Dari Mata Seorang Muslimah

Moved

2007-09-21T22:52:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

Officially moved to

http://muslimahmelayu.hadithuna.com/

See you there InsyaAllah :)

Convocation :D

2007-09-12T00:16:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

I’ve always been secretly envious of the UBD graduates. Their convocation ceremony always looks sooo grand to me. What with its venue at the brand new Chancellor Hall and the certificates given personally by the Sultan or crown prince– my convocation was almost nothing compared to theirs.

Mine was held at a sports complex! Decorated of course. hehe. I don’t know who in the world was the Chancellor. Everything was very informal thus no rehearsal was needed. If I’m not mistaken our instructions to go onstage were given on a piece of paper. My name was wrongly pronounced too. hehe.

But Alhamdulillah, I managed to experience the UBD convo today. It was extremely fun! Everyone looked nervous when we were putting on our robes at the basement. I had a love-and-hate-relationship with my hat too. Somehow or other my head grew over the years and my graduation hat wouldn’t stay put. Images of my hat falling off my head while on the stage kept on playing on my mind but thank god to double sided tapes! hehe.

While sitting down watching the other graduates going down the stage, I thought to myself how lucky I am as a Muslim to experience a Convocation ceremony in my own country, a muslim country.

While queuing at the basement waiting to go to the hall, a duaa was read, asking Allah to bless the ceremony. Then when we were in the hall, we recited Al-Fatihah. And we ended the ceremony with another duaa, thanking Allah for blessing the event. Every speech made started with Basmallah and Assalamualaikum. I could see hijjabis on my left, right, front and back.

Sigh. It was beautiful. Alhamdulillah.

So to Safi, you were saying that you're curious about Muslims in Brunei. Believe me I don't even know how to begin to explain to you about how we live our life here. Alhamdulillah, I must say we are very blessed here. Brunei is an alcohol free country (well, almost). When it is time for the prayer, one can always hear the call of the Azan as masjids are everywhere. Most of us attend religious school at the age of 8 (?) for six years and we can continue our studies if we want to. We've just established an Islamic University this year called Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali. Oh and you can find Halal food everywhere (I'm telling you this because I remember when I went to Washington to visit my aunt we had to travel soo far to get halal meat. hehe.) We pretty much uphold our Islamic values here, however, I personally think we still need to be educated on how to live like a true Muslim and we still need to be reminded that Islam is a way of life. Anyhoo, if you want to know more just holler alright?

On another note, Ramadhan starts tomorrow!!!!

InsyaAllah, a proper post on Ramadhan's coming up. :)

Purifying the Heart

2007-09-03T23:23:00.000+08:00

A few weeks back I went to Solitude in the hope of finding some Islamic children’s readings for my niece’s up coming birthday. I ended up buying some books for myself instead! hehe.

This one particular book immediately caught my attention when I entered the shop.

“Glimpses of the Lives of Righteous People.”

I think its title is pretty much self explanatory but it is the very first story written in the book that made me immediately fell in love with it. The story is extremely short – in fact it is only one paragraph long. But after reading it, a thousand emotions washed over me.

Allah, please keep me and those around me on the right path.
Allah, please save us from takabbur (Arrogance).
Allah, please save us from ujub (self-pride).

*******************************************************************************

Sincere Advice

It is reported that a man was closely watching Bishr As-Sulaimi (RadiAllahu anhu), who was prolonging his prayer and performing it well.
When Bishr completed his prayer, he said to the man, “Do not be deceived
by what you have seen from me. For indeed, Iblis the Devil – may Allah curse him- worshipped Allah for thousands of years and then ended up being what he is now!”

*******************************************************************************

MasyaAllah, I learned so much from that one paragraph.

Indeed, it was takabbur that made the syaitan a deviate. And he had prayed a thousand of years before that!

Take a look at ourselves. How many years have we prayed? Is our iman strong enough? The chance for us to go ashtray is always there. The syaitans will not stop working hard to bring us with him.

Hence we need to be in constant vigilance. We need to constantly think over our conceptions of life and mend them accordingly to what is right. Never be content with what we have done so far when it comes to our faith. There is always ways for us to make it better. Always.

What else did I learn from that one paragraph?

The dangers of Takabbur. The dangers of ujub.

They are amongst the most difficult diseases to cure.

Takabbur is when a person thinks he is better than the rest. It is when a person thinks he is more intelligent than another just because he is from a foreign university and the other is from a local one. It is when he thinks he is a better person just because he is the son of so-and-so. It is when he thinks his opinions matter more just because he is older. Someone with takabbur does not accept advice and criticism from others easily as he truly thinks that he is high above others beyond reproach.

Ujub is when a person looks at herself with pride. It is when she looks at herself in the mirror and she feels amazed at how beautiful she is. It is when she thinks she is the most intelligent person in the room. It is when she thinks she can never do wrong as she is perfect, free from weaknesses and mistakes. A person with ujub likes to boast and show that she is better than the rest. She is most definitely not happy if others do not accept her opinion.

Allah Ta'ala says:"Verily, Allah does not love the proud ones."

Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said:"He who has a grain of pride in his heart will not enter Jannat."

Do not lie to ourselves. I’m sure in one way or another, we have felt ujub or takkabur in the past. They are amongst diseases that recur. They are like those flies that we need to keep on swatting.

How do we cure ujub? By remembering that Allah can just simply snatch away all the gifts He bestowed on us within the blink of an eye. We need to ponder upon our faults and remember our dependence on Allah to even breathe. How dare we feel ujub when all that we have is not even ours in the first place.

To cure takabbur is to see others as being better than ourselves in the eyes of Allah. If you see someone much older than us, we should think that he had prayed to Allah far longer than us. Therefore he becomes better than us. While if we see someone younger, we should think that he has never committed sins while our sins are uncountable, then why should we be proud of ourselves?

When we see someone who is jahil and ignorant, we acknowledge that he is committing sins. But he commits his sins in ignorance. We are aware that something is sinful, and yet, we do it. With our 'Ilm, how are we to answer for our actions in front of Allah?

These are the questions and reminders that we must remember always to protect ourselves from the feelings of takabbur and ujub. These reminders goes out to me first and foremost.

Let me leave you with Ayah:

فَٱدْخُلُوۤاْ أَبْوَابَ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا فَلَبِئْسَ مَثْوَى ٱلْمُتَكَبِّرِينَ

Surah An-nahli ayat 29 : Tafsirnya: Oleh itu, masukilah pintu-pintu neraka, tinggal kekallah kamu didalamnya, maka sesungguhnya neraka itu seburuk-buruk tempat bagi orang-orang yang sombong takabbur.

Surah An-Nahl verse 29: And it will also be said to them: So enter the gates of Hell, to abide therein! Evil indeed is the lodging, the abode, of the arrogant.

May Allah protect us from the diseases of the heart. Amin.

A rojak post

2007-09-01T00:20:00.000+08:00

Salaam everyone :D

I loveee my nieces. They can be so innocently hilarious. My eldest niece was sitting next to her sister when she suddenly let go of her deadly gas (LOL!).

Niece 1: Oppss sorry!
Niece 2: Kaka ani, cubatah cakap Alhamdulillah. (Kaka, you were supposed to say Alhamdulillah)

LOL!!

My sister i.e. their mom, cracked up and said: Ehhh mana ada cakap Alhamdulillah lapas kantut! (Ehhh you don’t say Alhamdulillah after you broke wind!)
Niece 2: Alhamdulillah lapas apa tah? (When do we say Alhamdulillah then?)
My sister: Lapas berasin. ( After sneezing)
Niece 2: Lapas kantut? ( After breaking wind?)
My sister: Mana ada. (Nothing!)

LOL blessss.

Niece 1 put on her thinking look and asked: Lapas menguap cakap apa babu? (What do we say after yawning?)
My sister: A’uzubillah.
Niece 1 scratched her head and muttered to herself: “banyak jua kan di ingati ani.” (I have so much to remember!)

Aren’t they adorable?? Heheheh. My eldest niece is 4 while the second one is 3. May they be within Allah’s hidayah always. Amin.

Anyway, it was such a beautiful day today don’t you think? I love Friday. It’s our family breakfast day. It’s our mommy-daughters-window-shopping day. It’s also my girlie Halaqah meet day :D :D. We listened to many many scary stories about Qiyamah during halaqah btw. *shivers*

As I mentioned many times (as I’m way too excited about it hehe) Ramadhan is coming soon. Usually it’s times like these that you will find most muslimahs frantically repaying (qadha’) their missed fast. hehe. Have you repaid yours? If you haven’t better start now before it’s too late.

