Unplugging the Zombies: fighting the Dajjal forerunners' weapons in my own home

I remember clearly those days when I used to mock whenever people suggest to 'doa' to solve a problem. How ignorant was I, for regarding doa as an excuse for not doing anything, for not trying hard enough, for not being independent and intelligent. Astaghfirullahalazeem...

But the real truth is, only Allah can change a heart. The heart is the sanctuary of Allah swt, the sacred place of the heart belongs to Allah and Him alone. Today, I had the reminder of this hard truth first hand.

It's end of 2010, meaning the kids are outta school. I can't recall being bored during my school holidays, even though dad hardly bring us to any vacation, nor did I have any highly attractive-time killing electronic gadgets kids these days have, no PC, no internet, heck we didn't even have phones and there were only 3 channels on tv. I kinda feel sorry for kids these days who are clueless as to what to do with their time, if all those fancy electronics (TV, DVD, PS, Wii, FB,Habbo,Mobilephone) are taken away from them. It's as if, their brain is mushed, can't think of anything, or come up with something to kill their boredom. They are zombies when unplugged.

It kinda creeps me up to watch how my kids spend endless hours infront of the TV or PC. If the radiation isn't enough to cause brain tumor (nauzubillah), I am pretty sure the inactivity/passive interaction will cause them something...either certain neurons of the brains are being killed slowly i.e creativity, critical thinking, analysis ability or their self-reliance i.e proactiveness, time management & responsibility will slowly diminishes. And when I connect the dots and think of whom are behind all these cleverly designed to be highly addictive gadgets, I shiver even more. What a clever way indeed to keep the ummah passive, lazy & blindly obedient to dunya.

I thought that the best way to deal with generation X & Z, is to just give it to them straight. I have shared rather openly to both of my kids (since my 3rd is only 3 mths old) about how shaytan works, how deceiving the Dajjal is and about the impending kiyamah. I also tried to teach my kids about the noble ways of our prophet SAW, of his adaab & manners. And since I have quit my full time job, I thought that it would be easy to catch my kids' hearts & minds, and keep them from becoming one of those zombies...oh! how naive was I to think I could overcome Dajjal's plan without any help & grace from Allah swt.

During school holidays, midnight is declared to be the unplugging or shut down time. That is when the kids are supposed to shutdown whatever gadgets they were devoting their lives to and get ready for beds. I have been very strict about this, and no amount of 'puhleeezzeee, ummi!' will thaw my icey determination. "Your eyes & brains need to rest. Shut down and go to bed. NOW." is the only answer they'll ever get from me. But tonight I lost my battle. As soon as the lights went off at midnight, I went to bed. But something woke me up at around 1.30am. I felt the urge to check up on my son. Sure enough he was infront of his laptop, playing the online game I hate the most; HABBO. Only Allah knows how enraged I was. I felt so betrayed. How stupid could he think I am. Am I not his mother which he needs to obey and respect? Wasn't the 10 hours during the day enough to indulge in the games? How hard is it to hold the urge and wait till morning when I allow them the time to play?

Reminding myself to keep cool and not to blew my head off, without a word or even looked at him I removed the laptop from him, switched off the light & closed the door behind me. I shivered in my bed, when I realized how alone, weak & fragile I am in this fight against Dajjal's weapons. If I was still working fulltime, I'd be blaming myself for not giving him enough attention & time. But I am home 24-7. He is constantly under my supervision, yet he dared to disobey me behind my back, right under my nose! Man, my ego was hurt. And I cried. I felt so helpless and scared. I thought I have done enough. I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I was smart. But Dajjal is far smarter. I felt like a failure.

At time like this, no amount of console or cheer-up words from my FB friends would do any good. I began to think off all sorts of punishment I wanted to give him the next morning, just to show him who is the boss in this house. But then it hit me, I can do whatever I want, but I can't control his heart. Maybe by grounding him for 2 weeks will hurt him the same as he hurt me, but hurting his feeling as a retaliation of what he's done would be sellfish & won't solve the problem in the long run. I must not look at the tree, but focus on the forest. I quietly pray for His help, for the hearts belong to Him and only He can inspire the heart to change for good.

It's 2:00am, and I felt the urge to go the the toilet. My toilet has a window which faces my son's room. Through this window (I didn't switch on the light) I saw that my son (whom I thought was sleeping after I took his laptop away half hour ago), got up and went to his bathroom. I caught him performing the wudu' and later went to his room and performed solat. Again I cried, alone in the dark but this time for a different reason. Allah was indeed listening and understood my situation clearly. He inspired my son and softened his heart to turn to Him. And Allah has also gave me the opportunity to 'watch' my son silently. I could feel that Allah is trying to teach me something. That is wasn't that bad after all. That if no one appreciates my sacrifice & effort to raise my kids, He does. And I feel that He was trying to tell me that turning to Him and Him alone could change a situation. And that what I did was right...asking for His help with great humility, and not complaining to fellow humans (as I often do on FB especially). And last but definitely not least; I should me more concern if my son doesn't please Allah swt, his creator and not too overly concern if he doesn't please me, his mother.

'Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret.' (Qur’an 7: 55)

The lesson that I learned today is to stop going to people for help or for intercession, and instead, began praying to Allah especially in the last third of the night. Now I know that whenever I am down or in need of any help, I would call to Allah and invoke Him for relief. Which reminds me of this hadith:

Abu al-‘Abbas ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas, radiyallahu anhuma, reported: One day I was behind the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, and he said to me:

"O young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice] : Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you (have need to) ask, ask of Allah; and if you seek help, seek help from Allah. Know that even if the Nation (or the whole community) were to gather together to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded for you, and that if they gather together to harm you with something, they would not be able to harm you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried."

[Al-Tirmidhi relates this and says: It is a good, genuine Hadith]

In a version other than that of al-Tirmidhi it reads:

"..Be mindful of Allah, you will find Him before you. Get to know Allah in prosperity and He will know you in adversity. Know that what has passed you by was not going to befall you; and that what has befallen you was not going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship."

Wallahualam. Jazakallahukhayran for reading.