful and ever knowing, and who loves good Muslims like Thawban, sent down a command. You can read this command in the Qur’an, where Allah (SWT) says, “And those who obeys Allah and the Messenger, and they will be in the company of those on whom Allah has bestowed His Grace, of the Prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous. And how excellent these companions are!” Noble Qur’an (4:69)

This means that if you do good in your life. That you obey and do everything that Allah (SWT) wants you to do. Like your daily solat, duas before you eat, sleep, and others. If you are always honest, tell the truth, are brave and have sahabahs that are just like you or even better than you. When you go to Jannah you will be placed close to Nabi Muhammad (SAW), the other Nabis and all the wonderful muslims that are there in Jannah too. So don’t worry, if you love Nabi Muhammad like Thawban did, and you certainly should, you will meet him and be near him in Jannah, inshaAllah!

Now is that not a wonderful thing?

Copyright of Alena Abdul Aziz 2009

The sun and the moon.

Drove Taufik to school early this morning accompanied by my little monkey, Inaaya. As we were driving Taufik said, "Why is it that you can't see a black car at night, Mommy?"

"Well darling, it's dark at night. There is no sun."
"But there's the moon." he replied.
"Yeah, but it's not half as bright as the sun. And darling, did you know that the moon is like a big shiny rock? So when the sun shines upon it, it acts like a mirror and reflects the sunlight onto the earth."
"Yeah, I know Mommy. The moon doesn't have it's own light. It's like a mirror. And we can see ourselves."he said knowingly.

See ourselves?
Well I wouldn't get that far. But hey, if it works for him.

The children and their current passions.

Last weekend we were at Central, Bang Na. Kim bought Taufik 'Gordon' from the Thomas the Train Gang. This all reignited his deep and consuming passion for trains. He has been playing with the trains and designing and redesigning the train tracks continuously. Today he called his father up and sought permission to buy more train tracks as he is seriously in need of more tracks to complete his vision of the ideal track. We scooted off to Central, and Taufik got himself several sets of tracks of differing length and also a little train crossing to boot. The train crossing comes with planks that goes down when the trains are passing, preventing cars from crossing the tracks. And as the train passes it makes a jingling sound as the bells at the crossing tinkle away. Amazing and what a lovely detail. I love TOMY!

For Inaaya, she has suddenly fallen in love with her baby doll, 'Baby'. I am so glad, because she's been playing with boy's toys so often that I am afraid she is not in touch with her feminine side. To nurture this love for her baby doll, I decided to surprise her with a mini stroller and a bottle milk. She was simply overjoyed...she pushed the stroller here and there. Stuffing the baby doll with bottle milk.

Tonight, as I tucked the children into bed, she insisted that her baby sleep in the crib while feeding on the toy bottle milk. She turned to me and put her forefinger to her lips and said, "Mommy...shhhh. Baby sleep. Shhh."

My darling wonderful children. They are happily occupied with all the toys in their brand new room. Where everything has a place, and all toys are visible and within reach.

Alhamdulillah.

Night night

Absolutely exhausting day.

I keep telling myself, get the house in order during the day and do my paperwork at night. But by the time night dawns I am exhausted.

The day for me ends at 4p.m. Then it's the children's time, it's either playing at the playground, going to the park, running to Tesco or Central or going to one play area or another. Then at 6p.m. it's time to get the kids fed with dinner. Then it's

- bath time with two raucaous screaming, screeching and hoppy children.
- lotion, powder, insect bites to attend to, and pyjamas to don.
- Bottled milk to prepare, antibiotics and other meds to be fed,
- Teeth brushed
- Story telling
- Tucking into bed

And then it's just a big sigh of relief that another day is over and once again time to myself.

But by that time I am run down ragged. Absolutely dog gone tired.

What to do? Tonight will be another night where paperwork will be left undone...tomorrow perhaps?

Tomorrow, I would like to box away all my uni text books to clear space on the bookshelves for my recipe books as I will begin my daily cooking of meals again. Then there are the children's CDs to organize. Following that I would like to reorganize my clothes, wardrobe and the linens.

