Assalamu alaykum. My name is Safiya and I live in America. Now it is Ramadan and I go to the Islamic Center with Mommy and Daddy for taraweeh. I have my own prayer scarf, see? So I can pray, too. Baby Zaid can’t pray; mostly he goes to sleep. Sometimes he cries and then I have to go to him and try to make him happy. I can’t carry him because he’s too big for me, so I rock his chair and sing to him.
Today there was boy standing next to his Mommy while we prayed. When I put my prayer cover on he pointed at me and laughed. He wasn’t praying. He was driving a toy truck back and forth on the carpet. I prayed next to Mommy. The boy started making faces at me. He opened his mouth and showed all his teeth like a monster. He blinked his eyes and shook his head at me. I looked ahead, because when you pray you don’t make faces. When the Imam said, “Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah, “ I looked him straight in the face and I stuck my tongue out at him. He started pointing at me and tattling to his mom. Then Zaid began to cry. Mommy took my hand, picked up Zaid’s carrier and went out of the prayer area.
So now we are in the play area of the Masjid. Two Mommies are talking with their babies in their arms. The babysitter lady is sitting at a round table with paper and crayons and three girls are drawing pictures. “Would you like to draw?” she asks. “No, it’s Ramadan and I want to pray taraweeh with my mommy.” I almost cry, but I don’t cause I’m big, not little like Zaid. The babysitter lady comes over and shows me where there is a shelf of books. “Shall I read you a story? Here is a book about all the things children can do in Ramadan.”
“Like fasting and taraweeh?” I ask.
“No, like other things you can get reward for in Ramadan.”
The book is funny and has lots of pictures and when we finish, I say, “Can I draw now?” I draw some things I can do to make Allah happy in Ramadan:
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I draw me playing with Zaid while Mommy reads Quran
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I draw me putting my toys away after I play
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I draw me praying with Mommy and Daddy at home
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I draw me learning a new surah
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I draw me making cookies with Mommy for after taraweeh
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I draw Daddy and me taking food to people who don’t have any
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I draw me and Mommy in prayer clothes with a rainbow on top ‘cause we’re happy its Ramadan
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