Now every year, I hear some sisters telling me that they have up to 20 days or more to Qadha. Always the reason is that they have not repaid their fasts from 2 or 3 Ramadhans before. SO they say they have to double or even triple the number of days that they have to Qadha. Now ukhtis, that isn’t the right way to do it.
Whenever we missed certain fasting days, it is wajib for us to qadha them before the next ramadhan comes. If we did not manage to repay our fast until the following ramadhan, then we still need to qadha them with the addition of paying fidyah. So NO doubling the number of fasting days- they are still the same.

And then if we still were unable to qadha until even the next ramadhan, the fidyah now will need to be doubled. But the number of days to qadha is STILL the same. So it is the fidyah that increases for every year that we put off our qadha and NOT the number of days to be repaid. Now remember, paying fidyah does not replace one’s responsibility to repay (qadha’) one’s missed fast. It is still compulsory for one to repay (qadha’) one’s missed fast as long as one has the capacity and ability to do so.

What is fidyah? Fidyah is giving food to the poor and needy. Food here refers to the staple food of the community where the person lives in. For us here in Brunei, it is rice. Hence, those who pay fidyah must pay with one mud (secupak) of rice for each missed day.

Fidyah should be paid after one does not qadha' before the coming of the next Ramadan. And it should continue to be paid as long as the qadha' is not performed. Because fidyah does NOT replace qadha'.

Hence, if one does not fast in 2004, and he does not qadha' until Ramadan 2005, he must pay fidyah and qadha' before Ramadan 2006. If he does not qadha' till Ramadan 2006, then after the Ramadan, he must pay again the fidyah, times two, and qadha'.

I hope i’m not writing is not making u more confused. hehe. The clock is 0018. ERK. I better sleep now or the boss will find me snoring on my desk tomorrow. :D

p/s Sometimes i forget that those other than my friends also read this blog. so ive edited the post. heheheheheh.

Syaaban, a special month.

2007-08-26T20:38:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

We now have about two more weeks left before ramadan. MasyaAllah! I can't wait! May Allah let us live long enough to go through ramadhan. Amin.

So how is your preparation for ramadhan going? As for me, I find that on the days that I'm not fasting, I tend to eat *uhuk* more. Then at night, I still find myself rushing through my prayers or skipping my sunnat prayers to make sure i dont miss certain tv programmes. Still need to work on my self-discipline I guess, cause the heart and mind are still too much focused on dunya, dunya and more dunyaaa.

I've decided to cut-and-paste the article from our state mufti office's website. Many valuable things were mentioned in the article on the benefits of syaaban. It's in Malay though, so apologies to the non-malay readers. Just holler if you want me to translate okeh?

One of the things that is highlighted in the article is that there is no such thing as sunnat nisfu sya'ban prayers and it falls under Bid'ah, hence should not be performed. However we are encouraged to perform sunnat prayers such as sunnatul hajat, witr, tahajjud, istikharah.

The prophet has never singled out 15th syaaban as the day that one should fast too. Instead he fasted as much as possible throughout the whole month of syaaban as mentioned by Aisyah:
“I never saw the Prophet (peace be upon him) fast an entire month except for the month of Ramadân. I never saw him fast more often in any other month than he did in Sha`bân.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (1969) and Sahîh Muslim (1156)]

I hope I've made that clear to everyone. :)

So to the Malay readers, your reading should not end here ok? Please go on :D

BULAN SYA'BAN : Persediaan Di Ambang Ramadhan

Setiap bulan dalam sepanjang tahun mengikut kiraan taqwim Hijriyyah mempunyai kelebihan tertentu dan keistimewaan beribadat di dalamnya. Sesungguhnya Allah Subhanahu wa Ta‘ala menciptakan hari atau bulan itu ada yang baik dan ada yang lebih baik. Sebagaimana yang disebutkan oleh hadis Nabi Shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam mengenai kelebihan bulan Muharram, Rejab, Sya‘ban, Ramadhan, Syawal dan Zulhijjah sebagai bulan-bulan yang istimewa. Begitu juga dengan hari-hari tertentu seperti Juma‘at, Khamis dan Isnin mempunyai pelbagai fadhilat.

Bulan Sya‘ban Dan Galakkan Beribadat Di Dalamnya

Sekarang kita berada di bulan Sya‘ban. Bulan Sya‘ban juga mempunyai keistimewaan tersendiri di dalam Islam. Keadaan ini samalah juga dengan bulan-bulan yang lain yang mempunyai fadhilat tersendiri, sehingga menyebabkan kehadirannya sentiasa ditunggu-tunggu oleh mereka yang ahli ibadat sebagai masa mengaut pahala.

Bulan Sya‘ban adalah antara bulan yang paling dicintai oleh Rasulullah Shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam di mana Baginda Shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam akan lebih banyak berpuasa di bulan ini. Pernah diriwayatkan bahawa Baginda tidak pernah berpuasa sunat dalam sebulan, lebih banyak daripada puasanya di bulan Sya‘ban.

Dalam makna yang lain Baginda Nabi Shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam memperbanyakkan puasa sunat di bulan Sya‘ban dibandingkan bulan-bulan yang lain. Oleh kerana itu amatlah dituntut bagi umat Islam mencontohi apa yang dilakukan oleh Baginda itu kerana selain memperbanyak amal kebajikan di bulan ini, ia juga merupakan suatu latihan rohani ke arah mempersiapkan diri menyambut kedatangan bulan Ramadhan.

Amalan-Amalan Sunat Pada Bulan Sya‘ban

Keistimewaan bulan ini bahawa amalan seluruh manusia diangkat untuk dihadapkan kepada Allah Subhanahu wa Ta‘ala, maka sewajarnyalah sepanjang bulan ini diisikan dengan amal ibadah dan kebajikan. Maka antara amalan yang digalakkan pada bulan Sya‘ban adalah:

1. Memperbanyak puasa sunat.

Bahawa Nabi Shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam lebih gemar berpuasa sunat dalam bulan Sya‘ban berbanding dengan bulan-bulan yang lain.

2. Bertaubat dan beristiqhfar

Taubat ialah pembersihan rohani kerana taubat itu menjadi tuntutan dalam agama supaya setiap diri individu yang sememangnya tidak ma‘shum ini melakukan taubat pada setiap masa dan ketika. Tegasnya hukum taubat itu adalah wajib dari segi syara‘. Walau bagaimanapun sebenar-benar taubat itu ialah yang dikatakan taubat nasuha.

Taubat nasuha tidak akan tercapai tanpa mendatangkan terlebih dahulu syarat-syarat yang ditentukan. Umpamanya jika dosa itu antara hamba dengan Tuhan:

1. Hendaklah dia meninggalkan dosa atau maksiat itu.
2. Hendaklah dia benar-benar menyesali dan merasa dukacita atas perbuatan maksiatnya itu.
3. Hendaklah dia berjanji dan berazam untuk tidak akan kembali mengulangi melakukannya.

Manakala jika dosa itu bersangkut paut dengan hak orang lain, maka selain syarat-syarat sebagaimana yang disebutkan di atas, ditambah lagi satu syarat iaitu hendaklah membersihkan dirinya daripada hak orang itu atau orang yang melakukan dosa itu memohon maaf kepada orang berkenaan.

Selain daripada itu, peranan taubat itu sendiri tidak terhenti setakat membersihkan diri daripada segala dosa dan maksiat. Lebih daripada itu ia juga merupakan suatu cara untuk kita sentiasa berlindung diri kepada Allah subhanahu wa Ta‘ala memohon keberkatan ketika kita memulakan dan membuat sesuatu pekerjaan yang berfaedah dan mengharapkan kurnia, taufiq serta diselamatkan daripada ditimpa musibah, kesusahan, kesulitan dan sebagainya.

Adapun istighfar itu pula ialah pernyataan memohon ampun kepada Allah daripada semua dosa. Lafaz istighfar itu di antaranya ialahأستغفر الله العظيم bererti: “Aku memohon ampun kepada Allah yang Maha Agung”.

3. Memperbanyak zikir dan berdoa

Zikir ialah ucapan yang dilakukan dengan lidah atau mengingati Allah dengan hati, dengan ucapan atau ingatan yang mempersucikan Allah dan membersihkanNya dari sifat-sifat yang tidak layak untukNya.

