Early 2020 saw how the world was inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Every countries started to impose lockdown, major activities such as workforce and schools were forced to closed down, world economies were badly affected. Daily activities that were deemed normal before were halted. On a personal level, our normal outdoor outings were cancelled, no more going to the playground, play dates are a big no-no. We tried to explain the situation to our 4 year old- what is Covid all about , how the virus spread and what are the things we should do. Alhamdulillah she took it well albeit the fact that we used to go out almost everyday. We took this difficult time as an opportunity to instil some important aqeedah lessons to our daughter.

1. Allah created everything and He knows everything.

We start of by sharing with our kids that Allah is Al-Khaliq, The Creator. Every single amazing creations are by Him- from the magnificent mountain to the smallest tiniest virus/germs that you can’t see with your naked eyes.

And He is Al-Aleem, The All-Knowing. He knows every single thing that happen. He knows how the leaf falls from the tree, He knows how the virus spread, and  by His will too , the virus will stop spreading inshaAllah.

2) Seeking protection from Allah.

We introduced this beautiful hadis to our child :

Ibn Abbas reported: I was riding behind the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, when he said to me, “Young man, I will teach you some words. Be mindful of Allah and he will protect you. Be mindful of Allah and you will find him before you. If you ask, ask from Allah. If you seek help, seek help from Allah. Know that if the nations gathered together to benefit you, they will not benefit you unless Allah has decreed it for you. And if the nations gathered together to harm you, they will not harm you unless Allah has decreed it for you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.”

It can be found in the 40 Hadis of Nawawi –hadis number 19. We told her that as much as we try to protect ourselves from the virus by doing self-distancing, practicing personal hygienes etc, the most utmost protection comes from Allah. If Allah has decided that one of our family members to be inflicted with the virus (Nauzubillah) then it is a decree by Him and a test for us. But if Allah has decided that we are going to be safe from the virus, then we must always pray that Allah will always protect us and at the same time continue making effort of avoiding the virus.

3) Putting our trust in Allah (Tawakkal).

This point links heavily with the previous point. After doing our responsibilities of taking care of ourselves and our family members, we put our whole trust to Allah to protect us from all sickness.

Tawakkal without putting much any effort is futile. Both effort and tawakkal needs to go hand in hand. Just like how the prophet Muhammad-peace and blessing be upon him said “Tie your camel and put your trust in Allah” . Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2517

Grade: Hasan (fair) according to Al-Albani.

4) Allah is Ar-Razzaq (The Most Provider)

During this pandemic, our small family is away from our home country, we are far from our loved ones. My husband is currently doing his doctoral studies in KSA. So schools were shut down and the government imposed an almost 24 hour curfew. Were we worried? Definitely! Going out to do groceries is difficult as our monthly allowances were limited and my husband is out of job.We started to ration our food but Subhanallah Ng, not a day that goes by with us starving or not having anything to eat. Almost every week we received food supplies from either different organizations or anonymous givers leaving food at our doorsteps.

We told our daughter that this rizq is from Allah alone and that He will always provide us abundantly if we were to obey His commands.

5) Islam is in our heart.

Before this pandemic, going to the masjid is a daily routine for us as we have our Quran recitation halaqah. But it all stopped. Our daughter kept asking when we can go to the masjid again. We told her that even if we are not allowed to go to the masjid, we can still perform our solah together at home, reading quran etc. This Ramadan especially had a different feeling to it. Most of the Muslim families spent their quality time at home doing terawih and enjoying a nice iftar together.

Now, as the world slowly adapts to the ‘new normal’ phase, I hope, as we look back at the difficult and hard times we went through, our Eeman continues to become steadfast and that we become more patient and thankful to Him and May Allah protect us from all the sickness and pain.