"JazakAllah khairan" card for Abah

 For the first time, Muawiyah made me this "JazakAllah khairan" card and slipped it in into my laptop, Masha Allah.. allahumma barik ❤️

He got the idea from a book, "Dad is always working" by author Hafsah Dabiri. 

In the book, the main character Abdullah always felt sad that his father always seemed to be busy at work. At almost every situation, Abdullah seemed to express with sadness, “Dad is always working” - something I think Muawiyah can relate to 😢.

One day at school, Abdullah received a homework assignment: As a gesture of gratitude, write a “jazakAllah Khairan” card (i.e. the Islamic equivalent of a “thank you card”). At first, Abdullah wanted to write a card for his mum, because of all the nice things he sees that she does for him.

But then his mother convinced him, that in fact his father had been busy contributing to the family in many ways Abdullah didn’t see, behind the scenes. So Abdullah wrote a card for his dad.

This touching gesture of gratitude reminds me how important it is to choose the right kind of books for our children. It’s not just about being mindful of the “negative” influences, but also being deliberate about choosing some genuinely good ones. Some of the messages in these books can really go a long way towards inspiring positive change. One one hand, this book provided some actionable acts with which our kids can implement immediately. 

But beyond that, this book also gave an important reminder about gratitude: sometimes there are acts of kindness people do for us which we simply do not see or aren’t aware of. Especially from our parents. We might have no idea of the kind of sacrifices and efforts they have made for us - but Allah is All-Aware, All-Knowing, All-Grateful, Best of Providers. And therefore the least we can do is we make du’aa. Although there is much we don’t know, Allah knows best, and with that Knowledge, we make du’aa that Allah repays them. 

May Allah reward our parents with jannatul firdaus 🤲🏼

The Prophet ﷺ said. "If someone has done an act of kindnesss, say to that person:

جَزَاكِ اَللَّهُ خَيْراً

(May Allah reward you with good) - and therefore he has fully expressed his appreciation."

(At-Tirmidzi)