Terdapat banyak ayat al-Qur’an dan hadis yang memerintahkan agar manusia mengambil berat tentang zikir. Banyak faedah yang diperolehi hasil daripada berzikir. Antaranya ialah:

i. Menenangkan hati:

Ini bersesuaian dengan janji Allah Subhanahu wa Ta‘ala bahawa orang-orang yang beriman itu tenang hati mereka dengan zikrullah. Ini kerana berzikir (mengingati Allah) itu mententeramkan hati manusia.

ii. Kawalan Diri dan Perlindungan Malaikat:

Seseorang itu merasa terkawal kerana Allah sentiasa menyertainya di mana sahaja dia berada. Akibatnya paling minima dia takut hendak berbuat maksiat dan bersedia pula untuk melakukan ketaatan.

Bahkan dia juga mendapat kawalan sepenuhnya daripada malaikat. Bagi orang yang sekadar duduk di majlis zikir sekalipun tidak bersama berzikir akan mendapat juga rahmat Allah dan kawalan malaikat.

iii. Terpelihara Daripada Godaan dan Pujukan Syaitan.

iv. Meningkatkan Rasa Kecintaan Kepada Allah:

Untuk meningkatkan kecintaan kepada Allah, mestilah memahami dan menghayati bacaan tasbih, doa dan istighfar yang diucapkan itu.

Antara keistemewaan amalan zikir itu pula ialah:

i. Zikir boleh dilaksanakan bila-bila masa walaupun sedang melakukan pekerjaan tanpa terikat dengan waktu. Ia juga boleh dilaksanakan dalam keadaan duduk, tidur, berdiri dan baring.

ii. Boleh dilaksanakan walaupun dalam keadaan berhadas sama ada hadas kecil mahu pun hadas besar. Walau bagaimanapun makruh berzikir secara lisan ketika berada di dalam tandas.

Begitu juga dengan perkara doa. Doa boleh dilakukan tanpa mengira tempat dan masa. Doa ialah memohon sesuatu hajat atau perlindungan daripada Allah Subhanahu wa Ta‘ala dengan cara merendahkan diri dan tawadhu‘ kepadaNya.

Selain daripada itu banyak lagi amal kebajikan yang boleh dilaksanakan di bulan Sya‘ban ini sebagai persiapan menyambut kedatangan Ramadhan seperti memperbanyakkan selawat atas junjungan besar Nabi Muhammad Shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam, bersembahyang sunat terutama di waktu malam, banyak bersedekah dan sebagainya. Maka rebutlah peluang dan kelebihan yang ada di bulan Sya‘ban ini untuk mempertingkatkan keimanan dan ketaqwaan kita. Rasulullah Shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam pernah ditanya, mengapa Baginda melebihkan berpuasa sunat di bulan Sya‘ban berbanding bulan-bulan yang lain? Baginda bersabda:

ذَلِكَ شَهْرٌ يَغْفُلُ النَّاسُ عَنْهُ بَيْنَ رَجَبٍ وَرَمَضَانَ وَهُوَ شَهْرٌ تُرْفَعُ فِيهِ الأَعْمَالُ إِلَى رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ فَأُحِبُّ أَنْ يُرْفَعَ عَمَلِي وَأَنَا صَائِمٌ
(رواه النسائي)

Maksudnya: “Bulan itu (Sya‘ban) yang berada di antara Rejab dan Ramadhan adalah bulan yang dilupakan manusia dan ia adalah bulan yang diangkat padanya amal ibadah kepada Tuhan Seru Sekalian Alam, maka aku suka supaya amal ibadah ku di angkat ketika aku berpuasa”.
(Hadis riwayat an-Nasaie)

Kelebihan Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban

Adapun kelebihan Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban itu telah disebutkan di dalam hadis shahih daripada Mu‘az bin Jabal Radhiallahu ‘anhu, bersabda Rasulullah Shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam yang maksudnya :
“Allah menjenguk datang kepada semua makhlukNya di Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban, maka diampunkan dosa sekalian makhlukNya kecuali orang yang menyekutukan Allah atau orang yang bermusuhan.”
(Hadis riwayat Ibnu Majah, at-Thabrani dan Ibnu Hibban)

Di Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban juga, adalah di antara malam-malam yang dikabulkan doa. Berkata Imam asy-Syafi‘e dalam kitabnya al-Umm: “Telah sampai pada kami bahawa dikatakan: sesungguhnya doa dikabulkan pada lima malam iaitu: pada malam Jumaat, malam Hari Raya Adha, malam Hari Raya ‘Aidil fitri, malam pertama di bulan Rejab dan malam nisfu Sya‘ban.”

Menghidupkan Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban

Nisfu Sya‘ban ialah hari ke lima belas daripada bulan Sya‘ban. Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban merupakan malam yang penuh rahmat dan pengampunan daripada Allah Subhanahu wa Ta‘ala. Kenyataan ini dapat direnung kepada hadis yang diriwayatkan oleh Mu‘az bin Jabal Radhiallahu ‘anhu di atas.

Adapun cara menghidupkan Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban sebagaimana yang dilakukan sekarang ini tidak berlaku pada zaman Nabi Shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam dan zaman para sahabat. Akan tetapi ia berlaku pada zaman tabi‘in dari penduduk Syam. Menyebut al-Qasthalani dalam kitabnya al-Mawahib al-Ladunniyah, bahawa para tabi‘in daripada penduduk Syam seperti Khalid bin Ma‘dan dan Makhul, mereka beribadat dengan bersungguh-sungguh pada Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban. Maka dengan perbuatan mereka itu, mengikutlah orang ramai pada membesarkan malam tersebut.

Para tabi‘in tersebut menghidupkan Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban dengan dua cara:

1. Sebahagian mereka hadir beramai-ramai ke masjid dan berjaga di waktu malam (qiamullail) untuk bersembahyang sunat dengan memakai harum-haruman, bercelak mata dan berpakaian yang terbaik.

2. Sebahagiannya lagi melakukannya dengan cara bersendirian. Mereka menghidupkan malam tersebut dengan beribadat seperti sembahyang sunat dan berdoa dengan cara bersendirian.

Ada pun cara kita sekarang ini menghidupkan Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban dengan membaca Al-Qur’an seperti membaca surah Yasin, berzikir dan berdoa dengan berhimpun di masjid-masjid atau rumah-rumah persendirian sama ada secara berjemaah atau perseorangan adalah tidak jauh berbeza dengan apa yang dilakukan oleh para tabi‘in itu.

Amalan-Amalan Bid‘ah Dalam Bulan Sya‘ban

Dalam keghairahan kita menghidupkan Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban itu dengan berbagai cara ibadat, kita perlu berhati-hati agar tidak melakukan perkara-perkara bid‘ah.

Di antara perkara bid‘ah itu ialah bersembahyang sunat Nisfu Sya‘ban. Sembahyang ini sebenarnya tiada tsabit dalam ajaran Islam. Imam an-Nawawi dan Imam Ibnu Hajar telah menafikan adanya sembahyang sunat Nisfu Sya‘ban kerana suatu sembahyang itu disyariatkan cukup dengan sandarannya sama ada dari nash Al-Qur’an atau pun hadis.

Jika seseorang itu masih juga ingin untuk melakukan sembahyang, maka sayugialah dia mengerjakan sembahyang-sembahyang sunat yang lain seperti sunat Awwabin (di antara waktu maghrib dan Isya’), sembahyang tahajjud, akhirnya sembahyang witir atau sembahyang sunat muthlaq bukan sembahyang sunat Nisfu Sya‘ban. Sembahyang sunat muthlaq ini boleh dikerjakan pada bila-bila masa sahaja sama ada pada Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban atau pada malam-malam yang lain.

Adalah mendukacitakan pada malam yang penuh berkat dan keampunan itu, wujud perkara-perkara yang tidak selari dengan syara‘, iaitu adanya orang yang membuat hiburan atau mengadakan konsert pada Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban. Apatah lagi jika hiburan atau permainan yang diadakan itu melibatkan ramai orang Islam sehingga terlepas untuk merebut peluang beribadat dan berdoa pada malam tersebut. Perbuatan seumpama ini setentunya menyumbang kepada maksiat.

Sesunguhnya bulan Sya‘ban itu adalah bulan di mana Rasulullah Shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam lebih banyak berpuasa sunat dibandingkan pada bulan-bulan yang lain, iaitu sebagai persiapan dan persediaan untuk menghadapi bulan Ramadhan. Amalan Baginda itu sewajarnya dicontohi oleh sekalian umat Islam disamping bulan Sya‘ban itu sendiri mempunyai kelebihan yang tersendiri seperti Malam Nisfu Sya‘ban.

