Safa means tranquil, serene, calm…I try

This past Saturday at my son’s school was the annual Quran Rectitation Competition. He is kindergarten and he schools goes up to 7th grade. In Islam, it is a goal to not only read verses of our Book but to memorize as much of it as possible. There are a fortunate group of individuals who have actually memorized the entire Quran. They are “hafiz” of Quran. It is such a blessing to be able to do this. There are children who have memorized the Quran. My whole family went and although my son didn’t advance to this final, open competition, he wanted to go to support his peers. My husband and I initially saw this an a way to motivate our son to get more serious about his studies. However, we left inspired and motivated ourselves. It is something to see a 6 year old recite many verses so beautifully! All of the 25 finalists know more Quran than me. These are regular children from various backgrounds. The beautiful thing about it is that they are not force to do this. They play and act as any child would at their age. However, when it comes to this part of their lives, they are serious. I sat there looking at some of them before the competition started. They were all huddled on the floor practicing and helping one another. It was enough to bring tears to the eye.

After this, I really have no regrets that we got rid of the t.v. My son watches his little movies on the DVD player and watches certain shows when he visits people but we always have time set aside for religious studies. Many families have television and are able to balance. WE ARE NOT ONE OF THOSE FAMILIES. We lacked discipline and were always battling and neglecting other things in order to watch our shows. If we had been more disciplined, we probably would have kept the television. For certain shows….there is you.tube. For me, I have caught up with scenes of the return of Jesse and Angie (see below).

Anyway, during these times when I get depressed and find myself lacking and my iman (faith) fluctuating, it really is an iman booster to see these young people so dedicated and disciplined. Just thought I’d share. Oh, yesterday (Sunday) I took my son to see Die.go Live in the Great Jag.uar Rescue. My next post MUST be about this interesting outing!