Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Muslimah Next Door

Home
Muslim
D’s Declaration of Faith

D’s Declaration of Faith

Last updated on: April 18, 2016 at 10:18 pm by Dilshad Ali

D’s Declaration of Faith 2016-04-18T22:18:28-04:00 Dilshad Ali

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ali Family Autism Truths #17 – April 17, 2016

I harbor secret fantasies of chartering a private plane and taking D for Umrah – the lesser pilgrimage to Makkah done during non-Hajj times.

My friend, Joohi Tahir, executive director of MUHSEN (Muslims Understanding and Helping Special Education Needs), wrote a post for me about two years ago about how she and her family performed the Umrah with their autistic daughter Mehreen. The story is simply beautiful:

Every step of this journey became easy for us from the minute we decided to go. We had all the support materials and prepping done, even to the point of showing Mehreen YouTube clips of tawaaf (circling around the Kaabah) and what to expect, so that she knew what we would be doing. We even had her teacher make PECS (picture exchange communication system) cards and a schedule of actions, like salaah (prayer), airplane, hotel and the Kaabah. Once we arrived in Makkah, we noticed all the miracles beginning to unfold – tentative at every point, yet filled with strong iman and hope.

Never say never.

Several months ago, Joohi and I had an extraordinary conversation, in which she told me that maybe we could work on a program where MUHSEN developed a guided Umrah package for people with disabilities and their families. Now that would be something.

But it makes me wonder about my shortcomings in teaching D about the rituals of Islam and faith. For a guy who thrives on routine and rituals, I sure dropped the ball when it came to teaching him faith rituals. Like, we read the Quran to him often or play recordings of the Quran for him. He is a part of our Eid prayers and certainly is often in the room with us when we pray Maghreb together as a family.

But I never made the effort to teach him the positions of salat. Things were always so challenging and difficult with D from very early on, that it all we could do to have him sit down and eat a meal, let alone stand, bend down, kneel and prostrate through the rakats of ritual prayer.

Did I teach him snippets of the Quran, like the kalmah (declaration of faith, which is one of the five pillars of Islam) and had him repeat other short surahs? Yes. Did his paternal grandmother spend months patiently having him repeat the opening line from Surah Al-Alaq of Iqra bismi rabbika alladhi khalaq (Read in the name of thy Lord who creates …), which is universally believed to be the first line of the Quran revealed to the Prophet Muhammed? Yes she did.

But ritual salat never happened. Nor did fasting. And, I suspect the Hajj pilgrimage and the giving of zakat (charity) won’t be done by D either — though of course never say never.

But out of the five pillars, the first, which is the shahada – declaration of faith – is a ritual that has held true every morning since D was a babe in my arms. I wake him up and call to him. La ilaha illal-lah, Muhammadu Rasulu llah. Sometimes it is a fast utterance, and on other mornings I pause, urging him to repeat.

Me: La ilaha

D: lah!

Me: La ilaha illah-lah

Me: Muhammadu Ra …

D: Soo la la!

And so really, the truth of it is that whether or not we fly D all the way to Makkah to perform Umrah doesn’t really matter. He has belief in his heart. His akhirat (ever after) is made.

So why am I even worried?

Stay in touch! Like Muslimah Next Door on Facebook:

Muslimah Next Door

Autism Awareness Month 2016

Ali Family Autism Truths

Previous Post

April 16, 2016

I Has High Expectations

Next Post

April 18, 2016 On Block Formations and Autism Negativity

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Global Voice for Autism Autism Awareness Month 2016 Autism Awareness Month 2017 Autism Interlude Hajj and Eid ul Adha Jenin Autism Project Ramadan Three Questions Uncategorized WISE Global Conference

Select a Month November 2018 October 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did Aaron make for the people while Moses was on the mountain?

Select your answer to see how you score.

An altar A wooden idol A silver snake A golden calf