Ask our Children:
1. How should a Muslim dress?
2. Can we hide from Allah Ta‘ala?
3. What should we do if we make a mistake and do something wrong?
Now tell them the story:
There was once a girl named Maseehah who lived with her parents in a little house. Her parents taught her good values, told her how important it is to always make Allah Ta‘ala happy, and always reminded her to be a good Muslimah. Maseehah was a good child and generally listened to her parents, but sometimes she would make a mistake and do something naughty.
Maseehah had no brothers or sisters, so she sometimes felt lonely at home and wished that she had someone to play with. One day, her uncle Riaaz phoned and invited her to spend the weekend at his house. Maseehah was so excited! “Please may I go, Mummy and Daddy? I promise that I’ll be well behaved and I won’t trouble!” she pleaded with her parents. Her parents agreed, and Maseehah was so thrilled that she jumped to give them both big hugs and thank them.
Maseehah then ran to her room to pack her bag, and the next day she set off with her father. As her father dropped her off, he again reminded her, “Always remember that you are a Muslim and Allah Ta‘ala is watching you.”
Uncle Riaaz’s house was just too much of fun! There was Zainab and Zahraa to play with, and even little Muhammad, the toddler, who loved to follow them around. Maseehah played and played the whole day and was so busy that she didn’t even have a chance to miss home!
The next day the sun was bright and shining and the weather was very warm, so Uncle Riaaz said, “Why don’t you’ll swim in the pool today?” Maseehah was thrilled, but then she remembered something… “Oh no! I didn’t bring my swimming costume with!” Zainab quickly said, “Don’t worry! You can borrow one of mine!” But, when she took the costume out of her cupboard and placed it on the bed, Maseehah felt very uncomfortable. The costume was very short and would not cover her body properly. Maseehah was worried and thought, “I can’t wear this! My body won’t be covered properly! What am I going to do?”
After a few minutes, when Zahraa came into the room and saw that Maseehah was still in her clothes, she asked her, “What’s the matter?” Maseehah replied, “I can’t wear this! My whole body is showing!” Zahraa looked at her and said, “Don’t worry! It’s fine! Just put your dress over the costume for now. After you go into the water, no one will even see you, and it’s only us girls in the pool so it doesn’t matter.” Maseehah knew that Zahraa was wrong. It DID matter and Allah Ta‘ala would NOT be happy. But she wanted to swim with her cousins very badly, and her parents weren’t here to scold her, so she quickly wore the costume and ran down to her cousins.
Maseehah had fun splashing and swimming in the pool with Zahraa and Zainab. But, in the back of her mind, she felt guilty about the costume, because she knew that wearing it was wrong.
After they swam, she changed back into her dress, and Uncle Riaaz brought ice cream for them to enjoy. The sun was hot, and before Maseehah knew it, her ice cream began to melt and made a big mess on her dress. As soon as Zahraa saw that her dress was messed, she ran to her room and fetched a t-shirt for Maseehah, but the t-shirt was very short and tight-fitting. Once again, Maseehah felt uncomfortable to wear this type of clothing. However, Zahraa told her that it looked very pretty on her and even told her that she could keep it. Finally, Maseehah wore the t-shirt, and this time, she didn’t even feel so bad or guilty.
That evening, Maseehah’s father came to Uncle Riaaz’s house to take her back home. Maseehah was sad to leave her cousins as she had enjoyed herself. At home, she told her parents all about her weekend, and everything that she had done, but she made sure that she did not tell them about the costume or t-shirt. She knew that her parents would be displeased with her.
A few days later, the weather was very hot and the air conditioner was not working. Maseehah was feeling so hot that she decided to wear Zahraa’s t-shirt. But, since she knew that her mother will scold her, she decided that she would only wear it in her room. However, half an hour later, Maseehah felt thirsty. She went down to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water, and forgot that she was wearing the t-shirt! As soon as her mother saw her, she exclaimed in shock, “Maseehah! What on earth are you wearing? Go and change immediately and come back down!” Maseehah quickly changed into a loose dress and then came down.
Her mother explained to her, “Maseehah! We are Muslims, so we must dress like Muslims. Nabi (sallallahu ‘aaihi wasallam) taught us that girls must cover their bodies and be modest. We must not wear clothes and t-shirts that show our bodies! If we dress like good Muslims, we will make Allah Ta‘ala and Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) happy. Do you understand, my dear?” Maseehah nodded, and said, “Jee mummy! I understand.” Maseehah went immediately, performed two rakaats of salaah, and asked Allah Ta‘ala to forgive her.
A few weeks passed by when Maseehah opened her cupboard and saw the t-shirt again. Once again, it was a very hot day, so she felt tempted to wear it. Maseehah looked at the t-shirt for a few minutes, wondering what to do. Finally, she decided to wear it because her mother and father were gone out of the house. However, just a few minutes after Maseehah put on the t-shirt, she heard her parents enter the front-door. Maseehah was so scared of getting caught again that her heart was beating very fast! She quickly jumped up, ran to the cupboard and put on her long dress.
That evening, when Maseehah thought about what had happened, she felt very bad. In fact, she felt terrible! She realised that she was not being a good Muslim. She was worried that her parents would catch her, but she was not even worried that Allah Ta‘ala could see her and knew everything that she was doing! Maseehah made wudhu and performed two rakaats of salaah. Then, she sat on the musalla and made du‘aa saying, “O Allah! Please help me to be a good Muslimah and to dress correctly! O Allah! Please forgive me and make me modest!”
Finally, Maseehah took the t-shirt and threw it away, making sure that she would never feel tempted to wear it again. Now Maseehah felt much better. She decided that from now on, she would always dress like a good Muslimah. In this way, she became Modest Maseehah.
Lessons:
1. Muslims must be modest in their dressing by wearing clothing that covers their bodies properly.
2. Even when our parents cannot see us, Allah Ta‘ala can always see us. We can hide from our parents, but we cannot hide from Allah Ta‘ala. When we feel like doing something naughty, we must remember that Allah Ta‘ala is watching us.
3. If we do something wrong, we must read two rakaats of salaah, tell Allah Ta‘ala that we are sorry and promise Him that we will never do it again.
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