Ramadan Joy at Home! Creating Family Traditions
ISLA hosted a special event to usher in Ramadan earlier this week. We had an amazing lineup of panelists who have spent their lifetimes trying to cultivate the joy of Islam in children’s hearts. “Ramadan Joy at Home!” was especially catered to parents of children ages 3-18. Over 150 participants tuned in live to listen to tips and a bedtime story reading by Omar Khawaja!
Ramadan Joy Panelists
Panelists included:
- Dr. Seema Imam, Chair, Islamic Schools League of America (ISLA)
- Afeefa Syeed, Al Fatih Academy
- Uzma Popal & Wesal Adam, National Muslim Soup Kitchen Day and Al- Hidaya Learning
- Abdul-Malik Ahmad, Native Deen/DeenTV
- IrambintSafia, Parenting & Life Coach
- Dr. Fawzia Gilani-Williams, children’s book author and Educator
- Omar Khawaja, acclaimed children’s book author of Ilyas & Duck: Ramadan Joy
Ramadan Joy Gems!
- Create a Ramadan gift box filled with special treats for each member of the family; depending on how old the individual is for whom it is being created, the box can include arts & crafts, sweet treats, books, games, or something home-made
- Create a “sakeena space” that you or your children can retreat to in order to find peace or reset while in the midst of a conflict or rising tensions
- Incorporate halaqas at home with your tween/teenage kids. Let them choose the topic and keep the time super short, even 10 minutes. They can lead the discussion by asking questions or sharing their ideas about topics that are most intriguing to them about Islam.
- Volunteer with your family at a local soup kitchen, cook food for the homeless or even for your own family or neighbors.
- While you shouldn’t force your kids to go to the masjid, encourage them and make it fun
- Rhythmically chant salawat on the Prophet, or sing an Islamic song with your children (either something popular or one you make up) to bring the spirit and joy of Ramadan to life for them
- Find books that are about Ramadan, Eid or Muslim characters to read with and to your children
If you want to catch the event recording, check it out here!
Panelists’ Resources
Some of the panelists shared resources that you can use at home to cultivate family traditions that help bring the spirit and joy of Ramadan into your homes. Check them out below!
Al Fatih Academy’s “The S’s of Ramadan”
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Open in new tab Fawzia Gilani-Williams’ Activities & Books for Ramadan
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Al Huda Islamic School’s Pre-K Bitmoji Classroom
We were unable to share this during the event due to limited time, but we know you’re going to love it! Below is a bitmoji classroom (a tech tool for classrooms that was taught during ISLA’s Teach with Tech series). It was created by a parent volunteer and Nuzkiya Junaidin, the director of Pre-K at Al Huda Islamic School in California. If you click on it, you will be able to access the interactive PDF with safelinks to youtube videos, books, authentic Hadith and more! Perfect for parents and teachers with pre-schoolers! We thank Nuzkiya for sharing this with the ISLA community 🙂
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National Muslim Soup Kitchen Day
Finally, Srs. Uzma Popal and Wesal Adam shared information about National Muslim Soup Kitchen Day which is on May 29, 2021. Find out more below:
- MSKP Website: www.msjp.info
- Register Your organization: https://tinyurl.com/ssutva52
- Detailed Information about NMSKDay: https://tinyurl.com/2av4kufn
- More info: email mskp@al-hidaya.org or text (518)953-8279
We want to thank all those who came out for ISLA’s Ramadan Joy event, including all of the amazing panelists, Islamic School Co-hosts and our Media Sponsor, AmericanMuslimToday. Please stick around and explore our website to learn more about ISLA, or reach out to info@theisla.org to connect with our executive director and learn about how you can support ISLA’s mission of strengthening Islamic schools and advancing Islamic education!
