Ramadan for the young minds Why do we fast? An explanation I gave my kids, hope it helps you all too !! Ramadan is the month of extra blessings, because Allah SWT gives us a lot of hasanat (Good deeds). We have been ordered to fast during this month, we do not eat food from dawn until dusk, but why do we do that? What does Allah get if we fast? Allah SWT does not get anything when we fast He is free from all the wants of this world, it is a blessing for us, Allah has ordered us to fast to learn many things, and this month is like doing revision before the exam, which is a year long. We practice to not only to keep away from food, but we also learn not to lie, not to cheat, in other words we learn to keep away from sin and the most important part is to feel the presence of Allah SWT, To explain this I told them, that when we fast, we can even cheat everyone by saying I am fasting and then go inside the room and eat food when no one sees you, but would you do that? No, we would not do it, because we know that even though no one is watching us, we know Allah SWT is watching. This is what we need to apply all through our life, when we do anything which is wrong we need to keep in mind that Allah SWT is watching us. Another reason is that we pray to seek Allah’s forgiveness for all the small and big sin’s we have committed. I told them, if you have ever been cheeky by lying to mama, you can ask Allah to forgive you, or by mistake if you have hurt someone by being rude, you can ask Allah to forgive you and turn you into a good boy or a good girl, in this month Allah SWT accepts the kids who apologise by saying sorry and promise not to be bad again. When we fast, we feel hungry, because our body needs food, here we learn that when the poor people are hungry how they would feel, so we make sure we give the poor, food to eat. Allah makes you think, keeping you in their position, so that we feel their pain. Allah SWT also teaches us to be patient in this month, to keep away from anger not to fight with brothers and sisters and practice peace and forgive for the sake of Allah. Whoever forgives, Allah SWT is very happy with them and it is important that Allah is happy with us. How beautiful is our Islam! It teaches us to live a life of truth, honesty, patience, to share, to love...and so many good things. It is the best month to teach kids to share, I have planned to give my kids pocket money this Ramadan and teach them, to take a part of it and put it in a money box, so that they learn the concept of zakaat. I always tell them, that whatever we have is provided by Allah, If Allah did not will we would not have got anything from the food we eat to the dress we wear and the car we drive is all provided by Allah, and Allah SWT has ordered us to share it with others, and it is our duty to accept what Allah has said because, All of it is provided by Allah, if we be mean, it will not take any time for Allah to take it back from us. So we need to be kind and share with those who are poor. When we are good for the whole month, Allah says you all can have a party at the end of the month; it is a gift from Allah SWT who is The Most Kind. But it is important we do not forget the things we learn and continue to be good. These little things make a huge impact on the lives of our kids and it is very important to keep our kids aware of the religion we practice. I pray to Allah SWT, that He guides all our children to the right path, and saves them from the FITNA of this world. Ameen. Jazak Allah for all the valuable comments and your love. I hope this helps to deliver the message. By Sharmeen Syeeda