Snot

... to the left of us! Snot to the right of us! I feel as though "The Charge of the Light Brigade" should have been background music today (incidently, that is what my father used to call the Electricity Bill...)

Woke up today to *have* to get Boss out of bed (it was 9:40am and he *did* goto bed at 6pm masha'allah) - then realised why: he's bunged up. Again. Or rather he isn't bunged up - he's very runny and explosive. Oh well, a hot bath and Vicks it is then. You know, Vicks on the forehead is great for a head-cold...

Anyway, got some other things from Amazon today. Gosh I *am* a little spend-thrift, aren't I. I don't actually spend a lot of money (simply for logistical reasons *ahem*), but when I decide to buy then it happens in blocks.

Today we got two books for his LeapPad, which I bought from Boots on all points (yes, ALL ON POINTS, plus a Lego tractor-trailer, a Lego Bin Lorry, and I *still* have some points left too masha'allah!) I have no idea how I managed to accumulate so many points but the fact is I want them spent by the time No2 arrives in June (insha'allah) - that way I can start again and split it among them both fairly and evenly. Just seems a little off to buy all of Boss' stuff only for someone else to get all the bonuses... so I got a LeapPad. The idea was it is "educational" and will grow with him insha'allah, much more so than the five-minute wonder toys which are left to go yellow in the corner.

Anyway, I wouldn't have *bought* a LeapPad as a) I couldn't have afforded it and b) I wasn't at all convinced that you especially *need* one. It's amazing though how children learn indirectly by plodding about with buttons etc. I bought him a "Qur'an computer" last year and masha'allah he has picked up quite a lot. Much more than I could ever teach him.

So we got two new books and like the little man he is masha'allah, he proudly, and importantly, changes the books and cartridges himself and puts the unused book on the shelf "where I can reach". Aw.

Books: I have come to the conclusion that books are amazing. I never liked them much myself, though, and I think after taking my education to post-grad level books just phase and bore me rigid. I hate them. Actually if I'm honest I'm frightened of them. I palpatate at the thought of *having* to read one. I have a fair few of them though, but I'm not a bookworm.
I was reading a statistic from America a while ago that the number of adults reading for recreation had dropped to an all-time low of 40% of the literate population. Which may be terrific news for the power-freaks in government WE ARE ALL SHEEP NOW, but not so great for personal development, enlightenment and self-actualisation.
But books are amazing and I've learned this simply through being with Boss. He can't get enough of them. Even ones over his head. Does it phase him that he doesn't know some of the words?? No - he wants more. More more more. More stories, more facts, more big words. About anything.

You know it's interesting that children go through this stage - they just go through an insatiable lust for words and if I remember rightly the WTMind actually encourages stuffing (OK not their phrase) as many words in as the child can pick up for later use, simply because this is a window of opportunity that never opens ever again. Children want a name for everything - for every shade of blue, for every nuance that exists. And linguistically nouns, or "names", are essential for higher thinking. Modern thought on philosophy and sociology of knowledge is that all knowledge and intelligence is based on language acquisition, the primary basics of language being nouns – names. In fact, before we can think we actually have to know the names of things. Through this noun-acquisition thought develops as an emergent property. So for example, to be able to even think, “this table is brown” you first need to have a noun and a concept of ‘brown’ and of ‘table’ – ‘is-ness’ being perhaps slightly more contentious; some saying it denotes predicate whilst yet others say it is simply tautologous. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that in every case where language development is stunted or non-existent (and by language this means noun-acquisition) that IQ is unusually low. Children who have been neglected and raised by animals (a classic example being a case in Germany in the 1970s whereby a toddler was found to be neglected by parents and being tended to by a German sheepdog), or in societies which need very little language to get by, it has been proven that these people have limited intellectual capacities – unable to grasp or extend thinking laterally and viscerally, and this effect is permanent if not rectified before language become solidified in the human child (around the age of six). Once past the age of puberty (where language is extremely difficult to acquire) the IQ is virtually non-negotiable; the window of opportunity being completely lost.

So noun acquisition is *the* most important block on the staircase to thinking, intelligence and ergo, ultimately, self-actualisation. Without nouns/names higher development, both intellectually and spiritually, is impossible.

I was thinking also that this is another breathe-taking example whereby the Qur’an proves its validity aeons before man had the capacity to understand the depth of this statement. It quite clearly states that Allah taught Adam the names of things – the nouns of things. It is quite specific on this point. It does not say Allah gave Adam some knowledge, no. It specifically states that Adam was taught nouns – the building blocks to intelligent life. Allah did not give this ability to know the "names" of things to anything else that He created. The angels do not have this capacity, for example.

"Then Allah turned to the angels and said tell me the names of these things if you speak the Truth, and they replied, “Glory be to You, of knowledge we have none except as that which Thou bestows on us!”"

So, the keynote in our relationship with Allah is one of knowledge, obedience yes, but knowledge as well. Islam’s stance on knowledge is very high – in the battle against our lower selves we first must know what Allah’s orders are thereafter being vigilant against the lowest urgings of our animal appetites with tools of intelligence and self-discipline over one’s passions.

And it all begins at this age when we give our children the "Names of things" - what a responsibility. In Islam, and in classical Arabic, language is seen as a sacred thing - orality is seen as the bedrock of civilisation and dignified living. And traditionally it has always been the Mother who instills this civility and bedrock of civilisation - in English we have our "mother" tongue, and in Arabic we have an "ummah" or community, based on the word "Umm" which means "Mother". And, of course, Qur'an literally means "recitation" - it is the ultimate in oral tradition. It was never meant to be taken as a "book", but literally something to be recited, read, spoken. Hamza Yusuf did a talk on this once, if I find a tape I'll try to recap the main points sometime insha'allah.

But its another reason why we shouldn't fail or warp our children with uncouth speach - the speach actually affects our mentation, it affects very much our thinking capacity and intelligence, and ultimately the very fabric of our spiritual life and relationship with our Creator. That is a weighty burden and one which I pray I (and anybody reading this) can live up to in the best manner. We owe it to our kids to give them the best start; we all know that means to give them the best physical sustainance, but how many people stop to think of the spiritual bread and butter we are setting them up with for life?

So. More books it is then.