Allah's Signs in Nature and Making Time for the Family

 

Alhmadulillah, we just got back from a holiday at Caves Beach and Newcastle, New South Wales. The landscape was breathtaking, masha Allah. When one looks at it one can see the magnificence of Allah.

The weekend before I attended a talk by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad (Professor Timothy Winter) and he talked about how everything in the universe is a sign. It is Allah's Mercy to guide us back to Him. The person who is in the state of disbelief cannot see these as signs because he is blinded by the surface beauty of the thing but forgets the source of it. He is out of touch and preoccupied with the veneer of things. He is like a person who has a book but does not read the words but looks only at the letters. He wonders at the individual shapes of the letters but does not read the complete words to understand the meaning.

I have provided some pictures for you to wonder at the source of great beauty:

Spending time together on an annual family holiday is extremely beneficial.

1. It teaches children to wonder at Allah's creations. Young children have a natural tendency to wonder at nature. When you go away to places of nature, you surround them with the beauty of Allah's creation and keep this curiosity alive. Always point out that Allah is the Creator of these wonders so that they do not forget and become blinded by the thing itself and not the Source.

2. It brings the family together. We usually have little holidays for the immediate family but we also have an annual one that all the relatives attend - parents, cousins, aunts, uncles and in-laws. This is the quality time you get to spend with the family and it strengthens the family bond, insha Allah.

My children and their cousins look forward to this time together every year. It is a time to catch up and strengthen the ties of kinship that is so important in Islam.

I remember when I was young and eager to go on the annual family holidays. I remember cousins, aunts, uncles gathering together. It was a special time and alhamdulillah I was blessed with it. In turn, my children's generation are benefiting as well insha Allah.

If you haven't been on an annual family holiday, start thinking about one now...