Khairaldin's first education?

Assalamualaikum..

Firstly thank you to all of you who still drop by at my blog even though I update once a month. It is so nice to know that you are checking on me or us. *hugs* Anyway, I have been quite tied up lately. We'll be going back to Malaysia for a few months Insha'Allah. So, I have to start packing because it is not easy to pack for 4 people!! Hubby's never done his own packing, because I am a bit obsessive when it comes to packing. I have to make sure how the clothes are packed and what match with what. Haha To be honest, I just wanna make myself look busy even when I'm not. So excuse me! ;)

So, as per my previous entry, Insha'Allah Khairaldin will be starting school in September 2012. We are still waiting for reply on his waiting list and have been doing a lot of thinking about his first education. Just wondering, how do you parents choose what type of school to send your kids to? Is religion something you look at? Or the distance from home? Do you all even plan beforehand what type of school to send your child to? As for me, since we are living in a non-muslim country, I find it important to firstly educate my children about Islam. Alhamdulillah, at this age (2.5years old) Khairaldin understands that he has to eat with right hand, read Bismillah, and a few other basic Sunnah. Knowing that we (people around him) have taught him all of this basic yet very important sunnah, make me feel that Islamic school is a necessity for him. I want him to know and to learn a LOT more about Islam. I don't want him to be one of those to just follow blindly because one day, he would be bored of following our instructions and that's when friends become their best adviser! So, I want him to know why we do what we have to do in this life. I need him to know the important of this life.

Last Sunday I attended a Ta'leem at our local Masjid. Masha'Allah, the topic discussed was exactly the things going through my mind. Iskandar received and e-mail about the ta'leem and I said I wanted to go without knowing what it's about. When the Maulana spoke, he started mentioning about 'Ilmu' (knowledge). He emphasised the importance of knowledge and how it could help us in the Hereafter. Nowadays, we are interested on the best secular education to send our child to. For example we make sure that the discipline level are top notch, results are clean sheet without any Bs even, just to name a few. What we have forgotten is, how would all this help bring us to Jannah? It's not wrong to send our children to the best of all school, because even if you are a doctor, you can still help a patient because of Allah Taala. You can serve the society because of Allah Taala no matter what your profession is. But you have to instill in your heart that everything you do IS for HIM and noone else.

As the Maulana continued, he quoted a hadith, as follow; Rasulullah Salallahualaihiwassalam said, "When the son of Adam (human being) dies, his deeds are stopped except for three things, namely, his good deeds, his knowledge, and his pious child who prays for him". I'm gonna concentrate on knowledge and pious child. When we learn, we have to set our intention of why we are learning. Is it just for the sake of passing the test? For the sake of pleasing our parents with all the As? Or even for the sake of "going to school is the norm", not knowing what our intentions are? Intention is very important without a doubt. It can make you and break you! So we have to choose wisely.

Coming back to Khairaldin, when I was carrying him, I prayed for a baby boy. I desperately wanted this "baby boy" to lead the younger siblings to the right path if one day either of us are gone (before them). Alhamdulillah, Allah has answered my prayers and Khairaldin is now a responsibility (Amanah) from Allah to us. Because Allah has given us Khairaldin, it is only fair for us to take care of him the way HE has wanted us to do so. Sending him to an Islamic school has always been my first choice. However, because of this wait list, I have told Iskandar that if he doesn't get a chance to join this school, I want to home school him. You see, I have always always! wanted to be a nursery teacher. After having kids, I don't feel the need to be a nursery teacher. Somehow this hadith has lead me to my dreams again. As the hadith said, knowledge is one of the things that will not stop even after we die. This means, if you have learn something, teach!! The person who learns from you will pass on the knowledge and the cycle will continue. Even when you die you are still getting deeds! How amazing is that? SubhanAllah. For all the wrongdoings I have done, I really need those deeds to accumulate continuously! I have told myself, if Khairaldin doesn't get a place at Leicester Islamic Academy, this is such a blessing for me. Education doesn't have to be in a school. Even if the child goes to the best of school, the parents still need to carry on and practise the things being taught at home. This way the child will know the importance of the things he have just learnt.

Yes, I am still sane. I don't plan to teach my kids till high school or further. Haha. My plan is to take it one year at a time. There is no need for him to start school at 3 years old because everyone is doing it. I pray that I will be able to teach him as much as I could before he reach a certain age. I want him to remember us as his teacher and educator. In the end of it all, we need his/their prayers when we die. All I want is for him to become a pious child who will always remember his parents and make du'a for his parents. And like a quote I found before, "to be in your children's memories, you have to be in their lives today!". Insha'Allah, that is exactly what I am aiming to do.