Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 85
! ! 85 are unable to do so. Faith alone can do nothing, until it is practiced. Love alone is futile. When the child is grow n , he will not pray for his mother, but will berate her, saying , “I f I had been made to practice this when I was a child, I would not find it so difficult to offer ‘ Isha and Tahajjud prayers today and to carry out my other religious duties. ” 5) Fifthly, the man goes out [to work] and the woman does not properly care fo r the children. The children wander around with other children in the streets. The m an leaves his children, his most pr ecious possession, with his wife and she wrongly discharge s his trust. These are five negative impressions which a woma n can leave on her children. She does not realize that their well - being is her responsibility. If a man ga ve his wife two hundred rupees, would she toss it t o a child on the street? Certainly not ! W hy then does she hand over to street urchins, that [her child] which is more valuable than diamonds, rubies , pearls, and in fact is more valuable tha n kings ? 6) The sixth bad habit mothers have is that they conceal their children’s mistakes. H as anyone ever seen a mothe r hide her child’s illness? No, b ecause she knows that if the illness is not treated, the child w ill die. Yet, she hides the child’s spiritual m aladies. If those minor ailments which develop in childhood are not treated right away, they cannot be cured once the child is grown unless great sacrifice is involved. Yet women cover up [their children’s shortcomings]. At times a child may tell a lie and the father wishes to reprimand him, but the mother will defend him and in explaining it away, will tell a lie h erself. Th e result is that the child grows more and more corrupt. 7) Seventhly, women do not take care of the ir children’s health , to the point that when they are adults , they are unable to undertake a task of any significance. These are seven issues , the solution of which lies with in a woman’s grasp. It is not necessary to be educated to fix them. Every woman knows the basics of Islam. If women begin to teach their children the main principles of religion from a very early age , then by