Ask our children:

When we want to do something, what should we say?

Now tell them the story:

Once, there was a little boy named ‘Ali whose parents loved him very much. His parents loved him so much that they always gave him whatever he wanted.

One day, ‘Ali went to his father and said, “Daddy! Please give me R15!” His father asked him, “Why do you want R15, ‘Ali? What do you want to buy?” ‘Ali replied, “I want to go to the sweet shop and buy a whole slab of chocolate! I think I’m going to buy a Top Deck!” “Ok, here you go, and make sure that you look after it, because I won’t give you more money this week!” said his father, giving him the money.

When ‘Ali looked at the money, he saw that his father had given him three R5 coins. ‘Ali took the three coins, put them into his pocket, and went out of the house. He quickly took his bicycle out of the shed and hopped on, ready to ride to the sweet shop!

As ‘Ali started to pedal his bicycle, his friends came running and asked, “’Ali! Wait! Where are you going?” ‘Ali was in a rush and didn’t want to wait – he wanted his chocolate! He said to them, “My father gave me R15, and I’m going to buy a whole slab of Top Deck!” When his friends heard this, they reminded him, “Don’t forget to say ‘insha-Allah’! Moulana told us that whenever we want to do something, we must say inshaAllah!” ‘Ali replied, “I have the money, so why must I say insha-Allah? All I need to do is pay the money, and I will get my chocolate!” Saying this, he began to pedal and left his friends behind.

‘Ali pedalled his bicycle as fast as his little legs could manage, and as he took the first turn on the road, his bicycle tyre went into a ditch! His whole bicycle twisted and ‘Ali went flying off! Poor ‘Ali! He woke up from the road, with his knees paining where they had landed on the ground, and quickly checked his pocket. He found… That one of the coins was missing! When he had his bicycle accident, one of the coins fell out of his pocket, and now he couldn’t see it anywhere! ‘Ali was now feeling a little bit sad, because he only had R10 left. But then, he thought to himself, “Never mind! I’ll still be able to buy a nice chocolate like a Lunch Bar!”

‘Ali got back onto his bicycle and started pedalling again. But after the next turn in the road, he met a huge dog! The dog started barking and chased ‘Ali through the whole road, only leaving him at the very end of the street. When he had left the dog behind, ‘Ali quickly checked his pocket… and saw that it had a hole inside! Another R5 had fallen out, and ‘Ali was scared of the dog, so he didn’t want to go back and look for the money. Now ‘Ali was feeling even more sad, but he thought to himself, “Never mind! At least I have R5 left! I can buy a small KitKat!”

Since ‘Ali’s pocket had a hole, he held the last R5 in his hand as he pedalled his bicycle, going to the sweet shop. He held onto the money very tightly, because it was the only money that he had left. Finally, after a few more turns, ‘Ali reached the sweet shop and saw… that it was closed! He had come 10 minutes too late!

‘Ali was so disappointed! He had lost R5 in the accident, and another R5 when the dog chased him, and now he only had R5 left, AND the sweet shop was closed! He felt so sad, that he even started crying! Then, ‘Ali remembered what his friends had told him, that he must say insha-Allah when he wants to do something. He had not read insha-Allah, because he didn’t think he needed to. But now, he realized that even if you have the money in your hand, and you want to buy sweets, you must say insha-Allah. In fact, whatever you want to do – you must first say insha-Allah.

‘Ali got back onto his bicycle and pedalled back to his house. As he reached his driveway, his friends asked him, “’Ali! Where’s the Top Deck?” ‘Ali replied, “Insha-Allah I lost R5 when I fell off my bike, and insha-Allah I lost another R5 when a dog chased me, and insha-Allah the shop was closed by the time I reached! Next time, I will definitely say insha-Allah!” ‘Ali’s friends laughed and said, “Sorry ‘Ali! But you know, you must say insha-Allah before, not after!”

In this way, ‘Ali learnt the importance of saying insha-Allah. Whenever he wanted to do something, whether it was something important or even if it was something not so important, he always said insha-Allah.

Lesson:

We must always say insha-Allah when we want to do something, because only Allah Ta‘ala can make it happen.

Click here for the audio version of this story.