Sister Space

Mother’s way of devotion shapes world

By Tomiko Muhammad | Last updated: May 22, 2013 - 9:06:32 AM

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“When a woman of Amran said, My Lord, I vow to thee what is in my womb to be devoted to thy service, so accept it from me; surely Thou, only Thou, art The Hearing, The Knowing.” -Holy Qur’an, Chapter 3 Verse 35

The woman in this verse is about to be a mother, and she has devoted her child to the service of God. This act alone bears witness to the awesome power of mother.

A woman can devote her child to the service of God or she can devote her child to the service of Satan.

It depends on her training and preparation. This woman prayed for the benefit of her unborn child. She seems to be aware of the contribution this child may be to the world. 

Nowadays, when a woman gets pregnant, the prayer she prays may be a plea to undo the pregnancy. It does not appear that mother understands that she should give her child to the service of God or know how to rear a child so that that child will fulfill his or her destiny.

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We are proud parents when our children are good examples in the world. Proverbs 10:1 says, “The wise son maketh a glad father but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.” It takes mom and dad to make a baby but that child’s make up is from the character, attitude and personality of mother.

Motherhood involves the arduous task of teaching and training a child into the knowledge of self; also, being an example for the child. There was a time when motherhood was an honorable position. When grandma was a homemaker, people in the community knew that her family was united and strong. We live in a society that does not see motherhood as an honorable thing. It is not looked upon as the divine and respectable natural position. And as a result of our lack of understanding of mother, we are trained to only recognize her once a year.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan told us in his 2001 Mother’s Day lecture, that the exploiters call this day “Mother’s Day.” He said the exploiters always want to find a way to exploit our love for God, our love for His Prophets, our love of our mothers and fathers to make another dollar. Exploit means to make full use of or derive benefit from.

Mother’s Day is the second biggest holiday after Christmas. According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent $18 billion on Mother’s Day in 2012, which is about $152.00 per person. This is up $12 from 2011.

When you exploit a thing, you use or milk it until it contains nothing. In our lessons, we are asked the following question, “Why does the devil keep our people illiterate?” The answer is: “So that he can use them for a tool and, also, a slave. He keeps them blind to themselves so that he can master them.”

The only good of Mother’s Day for the exploiter is its ability to make money. This day is not motivated by a sincere admiration for the woman who carried us and bore us in fainting and pain. But it is to milk, extract, over exert and take advantage of the pure divine principles in relation to the position of Motherhood. In this world, mother suffers because there is a misunderstanding of the role of the woman. It is the misunderstanding of the scriptures that causes mistreatment and abuse of women.

The National Coalition against Domestic Violence defines domestic violence as the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault and/or abusive behavior perpetuated by an intimate partner against another. It is considered an epidemic in the United States.

Violence against women is often accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior and thus is a part of a systematic pattern of dominance and control. Most of the time, a woman knows the person that is abusing her. Eighty-five percent of domestic violence victims are women.

“My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge and because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shall be no priests to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget your children.” -Hosea 4:6

When we look at the condition of our children, it is evident that mother does not possess the knowledge that contains basic information on how to be a mother and how to rear her children. It is this unfortunate reality that has caused our children to be rejected in society when, by nature, they are the heirs of a divine inheritance. Through a poor diet of fast foods, music devoid of real culture, television and a decaying educational system, the enemy of our children is working hard to make them unworthy of that inheritance.

Romans 10:14 says, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?”

Mother is the first to teach the child the knowledge of self which is the knowledge of God. But today, mother does not know God so how can she teach Him to her children when she does not know Him?

As mothers, we are so disconnected from our true nature that we cannot fully practice real motherhood. Someone has to be sent to us to teach us how to be mothers all over again. We do not understand our rites of passage as we go from girlhood into womanhood so girls must “grow up fast.” Many have been raped and molested. Since it is our nature as women to bring forth life many of these young girls become early mothers or “babies having babies.” Our communities are filled with generations of children born from ill-equipped mothers.

It is the teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad that gives us a definitive knowledge of Motherhood. Mr. Muhammad says until we learn to love and respect our women we will never be a fit and recognized people on the earth. The woman is the Co-Creator with God. It is through this divine relationship that we cooperate with God by submitting our will to do His Will and reproduce the children that reflects His Will. Through the wisdom that we study as Muslim women in the Nation of Islam, we are made whole again after abuse and we regain our virtue.

In the song ‘No Charge,” Shirley Caesar sang about her nephew who gave his mother a list of household duties he had performed with a charge attached to each of them. His mother wrote these words on the back of that list, “For the nine months I carried you, growing inside me, No Charge. For the nights I sat up with you, doctored you and prayed for you, No Charge.” In the final verse of this song, Ms. Caesar reminded us of the day that Jesus shed his blood on Calvary. Isn’t it interesting how Ms. Caesar compares the sacrifice of motherhood to the Crucifixion of Jesus?  

It is time for us to get a thorough knowledge of what motherhood really is because it is only mother that can reform man and clean up our communities.

(This article was written by Sis.Tomiko Muhammad. She attends Muhammad Mosque No. 55 in Memphis,TN)