We attend taraweeh prayers every night, especially in the last ten days when the doors of the mosques are open to women.
Among this population are mothers, especially those with young kids who are unconsciously banned from our mosques. If a kid dares to move, speak, or play, the mother is faced with such looks and impressions that even the furthest corner of the mosque, where she is crammed with all her stuff and kids, feels tight.
She joins the mosque hoping to get one good moment with her Lord and catch some blessings of the blessed gathering circled by angels, but she receives guilt and despair. Her mind in prayer is already calculating when her child last ate or slept and how many moments she has of sanity before chaos breaks.
Her eyes are on the baby and the toy slowly slipping off his hands. Her ears are trying to listen to the footsteps or babble of the toddler that has wandered away from her row. Her hands are carrying a baby who is scared by so many strangers around and wants to be comforted, yet the mother’s heart yearns to be among those who are blessed in Ramadan, who got freed from the Hellfire, and are chosen by the Rabb and pardoned.
Even in taraweeh setups such as those of Youth Club where the kids’ area is maintained separately for ages 5-8 and mothers of babies and toddlers are welcome in the main prayer hall, even in those rare places, the burden and the fear of my mother that she might ruin the ibadah and solace of her neighbor is not eradicated.
So the next time you enter a mosque and see a confused, scared mother, show her support, give her a smile, and encourage the clueless kid. Encourage her, for the task of upbringing god-fearing Muslims is not done in isolation of closed walls but in a god-fearing society and with good role models.
We, the followers of the Prophet (SAW) whose grandkids rode his back in prayer and he prolonged the sujood, so why do we lose our patience so early? Our kids-filled mosques will not only ensure the mom’s legacy but also our ummah’s future too.
So this Ramadan, let the kids play and let the moms pray.
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