Virtues of Pregnancy in Islam - PART 2

by Umm Amal

Part 1

Bismillah

Previously, we explored three virtues of bearing a child in Islam. Here, we continue to discuss this topic.

4. Educating and Raising your Child - A Goldmine of Good Deeds 

There is unimaginable virtue and reward in teaching and raising your child.

Insha’Allah, every good deed you teach your child and he/she does, you will be rewarded for those righteous actions (e.g. if you taught your child about praying duha, or to fast Mondays and Thursdays, and they do these actions, you will be rewarded for teaching them insha’Allah). Now imagine they teach their children, and those children teach their children, and so on. Insha’Allah you will have left behind knowledge and good deeds to run through your lineage, accumulating a great deal of reward, which no one knows except Allah subhaanahu wa ta’ala.

Think about it: If you teach just one child (or commission a teacher to teach your child) Arabic and tajweed, you could have an entire lineage and future generations giving you good deeds bi’ithnillahi ta’ala. This is not taking into account the good deeds accumulated through seeking knowledge and learning the Qur’an yourself.

How so? Insha’Allah you and your children would teach their future children and maybe other students. They would then teach their children, who would teach their children, and so on insha’Allah. For every person in your lineage and your student’s future lineage, you could get reward for every letter of the Qur’an they recite insha’Allah.

The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wasallam said, “Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah, he will be credited with a good deed, and a good deed gets a ten-fold reward. I do not say that Alif-Lam-Mim is one letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter.” (At-Tirmidhi)

Just trying to enumerate the potential reward will send your mind spinning! Allah is so Merciful (Ar-Raheem) and Generous (Al-Kareem).

5. Nurturing the Next Generation of Muslims to do Great Things 

You can raise a righteous child who will contribute to the ummah and leave a great legacy behind, insha’Allah. Imagine your child grows up to be an Islamic scholar, opens hospitals to care for the sick, strives to care for the widows and orphans, builds masajid across the country, or does something else that is beneficial to the ummah or humanity.

Subhan Allah, the Muslim woman has been given such an important role in raising the next generation of Muslims who testify Laa ilaaha ill-Allah wa Muhammadur-Rasulullah!

At the same time, our whole sense of identity and purpose in life should not be to have children, to the extent that one feels purposeless without children or forgets about Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and becomes heedless due to their children. Allah subhaanahu wa ta’ala grants whomever He wills children, and makes whomever He wills barren and that is out of His Divine Knowledge, Wisdom, and Decree. A’ishah and other Sahaabiyaat (may Allah be pleased with all of them) were not able to bear children, but they showed amazing piety and benefited themselves with other good deeds (teaching, charity, hospitality, good character, etc.). The Muslimah should not abandon making du’a for a child. If one is unable to give birth, there are still many avenues to gain tremendous reward and reach high levels of piety. This time can be used to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, learn/teach the Qur’an, serve your husband/parents/family, and benefit the ummah and humanity insha’Allah.

In conclusion, there is so much good and reward that can come about by having a child (or more children). For this reason, I have even heard that if a Muslimah pursues higher education (in addition to learning about Islam of course), that she studies something such as childcare or education. There is a reason why the majority of nurses, childcare workers, caretakers for the elderly are women – maasha’Allah. Women have a caring, merciful, loving nature that is suited to raising and nurturing children.We need to learn/ask/reflect: is pursuing a career in Corporate America and attaining a plethora of titles by way of missing out on the virtues of pregnancy and having strong, pious children truly beneficial or a profitable exchange? It is a lifetime mission to continually align our plans with that which is pleasing to Allah subhaanahu wa ta’ala – we ought to try and keep our principle focus and priority set on that which will accumulate more good deeds and reward in the dunya and Hereafter bi’ithnillah.

May Allah guide, bless, and protect all the Muslims. Ameen.


I'd love to hear your views on this topic. Please post comments in the section below! 


For more reading: 
Virtues: http://islamqa.info/en/ref/161204
Expecting Parents: http://muslimmatters.org/2010/05/17/the-family-way-ten-tips-for-expecting-muslims/
Blog on Muslim Motherhood on a variety of topics: http://worldofumm.blogspot.co.uk/
Educating children: www.raisingsahabas.wordpress.com

Posted in: Amal S,Education,Mother,motherhood,nurturing,Pregnancy,reward,Umm Amal,virtues