Today's reading is about the two angels Harut and Marut who taught people magic.. You will find their story in surah Al Baqarah 2:102-103:
They followed what the Shayatin (devils) gave out (falsely of the magic) in the lifetime of Sulaiman (Solomon). Sulaiman did not disbelieve, but the Shayatin (devils) disbelieved, teaching men magic and such things that came down at Babylon to the two angels, Harut and Marut but neither of these two (angels) taught anyone (such things) till they had said, "We are only for trial, so disbelieve not (by learning this magic from us). "And from these (angels) people learn that by which they cause separation between man and his wife, but they could not thus harm anyone except by Allah's Leave. And they learn that which harms them and profits them not. And indeed they knew that the buyers of it (magic) would have no share in the Hereafter. And how bad indeed was that for which they sold their own selves, if they but knew.
And if they had believed and guarded themselves from evil and kept their duty to Allah, far better would have been the reward from their Lord, if they but knew!
You can read Ibn Kathir's commentary in his book Stories of the Qur'an.
Lessons and Activities
The obvious lesson is that magic is haram. These days there are so many magicians who seem to do impossible feats. The sad thing is that some Muslims don't understand that it is the shaytan's work and they (the Muslims) think that it's marvelous and are drawn in. Advice your children to keep away, whether it's the black magic or the magic tricks.
You can ask your children what are some other things they must not do and should keep away from. You can make a list with the title "I must not...".
Another activity you can do is to learn the dua for seeking guidance: Unless my Lord guides me, I will surely be among those who go astray (Qur'an 6:77). This is important because sometimes you don't know what is right or wrong because you don't know what is real or false.
The other dua you can learn is for seeking forgiveness: There is no god but You; Glory to you, I was indeed wrong (Qur'an 21:87). This is for when you do something wrong you immediately ask Allah for forgiveness as Prophet Yunus did with this dua.
Your children might like to choose a dua to learn and write this nicely on a piece of paper with a nice border to hang up on their wall to learn.
And if they had believed and guarded themselves from evil and kept their duty to Allah, far better would have been the reward from their Lord, if they but knew!
You can read Ibn Kathir's commentary in his book Stories of the Qur'an.
Lessons and Activities
The obvious lesson is that magic is haram. These days there are so many magicians who seem to do impossible feats. The sad thing is that some Muslims don't understand that it is the shaytan's work and they (the Muslims) think that it's marvelous and are drawn in. Advice your children to keep away, whether it's the black magic or the magic tricks.
You can ask your children what are some other things they must not do and should keep away from. You can make a list with the title "I must not...".
Another activity you can do is to learn the dua for seeking guidance: Unless my Lord guides me, I will surely be among those who go astray (Qur'an 6:77). This is important because sometimes you don't know what is right or wrong because you don't know what is real or false.
The other dua you can learn is for seeking forgiveness: There is no god but You; Glory to you, I was indeed wrong (Qur'an 21:87). This is for when you do something wrong you immediately ask Allah for forgiveness as Prophet Yunus did with this dua.
Your children might like to choose a dua to learn and write this nicely on a piece of paper with a nice border to hang up on their wall to learn.
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These are just two ideas for activities. If you have any other then feel free to do them.
Comments Required
There are so many other lessons to learn. Can you think of any others? I'd love to hear them. Please write in the comment below.
At the end of this Ramadan Reading Challenge, if you or your children have participated then you will get a prize (not sure what yet - will keep you updated). To be eligible, please leave a comment on what lesson you have learnt from the reading of the story and include any activities that you did to extend it. Just a line or two would be fine (so that I can contact you).
Assalamu Alaikum,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed talking about this topic to my children. My 3 year old was not quite ready to understand it. My 5 year old was intrigued by the Angels Marut and Hanut. At first he corrected me, he said "you mean Talut and Jalut". They sounded very similar to him. I explained in the simplest way possible the story. I find this story is even hard to explain to an adult at times. In the end he understood the message; all magic no matter how subtle is from Shaytan. We should never practice it. Also by practicing it we will lose out on Allahs favors in the next life. My son had already heard about the story of the tyrannical king, the little boy ad the magician. So I related this story to that story. In the end the little boy had a choice-whether to follow the magician or the pious man who worshiped the one God. In the end he chose to obey Allah and leave the magician. Also in the end the king was the biggest loser because everyone saw that he was not powerful-only Allah was in charge of all things and the all mighty. This was the perfect opportunity to teach my son that this is a very serious topic and magic hurts people and the hearts. We also always have a choice to do good or bad. Solaimans people may have been taught magic but practicing it was a choice that they made-even after being warned. My son has seen magic before unintentionally-a cartoon where someone disappears, or someone making a card disappear. He has been intrigued, however I always made it clear that all magic is bad. This lesson just reinforced what I had already taught. Jazak Allah Khairn for this challenge.
Wa alaykum salam,
DeleteChildren and adults alike are fascinated by magic tricks. If they know from a young age that any form of it is haram then insha Allah they'll know to keep away.
There's this 'Charlie' game going around that's being played in schools and many Muslim kids don't know that it's calling on the jinn to move the pen and they join in. The children learnt this game from the internet from other kids or watching videos. Parents need to be really aware of what's going on with their children.
That's a great tie in with the story of the boy, king and magician. This is the story of the people of the ditch and insha Allah, we'll be reading about that on day 17.
Alhamdoulilah I am happy we will be covering that story. One of my sons favorites. My children will be homeschooled Insha Allah, but we are out and about in the world daily. I may have some control over what they learn and see, but influences are everywhere. So happy that he learns these things from me first. Insha Allah he will be prepared if confronted with the real thing. Jazak Allah Khairn for this Ramadan challenge we are truly learning a lot. The children and myself as well.
DeleteAlhamdulillah. Every time I do a story I learn something as well. It refreshes my memory. Even my children, although they know some of these stories, when we read it together it refreshes their memory. That's why it's so important to keep on reading the Qur'an and Islamic texts.
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