Mothers and Tingz
Jummah Mubarak sis!
This weekend as you celebrate Mother’s day, whether that’s for yourself or the Mothers in your life... Remember that it takes someone not only brave to be a mother, or strong to raise a child, but it takes someone special to love someone more than herself. We’ve heard time and time again that “Paradise is at the feet of mothers” and takes some deep thought to understand why. For some of us, we may come to some realization of it once we become Mothers ourselves. May Allah swt bless and protect our Mothers for all of their sacrifices.
Al Ahqaf 46:15 (The Dunes)
وَوَصَّيْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ إِحْسَـٰنًا ۖ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُۥ كُرْهًۭا وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًۭا ۖ وَحَمْلُهُۥ وَفِصَـٰلُهُۥ ثَلَـٰثُونَ شَهْرًا ۚ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُۥ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةًۭ قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِىٓ أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَىَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَٰلِدَىَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَـٰلِحًۭا تَرْضَىٰهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِى فِى ذُرِّيَّتِىٓ ۖ إِنِّى تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّى مِنَ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ
“We have commanded people to honour their parents. Their mothers bore them in hardship and delivered them in hardship. Their ˹period of˺ bearing and weaning is thirty months. In time, when the child reaches their prime at the age of forty, they pray, ‘My Lord! Inspire me to ˹always˺ be thankful for Your favours which You blessed me and my parents with, and to do good deeds that please You. And instil righteousness in my offspring. I truly repent to You, and I truly submit ˹to Your Will˺.’ ”
When you think about the endless things a Mother does for their child, you could try, but can’t picture how immense that love is. Allah swt recognizes that bond as well as the hardships that come with pregnancies, deliveries, and weaning. The job of a Mother truly never ends. For those reasons and many more, we can take from this verse that children should serve both the mother and the father, but the Mother's right is greater in importance, on the ground that she undergoes greater hardships for the sake of the children. A Mother’s job is an investment and we as children must do our best to create ease for them. We ask Allah swt to bless the Mothers of our Ummah and in humanity with all that’s good for them in this world and the next. Ya Allah, we ask you to build grand homes in Paradise for our Mothers for their endless sacrifices and to ease all their affairs. Allahuma Ameen!
Resource: Maududi - Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an
May 2024 Halaqah
Mommy Brain is Real!
About 50-80% of Mothers have reported some sort of brain fog associated with their pregnancies or new motherhood. In a 2018 meta-analysis of 20 studies, data showed that memory problems and poorer executive functioning do seem to be common themes, starting in the first trimester and worsening through the third.
In a first-of-its-kind, ground-breaking analysis of pre- and post-pregnancy brain scans published in 2016, Scientists found Mothers lose gray matter during pregnancy—and these losses endure for at least two years.
Don’t fear! Volume loss may come with some benefits! The brain zones used for processing and responding to social cues might get more efficient in pregnancy, as the women who suffered the biggest gray matter losses scored higher on a standard assessment of a mother’s attachment to her child.
