I stared into her crystal clear eyes filled with tears after she had listened to the story from the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) life. My little daughter had been so thrilled to hear the story of how the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was so patient and diligent in feeding a blind old man every day. Even before the Prophet (peace be upon him) placed it into the old man’s mouth, he smoothened the food to make it easy for him to swallow. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) often received insults from the old man, even though he fed him gently. Then Abu Bakr Sidiq continued with the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) routine after his death. Although the old man could not see, he was able to tell that the hands that fed him that day were not the usual ones. Then when Abu Bakr Sidiq told him that the man who had been feeding him every day was Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and that he had passed away, the old man was very sad and felt guilty.
It was not the first time my daughter cried after listening to the story of the Prophet’s (peach be upon him) life. Previously, I had also told her about the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) childhood, how he had been orphaned at the age of six (which was almost the same as my daughter’s age at that time). She immediately hugged me and said,
“Mom, if you died who would cook meals for me? I do not know how to cook and drive.” She worried.
“But Dad’s still here and can help us,” said her elder sister trying to give a solution.
I was at once amused to hear their conversation which showed them to be thinking far ahead. Subhanallah, children are full of imagination and questions. Often the girls ask about life after death, whether we can still be together again in the hereafter, where would we be after death, what would happen to the planets after we have gone to the hereafter, and so on.
As a mother, I try to explain what I know. I have become more motivated to read more books to answer their questions. At first I only intended to describe life after death to encourage my children to pray and read the Quran. But apparently, this made them more interested to know about life after death, which sometimes is difficult to explain, because it is the secret of Allah SWT.
One day, after my children had finished their obligatory prayers, they sat down for the supplication. When they finished, I asked my young daughter what they had prayed for to the Lord. She replied, “I prayed to Allah SWT that Mom and Dad do not die ….”
