What To Do With Old Books And Notebooks?

Do not waste

What to do with old books and notebooks?

(Part: 01)

Umm-e-Noor Attariyyah

Allah Almighty has blessed us with innumerable blessings. It is a fact that we can never fulfil the right of paying gratitude to Him for His blessings, but the least we can do is appreciate the blessings of our Noble Lord, use them properly and not waste them.

The great wisdom of Allah Almighty is manifest in His beautiful division of human beings. Men earn money by working, while women take care of the house. Men are given the courage to perform strenuous work, showcase their strength and carry out very difficult labour, while women are bestowed with the blessing of housework, training of children and manners. In this article, we are talking to the housewives who take care of the house.

Dear Islamic sisters! By the grace of Allah Almighty, our children are educated in madrasas and schools. We have to be thankful to Allah Almighty for this as well as pay attention to some important things so that we can appreciate the blessings of Allah Almighty and use them properly.

1.   School books and notebooks for children are generally purchased at the beginning of the school year, whereas at times, some notebooks are also purchased during the year. Anyway, when the school year ends after the exams or when the use of a notebook comes to an end, it usually has several blank pages. Similarly, many notebooks and diaries in the home have many blank pages, and since they are not in use, hence, they are either torn to pieces by children or women throw them in the trash. Remember! The blank pages of these notebooks do not come for free nor are they excluded from being a blessing of Allah Almighty. Yes! These are also the blessings of Allah Almighty, so do not waste them, and make sure to use these blank pages as well. As far as where should we use them is concerned, there are several ways for that, such as:

1.   Have children practice writing on these blank pages at home or in tuition.

2.   Remove these blank pages and either staple them or sew them together with a thread and a needle to make a separate notebook of it and you can use it to write down your household expenditure, food expenses, phone numbers, etc.

3.   If you ever have to send a note or a message to the children’s school or madrassa, these notebooks can also be used for this purpose too. A wise and refined woman can find many other ways too.

2.   The children’s books of previous years are also an important issue. Many women send these books via children for sale as soon as they hear the voice of a waste-buyer (recycler) in the street. O my sisters! How much money will you get from two, four or 10 - 15 books and the recycler will not even respect these books either. So in this regard, act upon the following two things. One, when you buy notebooks and books for your children, keep them under your own ownership, i.e., the intention in your heart should be that these notebooks and books are not of my children, rather, they are mine. And the second thing is to give these books to your own, to a relative’s or to a neighbour’s child who have just passed the previous year and reached that year. If you give them with good intentions, then believe me that whatever good that child will learn through those books and then later on, whatever good he will do in his entire life through this learning, you will also be rewarded for it, اِنْ شَــآءَالـلّٰـه.

(Remaining part in next month’s edition)