Captioning provided by MUHSEN (www.muhsen.org)
If you go back to your childhood
and your memories from childhood,
you can remember your uncles or your aunties or those adults
that were kind to you, that were very playful with you,
that would make it a point to joke with you,
that would make you feel welcome,
and children have a way of detecting that, right?
They feel kindness, or they feel unwanted very easily
And that's why the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
stresses
Laysa minna man lam yar ham sa yiraana wayu waqir kabi raana
Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says that, "He is not
amongst us who fails to show mercy to the young ones,
and, at the same time, upholds the respect for the elderly."
(dramatic choral music)
and Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala Anhuه
who says, "I never saw anyone more merciful with children
than the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallan."
I mean, when you brought your children around
the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallan,
he would do everything but ignore them.
He would play with them, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallan.
He would talk to them, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallan.
And that helps each one of the children
develop their own connection,
especially to the Masjid, right?
You talk about making the children love the masjid,
you know going to the Masjid and seeing that kind adult,
and especially if there is a sweet Imam or a kind Imam
and in the case of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
being your Imam, your child wants to go see
the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
because they know that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi
Wasallam is going to talk to them
They know that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
might give them something
They know that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
is going to be playful with them.
So that's really part of the culture
that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam is setting up
in his community. And Anas RadiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
says, he used to mix with us so much
that he would ask a little brother
of mine Yaa aba umair ma' fa'lan nughair
I had a younger brother named
aba umair and he had a little bird, an nughair
and the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
every time he saw him, he'd ask
him about his pet birds, SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
and take interest in it, right?
So when you're walking up to kids and you're talking
to children and you're asking them about their interests
you're asking them about how far they've gotten
in their game, about how things are going
in their sports or whatever it may be that they're doing
So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would develop that
type of relationship with the children of the community.
Those children, of course, who would grow up
to become the scholars of this ummah right?
Because they were young enough to be sahabah
And at the same time they learned whatever they could
from the elder companions and transmitted that
to the next generation of eager tabi'in
the next generation that came in this ummah
So how did this start off with the prophet
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam?
Well for one, if you had a child, and you lived in Medina,
you wanted to bring your newborn
to the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
You wanted the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
to name your child for you.
You wanted the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
to hold your child and make dua'a
You wanted the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
to do the tahneek
where he would take the dates SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And rub it on the top of the mouth of the child
You wanted that from the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And he would oblige Alayhi Salatu Wasallam.
Anas radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
mentions, Abdullah the son of Abu Talha
and he says that when he was born
the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam held him and he took
the date and he put it in his mouth and he put it in the
mouth of Abdullah
And Abdullah really loved that date, so the Prophet
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said hubul ansaar atTamir.
This is how the ansaar are, they love dates and
the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam named him Abdullah.
So you had all these children that were walking
around that were actually named
by the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
And when the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
saw the Abyssinian children, he would try
to speak their language SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
and he would stumble speaking their language sometimes
on purpose so that they could laugh with him
Alayhi Salatu Wasallam as he was trying to speak their
language. A child could take him by the hand
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, and show him things and point
out things to him and the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
would play with them.
And Rasulillah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
will not turn away from them until they were satisfied.
We also see subanAllah, a really beautiful narration
because sometimes these things are actually, you know
in the small print, if you will,
of the Hadeeth, when the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
used to receive fruits now back then, obviously probably
for better, you don't really have candy, right?
The sweet is the fruits and the kids loved fruits.
And in Medina, when people would
would have their new picks of fruit
They would always want to bring something
to the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And Rasulillah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
when he would get a piece of fruit, he would make dua'a
for the fruits of those people, the fruits of al-Madinah,
and then the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
would do what?
He'd look to the smallest child in sight.
He'd called that child over, and he'd give them the fruit
Alayhi Salatu Wasallam
So that was like his way of giving candy
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
to the children of the ummah
And this was his habit Alayhi Salatu Wasallam,
even as people would prefer the prophet
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam with the sweet fruits.
Now with his own children SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
that was a sight to see in and of itself
meaning his grandchildren Alayhi Salatu Wasallam.
When it comes to al-Hassan wal Hussein
radiAllahu ta'ala Anhuma
the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam relationship with
them was so beautiful.
And the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
would not just hold them
and testify to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la.
how much he loves them
but he would say loudly SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam oh Allah
love those who love them
and hold them SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
and he would kiss them Alayhi Salatu Wasallam
Fatima radiAllahu ta'ala anha
She mentions when the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
used to visit the house and he'd called out atTamma luqa'
Where is the little one at? Where is the little one at?
He means SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
athamma luqa'
He means SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
Al Hassan radiAllahu ta'ala anhu
"Bring him out to me"
And the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would put
in his own cloak Alayhi Salatu Wasallam Al Hassan and
Al Hussein and Usama ibn Zayd and Zainab and Umamah
He would put all of his grandchildren
Alayhi Salatu Wasallam under his cloak
and he would hold them close and he would make Dua'a
and this was a site that was changing
the culture of al Madinah
There was a man that once saw
the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
throwing Al Hussein wal Hussein
and kissing them and hugging them.
And he said, I have 10 of them
and I never kissed any of them.
Like this is not, this is not normal.
You know, we're men,we're not supposed to kiss our children
And the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said
what can I do about a man who has no mercy?
You know, whoever does not show mercy will not
have mercy shown to them
So the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said
this is part of rahmah, this is part of mercy that we show
to these children and the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
especially paid attention
to those orphans to those children that were deprived
of that love the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
would go out of his way to be that figure
to those orphans that didn't have the love
of a father because, he Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
did not have that love himself
he grew up without that and
he said SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
The best house is the one in which orphans are treated well.
And the worst house is the one
in which orphans are treated poorly.
So just like when he talked
about feasts being exclusive and the worst feasts
being the ones that the poor are excluded from
the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says that the worst
houses are the ones in which the orphans are not treated
well, And the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
made it a point
to be that emotional support, and to bring them close
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam emotionally so that they could
feel that connection.
And that's why he told Abu Darda radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
He said, do you want your heart to be softened?
Do you want to find
that your things will be provided for you in life?
He says, adnil yatima mink
bring the orphan close to you
wam sahbhi ra'sihi wa ata imhum min tu'amik
and caress his hair and feed him from what you eat.
And he said, wallahi, it will soften your heart
and it will fulfill your needs. So the prophet
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would go out and he would
bring the 'aytam, he's bring the orphans
to his own home SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
He would walk with them. And because they
were so subject to exploitation, the prophet
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would not just play with them
but he would intercede for them
for any issue that they had Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallan.
So he pays special attention to
children as a whole in the ummah
And he pays even closer attention SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
to those children that were not getting to live
like the children around them.