Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 11
! ! 11 Adopt Piety , so that Y our Children Grow to be Pious Address to the Ladies Delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir - ud - D in Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra ! Only that child will be without religion or averse to religion, whose parents ridicule religion in his presence ( , [ Illa Masha’ Allah ] except what God has wi ll ed ). If a mother does not offer Salāt and does not confer significance to the prescribed time of Salāt , it is certain that the son will do the same when he grows up. I have often observed that even if the child cannot comprehend [what he says] , he will offer the r ak’at of Sal ā t in the same manner as his parents at the time of prayer, if they are regular in offering Salāt. This is a truly blessed habit , which will inevitably help him when he is grown. It is t hese initial seeds which yield the kind of pleasant fruit that cannot be acquired later in life, no matter how much money is spent. When something is acquired, a mother should say to the child that this has been sent to us by Allah, W ho provides for us, fulfills our needs and heeds our supplications. We should be grateful to Him. At mealtime s , a mother should cas ually point out to her child the effort and the series of events which take place for th e food to be finally presented before the child , requiring no effort on the child’s part. [The mother should point out and say to the child], ‘ This is all due to the favor of that Holy Lord , W ho firstly cre ated all of this , and secondly provided the means for it to be prepared for you. Now, i t is that same Holy Lord W ho makes it beneficial for you. ’ Likewise, when putting the ir child to bed, if mothers wish , they can draw the child’s attention to the stars, the moon , and the sky. D uring the da y, they can highlight other phenomenon of nature , which will encourage h im to focus his attention towards God Almighty. I particularly wish for Ahmadi mothers to direct their attention towards this matte r and that they should constantly strive to inspire a feeling of devotion to Allah in their small, young children. Instead of