The Role of Women as the Madrasatul Ula (First School) for the children in creating High Quality future

Leaders

By Amelia Indrajaya Januar On behalf of Indonesian Women

Abstract
Women is the first care giver and educator for the Islamic future leaders. The Islamic Awakening will be supported by a strong foundation on each and every Islamic household, by educating the children the Total Islamic way (kaffah). The Islamic way do not classify general study or religious study, rather that everything in life is a holistic spiritual discovery learning. A mother will be the facilitator to make sure that the learning process will always be based on the search of Allahs blessing. A mother will be an example that our life is a never ending thawaf of the universe, ibadah along the way, where every steps is carefully taken based on Allahs safety path. Mankind will have to show that they are capable of the holly mission as the Khalifah fil Ard, vicegerents of Allah.

A successful mother will have children with high quality leadership traits (Akhlakul Karimah). This is a result of an Integrated Islamic teaching as the Way of Life in every path of living for herein and hereafter.

Introduction
The negative influence of westernization and globalization has resulted into quite a rampant destructive act by the youth of Indonesia. As my social voluntary activities, I become the head of education departement of ASA Indonesia (Aliansi Selamatkan Anak Indonesia, the alliance of Safe the Children of Indonesia). We have already visited schools in some major cities in Indonesia to find out the impact of media and global life style and westernization to the youth tendencies toward destructive acts. The findings had shown a sad reality amongst the students and youth of Indonesia. One of the survey we had conducted was the students (grade 6-9) behavior on pornography. One of the question we asked was whether they had deliberately or undeliberately had an exposure toward pornography through any kind of media. The answer was that all respondents had an exposure whether it is willingly or unwillingly. This means the era of internet and media access had opened up myriad of informations to our society and has created lots of possibilities. Some are positive in terms of easeness of useful information and data, but lots of them are threatening in terms of brain washing and addicting content.

It becomes an urgent matter to anticipate the negative influence by awakening the power of mothers as madrasatul Ula, the role of principal educator at home. With a motherly touch and the quality of discovery learning process shared and given example by Rasulullah (peace be upon him), the kids will learn the true concept of Illahiyah and the holly purpose of their creation in the universe and will be able to act accordingly no matter what comes to their life through the media or the surroundings and the beguiling environment.

Tarbiyah the holly mission of opening up the hijab of kalb of the children should be started from home, with the support of mother, as the form of the first educator for children. Tarbiyah, the root word Rab: means Allah, has a holly mission to share the secrecy of Ilahiyah, and let the kids understand the meaning of life, purpose of living and obedience to Allah. Tarbiyah merely translated as education in English word, had lost its transcendence meanings, since the real meaning itself is far more thorough and comprehensive, as a way to open up the paradigm of the kids to understand the glory of Allah and purify ones heart to only spreading the holly mission as the vicegerent of Allah.

Once the children has understood the reason of life, and the meaning of life, it would certainly be a strong principle that will keep them in the way of Allah. Everything they do will strive to please Allah and will be to pursue the Ridha of Allah. The

understanding amongst the children should started as early as possible and women has a tremendous role as the Madrasatul Ula. Imam Khomeini repetitively emphasized the importance of womens roles in the society. In his will he stated that he took pride in the widespread presence of women in the society; a presence that might have been greater than mans. As we understand that every future leaders of Islam will be educated by a mother as their Madrasatul Ula.

Islamic view on Women

The current practices show extremes view of women. In one hand they fight for liberalism and feminism. They believe they have a right to dress in whatever manner they wish, to behave in whatever act they wish. But the truth is that the freedom had paid its price on women. They are still being looked upon as object, beguiling creatures which suffer injustice treatment in the society and work situations. The other extreme views of women had hampered their activities as only housewives not being able to share significant roles in the society. In Indonesia the Moslem society believes that women are given equal position and opportunity as men, but in the household, the leader by nature would be the husband. This is a counterpart relationship, were woman plays an important role; every decision

should be discussed with the women, even though the leader would still be the men. The share teaching on women also being quoted by Imam, share a wonderful alternative of a special role on women. Woman as mankinds educator, as one who helps fulfil mankinds aspirations and as one from whose lap man ascends. His view of women is such that he goes so far as to say: If nations were deprived of courageous women, of women to rear true human beings, they would decline and collapse. Imams historic message to Gorbachev, through the composition of the delegation he sent to the former leader of the now defunct Soviet Union, provides a valuable and meaningful example of Imams views on the role of women should play in an Islamic society. In a symbolic move, he appointed a delegation made up of clergymen, academics and a woman to announce the death of communism to the world. Indeed, perhaps one can even claim that the composition of the delegation itself conveyed a message as correct as that old sages miraculous prediction forewarning of the fall of the Eastern bloc: that the revival of Islam and the worlds future power lay in the capable hands of these three sections of society, and that it would be through their correct understanding and implementation of their true mission that the tree of Islamic revolution would

