...Imagine a world where each child has a favourite book - a book they hold dear to their lives - a book which gives them comfort when they are upset, confused or feel lonely. A book which is like a gold mine - or a treasure box - and when they open it all the jewels and gems come pouring out and immerse their pure tiny souls. A book which is so precious that its words become embedded in their hearts and their tongues flow with such beautiful wisdom.
*Reflection and Pondering Moment*
We've all had a childhood favourite - mine were (and still are) 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' (I secretly imagine heaven to have a mixture of talking animals and trees and a sweet river of chocolate with everlasting gobstoppers - niiiiiiice - oh and I still love the original movies!).
These books - or whichever was (is) your favourite transports us from 'reality' as we know it into our 'own world' and there everything is just as we imagine and wish for it to be. Our books give us comfort, love, joy and a chance to explore and use our imagination which some adults (clearly not me - read above) forget they even have. This is where and when we develop a sub-conscious understanding of events and life - and though we may not understand it then - it stays with us and can have a profound effect on our lives, choices and actions - if our childhood experiences were extremely intense, that is.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if each child had a chance to develop the love for the words of Allah (swt) with such and same passion as they do with other books? Their tiny hearts memorising all the words - in their chosen language (if its not English) and developing a sub-conscious understanding of the Qur'an?
Some people may disagree - well you're more than welcome to disagree and I'm sure you have your reason and I respect that - we agree to disagree i guess - and say that there are many books written by fantastic writers about stories from the Qur'an and how children memorise Qur'an from a young age and its been happening for centuries. Yes it has, and yes it should continue - i fully support this - and I myself, like most of you reading this post, memorised some portions of the Qur'an (usually Juz Amma) at the young and innocent age.
But what I am referring to here is a full Qur'an translation in, for instance, the English language - which all the children can understand as it is written in child friendly or basic English language - simple and straight forward.
When the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet (pbuh) 1400 years ago, young children understood the message and strove hard to implement it in their lives - they understood the language.
Today, children are not exactly taught Arabic in the child friendly way - if it is not their first language - and so will not understand the same message, in depth message until at a much older age.
Children should still learn Arabic and the Qur'an in its pure form and they should still memorise it - even from that young age.
However, I believe that each child should also have a treasure book - in the language they understand - in basic and clear language - so they can master its meaning from a young age and become the true geniuses that they (or we all) have been created as.
Comments and thoughts welcome and do spend some time with your Qur'an today! :)
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