Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
do you know how to read Arabic?.... start hanging some surahs/ayah on walls and start reading them regularly..... read them aloud to your kids aswell.... does your husband read namaaz/quran regularly? does he do it infront of you? specially kids??? ..... kids need to see first...
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
Nadz, imagine.
*1. that you enter your kitchen.
2. boil a pot of water
3. once boiled, pour it on yourself.
*
now tell me, how do you think you will feel? yelping in pain, shock and many other feelings that i do not even want to imagine. insaan itna sa dard nahin le sakta... socho Allah ki sazaa kaisi hogi.
in hell it will be worse. since you believe in Allah, you believe in Qayamat and hell. in hell, hot water will be thrown at us and we wil be punished for our sins. and missing namaaz on purpose is a huge huge sin.
im sorry if this was too graphic, but this is the way my dad taught us. in fact, my mum is just like you, i am ashamed to admit. just yesterday, my dad used this scenario on her to make her pray.
just thought i'd share.
may Allah SWT guide us to the right path, including me. i am not perfect and i too do not read all my namaaz but i try.
also, children will only learn if their parents practice. if YOU dont, they WONT.
all the best!
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
My mom used to wake us up for Fajr when we were in high school. She would also say that sometimes she felt bad about disturbing our sleep at that early time in the morning. Then she would think to herself that if the house were on fire at that time, she would wake us up and not leave us to sleep at that time. Good thinking on her part. 
, that was a good habit that we picked up as a result of that thinking.
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
start with namaz - I think everything else will fall into place.
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
why would you want religous environment which only serves to dominate and supress the girls?? they would never have the confidence to do anything in the real world. I think you should not do it.
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
But it still gives me a pause for thought when I consider that the most overtly religious household in my family produced the least religious son.
Maybe one reason is the methodology. Perhaps it was lacking? Some parents enforce/pressure/scare/guilt trip....but don't do much explaining of religion. Not saying that this was the case with the family in question, but I do think that methodology can be one factor among others.
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
why would you want religous environment which only serves to dominate and supress the girls?? they would never have the confidence to do anything in the real world. I think you should not do it.
Would you like to tell us where did you see girls being suppressed in a religious environment please? In your own house? And what religion was it? Islam?
Well, then I can assure you someone must have used it in a totally wrong way mate. Cuz Islam doesnt suppress women. It gives them respect, and it gives them rights; and it puts obligations over men to respect those rights. Go and read Surah An-Nisa of the Quran and get your facts rights before blaming Allah's deen for the wrongdoings that the mankind has created itself
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
The best education you can ever pass on to your children is love for Islam, Allah swt and the prophet pbuh
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
Nadz, you need to pray namaz first. No matter how chore-like it may feel. Another thing, when you read namaz, you should know what each Arabic word means...when I pray, and I'm reciting my surahs...in my mind it's playing in English. It resounds with me then, I'm in front of God at that point.
Also, read Muhammad (PBUH): His Life Based on the Earliest Sources by Martin Lings. Islam isn't just God and the Quran, it's also following the ideal Muslim...our Prophet. Educate yourself with an open mind...the Islam that's prevalent in Pakistan/South Asian society is not even close.
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
your right.maybe im conditioned to believe. i mean, alot of us dont do what islam says, yet we muslim right. i dont know. please tell me. i want to create an example. however i lack fear and religion itself in my heart. its just words.
Without justifying your actions of not praying etc., I have to tell you though that fear and love of Islam/salat/reciting Quran just doesn't pop into someone's heart out of no where. This is why in Islam a huge emphasis is on PRACTISING. It comes with practice!
You also have to make sure you start off with something simple and do-able. DO NOT rush everything in all at once, else it will become burdensome and you will not want to do it.
So you are saying salat is burdensome and you feel relieved when you are done. You are not the only one who feels that way. So start with something very simple and make it very practical.
1) Start your day by reciting First kalima and the shahada and end your day with it. That is your number one step. Spend like a week doing it consistently. If it helps put a paper sign close to your bed reminding you to recite it.
2) Once you become consistent with that, then make yourself a table (salat tracker) for a month (like a ramadan schedule) with dates in the first column (1, 2, 3, 4...) and the five prayers on the top. Each time you complete a salat, give yourself a check and each time you don't MAKE SURE you give yourself a CROSS at the end of the day.
Just do those two above steps mentioned. Have patience with yourself. You will realize once you are involved in doing this, you will forget about every other issue going around in your home as well.