blossom forth and overshadow the ruins of communism and capitalism. The message of Imam is a very strong message for women. This is the chance for the Islamic awakening, the third wave of Islamic resurrection. The first seven decades started since the days of the Prophet (peace be upon him), until the dynasty of Abbasid (7th century to 14th century), Islam had ruled the world by its eminent influence in technology, education and philosophy. The second phase was the fall of Islamic glory (14th century to the 21th century) marked by the imperialism of Westernization in all the Islamic regions. Islamic countries were under suppression of the Western world for such a long time, that they have forgotten the real value of Islamic teaching. Most remnants of understanding are just on the ritual and cultural side of Islam. Women were oppressed and did not receive equal treatment. The Western world had mistakenly understood that this was the real value of Islam, despite the great history of the real teaching of Islam during the ruling of Rasulullah. Now is the time of the awakening of the third phase (21st century - future), where Islam had come to realized its real perfect value of holistic and kaffah teaching using the integrated approach to solve all problems of herein and the hereafter. Scholars around the world had found myriad of facts that Islam is a modern teaching and even had findings of technology

which has just been proven now in the scientific world. During this third wave of Islamic awakening, women have to play an important role, since they are the key to prepare the future of the Islamic leaders even before conception.

Stages of the Womens Role in Becoming the Madrasatul Ula (the first school) for the children.
The stages of preparing oneself as a Madrasatul Ula, must start very early, even before choosing the right leader to become ones husband and partner in life. First Stage before Marriage Women in their youth should have an access to good quality education with thorough understanding of the Islamic principles yet also have exposures to the whole big picture of the world and how diverse it is. They have to master the real teaching of Islam where every foot steps are dedicated to please Allah. Second Stage the Search for a Soul Mate Women need to find a soul mate with an inherent understanding on Islamic principles. The future husband should be someone who can be the imam/leader in the family, someone who would lead the spiritual journey of the whole family to enlighten the heart to get ready in receiving the blessing of Allah. .

Third Stage Preparation of Maternity Even peasant would be very thorough in preparing their lands with a lot of cautions before plantation. Mothers with the ability to have future leaders developing in their womb, should be even more cautious about what they eat, and how they nurture themselves to have a healthy and sound children. The precautions should not just be from the nutrition side but also more in the spiritual side. Every woman should prepare themselves for the challenging motherhood era. The Fourth Stage: Child Rearing The function of Madrasatul Ula comes to life once women have an alert baby in her womb. Baby can be stimulated with sound and stimulating environment. Baby with the mother who chants the Quran will be used to the soothing sound since were still in the mothers womb. The next stage is to show the kids the concept of life as being a never lasting yearning to please Allah. The following Quranic verses will be samples of the foundation on how Moslem sees life as a continuous thawaf of the universe. Everything they do is a continuous and relentless effort to please Allah, in the form of dua (prayer) remembering that Allah is watching and caring for us along the way. they

Mother as a Role Model

Mother has to be a role model in showing akhlakul karimah based on the Quran. She has to show a total submission to Allah. Mothers touches are like magic. If a mother can give the right approach at the right time it will have a healing effect, and the kids will grow up into adults with strong characters. Mother will be the first adult responsible for a kids character building process. The children will imitate and memorize the act of a mother the first care giver they ever knew. Before teaching the quranic ways of living, a mother must live an exemplary way of life. Save all the energy for giving sermon and preaches, because it is the everydays behavior that counts and petrifies inside their minds.

Discovery Learning to Learn New Spiritual Insight

Mother needs to show the children that everything is about remembering and praying to Allah. Everytime a mother needs to introduce new things to the children, make sure to reveal the spiritual side of everything. Every problem should be an opportunity to learn new principles of thinking, and ways to understand that Allah always give what you need, instead of just giving what you want. Every problems situation should be looked upon as a discovery learning process to absorbed a new spiritual insight. An

easy approach to deal with a problem can be summarized into 5 steps: A: F: Attain a positive way of thinking Husnuzhon Focus to the core and root of the problem (dont mix it with your own ego or emotion) E Empathy. Relate to the childrens feeling and show your understanding eventhough you may not agree with their feelings C Communicate assertively by sharing the facts and the impact. Reveal the spiritual way of thinking and let them decide. T Total Commitment. Support them to take total commitment on their own decision after the discovery learning process. An example of Affect (A Ff E C T) process, show us that it really affects how children will learn new things through dealing with problems everyday in their life. Case example: The little boy (4 years old) broke a jar of milk and spoiled your new Persian carpet you have prepared for tomorrows Ied. In an emotional scenario, the mother might be angry and scream to the little child, but with the A Ff E C T process:

Attain

positive

way

of

thinking

(husnudzon).