Confessions of a 'Checher'

2007-08-19T14:06:00.000+08:00

Student 1

It was a very longgg day and my mind was struggling to keep up with my surroundings. So I thought, I better go home and bring my work with me.

I packed my things and was about to leave the school compound when I heard one of my students screamed my name and literally flew down the stairs and hugged me who was leaden with two bags full of papers and books.

"TEACHER!! TEACHER!!!! I PASSED!!!!!!!!!"

Suddenly the weariness that I felt moments ago left my body and we were both laughing and jumping happily! Lol. Really, sometimes I forget that I'm supposed to be a teacher! Behave woman!

Student 2

"Cherrr, thank you for everything. Thank you for your support. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!" His face was shining. His eyes were twinkling. His smile was broad and both of his thumbs were pointing upwards. He looked soooo happy that it was contagious! Everyone was smiling happily looking at his happy face! hehe.

Student 3

"Cherrr!! I got a 'D'! Inda plang credit but dulu aku dapat 'U'! So aku happy cherrr!! Thank You!!"

Hmmmm, now, I have a mixed feeling about this one. Hehe.

Assalamualaikum,

Yes as you might have guessed, my students' results came out three days ago. Really, it is times like these that make you think those sleepless nights, those long hours you spent marking your students' work, those sweat and tears you shed when preparing their notes and handouts and the sore throat that you felt after speaking on top of your lungs for 3 hours straight, are actually worthwhile. Nothing feels better than knowing that you have made a difference in someone's life - albeit a little.

I can't tell you how many times the idea of walking out of my current profession crossed my mind. Many times, I told myself, I can't do this anymore. Many times, I told myself, thats it! This will be the last time that I'm going to be treated this way. Many manyyyyy times I said to myself, I don't know how to do this, I'm not good at this, this job is not for me and I've failed them!

But looking at those hopeful faces somehow makes me want to push myself. They make me endure those sleepless nights. They make me explore those hidden talents that I never knew I had. They make me truly understand the true meaning of responsibility, perseverance......and also hope.

Sometimes I wonder if my students knew how much impact they've made on me. I've lost count of the number of times when I watched some tv programme and came across a particular scene and thought, " Heyyy, I should tell my students this - it might be useful for their project". Or when I went to the market and saw leaflets of some advertisement and thought "OOhhh, I should use this for teaching tomorrow, it can help them understand this and this ." Orrr when I was reading a particular book and came across some information and thought " Heeyyy, such and such asked me about this yesterday. I must tell her about this tomorrow".

Surely, if someone or a group of people managed to creep into your conscious and subconscious minds THAT often, those people must be very important in your life.

And they are. They truly are.

I mean sure they come and go every year. And many times they do get on my nerves (especially when they don't hand-in their work and come up with some out-of-this-world excuses for it), but still, at the end of the day, I still want them to do well and be a somebody one day.

One of my students wrote an essay on how students and teachers tend to have a 'love-and-hate relationship' with each other. She wrote how the students hate the teachers for giving them lots of homework and how the teachers hate the students for not handing in their homework. But at the end of the day, they still talk to each other, listen to each other and joke around together. I smiled after reading the essay and wrote a note at the bottom: " I don't think I've ever hated my students. Irritated, yes, but hate? Nope. :D" hehe. Oh by the way, her essay was based on this article.

My mom, who was also a teacher, said her teacher once said this: Kerja guru ini bukan kerja setengah hari tapi kerja 24 jam. (A teacher's job is not a half-day job but it's a 24hrs job.)

And I thought, how true.

Back then, I always thought teaching must be one of the easiest jobs in the world. One just need to go into the class, write some sentences on the board, discuss those sentences with the students and once the clock stikes at 12:30, waaa lah! You're done for the day.

But there was one minor detail that I overlooked. A teacher does not teach only one student per day. Most teach about 70-100 students per day. And some even teach different subjects per day. On top of that, some even teach different levels per day. Don't even make me start on our non-teaching duties.

Yep, lets just say that teachers are pretty good at multi-tasking.

Teachers are great actors too. Believe me, your teacher might be smiling happily and laughing along with you but you can never guess what goes on in her mind.

I remember when I first started teaching I came home crying everyday for two weeks. Ok ok i was a cry baby ok. hehe. But hey, teaching 4 classes of hormonal 13-18 year old boys can make any 21 year old a bit distressed you know. :p

So on that one extremely hot day, I just blew it. Never in my life I felt that much anger. The boys did not finish their homework, they didn't copy the notes written on the board, they didn't bother listening to me, some were busy laughing at the back of the class hence drowning my voice, some were busy clicking and comparing their handphones; and some were busy ogling a group of girls walking across the street!

And I thought that's it!

I packed my things, furiously yanked the door and left the class.

Now, in my previous school, one of the rules that all teachers must adhere to is that they should never ever leave their classes unattended.

At that point, I did not care. I just kept on walking and went straight to the washroom and washed my face. It was only my second week of teaching and already I was on the verge of giving up (and insanity!!)!

I was in the washroom for a good ten minutes when suddenly I heard the bell rang. It was time for my next class. I thought noooooooooooo!! Please I can't go. I can't face another 28 hormonal boys for 1 hour and 10 mins!

I washed my face a couple more times, fixed my hijjab and went out of the washroom. I did not immediately enter the class. I walked around here and there, trying to clear my head and hence I was 15 mins late.

When I entered the class, one of the boys said, " Ani jua teacher nahh! Kami cari-cari kita tadi di staffroom. Pikir kami kita lupa atau sakit." ( There you are miss! We were looking for you at the staffroom. We thought you forgot about the class or maybe you were sick."

I just smiled shakily and put my things on the teacher's table. I looked up and saw all 28 boys were looking at me expectantly. They looked ready to learn.

I forced myself to push the image of the boys in my previous class, apologised for being late and immediately proceeded with my lesson. To my surprise the lesson went well! So my day did not end with me trying to eat everyone's head off. hehe.

Hmm this is a rather long post don't you think? hehe. I can go on and on actually. If you are a teacher, you would probably be reminiscing your first few days of teaching right now. If you aren't, well you have a peek of the life of one of the persons your son/daughter/sister/brother or even yourself spend a few hours with each day.

On another note, a colleague, who was also one of my teachers back in high school (hehe!) said this to me the other day: “ Ehhh hari atu cigu tejumpa c *insert x school mate’s name here*, inda ia tagur cigu! Bagitau ia, cigu marah ja” ( Ehhh a few days ago I saw c*insert x school mate’s name here*, she didn’t say anything to me! Tell her I’m very upset).

LOL

To the teachers out there, a new week starting tomorrow, a new week full of adventure, ey?

Iji. Beriji. Biyutipul. <------Geddit? hehe

2007-08-12T22:28:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

So far I think this is the most difficult post for me to finish. Its content is quite simple actually but somehow I kept on having a writer’s-block-syndrome for the past three weeks. I sincerely don’t know what made me this post seemed so complicated when actually it is not.

Hmmmm.

Well just sit back and read on people. :)

One thing that we girls love is beauty products. I had just about every different shade of lipsticks that one could think of. I was such a HUGE fan of Mabelline Watershine. I remember I had this glittery super dark brown lipstick that I loved to use. I thought I looked exotic whenever I used it. Then one day my sister told me I looked scary. Sure enough that was the last day that I touched it. Lol. You know, looking back, I was such a vain girl. Well….maybe I still am but I’d like to think that I’m better now. =P

We girls put too many things onto our face. Toner, moisturiser, sunblock, foundation, concealer, compact powder, pressed powder (I’m not really sure what’s the difference between these two but yea apparently they are different) blusher, highlighter, eye-shadow, eye-liner, lip-liner, lipstick, lip balm, lip gloss oh you can go on really. All in the name of looking ‘naturally pretty’.

Some of us even use super expensive products that can cost up to more than $300 per month (I can just imagine the boys going tsk tsk). Since they are sooo expensive we try to make sure that we don’t waste them. So much so that we wouldn’t pray because doing so would require us to wash our face during ablution which in turn would wash away our expensive toners. Re-applying is never an option. No.Way. Besides, it would take another full hour or so to put on all those different colours onto the face. I mean which one would you choose? Pray and risk looking pale OR miss your prayer and let every girls within 3 miles envy your made up face? Easy, Breezy, Beautiful. Of Course the heart would say the later. Always. Besides, you can always qada later anywayyy.

Sigh.
Yes. I was like that.
If that wasn’t vain, then I don’t know what is.

