Today, we discussed the generosity of Bibi Sakina. Here’s the gist of the discussion I had with my four year old.
“Who is Bibi Sakina?”
“[incorrect answer]”
“Hmm… no… do you know all the nohas that you listen to that talk about Bibi Sakina? What happened to Bibi Sakina?”
“Yeah the bad people pulled her earrings.”
“Yeah so who was Bibi Sakina?”
“She’s the daughter of Imam Hussain (AS)”
“Yeah! And do you know how old she was?”
“Ummm no”
“She was four years old.”
“JUST LIKE ME!!!!”
“Yeah, she was four, just like you! And what happened to her?”
“The bad people pulled her earrings!”
“Yeah, and what else happened?”
“Her ears had bleeding.”
“Yeah. And you know? The bad people hit her.”
“Oh.”
“Would you like it if someone hit you?”
“No! And not pull my earrings too.”
“Yeah, the bad people were mean to Bibi Sakina.”
“Ohh.”
“But you know what… Bibi Sakina was very GENEROUS! Do you know what generous means?”
“Yeah, it means to share!”
“Yeah! Does being generous mean that you’re kind?”
“Yeah!!”
“Okay, so do you remember what we talked about, about the water in Karbala and Imam Hussain (AS)?”
“No…”
“Remember, the bad people, what did they do with the water?”
“They didn’t give Imam Hussain (AS) and his friends and his family water for three days!”
“Right, so in Muharram, on the 7th of Muharram, they didn’t give Imam Hussain (AS) and his family and his friends any more water. So on the 8th, and the 9th, then on Ashura, that’s three days without water! How would you feel if you didn’t get any water for THREE days?”
“I would be so so so thirsty!”
“And then, if you found some water, what would you do? What do you think?”
“I would drink some and wash my hands and do everything that I have to do with the water!”
“You would?”
“Yeah!”
“Ok. Do you know what happened on Ashura?”
“What?”
“Bibi Sakina was so so so thirsty, so she went to her chachu, she asked Hazrat Abbas (AS) … do you know who Hazrat Abbas (AS) is?”
“Hmm… no.”
“Do you hear his name in nohas?”
“Yeah! In the video it said he was her uncle!”
“Yeah, you’re right! Remember, he was the brother of Imam Hussain (AS). He was the uncle of Bibi Sakina, he was the chachu of Bibi Sakina. And Hazrat Abbas (AS) was so BRAVE and so STRONG. So on Ashura, Bibi Sakina asked Hazrat Abbas (AS), her uncle, her chachu, to get some water for her. There was a river called the River Furat, and the bad people were blocking the river. So Bibi Sakina (AS) went to Hazrat Abbas (AS) and said, oh my chachu, I’m so thirsty, we’re all so thirsty, I want some water. Can you please get some water. Imam Hussain (AS) said that he could go try, so he went to try and get some water. But you know what Bibi Sakina did?”
“What?”
“She didn’t say, oooh, water is coming, I want to drink it, I’m gonna drink it! She didn’t say that. You know what she did?”
“What”
“She told all the other children that water is coming, my chachu is trying to get water. Come, I will share it with you!”
“Ooohhhh.”
“And it wasn’t a BIG water bottle. It was a small water bag, it’s called a Mashk. Can you say that?
“Mashk”
“Yeah, that’s a water bag, and he just had one mashk that he was trying to fill with water, not a big water bottle, but even then, Bibi Sakina said, if my uncle brings back water, I will share with all the other kids too. She was so generous!”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, but they didn’t get water. The bad people didn’t let Hazrat Abbas (AS) bring the water back.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. And you know what else happened?”
“What?”
“After Ashura, when they finally did get some water, you know what happened?”
“What?”
“When Bibi Zainab (AS), you know who Bibi Zainab is? She’s the sister of Imam Hussain (AS). So when Bibi Zainab came to Bibi Sakina and said here you go, drink this water, she didn’t drink the water! She said why should I drink the water first? You should drink some water! You’re thirsty too!”
“Ohh”
“Yeah. When Bibi Zainab (AS) told her that she was little, that’s why they wanted to give her the water first, she said that no, if you’re giving it to me because I’m little, then I’m not the only little one! My baby brother, Hazrat Ali Asghar (AS), he’s only six months old, he’s even smaller than me! I don’t want to drink the water first.”
“Ohhh”
“Yeah! Remember, Bibi Sakina was hurt and she had been crying and she was so so so thirsty. But she still didn’t want to drink the water first. She wanted to be generous and give water to other people first.”
“Ohhh”
“Bibi Sakina was always very very very generous and so kind and so brave!”
“Oh!”
“Do you think Bibi Sakina is a good person to think about?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you want to be like Bibi Sakina?”
“Yeah!!”
“How can you be generous like Bibi Sakina?”
“Do stuff that is good!”
“Like what?”
“[answers that don’t exactly work]”
“Well, not quite. What is generous?”
“Sharing”
“Yeah, generous is when whether or not you have enough, you still share with others. Like Bibi Sakina didn’t have water for herself, but still she wanted to share.”
“Ohhh”
“You can be generous with you things, like with food or water or toys. You can be generous with your words, by saying kind things. You can be generous with your time, by spending time with people!”
“We can share our money!”
“Yeah, exactly.”
“We can’t share play doh with babies”
“Well, yeah, cuz it’s not safe for them to put in their mouth. But what CAN you share?”
“I can’t take other people’s things and ruin them.”
“Right. That wouldn’t be generous, that would be selfish. We don’t want to be selfish. How can you be generous?”
“I can share my clothes, and my toys.”
After our discussion, we did this activity.
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