Muslim Nation Builders Lesson 14 Newsletter - January 26 2024

This week’s lesson focused on salat and the subjects around it, such as adhaan, wudu, and even the Israa wal Me’eraj.

Muslim Nation Builders is not simply about teaching the dry recitation of facts or memorizing names, dates, and a list of battles. Of course we do teach facts, names, and so on, but the primary goal is to spark within the children a deep appreciation of their relationship with Allah, a love for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and his sahabah, and a desire to achieve Jannah.

The MNB curriculum creators and teachers are a team of professionals who share ideas and strategies. They are always asking, “How can we make this lesson relevant to the children’s lives? How can we make it engaging? What will have the most impact? What will excite the children and move them?” This is vital because the knowledge that moves us is the knowledge that motivates us, and that knowledge remains alive within our hearts.

Who Do You Dream of Meeting?

One of the strategies the teachers implemented this week was to ask the children, “Who is someone living today that you admire and would wish to meet? If you were able to get an appointment to meet that person, how would you feel? What would you do to prepare? Is there any chance you would miss your meeting?”

The teacher would then point out that we all have a meeting with the most important one of all: Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. In fact, we have five scheduled meetings per day, and they are called salat. Would we miss the meeting with our Creator, who supplies our provision, answers our prayers, and gives us all that we have and all that we are?

Ustadh Wael, who teaches the Fresno onsite Engineers, was beaten to the punch line by his student Zakariya. When asked who he would wish to meet, Zakariya named a basketball player. But when Ustadh Wael asked him how excited he would be about such a meeting, he said, “We have an appointment with Allah!” Clever boy.

Ustadh Wael remarks: “Zakariya is quiet and a bit shy, but he’s very intelligent. He always has a smile on his face, and I feel like he genuinely enjoys the MNB classes and the camaraderie that goes with them. When he wants to answer a question, I will shush everyone else so we can hear what he has to say. I want him to know that his intellect is recognized and appreciated.”

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Ustadha Sharmeen taught the Fresno Architects this week. She asked her student, Abdullah, the same question. She reports:

He mentioned a person's name who I recognized as a Pakistani cricketer. So I said, Oh, so you would like to meet him? And he had a smile with a glint in his eyes and said yes. Then I asked, Is a meeting with him something easy, or will someone have to arrange it? Abdullah decided that his uncle would have to do it. We discussed the fact that the cricketer is an important person, and to meet with him, you have to go through a whole process. I then asked, ‘Who is the most important of all, more important than anyone else?’ He said, ‘Allah.’

I said okay, so Allah is the most important, yet it's not us who have to look for an appointment for Him; He invites us to meetings, not just once, but five times every single day.

Then I asked, going back to the cricketer, on the day of the meeting, how would you dress? So he talked about how he would wear his best clothes and make sure his hair was perfect.

And how would you behave? Abdullah replied: I would be on my best behavior. Because that meeting is important, and he's finally there.

So we connected this back to Allah and how we should present ourselves before Allah.

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Lastly, Ustadha Aisha, who teaches the online builders, had a student who made an interesting connection between Rasulullah (ﷺ) meeting Allah during the Me’raj, and receiving the command of the prayer, and that the prayer is our own personal meeting with Allah every day. So in a way, it’s a circle that comes from Allah, to the Prophet (ﷺ), to us, and back to Allah.

Aisha also commented that one child was astonished by Allah’s mercy in rewarding us for the five prayers, as if we had prayed 50 times a day. “I saw that it affected him.”

Wudu

Ustadha Sadia, who teaches the online Engineers, watched a comprehensive two minute video with her students on how to make proper wudu. This was a highlight for the students. They were able to pick out crucial points about Wudu that they had not previously known.

To name a few:

• Saying Bismillah before starting Wudu.
• Using miswak as a sunnah.
• ⁠Using very little water to make thorough wudu is a way of conserving water.

This hadith regarding the duaa after wudu:

Muslim (234) narrated from ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “There is no one among you who does wudu and does it well, then says, Ashhadu an la ilaha ill-Allah wahdahu la sharika lah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasuluhu (I bear witness that there is no God except Allah Alone, with no partner or associate, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger) but the eight gates of Jannah will be opened for him and he will enter through whichever one he wants.” Narrated by Muslim, 234.

Ustadha Sadia comments, “The students found this exciting. In addition, it was heartwarming to see how we started the discussion with the students, trying to find ways to improve the salat. The class ended on a high note, with them understanding the benefits of salat and how everyone was grateful for the salat as a gift and blessing.”

On the subject of conserving water when making wudu, Ustadh Wael shared with the students a personal anecdote from his youth, when he went camping in the desert of Najd (outside Riyadh) with Shaykh Bilal Philips and a group of students. There was only one 25 liter jug of water to last two days, for drinking and wudu. Shaykh Bilal showed them how to make a complete wudu using the smallest possible amount of water.

Ustadh Wael then demonstrated for the students how he could make wudu’ with a small amount of water. They were quite amazed by this.

The Leaders of Tomorrow

Ustadh Saleh, who teaches the online Architects, has a talent for recognizing and cultivating each student’s unique abilities. In his own words:

"My student Abdullah possesses leadership qualities. He volunteered to do the adhaan and also demonstrated how to do the wudu, including spots that some people might miss, like between the toes. It was very impressive. He is a bright kid. He was on the quiet side when he started with us, but after a few classes, he opened up. Upon realizing this, I began giving him a platform to practice his leadership skills. Such as letting him lead our jumping jacks and some of the discussions.

Zakaria is another bright kid who demonstrated leadership skills. Just like with Abdullah, I try to give him a platform to lead. For example, he leads an educational game with the students during some of our breaks. He is also keen to put what he learns into action. Last week, he emailed me, asking for the exact wording for the salawat because he wanted to get the maximum rewards."

Ustadh Wael, in his own words:

"It is definitely worth mentioning that, as instructors, we keep a lookout for the strengths of our students, helping them to enhance these strengths and gain confidence. (It’s not only about learning religion.) The kids practice public speaking and critical thinking. Every time I discuss a topic or we see a video, I always go around and have everyone share their thoughts. Even if they seem hesitant, I assure them that they can share whatever is on their minds without hesitation. Week over week, we are definitely seeing the kids being more comfortable sharing because they know they are supported.

Besides that, the kids are building friendships because during our breaks, they chat with each other and sometimes play side games or discuss things they have in common.

As far as religious students, one thing that stood out was that when the children learned the reward of praying in the masjid, some of them were excited and said, “I want to start praying in the masjid.”