Back then, during Eid, my friends and I loved ‘konvoy-ing’ and literally would go 'beraya-ing' from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. At that time, it was my first attempt playing around with colours. You know, eye-shadow, blusher and the likes.

The thing is, I was sooo vain and loved my make up so much that I would not pray because I was afraid that doing so would ruin my made up face. I missed both Zuhur and Asar prayers just so that the apples of my cheeks would stay ‘rosy’.

Astaghfirullah. Astaghfirullah. Astaghfirullah!

Just thinking about it makes me feel….URGH….I can’t even begin to describe it.

Alhamdulillah Allah gave me Hidayah and shed some light on this super silly behaviour.

Looking back, I can’t believe how easily the syaitans sweet talked me into missing my prayers. I can just imagine them telling me: “Pssttt don’t pray. What’s the point of spending hours in front of the mirror, putting on your make up and then washing it off? Waste of time, waste of energy, waste of makeup and hence waste of money! Bida tu bida inda be make up ahhh. Kawan-kawanmu semua bemakeup. Kau nganya pucat. Qada saja karang bah.”

Grrrrrrr!
Annoyed ku ehhhhhh.

I feel soooo silly that I willingly missed my prayers because of my make ups or toners or whatever other beauty products that I used. It’s like volunteering myself to go to Jahannam as long as I was able to hold on to my mascara! Nauzubillah! Astaghfirullah!

Sigh.

My dear sisters, please let me discuss this matter with all of you out there. But before I do, let me just say this, if what I am going to say after this applies to you, please don’t go thinking that I am trying to mock you or anything. I believe there are so many of us out there, myself included, who justify ourselves for not praying using some very lame excuses. The funny thing is we actually convinced ourselves that our reasons for not praying are acceptable! Below are some examples of the excuses that I can think of at the moment that we girls use to miss our prayers:

1) Payah jua tu cuci mua lagi. Aku lagi be cream muka apa. (It’s difficult as I have to wash my face. There goes my moisturiser)

2) Payah bah. Nada jamban bisai kan bekaut. (It’s difficult because there are no proper washrooms for me to wudhu).

3) Takut ku ehh kan ke surau seorang. (I’m afraid to be alone in the surau.)

4) Ahhh badanku bepaluh. Bagas ku sports tadi. (Ahh I’m all sweaty, I was doing some sports just now.)

5) Payah bah. Mesti betelkong. Laki-laki sanang, baju biasa atu pun bulih sembahyang. Bini-bini ani mesti betelkong. (It’s difficult as I need to wear a telkong for praying. It’s easier for men as they can just pray in their everyday clothes.)

Excuses. Excuses. Excuses.

Somehow those excuses sounded really reasonable when they were in our heads to the point of we actually felt guiltless for purposely missing our prayers. But try reading them again ukhtis, do you still find them reasonable, now that they are in writing? Can you see how nonsensical they are? Don’t you think behind those excuses was just plain laziness on our part??

Our facial creams can’t help us enter Jannah. Please, it really is OK to wash them off! We won’t be wrinkly overnight just because our pores are empty of those magical chemicals for half an hour. (Really, I'm talking to myself here!) It really bothers me that some of us love our moisturisers too much (hopefully not more than our love for the Almighty). Believe me the benefits from our wudhu will surpass any facial lotions…even SKII!!

No clean washrooms? Well, ikhtiar and find one. I’m sure there should be at least one clean washroom somewhere. We are lucky that we have masjids everywhere in the country and most commercial buildings have prayer rooms as well – with decent washrooms.

Scared to go to the surau alone? Well just ask someone to accompany you. Bring your friends along and pray together.

Too sweaty to pray? Well, it’s true that we need to be clean when we pray. Well why don’t you just simply start your sports activities after praying e.g after Asr prayer and stop just before maghrib?

No telkong? Ahhhhh let me share with you this conversation that I had with my brother a while back. A slap in the face I tell you.

Me: It’s easy for men to simply stop by any masjid and pray. It is difficult for us women.
Bro: Why difficult?
Me: Coz sometimes there are no telkongs in the masjid.
Bro: Why can’t you just pray in the clothes you were wearing?
Me: Coz can still see my aurah.
Bro: Exactly
Me: Huh?
Bro: When you pray you need to cover all parts of the body except for the face and the hands. Women’s aurah is all parts of the body except for the face and the hands. In other word, you should be able to immediately pray in the clothes that you were wearing. But since you said you couldn't, it means that you still have not covered your aurah.
Me: *Ouch*

I told you it was a slap in the face. I think that was also my brother’s way of telling me that my clothes at that time were a bit too tight.

My dear sisters, we all should be ashamed of ourselves. Surely Allah makes praying 5 times per day compulsory to help us remember Him as He knows how weak we are. Some of us purposely miss Zuhr prayer to go out for lunch with friends! How unthankful can we be, eating the rezk given by Allah but yet we forget to remember him? Allah Ar- Raheem on the other hand, continues to love us and provides us with those delicious food that we shamelessly eat while forgetting Him.

We display our anger whenever the unbelievers mock the name of Allah but yet we miss our prayers and neglect a lot of our duties as a Muslim.

"Missing Salah (Prayers) is the only distinction between a (believing) slave and Kufr (Disbelief)". (Muslim)

“Perbezaan antara kafir dan orang mukmin itu adalah meninggalkan solat.” (Muslim)

So if we missed our prayers, we are amongst them, the Kufr! Nauzubillah!

Muslimins and Muslimahs, lets us truly act like a Muslim. We should first start by performing all our obligatory Salahs and try to perfect them. If we have missed some prayers in the pass, we should repent now, Qada as much as possible, for Allah is the most Forgiving and Merciful.

“O My servants who have wronged against their souls! Do not despair of the mercy of Allah. For Allah forgives all sins; for He is indeed Forgiving, Compassionate.” (Az-Zumur: 53).

"Wahai hamba-hambaKu yang telah melampaui batas terhadap diri mereka sendiri (dengan perbuatan-perbuatan maksiat), janganlah kamu berputus asa dari rahmat Allah, kerana sesungguhnya Allah mengampunkan segala dosa; sesungguhnya Dia lah jua Yang Maha Pengampun, lagi Maha Mengasihani.

Lets act now everyone, for we never know when our last breath is nor do we know when the Hour is. Lets taubah now while we still can. By Allah, looking back, I've done many things that I should't have and I've missed many many salahs. My only hope is that Almighty Allah will forgive me.

May Allah guide us all to truth and keep us and those around us on the straight path. Amin

Fasting day 1

2007-07-30T20:25:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum,

I was fasting this morning. A word of reminder to myself: ALWAYS sleep early on the night before you fast and alway always alwayssssss eat sahoor.

I slept at 1 am last night as I had to finish off some work. Since I wasn't hungry I thought I would just sleep first and wake up at 4am for sahoor.

Na-ah!

I woke up at 6 am just in time for me to dizzily dash of to the bathroom for my wudhu and then pray exactly 5 mins before syuruk. Hiyahh!

I guess Allah was testing me this morning as some colleagues offered me kueh linggangs. Blehh nyaman banar usulnya kueh linggang ahhhhhh. haha.

Teaching was almost impossible too. It was difficult to project my voice loud enough for the whole class to hear. Then everytime I sat, my eyes started drooping off. Seriously. It is not cool to fall asleep in front of your students.

Then at 11-ish one of my babehs texted me : Dang u free? Lunch?

Alahai.

I was tempted to reply : BAH LAKAS TAH! Aku mo Thai food.

Cheh.

I bet the devils were swarming around me, putting in the images of manggo fish and tom yam soup in my head at that time.

In my sleepy and tired mental state, it took a superhuman effort to reply the text and say no. (Babe if u are reading this: raincheck ahhh! We need to catch up soon. hehe)

This is just a short post actually. I need to sleep now or the same thing that happened today will happen again tomorrow.

But before I go I suggest everyone to read this site:Fadhilat Rejab, Antara realiti dan fantasi

I must say after reading the article, I am a bit concerned of the emails that are going around right now concerning the fadhilats of Rejab. Which is which?

Cinta Duniawi

2007-07-29T07:39:00.000+08:00

Caution: Long read ahead.

I found the article below and thought I should share it as a reminder for us especially for those who are in the cinta-cinta world or about to be in the cinta-cinta world or thinking of becinta-cinta. lol! I edited some of the spellings and the layout of the article cause I'm very anal. Other than that, it is a good read :D

BAB-BAB CINTA

Duduk berdiskusi pelajaran tak boleh ke? Bincang pelajaran sahaja!

