دار محمد Daar Muhammed

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن تَتَّقُوا اللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّكُمْ فُرْقَانًا وَيُكَفِّرْ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ (29) الأنفال

O you who believe! If you obey and fear Allah, He will grant you Furqan a criterion [(to judge between right and wrong), or (Makhraj, i.e. making a way for you to get out from every difficulty)], and will expiate for you your sins, and forgive you, and Allah is the Owner of the Great Bounty.

Bounty.

Focus! Focus! We often heard elders instructing us when we were small, and now, we hear ourselves saying the same to our children and students. Though this prodding works for the instant, a lot of the time, the child’s “focus” is out of compulsion and perhaps fear. This leads to a lack of results and long-term benefits from whatever the child is focusing on. How then do we guide him to gain focus himself? To handle a task wholeheartedly? To maintain his concentration until he completes what he set out to do to a satisfactory level?

If continuous “nagging” can bring in only so much results, it makes sense that to help a child involve himself in deep work and stable focus will require a strategy that goes beyond and before just the “work time”. It requires the child to draw something of strength from within himself with the guidance of his caregivers. To be able to be self-motivated and be able to envision the end reward from the point he is at right now as he begins to take the path to it consistently.

But first, why is concentration important? 

What does concentration reap to make it worthy enough for us to put in so much work into? What are its benefits? Are we looking to develop concentration as a general asset for children, or are we looking to nurture a more purposeful type that will slowly guide the child to choose his life path by himself?

In the above verse, Allah says;

O you who believe! If you obey and fear Allah, He will grant you Furqan a criterion [(to judge between right and wrong)

There can not be a bigger factor in gaining useful knowledge, benefitting from it, and understanding it properly— all fruits of concentration—than taqwa. Taqwa; to obey Allah’s orders and keep away from His prohibitions is the biggest power skill you can help your child have to use to build focus, resilience, and to carve out his life’s vision.

For a believer, there will not be a bigger life goal than working for Allah’s Pleasure, which leads to a beautiful life of eternity after one’s time here in this world. This is the very purpose of man’s existence and a goal that conforms to his nature. Building concentration with this goal in front of one’s eyes will provide a strong base for a purpose-driven child. Maintaining and growing the importance of this purpose once instilled is equally important, too. At the same time, the magnitude of this goal in a Muslim child’s life explains why his ability to focus is so important.

To strive for Allah and aspire for His Sake is easily understandable for a child once they grasp even slightly the weight of this goal. With the right training, gentle and timely reminders, and encouragement, this goal becomes a second nature in the child. It is something that needs to be communicated to him throughout his day, actively and passively. Living in a world that promotes instant gratification and quick outcomes, a long-term goal as this will take extra effort to instil in a child, yet it is doable with patience and perseverance.

The magnitude of this goal in a Muslim child’s life explains why his ability to focus is so important.

The child gradually learns to look farther than what meets his eye, and he subconsciously reasons in his mind in a manner that is aligned to this purpose that you helped instil in him. This does not mean that the child will not have instances of distraction even many times a day, but it certainly means that his journey to Allah’s Path has already begun. You will notice the fruits of your efforts when he speaks and in how he reasons the various events in his life. Now, it is time to help the seed placed— to grow.

To be continued in Part 2, in sha Allah.