The spiritual upbringing of our children- definition of fitra:
Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him says, “Every baby is born in a state of fitra [and remains in that state] until he is able to express himself, at which point his parents make him a Jew or Christian or a Magus.”
I would define Fitra as ‘the ability of the human-being to sense the divine and, as a result, long for closeness to divine goodness’. As adults we attempt to achieve this nearness to the divine through trying to please God. Fitrah is the remainder of light from the pledge we made to Allah before we were born.
Spirituality is an innate tendency and potential one is born with. It is an intellectual and emotional reaction to personal blessings and universal wonders which motivates one to develop a closeness to Allah through worship. Fitrah has a social side with regard to one’s relationship to others, since Prophet Muhammad (SAW) says, “The divine way is about how you treat others.”
We can sum up fitra in three phrases: to sense, to long for, and to develop along a spiritual path. In discussing spiritual upbringing, we will break down each stage into four points:
- The intellectual cognitive perception of wonders and blessings
- The emotional feelings of longing to please and get closer to Allah
- The development of such closeness through worship in terms of rituals
- The development of such closeness through worship in terms of treating others
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