Once that is done, I think I can say that spring cleaning has come to an end. I would like to get down to preparing:-

- my resume for Pan Asia and other International schools
- my business paperwork done for my venture with Hidayah
- my children's writing projects completed
- my blogs updated and running at full steam

Till then, I am just grateful and happy to have two wonderful children.

Getting the ball rolling.

It's been a while...and now I begin again.

The children are older, five months older and I am five kilos fatter. Wonderful to the former, unacceptable to the latter. LOL.

I will re-enroll myself for fitness first to recapture that glorious body of my hey days. And hey...who am I kidding? He he he

I am fatter, happier, and contented-er(?).

I will probably lapse on blog writing some time in the future, but for now I hope that I will be blogging consistently for a respectable period. School is out, summer is here and we're all about fun...fun and the determination to aim for Jannah.

The children's room is finally up. Their little piece of heaven, their sanctuary, personal space and place of rest. I am overjoyed and ever so thankful to my beloved husband. Their toys have been organized into neat little categories and placed in designated plastic boxes. All placed on the Ivar shelves that line the walls of their room. Two items are still missing, and that is their wardrobes and air condition. God willing, it will come in time.

Inaaya is heading for her terrible twos, and unfortunately what can be expected is already rearing its ugly head. I am full of trepidation. She has demonstrated an incredible sense of perseverance ("Mommy...mommy....mommy....mommy" this mantra can go on for 10 minutes without stopping, and continue again after a two minutes break). She is at present time besotted with her baby doll that she calls, "Baby". Has developed a fervent passion for the television which she calls, "Bibi" and I often confused 'baby' with 'bibi'. She still has a frightenningly enourmous appetite and an equally enormous tummy to match.

Taufik on the other hand, is becoming more and more adorable. Ever since I stopped school, he has gotten more and more charming. He is visibly a happier, more confident and calmer child now that mommy is at home all the time. Equally important, that mommy is taking him to school daily.

He loves knowing that when he bursts through the front door, he can expect me to be there mucking about doing household things or cooking meals. Oh how I love my children so much, and cannot stop berating myself for my short temper and low level of tolerance.

I pray to Allah to grant me greater patience and a more developed talent to enjoy the moment with my two wonderful wonderful children. His gift to me. Thank you Allah (SWT). I love you so much!

Time to go to bed. Will see you (if not tomorrow) some time soon.

A woebegone child

I had just given Taufik a dose of the nebuliser. He had been feeling unwell these last few days and it was a matter of time before his asthma acted up. For an extremely active and boisterous child, he was subdued and a little quiet this evening.

We read, as we do almost every night, in bed under the covers of the duvet. Thumbelina, was the story of choice and it so happened that the swallow she befriended in the story was from Denmark. Naturally, Taufik’s thoughts turned to his much adored, faraway father. His lips began to tremble noticeably, and he buried his face in his soft pillow.

“I miss Far, Mommy.” he said in a woeful and muffled voice. “I miss Far so much.”
“I know darling.” I said comfortingly, patting his back.
“Mommy, did you know that Far lives all alone? And even at work he is all alone. I am so sad for him. My Far is so lonely.”

After that no more words, just quiet mewling sounds as my son cried for his father and himself.

Who could resist?

The madness of buffet breakfast was finally over and we were making our way out. It was our second morning at the Marriott Hua Hin and I was looking forward to another lovely day of sea, swim and sun. Inaaya was toddling beside me as we snaked our way through the mess of tables and chairs.

I walked past the waiter and couldn't help but notice the wild Amazon jungle he was nurturing on his calves. The Bermuda shorts uniform did nothing to hide this lush flora and fauna. Inaaya, it just so happen, tripped, at that exact same time. I was bending over to help her when I saw that she had lifted up her head with both arms on the floor supporting her weight. And was staring unabashedly at the waiter's legs. She was without a doubt, eye to eye with the tufts on his leg.

Without hesitation, she lifted her hand and touched him and his hair in a soft caress. The waiter, shocked, jerked forward and looked down. What could he do, but smile at my little angel who was till preoccupied with his hair.

He was thought terribly embarrassed. I don't blame him. There is just something about tight curls growing in furious spots that doesn't do it for me.