Hasrizal Abdul Jamil

Muiz: Abi, I have a question. What was it the forbidden fruit in the heaven? I remember something from my preschool about it but not very clear.

Me: Oh ok… Adam and Hawa (Eve) were meant to live here on Earth. But Allah set the incident to happen in the heaven so that we can learn some important lessons. Earth needs leaders and leaders cannot be among the angels. Angels are static because they don’t choose. They obey, which is good, but being static is not what the leaders on Earth need. Only human like Adam and Eve have the full ability to choose because they can learn. Sometimes they choose the right thing, and sometimes they make the wrong choice. Like what happened to Adam and Hawa in the heaven. But making mistake is important for learning.

Muiz: Wait… you mean it is good to make mistakes?

Me: It is good if we combine mistake with learning.

Muiz: Can you give me an example?

Me: Look at this spoon. It cannot fly, can it? But if we learn about speed, weight, shape, finally something like this spoon becomes an aeroplane. Are you with me?

Muiz: Yeah, continue please.

Me: Long time ago, when people built the aeroplane, they made the windows square, just like home. They didn’t realise that the pressure up there is very low and the air inside always want to get outside the aeroplane. The air put a very high pressure to corners of the square-shaped windows that finally it cracked the whole thing and the plane went down in tragedy. This was what happened to the De Havilland Comet. So, how do people, the humans, solve this thing?

Muiz: They change the shape to make it like…. half round… circle… is it?

Me: True… then, the shape distributes the pressure almost equally everywhere. So do you see now how making mistakes is how we improve things? Angels cannot do that. They don’t learn, they don’t improve. They just do exactly what they are commanded to do.

Muiz: But why Adam ate the fruit?

Me: Well, the satan whispered to him saying that if he eats the fruit he will stay permanently in the heaven. No more worry.

Muiz: Why did he listen to the Satan if it was bad?

Me: Think again, Muiz. What the Satan whispered, did it sound bad or wrong?

Muiz: Hurmmm…. no. Not really. It’s not like telling Adam to lie, or steal things… it’s tricky.

Me: Yes. That is the point. We should be careful because that is how the Satan misleads us, by playing tricks, confusing us between what is right and what is wrong.

Muiz: Will everyone goes to heaven?

Me: Well, at the end it is Allah’s decision who He will choose to be in heaven. But, Allah tells us that choosing good deeds will bring us closer and closer to heaven. So, we should concentrate on that.

SILLY QUESTION

Muiz: Abi, I have this one silly question.

Me: Don’t worry, just ask. Nothing is too silly to ask.

Muiz: Well, what if someone has a mobile phone, so he snaps some photos and shows us how the heaven look like?

Me: Haha… Even among us who live in this same life, there are things we won’t be able to get answers. You give a chicken the corn, and you ask the chicken do you want to share it with you friends… You might guess, but it is hard to know what is it inside the chicken’s brain. We cannot ask someone in the graveyard to tell us how is life after death.

Muiz: So, we don’t know anything about the heaven?.

Me: The One who owns the heaven tells us few things about it in His words. If you read the Quran, then there are some explanations telling us about the heaven. We can understand from them, but not the whole things.

Muiz: I understand.

Me: So, what happened at the school today that made you ask this question?

Muiz: No, nothing. It’s just when I prayed and did the sujud thing, I remember the teacher from my preschool told me that I can get anything I want if I am in the heaven. So, I asked many many things just now.

Me: Aha… Good. What did you ask?

Muiz: Nope… It’s a secret. But Abi, I don’t have anyone to talk about this question at the school because it might sound silly to them.

Me: It’s okay, Muiz. Our friends have many different beliefs and religions. But, choose to be good is something universal that everyone agrees upon, isn’t it? So, let us focus on that.

Muiz: Yeah, I think so. Thank you.

QUESTIONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANSWERS

It was a good one hour conversation between me and Muiz. Yesterday, I was reminding all my children to be more aware with their Solat in winter because now Zuhr, ’Asr and Maghrib are changing very fast. They will have to pray quite frequent at the school and I understand how challenging it is for them at their age.

I would also like to express my appreciation to the teachers at Tadika Dzul Iman Bandar Seri Putra who taught Muiz well several years ago, before we moved to Finland. I was amazed when Muiz can reflect what he feels today with what he learnt many years ago from his preschool experience.

May Allah guide me to parent my children in this foreign land, ameen.

Hasrizal
Oulu, Finland