Berdiskusi pelajaran, betul ke? Jangan tipu. Allah tahu apa yang terselit di dalam hati hamba-hambaNya. Kita nak belajar nak keberkatan. Kalau cemerlang sekalipun, kalau tidak diberkati oleh Allah, kejayaan tidak akan mambawa kebahagiaan. Hidup tidak bahagia, akhirat lebih lagi lah. Jangan berselindung disebalik pelajaran yang mulia. Allah suka kpd org yg berilmu. Jadi belajar hendaklah ikut batas dan ketentuan Allah. Belajar akan jadi ibadat. Adakah berdiskusi macam ni akan ditulis ibadah oleh malaikat Raqib dan Atid?

Sungguh! Bincang pelajaran sahaja. Ni study group.

Study group? Nampak lain macam saja, manja, senyum memanjang, tak macam gaya berdiskusi. Takkan study group berdua sahaja? Kemana-manapun berdua. Kalau ye pun, carilah study group ramai sikit. Kalau duduk berdua-duaan macam ni....betul ke bincang pelajaran? Jangan-jangan sekejap saja bincang pelajaran, yg lain tu? Banyak masa dihabiskan dengan fantasi cinta!

Tidaklah. Sungguh berbincang pelajaran. Tak de lebih-lebih.

Baik sungguh awak berdua. Takkanlah awak berdua tak ada perasaan apa-apa? Awak kurang sihat ke? Ingat, kita bukan malaikat, tak ada nafsu. Kita manusia. Jgn menafikan fitrah manusia. Kita ada nafsu, ada keinginan. Itulah manusia.

Kami sama-sama belajar, study group, saling memberi semangat dan motivasi.

Tak adakah kaum sejenis yang boleh dijadikan rakan belajar? Habis sudahkan kaum sejenis yang boleh memberikan motivasi? Jangan hina kaum sejenis kita. Ingat, bayak orang cemerlang yang belajar hanya dengan kaum sejenis. Lebih tenang perasaan, tidak terganggu, dapat berkat dan rahmat pula.

Takkanlah tak ada langsung ruang yg dibenarkan dlm Islam utk bercinta? Adakah Islam membunuh terus naluri cinta?

Naluri adalah sebahagian daripada kesempurnaan kejadian manusia. Naluri ingin memiliki dan suka kalau dimiliki (sense of belonging) adalah fitrah. Kalau naluri itu tidak wujud pada diri seseorang, tak normal namanya. Islam bukan datang membunuh naluri dan keinginan itu, tidak! Islam tidak suruh membunuh naluri seperti yg dilakukan oleh para paderi atau sami. Jangan nafikan naluri ini. Jangan berbohong pada diri sendiri. Bukan salah dan berdosa kalau perasaan itu datang tanpa diundang. Itu adalah fitrah. Cuma tundukkan naluri itu untuk patuh pada perintah Allah. Jadilah manusia yang sihat nalurinya. Jangan jadi malaikat! Kerana Allah ciptakan kita sebagai manusia. Dunia dan segala isinya akan hambar tanpa naluri atau nafsu.

Tentu ada cinta secara Islam.

Cinta secara Islam hanya satu, iaitu perkahwinan. Cinta berlaku setelah ijab qabul: cinta selepas berkahwin. Itulah cinta sakral dan qudus. Cinta yang bermaruah. Bukan cinta murahan. Inilah kemuliaan agama kita, Islam. Apabila Islam melarang sesuatu perkara, tentu ia gantikan dengan sesuatu yg lebih baik. Kalau ia melarang cinta antara lelaki dan perempuan sebelum kahwin, ia membawa sesuatu sebagai ganti yg lebih baik iaitu perkahwinan.

Sabda Rasulullah: Tidak ada yg lebih patut bagi dua org yg saling mencintai kecuali nikah. (Ibni Majah).

Cinta adalah maruah manusia. Ia terlalu mulia.

Kalau begitu, cinta remaja semua menghampiri kepada perzinaan?

Ya. Kalau lelaki dan perempuan bertemu tentu perasaan turut terusik. Kemudian perasaan dilayan. Kemudian teringat, rindu. Kemudian diatur pertemuan. Kemudian duduk berdua-dua. Kemudian mencari tempat sunyi sedikit. Kemudian berbual panjang sehingga malam gelap. Hubungan makin akrab, dah berani pegang tangan, duduk makin dekat. Kalau tadi macam kawan, sekarang macam pengantin baru semalam?Bukankah mereka semakin hampir dan dekat dengan perzinaan? Penghujung jalan cinta adalah perzinaan dan kesengsaraan. Berapa ramai org yg bercinta telah sampai kepada daerah perzinaan dan kesengsaraan. Kasihanilah diri dan ibubapa yg melahirkan kita dalam keadaan bersih tanpa noda daripada seekor nyamuk sekalipun!

Masih ramai orang yang bercinta tetapi tetap selamat, tidak sampai berzina. Kami tahan diuji.

Allah yang mencipta manusia, Dia tahu kekuatan dan kelemahan manusia. Manusia tidak tahan ujian. Oleh itu Allah memerintahkan supaya jauhi perkara yang ditegah takut manusia akan kecundang.

Jadi manusia itu tak tahan diuji?

Kita manusia dari keturunan Adam dan Hawa, sejak dari awal penciptaan manusia, Allah telah mengingatkan manusia walaupun bahaawa mereka tidak akan tahan dengan ujian walaupun kecil. Allah takdirkan satu peristiwa untuk iktibar manusia. Allah tegah Adam dan Hawa supaya jangan makan buah khuldi dlm syurga. Buah yang lain boleh dimakan. Allah tahu kelemahan pada ciptaan manusia. Tak tahan diuji. Oleh itu Allah berpesan kepada Adam dan Hawa, jangan hampiri pokok Khuldi itu.

Firman Allah: Wahai Adam! Tinggallah engkau dan isterimu didalam syurga serta makanlah dari makanannya sepuas-puasnya apa sahaja kamu berdua sukai, dan janganlah kamu hampiri pokok ini, (jika kamu menghampirinya) maka akan menjadilah kamu dari orang-orang yang zalim. (al-A'araf:19)

Tegahan yang sebenarnya adalah memakan buah khuldi. Tetapi Allah tahu sifat dan kelemahan Adam dan Hawa. Jika menghampiri perkara tegahan, takut nanti mereka akan memakannya. Kerana mereka tidak dapat mengawal diri. Demikianlah dengan zina. Ditegah berzina. Maka jln kearah perzinaan juga dilarang. Takut apabila berhadapan dengan godaan perzinaan kedua-duanya akan kecundang. Cukuplah kita belajar daripada pengalaman nenek moyang kita Adam dan Hawa.

Tapi bercinta sebelum kahwin adalah untuk mengenali hati budi pasangan sebelum buat keputusan berkahwin. Cinta lepas kahwin banyak masalah. Kita tak kenal pasangan kita secara dekat.

Bolehkah percaya dengan perwatakan masa sedang bercinta? Bercinta penuh dengan lakonan yang dibuat-buat dan kepura-puraan. Masing-masing akan berlakon dengan watak yang terbaik. Penyayang, penyabar, pemurah dan berbagai-bagai lagi. Masa bercinta adalah alam lakonan semata-mata. Masa bercinta, merajuk ada yang akan pujuk. Jangan harap lepas kahwin, bila merajuk akan ada yang memujuk. Banyak orang yang kecewa dan tertipu dengan keperibadian pasangan semasa bercinta. Perangai pasangan jauh berbeza. Macam langit dengan bumi. Masa bercinta, dia seorang yang amat penyayang, penyabar, sabar tunggu pasangan terlambat sampai berjam-jam. Tapi bila dah kahwin, lewat lima mini, dah kena tengking. Jadi, perwatakan dalam masa bercinta tidak boleh dipercayai. Percintaan adalah suatu kepuran atau hipokrit.

Percayalah, kami bercinta demi merancang kebahagian hidup nanti.

Bagaimana diharap kebahagiaan jika tidak mendapat redha Allah? Kebahagian adalah anugerah Allah kepada hamba-hambaNya yang terpilih. Kebahagian bukan ciptaan manusia. Manusia hanya merancang kebahagiaan. Allah yang akan menganugerahnya. Bagaiman mendapat anugerah kebahagian itu, jika jalan mencapai kebahagian itu tidak diredhai Allah. Kebahagian hidup berumah tangga mestilah melalui proses yang betul. Sudah tentu prosesnya bukan bercinta begini. Allah tidak akan meredhai percintaan ini. Cinta yg diredhai Allah adalah cinta selepas kahwin. Bagaimana untuk mendapat keluarga yang bahagia jika langkah mula sudah pun canggung, bagaimana kesudahannya?

