Thursday, July 30, 2009

"Put the chair back!"

Last Monday, I decided to bring my wife and Maryam to the masjid. I want to train her to love masjid. Unfortunately, things did not went well.

First, my wife and Maryam prayed together in the women section. Alhamdulillah, I'm so lucky that Maryam, despite just two years of age, is willing to wear hijab and pray together in the line with other women. However, as soon as the prayer finishes, my wife was scolded by her older neighbor, saying that kids like Maryam cannot pray in the same line. Since Maryam prayed together with them, she said that Maryam's presence had made the line being cut-off and she will not receive full rewards from Allah. She said that Maryam should have prayed at the back, behind the women line.

Well, I have several arguments here. Yes, there are some opinions among the scholars who believed that girls should pray behind adult women. However, this actually contradicts the sayings of the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam who mentioned that the best line for the women is the last line. And then, there is no such things as a line being cut off with the presence of kids in the line. A line is being cut off when you did not make the line straight and adjacent to each other. So I advised my wife to pray at the back, not the front line. The one nearest to the door would be better. Then, if Maryam need to pray behind, who will look for her, if something bad happens?

Then, after the prayer, Maryam played at the back with the flashcards that I made for her
on a study desk and chair available in the women section. Another old woman (whom Maryam gently addressed her as grandma) shouted at her, asking her to return the chair to her, since it's her chair. Maryam obediently brought the chair and the table to her, for which again she shouted that the chair is not hers, so put the chair back at its place. Grandma only want to have the desk, not the chair. My wife had to help Maryam put the chair back behind, and at the same time asked the old lady to be patient - Maryam is only two years old.

Realizing that my wife was very uncomfortable with all these, we left the masjid and did not wait until Isyak as originally planned. Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam reminded those who attend masjid to behave, masjid is not market. And the best place for women to pray is within their own home. It is my dream that I shall have my kids to accompany me whenever I go to pray at masjid. I need to make them love masjid since they are small, unlike most of those who only attend prayers in masjid at very old age.

Well, Maryam, don't worry. Insya-Allah in Canada no one will scold you. Its only in Malaysia that the olders discourage kids from coming to masjid.

Hahaha...

3 comments:

Akak cun said...

err.. irwan, I went to the mosque once for friday prayer and there was a young mother who got scolded just because she brought her todd for jemaah. budak tu menangis nak susu lah.

The old dame speaks only Arabic, hence at the moment, ignorance is a bliss. Not that I condoned :)

Anonymous said...

yes, what the lady said to ur wife is right with regards to little kid cutting the line. Small kid has to be in separate row or, ur wife should be at the end of row with Maryam at the outer side of the line. Study this matter closely with the experts before u made any remark!

Seri Negara said...

To anonymous, I can only made remarks after I study with the experts. Please read my post titled "Row, row your prayer," where Anas prayed in one row with an orphan kid behind the Prophet. If what you said is true, then the Propeht should have asked the kid to pray behind Anas. Or is there any other experts better than the Prophet?

By the way, anonymous is majhul, and majhul is not accepted in Islamic sciences...