Alhamdulillah the little boy tries to be independent and dare not to disturb the mother by trying self help. Ff Focus on the core of the problem. The problem is not the broken jar or the spoiled carpet but the boy who tried very hard and now is in the verge of learning an important character building traits from the problem he is facing. Being independent is one of the traits of Allah which a kid needs to practice. E Empathy. Show your understanding by sharing that

independent is a good trait, and self help is a good example of independence. C Communicate assertively (share the facts, your feeling and the impact of a chosen behavior): A sample conversation: When you try to lift something too heavy, it might fall and messed up everything, so what do we need to do the next time, so that you can practice being independent without harm? T Total commitment. The boy will perhaps offer the solution such as he will ask an adult to move the milk to a smaller place before he can carry it, or other possible things to do. Mother will show that eventhough independent is good but Allah also taught us to take cautions and to not waste and

create harms. Mothers will encourage the children to take responsible actions in whatever he is doing in the future. Remind the children that Allah is watching everything that we do, and we want to make sure to do things that please Him. Conclude each problem with a chance for the little one to make his own commitment for the future. The best way is to put it on writing and signed by the kids and witnessed by parents. Hence each problems serve as a powerful learning process intelectually, emotionally and spiritually.

The Quran verse for teaching kids to remember Allah

The quran verses explains the essence of praying is not just conducting shalat but also observing and remembering of Allah in everything that you do. The conversations between mothers and their children should be interactive and in the form of discussions, to let the kids think and explore and discover the spiritual way of thinking, guided by facts, examples and Allahs (glorified and exalted) teaching in Quran and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) Sunnah. The following are some of the verses of Quran that mothers need to share on the concept of remembering Allah along the way by showing akhlak Qurani.

Ali Imran 191

Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire.

An Nisa 103:

And when you have completed the prayer, remember Allah standing, sitting, or [lying] on your sides. But when you become secure, re-establish [regular] prayer. Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times.

Surah Yunus 12

And when affliction touches man, he calls upon Us, whether lying on his side or sitting or standing; but when We remove from him his affliction, he continues [in disobedience] as if he had never called upon Us to [remove] an affliction that touched him. Thus is made pleasing to the transgressors that which they have been doing Al Baqarah: 238

Maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle prayer and stand before Allah , devoutly obedient

Al Baqarah: 239

And if you fear [an enemy, then pray] on foot or riding. But when you are secure, then remember Allah [in prayer], as He has taught you that which you did not [previously] know. AL Ankabut: 45

Recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows that which you do.

Conclusion
Mother certainly plays a significant role in the new wave of Islamic Awakening. Through their loving touch the new generations of Islamic leader will be born. Nevertheless mothers role as

Madrasatul Ula needs to be supported by a Holistic approach from the School Educational System, a caring society and a safe environment. The best case would be the situation where a nation is implementing the teaching of Islam in every aspects of the living. Islam is a comprehensive teaching of the way of life, which will ensure the safe path for the believers who really practice everything thoroughly. Mother is the one who starts with a good foundation for the kids to grow up to be the future Islamic leaders and witness the Islamic awakening in the world.

Appendices
The following data were only samples on one of the negative excess which is pornography amongst students. We have listed that the destructive acts consist of amongst all: Bullying Pornography Smoking /Marijuana Alcohol Addiction to destructive games Narcotics and addictive agents

Survey result on junior high school student (grade 6 9) in JAKARTA and PALEMBANG, Indonesia Survey is done through questionnaire in the year 2008. N : 961 Girls : 414, Boys : 547 1. Have you been by any chance exposed to pornography through any kind of media such as TV, Internet, comics, novel, magazines, tabloid or other sources a. No b. Yes 0% 100%

2. When did you first get the exposure to pornography? a. Kindergarten (TK) b. Primary school (SD) c. Junior High School (SMP) 1% 96% 3%

SMPTK 3% 1%
SD 96%

3. Where were you the first time you were exposed to pornography? a. In school b. Theater c. Internet caf d. Home 1% 4% 14% 62% e. Friends f. Mall 17% 2%

4. Through which media did you get exposed to pornography the first time? a. Handphone b. DVD/ VCD c. Internet d. TV e. Comic f. Movies (theater) g. Magazine h. Newspaper 33% 26% 17% 11% 5% 4% 3% 1%

5. Do you still consume pornography content/media a. Yes 68 %

b. No

32 %

6. Why do you still access pornography? a. Just feel like it b. Life style c. Not a geek d. Curious e. Addicted/habits f. Not sure 38% 25% 13% 12% 7% 5%

BT 5% Takut di bilang kuper 13% gaul 25%

kebiasaa n 7%

Iseng 38%

Ingin tau 12%