Tanya sikit? Adik angkat, kakak angkat, abang angkat boleh ke? Ganti bercinta?

Semua itu adalah perangkap syaitan dan iblis. Hakikatnya adalah sama. Cinta yang diberi nafas baru. Kulitnya nampak berlainan, tetapi isinya adalah sama. Adik angkat, kakak angkat, abang angkat dalah suatu bentuk tipu daya iblis dan syaitan. Manusia yang terlibat dengan budaya angkat ini sebenarnya telah masuk ke dalam perangkap syaitan. Cuma menunggu masa untuk dikorbankan. Namakan apa nama sekalipun, semuanya adalah sama. Jalan akhirnya akan bertemu dengan zina. Nauzubillah!

Jadi, seolah-olah orang yang bercinta telah hilang maruah diri?

Mengukur maruah diri bukan ditentukan oleh manusia tetapi oleh pencipta manusia. Sebab ukuran manusia sering berbeza-beza. Orang yang sedang mabuk bercinta akan mengatakan orang yang bercinta tidak menjejaskan apa-apa maruah dirinya. Manakala, bagi orang yang menjaga diri, tidak mahu terlibat dengan cinta sebelum kahwin, akan mengatakan orang yang bercinta sudah tidak bermaruah lagi. Cintanya ditumpahkan kepada orang yang belum layak menerima cinta suci. Kalau begitu ukuran bermaruah atau tidak adalah ditentukan oleh Allah.

Adakah orang yang bercinta hilang maruah?

Antara kemuliaan manusia ialah maruah dirinya. Orang yang bercinta seolah-olah cuba menggadai maruahnya kerana mereka menghampiri perzinaan. Manakala orang yang bercinta dan pernah berzina tidak layak berkahwin kecuali dgn orang yang pernah berzina juga. Mereka tidak layak untuk berkahwin dengan orang yang beriman.

Allah berfirman: Lelaki yg berzina (lazimnya) tidak ingin berkawin melainkan dengan perempuan yang berzina atau perempuan musyrik; dan perempuan yg berzina itu pula (lazimnya) tidak ingin berkahwin dengannya melainkan oleh lelaki yg sedang berzina atau lelaki musyrik. Dan perkahwinan yang demikian itu terlarang kepada orang-orang yang beriman. (Surah al-Nur:3)

Jadi orang yang pernah bercinta juga tidak sesuai untuk berkahwin dengan orang yang tidak pernah bercinta. Tidakkah itu suatu penghinaan dari Tuhan.

Jadi orang yang bercinta hanya layak berkahwin dengan orang yang pernah bercinta juga? Itulah pasangan yang layak untuk dirinya. Kerana wanita yang baik adalah untuk lelaki yg baik. Lelaki yg baik untuk wanita yang baik.

Kami telah berjanji sehidup semati!

Apa ada pada janji cinta? Lebih-lebih lagi janji cinta manusia. Berapa banyak sudah janji cinta yang musnah? Lelaki, jangan diharap pada janji lelaki. Mereka hanya menunggu peluang keemasan sahaja. Habis madu, sepah dibuang. Pepatah itu diungkap kerana ia sering berulang sehingga menjadi pepatah.

Si dia ini lain dari yg lain. Dia lelaki yg penyayang dan bertanggungjawab.

Tahukah hati budi lelaki? Sejahat mana lelaki, apabila ingin mengambil seseorang wanita sebagai isteri dan seterusnya menjadi ibu yang baik untuk anak-anaknya, dia akan memilih wanita yang baik.

Tetapi untuk berseronok suka dan berfoya-foya, lelaki biasanya akan memilih perempuan murahan kerana ia suatu pelaburan yang menguntungkan. Itulah rahsia lelaki.

Jadi, perempuan yang bercinta, jatuh maruahnya pada pandangan lelaki?

Tentu. Mana ada orang lelaki normal suka pada barang yang 'second hand'? Sedangkan barang yang baru masih ada. Sesetengah mereka menggambarkan perempuan seperti kereta yang diletakkan di show room sahaja; display only. Tapi ada yang boleh test drive. Ada pula yang kata; sekadar sepinggan mee goreng dan segelas sirap bandung, bawalah kehulu, kehilir. Sedihkan. Itulah hakikatnya.

Masih adakah orang yang tidak bercinta di zaman ini?

Ya, masih ada orang yang suci dalam debu. Golongan ini akan sentiasa ada walaupun jumlah mereka kecil. Mereka akan bertemu suatu hari nanti. Mereka ada pasangannya.

Firman Alllah: Dan orang-orang lelaki yang memelihara kehormatannya serta orang-orang perempuan yg memelihara kehormatannya (yang memelihara dirinya daripada melakukan zina), Allah telah menyediakan bagi mereka semuanya keampunan dan pahala yg besar. (al-Ahzaab:35)

Bagaimana kami?

Kamu masih ada peluang. Bertaubatlah dengan taubat nasuha. Berdoalah serta mohon keampunan dariNya. Mohonlah petunjuk dan kekuatan untuk mendapat redhaNya.

Kami ingin mendapat redha Tuhan. Tunjukkanlah bagaimana taubat nasuha. Taubat yg murni. Taubat yang sebenar-benarnya. Taubat yg memuhi 3 syarat:
1. Tinggalkan perbuatan maksiat. Putuskan hubungan cinta yang tidak diredhai Allah ini.

2. Menyesal. Menginsafi diri diatas tindak tanduk hidup yang menjurus diri dalam percintaan.

3. Berazam. Bertekad didalam hati tidak akan bercinta lagi dengan sesiapa kecuali dengan seorang yang bernama isteri atau suami. Saatnya adalah selepas Ijab Kabul.

Ya Allah. Hambamu telah tersesat jalan. Ampunilah dosa-dosa hambamu ini. Sesungguhnya engkau maha pengampun dan penerima taubat. Berilah kekuatan kpdku utk menghadapi godaan keremajaan ini. Anugerahkan kepadaku perasaan benci kepada maksiat. Hiasilah diriku dengan akhlak yang mulia. Ibu dan ayah, anakmu berdosa. Engkau jaga diriku sedari kecil dengan kasih sayang. Mengapa ku curahkan kasih itu kepada orang lain.

Amin, Ya Rabb.

Moga Allah terima taubatmu.

Source

White crow

2007-07-25T22:00:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

MasyaAllah it is Rejab already! Then come Sya'ban, then Ramadhan! I'm soooo excited! Time flies soooo fast, it feels like it was only last month that we celebrated Eid Fitr. And now Ramadhan is almost here! :D :D :D May Allah let us live long enough to see Ramadhan. Amin.

I'm suddenly reminded of what Dr Fadzilah Kamsah said the other day when I was watching one of those morning religious programmes on TV3:

“Orang perempuan, oiiiii orang perempuan, hutang PUASA SUDAH BAYAR? Jangan lah tunggu Sya’ban.” (Women, oiiiiii women, have you QADA your previous fast? Don't you wait till Sya'ban to do it.)

Uhuk!

It felt like as if he was talking directly to me. Okkkkk I have two more days to qada. Will do it asap.

Ahhh Rejab is one of the four sacred months of the year. I was going to write a post on the benefits of Rejab but I came across many many blogs which have done that. So I'm just going to cut-and-paste the links here. I'm sure the authors wouldn't mind. May Allah bless them always. Now, don't you just scroll down without clicking them okeh?

http://soulsearch.wordpress.com/2007/07/18/learning-as-i-go/#comments
http://anneesa.wordpress.com/2007/07/19/blessed-months-of-the-islamic-calendar/
http://www.ezsoftech.com/islamic/07.asp

So lets move on to my post. Now this post below was meant for last week! I didnt get around to finish it till tonight. Sorry. Just read on people and pretend that tonight is actually 7 days ago. hehe.

I was watching Laman Nurani on TV3 this morning while getting ready for work (people you should watch this programme every morning. It's very good!). Ustazah Nor Bahiyah was on and she talked about 'Mendidik Anak' (Raising your children). Although I'm not a mom, but being an aunt and a teacher, I could totally relate to what she was saying and was nodding the whole way through the 30 mins programme.

One of the things that she mentioned was how parents tend to forget to remind their children on their duties as muslims (e.g. praying, covering their aurah) when they reach 14 and above. Even those who are 21 and above needs some guidance every now and then.

