Doa Elsa

A few days ago, I lectured my children on lying.

“Lying is blah, blah…. Orang yang jahat saja yang suka menipu… Allah doesn’t like liars and if you die a liar, Allah will cut your tongue and humban masuk neraka.. Nag, nag, nag….”

Took a deep breath and continued, “If you lie and got away with it, it doesn’t mean Allah will let you go. Allah knows all and he is very fair… blah, blah, blah… If you lie, you could be put to jail and when you die, kena lagi. Dah lah masuk jail,pastu masuk neraka pulak tu…..”

Then, “Ishh.... itu tak cukup doa lah, Mummy..” Said my daughter, looking at the scenery outside.

“Hmmm ?”

“Iye, orang macam tu dia tak cukup doa…Okay, let me teach you something, okay ?” She twisted her body to face me.

“Macam ni… I know a doa that can get us to syurga. You listen carefully okay ? Allahuma ajirna minnannar…” she said, eyes never leaving my face.

“You got that, Mummy ? You know, now ? Kalau kita baca doa tu, we will not go to neraka….” Terangguk – angguk kepala bercerita.

He he…. “But Elsa, if you baca that doa repeatedly but still lie, and steal and talk bad about other people, you will still go to neraka… You cannot baca that doa everytime after you do bad things, hoping it will be a free ticket to go to syurga….”

“Hmm…..Really, mummy ?” She said, eyes screwed. nI left things at that, with her hand supporting her chin in deep thought.

Keh keh…

This other conversation between my daughter and I happened on our way to buy groceries. I had forgotten my list as usual and to avoid forgetting the ingredients for dinner, instructed Umar to remember potatoes and Elsa to remember broccoli.

About 5 minutes to the shop, I tested them on their memory. Umar did well but my daughter went, “Errmmm……….” grinning at me. “What is it, Elsa ? What is it you suppose to remember ?”

“Food ?” She tried.

“Of course it is food, but what kind ?”

“Ummm….. Ahhh…. Errmmmm”

‘Broccoli, lah….”

Baru 5 minit, dah lupa… Tak boleh nak marah. Macam maknya… Keh keh