The Homemakers of Dannemora

Purdah-bound and taqwa-conscience, naturally beautiful but fashionable (for their husbands Alhamdulillah), simplicity at its best, definitely not culture-bound, the madrasah for their children, selfless (Masha’Allah!), reserved but yet comical and animated (among the ladies only, of course); these are the best words to describe the homemakers of Dannemora, one of the suburbs in South Auckland, New Zealand.

Progressive Way, Laidlaw Way

Te Irirangi Drive and Ormiston Road Junction

Stepping into the home of the homemakers of Dannemora  will remind you of the one ummah, united by the kalimah, love for one another for Allah’s sake alone, Subhan’Allah. When most of homes will have a television set in the main hall, we will enter into a small library comprising of the children’s Tas-heel series books, Seerah and salira, the tafseer, the Qur’an, collection of ahadiths, muntakhab ahadith, fada’il amal etc. 

 

Their homes are always open to guests, but, no one has ever taken advantage of it. Attempting at exemplifying the Sunnah way of life in their homes, the homemakers in this part of the suburbs excelled in implementing such conducts , as sternly as possible, regardless of the fact that they choose to settle around the non-Muslims, for the sake of attaining Allah Ta’ala’s pleasure alone, Subhan’Allah. Adorning knee-length khimar at home, even without the presence of the non-Mehrams, the ladies believe that hijab and purdah needs to be observed and instilled among the children, so that they are being nurtured, disciplined according to the Sunnah since at the very young age. The result? It’s amazing, as we could observe these children, as young as 4 years old understanding the difference between mehrams and non-Mehrams. Hijab is not merely about covering our aurat, but also with our voice and even our shadow. In one of the ladies' home, we used to knock as a non-Mehram alert sign, Masha'Allah.

Knee-length khimar

Two homes of these amazing ladies located just less than 2 minutes’ walk from the Dannemora Islamic Centre. Conveniently having an Aalimah as their next door neighbor and whom also teaching their kids at the centre after school, practicing Deen has been rewarding for them so far Alhamdulillah. We can’t help but to remember the Sahabiah and the wives of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam by just being around them, Subhan’Allah. We too, can’t help but (not only wishing to) to practice the Deen and bring it to higher level by being around them, the company of the pious. When being asked as to why they prefer to stay at home and be a full time housewife, the ladies,  answered and among many reasons is to take good care of the amanah given to them by Allah Ta’ala; their children. One of them even decided to homeschool her children (she used to teach in a madrasah, Masha’Allah).The nurturing of Deen is apparent in each of these household.  None of these home have a single television set and the children are used to it, so much so that they don’t even bother watching one at someone else’s home. When one of the children is being asked as to why they do not watch television, the answer was amazing – “because it’s a fitna and TV will make me forget the hadiths I’ve memorized “ – Subhan’Allah! Resulting from such Sunnah-way-of-style-upbringing, the children of Dannemora have nothing but good manners Masha’Allah and the number of du’as they’ve memorized since 3 years old are amazing Subhan’Allah!

Dannemora Islamic Centre

Their husband’s humble income does not entice them at all to go out and work (and mixing around with the non-Mehrams), rather, they are more than happy to serve their husbands and the children, just like Saidatina Fatimah radi’Allahu anha, Subhan’Allah. Women only may need to go to work, if and only if, their husband’s income does not suffice to cover their basic needs or when the women themselves are high maintenance, according to them. Their humble home suggests simplicity, but purdah-conscience for the non-Mehrams. This simply means that whenever their husband’s friends or even relatives, are guests to these houses, a room will be already allocated for these men to have their meal and chat, while the women will be in a separate room, making it inaccessible for the non-Mehram to see them, let alone hearing their voices, Masha’Allah. The elder children will be the messengers, the ‘waitresses’ for them whenever meals are ready to be served in these separate rooms.

So, do they ever go out? Well, they do drive out to fetch their kids from school once in a while besides getting groceries (and sometimes, the kids would carpool with other ladies from the same suburb – such amazing ikram) besides taking turn babysitting each other’s children, whenever one of them goes for 3-, 10-, or 40-days masturat jamaat.  Masha’Allah, they never put Deen aside in their busy schedule (even as homemakers!). These ladies connected with the other masturat around the suburbs (East Tamaki, Papatoetoe, Mangere, Onehunga) in taleem and ta’lum, which held every weekend. 

Each of these ladies have their own stories, regardless whether it’s a happy ones or not, being a Muslimah homemakers always keep them happy and ready to serve, for their main aim is only to attain Jannah. Each of them has taught us to be a better Muslimah Alhamdulillah. They will make us realize that this Dunya is nothing … completely nothing as compared to what Jannah has to offer. They are definitely the best role-model to follow in adapting a Muslim home in this tested times and Alhamdulillah we've meet them in order to learn more about ourselves and accepting our mistakes and weaknesses.

May Allah Ta’ala elevate their status in the Dunya and in the Akhirah (and may they all attain Jannatul Firdous) for everything good they’ve done and more for the people around them, Allahumma Aameen.