The Biggest Investment

Sameen Rashid, London

Trusts, pension funds, savings accounts, property, even gold…just some of the ways that people have come up with to invest and secure their future. Financial freedom when you are no longer able to work is a blessing indeed, maintaining your independence and your dignity. It is something that many of us aspire to – hence the need to work now and fill the bank for the future.

Aside from earning money, many women work to: have a sense of achievement, do something worthwhile, keep the mind engaged, contribute to society, interact with others, or to have the means to stand on one’s own feet. And so they pursue jobs. Mothers before us could have wanted the same. Only they may not have had as many options or support to follow a profession or to earn their own money. What they did have was their children; their biggest investment.

When I imagine my grandmother’s generation in Pakistan, I think of loving mothers who spent their whole time tending to their children. I think of the hours spent gently combing hair, massaging oil, making meals from scratch, telling moral stories to their children in the evenings to keep them entertained when TV was not available. Perhaps this idyllic picture is just a figment of my imagination. But what my mind conjures up is; mothers stayed at home not only to take care of their children, but more importantly to take care of their moral upbringing. And that was their job.

Women through the ages have invested time and love in their children in a completely selfless way. And for many it has paid off. Such mothers filled their banks with resources that can be withdrawn when needed. Children can provide company, security, financial support, variety in the face of boredom, the feeling of being needed and better still, wanted, and for many, a voice or pillar of strength where previously they had none. Children can give life purpose and meaning as well as happiness. Moreover, for these mothers, their life’s work is visible for all to see. They can be proud of their children’s achievements, as if they were their own.

They were the real ‘Investors in People’.

That is not to say that women are only good mothers with the intention of having something paid back by their children. But love, devotion, care and attention towards your child means you are filling them with these qualities that one day may find their way to you again. After all, the Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) stressed the importance of mothers and our duties to them.

So, while some women may feel unfulfilled with their motherly roles, guilty that they are not earning, or that they can do so much more than just be ‘mum’, perhaps it is worth remembering the words of His Holiness Khalifatul Masih V, when he said:

“…the greatest investment is your children, and to protect, and employ this investment in the best way, the most important thing is to create their bond with the Jama’at and to bind their relation with Allah Almighty. Many families visit me, my heart is filled with the praise of Allah the Almighty. Well-educated women with professional skills sometimes do not work just because their children need their attention. These women are neither selfish nor follow their own desires but their sole purpose is to protect their next generation. They pay full attention to their secular education and their religious education as well. They teach them the do’s and don’ts in Western society. When these children enter their adulthood, they become a source of earning a good name for their families and become useful persons for the Jama’at as well”.[1]

[1] The Significance of Sacrifice in Your pledge 21^st June 2008 Address to ladies at Annual Convention USA alislam.org