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
especially if we be living the SATANIC WEST, ( hes paranoid), and wants this kind of environment esp from me. as im the mother of our 2 girls.now problem is.,IM NOT RELIGIOUS.yes i believe in islam, i am muslim. etc etc.** but namaz...- dont do it, ramadan-hardly did it- etc etc , and i have no fear**...
and he thinks that West is Satanic?
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
Also, read Muhammad (PBUH): His Life Based on the Earliest Sources by Martin Lings. Islam isn't just God and the Quran, it's also following the ideal Muslim...our Prophet. Educate yourself with an open mind...the Islam that's prevalent in Pakistan/South Asian society is not even close.
I grew up in Canada but I have to tell you that I have met some of the MOST faithful people in Pakistan. I have always affiliated myself with good, religious people but actually were not able to find people like those I met in Pakistan ever again. And I am not talking 'religious' per se, I am talking 'faithful' people - those who are not only practicing but watch their tongues, have extreme levels of sabr regardless of their circumstances, and those who are trialed and tested again and again and again, and living within their means. You sit with these people and you feel this sense of extreme warmth and comfort. It's surreal. I don't mean to generalize but I have found TONS of religious people here but could never see that level of faith.
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
why would you want religous environment which only serves to dominate and supress the girls?? they would never have the confidence to do anything in the real world. I think you should not do it.
Really? Not a single word of yours apply to my life and I am a muslim woman who grew up in an Islamic household. My dad and brothers have always always encouraged me rather than suppressing b/c they all believe that muslim women are very much needed in the society to help out other muslim women. And I am very much part of a world that is as real as it can get.
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
As I have said before....all you people especially in North America are in various stages of westernization. If you read about the muslims who migrated to North America in the previous century had their muslim heritage wiped out from them in about 3 to 4 generations. You my friend are only tried to delay the inevitable. Your kids might turn out half religious but in turn their kids will be muslims in name only.
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
I grew up in Canada but I have to tell you that I have met some of the MOST faithful people in Pakistan. I have always affiliated myself with good, religious people but actually were not able to find people like those I met in Pakistan ever again. And I am not talking 'religious' per se, I am talking 'faithful' people - those who are not only practicing but watch their tongues, have extreme levels of sabr regardless of their circumstances, and those who are trialed and tested again and again and again, and living within their means. You sit with these people and you feel this sense of extreme warmth and comfort. It's surreal. I don't mean to generalize but I have found TONS of religious people here but could never see that level of faith.
What I meant by the Islam in South Asian society was more an indication towards justifying weird cultural stuff and using Islam as the excuse. ie) treatment of women (jahez/in-laws/husband being violent etc etc), corruption etc
People of faith are found everywhere - however, I think faith is something that you can't really judge...it comes in different forms. No one is 'more' faithful than anyone else, IMO.
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
why would you want religous environment which only serves to dominate and supress the girls?? they would never have the confidence to do anything in the real world. I think you should not do it.
An Islamic, religious environment doesn't do that. Culture, ignorance and jaahil people do.
Educate yourself!
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
What I meant by the Islam in South Asian society was more an indication towards justifying weird cultural stuff and using Islam as the excuse. ie) treatment of women (jahez/in-laws/husband being violent etc etc), corruption etc
People of faith are found everywhere - however, I think faith is something that you can't really judge...it comes in different forms. No one is 'more' faithful than anyone else, IMO.
I get your first point but people can definitely be more faithful than others, in general and in their deen.
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
As I have said before....all you people especially in North America are in various stages of westernization. If you read about the muslims who migrated to North America in the previous century had their muslim heritage wiped out from them in about 3 to 4 generations. You my friend are only tried to delay the inevitable. Your kids might turn out half religious but in turn their kids will be muslims in name only.
From what I've been told, the current generation of Muslims is more religious than the previous one. I can definitely say that I see people practicing more now than I saw when I was growing up.
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
Agreed. I feel extremely proud of how practicing and knowledgable a lot of Muslim youths in Canada are.
LOL, westernization? nobody gives a **** about westernization here bc we live in a country that is already 100% western. Westernization is whats happening in Pakistan where everyone thinks its cool to be like the westerners.
Re: how to create a religious environment in your home.
Maybe one reason is the methodology. Perhaps it was lacking? Some parents enforce/pressure/scare/guilt trip....but don't do much explaining of religion. Not saying that this was the case with the family in question, but I do think that methodology can be one factor among others.
I think the same, but I can't really comfortably ask the parents or the son about the methodology followed.