http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/5/28/nation/3998052&sec=nation
I shed some tears when I read this story. It was a short news report on, yet again, child abuse. Though distressing and deplorable, this sort of news is getting more and more common in our country. However, this particular report zapped the core of my being and brought tears into my eyes because of the statement the boy made. He said, “I love my mother but she beats me”. This is what a child’s unconditional love is all about.
The boy was five years old and he cried his heart out when they were trying to take him away from his mother. At this age, a child is at its purest and most naïve stage. The world starts to intrigue him and he begins to develop his own way of thinking. The love that he has for his father and mother will grow stronger as he is able to better appreciate the things his parents do for him. At the same time, he will also try to do things to please his parents and to preserve their affection on him. To him, his parents are his whole world.
No matter how intense his mother scolds him for his mistake, he will still love her and prefer to cry away his sadness in her arms. No matter how much his mother ignores him, he will still pine for her and cry out her name in his sleep. No matter how much his mother beats him, he still loves her because she is her mother who means the whole world to him.
I remember watching this movie about the life of a Nanny in metropolitan New York. She had to take care of a 6 year old boy whom was deprived of parental love but kept on trying to buy their love. When she felt that she had have enough of her employer’s nonsense and decided to leave the family, she left behind an advice that really touched my heart. She said, “Love the boy while he still has his love only for you, before he stops loving you.”
One has to have a barren soul to be incapable to appreciate and celebrate the magical unadulterated love of a child. Abu Huraira narrated: “Allah's Apostle kissed Al-Hasan bin Ali while Al-Aqra' bin Habis At-Tamim was sitting beside him. Al-Aqra said, "I have ten children and I have never kissed anyone of them," Allah's Apostle cast a look at him and said, "Whoever is not merciful to others will not be treated mercifully."” (Reported by Bukhari)
That is the rule of the game in this world. What goes around comes around. Be merciful to others if you want others to be merciful to you. Love others if you want to be loved. You may have the might and the power to hit your child now for the slightest mistakes that he makes but what makes you think that he will not strike back at you when you’re old and frail.
Anger can turn a human being into a beast in mere seconds and only the strong ones are able to preserve their humaneness when permeated by anger as stated by this hadith. Narrated Abu Huraira: “Allah's Apostle said, "The strong is not the one who overcomes the people by his strength, but the strong is the one who controls himself while in anger." (Reported by Bukhari)
Ibnu al-Qayyim wrote a beautiful book on patience and in that book, he included a verse that says,
O you the servant of a body
You become a human being by having a soul
And not by having a body
I shed some tears when I read this story. It was a short news report on, yet again, child abuse. Though distressing and deplorable, this sort of news is getting more and more common in our country. However, this particular report zapped the core of my being and brought tears into my eyes because of the statement the boy made. He said, “I love my mother but she beats me”. This is what a child’s unconditional love is all about.
The boy was five years old and he cried his heart out when they were trying to take him away from his mother. At this age, a child is at its purest and most naïve stage. The world starts to intrigue him and he begins to develop his own way of thinking. The love that he has for his father and mother will grow stronger as he is able to better appreciate the things his parents do for him. At the same time, he will also try to do things to please his parents and to preserve their affection on him. To him, his parents are his whole world.
No matter how intense his mother scolds him for his mistake, he will still love her and prefer to cry away his sadness in her arms. No matter how much his mother ignores him, he will still pine for her and cry out her name in his sleep. No matter how much his mother beats him, he still loves her because she is her mother who means the whole world to him.
I remember watching this movie about the life of a Nanny in metropolitan New York. She had to take care of a 6 year old boy whom was deprived of parental love but kept on trying to buy their love. When she felt that she had have enough of her employer’s nonsense and decided to leave the family, she left behind an advice that really touched my heart. She said, “Love the boy while he still has his love only for you, before he stops loving you.”
One has to have a barren soul to be incapable to appreciate and celebrate the magical unadulterated love of a child. Abu Huraira narrated: “Allah's Apostle kissed Al-Hasan bin Ali while Al-Aqra' bin Habis At-Tamim was sitting beside him. Al-Aqra said, "I have ten children and I have never kissed anyone of them," Allah's Apostle cast a look at him and said, "Whoever is not merciful to others will not be treated mercifully."” (Reported by Bukhari)
That is the rule of the game in this world. What goes around comes around. Be merciful to others if you want others to be merciful to you. Love others if you want to be loved. You may have the might and the power to hit your child now for the slightest mistakes that he makes but what makes you think that he will not strike back at you when you’re old and frail.
Anger can turn a human being into a beast in mere seconds and only the strong ones are able to preserve their humaneness when permeated by anger as stated by this hadith. Narrated Abu Huraira: “Allah's Apostle said, "The strong is not the one who overcomes the people by his strength, but the strong is the one who controls himself while in anger." (Reported by Bukhari)
Ibnu al-Qayyim wrote a beautiful book on patience and in that book, he included a verse that says,
O you the servant of a body
You become a human being by having a soul
And not by having a body
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