I still remember a conversation that I had with my students last year. They had just finished their exams and I thought I should give them a break and decided to have a class discussion on err well...'relationships'. teehee. My students are 16-18 year olds so most of them tend to see me as their elder sister.

They told me sooo many stories. From their first puppy love to breakups, then the girls accused the boys of being cheaters while the boys accused the girls of being flirty. I just sat back and listened to their stories. It was amusing really.

After listening for quite some time, I asked them, " Is it really that important to be in a relationship? At your age I mean."

They all went quiet, deep in thoughts. Then one of them went, " Not really lah cher. But you know lah, biasalah orang muda." (Not really, but it is something that all youngsters do).

"Let me guess, you guys hold hands when you go out," I prodded.

"Of course lah cher! Inda kan inda." (Of course! Whyever not?)

I smiled and continued, " This is just a random question. Who is more important to you? Your girlfriend or boyfriend, Allah or your parents?"

They immediately answered " Well of course Allah is the most important followed by our parents then our gf/bf."

They all looked at me as if I was a silly goose for asking such an absurd question.

I went on, " Ok, next random question, why can't we eat pork?"

The students raised their eyebrows and said " Because it is haram!"

" Oh ok. So you don't eat pork because it is haram but you still hold your bf's or gf's hands eventhough you know that it is haram."

" But atu lainnnnn." (But thats different!)

" Really? And I thought you guys said Allah is more important than you gfs or bfs."

"Teacher ani ehhhhhh!!" the girls squealed.

Hehe.

I then purposely kept quiet and made it clear that I was waiting for them to say something. The class was silent for a few moment and some of the students looked at me sheepishly.

Suddenly one of the boys went, " Antah lah cher. Kadangnya lupa bah. Kami pun inda tau cana bulih." ( I dont know Miss. Sometimes we just forget. We also dont know how it happened.)

One of the girls then immediately said " But Miss, we were just holding hands, bukannya apa-apa."

I replied, " What's haram must stay haram. We cant simply change the rules just because we feel like it."

I cant remember what else we talked about after that, but I have the feeling that could be one of the 'lessons' that my students will always remember. Well at least I hope so.

I am proud of the boy who admitted that 'sometimes we just forget'. He was mature enough to admit that.

Yes we all forget. But the thing is we dont forget at the same time. At that time I remembered, so I reminded my students. Who knows one day I will be the one who forgets, and my students would be the one who will be reminding me of the dangers of sins.

I find it very interesting that the person who said " But we were just holding hands" was a girl. Sigh. We females are truly 'perhiasan dunia' (world's temporary conveniences) that sway the iman of the men. Which reminds me of this particular hadith:

“Takutlah pada dunia dan takutlah pada wanita karena fitnah pertama pada Bani Israel adalah pada wanita.” (Muslim).

"So fear the world and fear women, for the first trial of the Bani Israel had to do with women" (Muslim)

Sisters, we are our own enemy. We pout, we whine, we glare, we give the silent treatment, we use our sweet voices, we give our sweet smiles, and we do many many more to get what we want. Men, though at first seemed so tough and ruthless, after sometime gave in to our feminine wails.

Come on girls, admit it, I'm sure there were numerous times in the past when you used your feminine ways to get what you want. Imagine this scenario:

You were in a kadai kain (textile shop) and you were eyeing a particular kain which costs waayy beyond your budget.

You: Bleh kurang kah kain ahhh? *Pout and bat eye lashes a few times*

Male Indian shop owner: Tak boleh. Ini kain dari Dubai bah. Mahal.

You: Alaahhhh. Kurang sikit saja bahhh. *Pout, frown, bat eye lashes more rapidly*

Male Indian shop owner: Alahhh susah bahhh.

You: ehhhh sikit saja bahhh. Inda ku kemari lagi karang. *Pout, frown, bat eye lashes, sweet high pitch voice*

Male, Indian shop owner: Bah bah. 20% saja.

You: Flash your most sweetest smile that positively can light up the whole shop.

See?? We have our own feminine ways that makes it hard for men to say 'no' to us. Allah created us in such a way that makes it difficult for them to completely ignore us. And sometimes we misuse that 'specialty' that we have. And we make it more difficult for them by wearing ill-fitting clothings.

No I'm not saying men are weak. But what I'm saying is that we girls are constantly dangling ourselves infront of men, tempting them with our feminine errm values yet we become angry when they whistle as we walk in front of them. Say you were on a diet but your friends keep on telling you to try the new KFC black pepper chicken. They even bought it for you. You put it on the dining table, hoping your family members would eat it. You switch on the TV and there's the KFC advert. After watching the same advert for about 10 times, what do you do? You go to the table and eat the chicken! Well, the same analogy applies here.

Which makes me wonder, why in the world do we wear those snug clothings in the first place? Is it to attract men? To make sure we fit in with our friends? Because, to be frank, those ill-fitting clothings are not comfortable anyway. We need to constantly hold our breaths or risk looking like a female Garfield from the side. We also need to constantly pull the hem of our shirts or risk showing our belly or backside or even worse our undies! ERK.

So Whyyyyy??

Sigh.

Can you imagine during the judgement day, if we were asked this: " So why did you not cover your aurah and wear baby Ts?"

"Erm because I want to look cool and I want to show off my figure."

OOkkkkk.

Now I feel shallow.

Dont mind me people. This is one of my self-evaluation days. I went out with some friends just now and had a hard time choosing my attire. In the end I resorted to a black T shirt with long sleeves and a long denim skirt. I put on my hijab and off I went to qlap, thinking that I had fully covered my aurah but Allah gave me a sign that I hadn't.

As I entered the Qlap Mall area, I saw a lady wearing a black Abaya- long and loose, with her black hijjab covering the top half of her body. She was also wearing a pair of black socks and arm gloves. I looked down at my black T shirt. Actually, my sleeves weren't really that long, they were three quarters! Then my T shirt, though it wasnt really that snug, one can still see my err figure. Not to mention my hijjab, I pinned its end onto my shoulders for style's sake and it was kind of short!

You have no idea how awful I felt at that time. So I immediately unpinned the end of my hijjab and let it fell across my chest and secure my pin at its end.

Sigh.

My iman is soo weak. I still need to work on sooo many things.

Ya Allah, please make this journey easier for me.

Please help me from being swayed by dunya.

Please Guide me and keep me on the right path.

Always.

Let me leave you with this hadith: "To find a good woman among women is similar to finding a white crow among a hundred crows."

I want to be that white crow.

Girls in heels

2007-07-14T23:36:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

It was early in the morning and I was having my breakfast with the family when suddenly we heard a familiar pik-pok-pik-pok sound.

Sure enough a few seconds later,emerged two of my pyjama-clad nieces, both in heels (mine!) with serukups (inner head scarfs) on their heads (also mine!). Obviously they had been merrily exploring my room. The girls then started running around in my heels! haha. It makes me wonder if we girls are born to balance ourselves on a pair of sticks.

Presenting my infamous.......

Lil D and Bubbly N

Both wearing my serukups. hehe. Too bad they had taken off my shoes when I went in to get my camera.

Anyway, I apologise for my lack of proper post. InsyaAllah one is coming soon. :D

But errmmm...'soon' here means my standard of 'soon' okeh? hehe. Gotta sleep now, I'm bringing my students for the flag-waving at the padang in 7 hrs time. Sigh.

Happy Birthday daddy

2007-07-05T23:27:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum,

It’s my father’s birthday today. We had a family doa selamat around 5pm before my brother went off for his night shift. I think my nieces and nephew were more excited than my dad. You should have seen them lining up, each with a present in their hands. Kiiuttttttt. We bought two presents for daddykins, but at the last minute, my mom decided to buy two pairs of socks, two handkerchiefs and something else in which I forgot what it was. She wrapped each item individually and wrote the names of my nieces and nephew on them. Hehe. The kids were sooo excited when they were ‘hiding’ in the kitchen hallway, waiting for their nini laki to sit in the living room. Once their nini laki was in the living room, they immediately marched up to him, in one line from the eldest to the youngest, each with a present in their hands, singing a song which sounded pretty much like the classic ‘Happy birthday song’ (lol!) and gave their nini laki the presents. Then out came the cake followed by the two presents carried by me and my brother. The doa was read by the birthday boy himself. It was a joyous occasion. Alhamdulillah. Allah has been very kind to my father. May HE continue to bless my father with good health and life. Amin.

Senjata Wanita

2007-06-29T08:22:00.000+08:00

Senjata Wanita

Jika engkau tanya padaku
Apakah senjata wanita yang paling bahaya?
Pasti ku katakan matanya.

Kenapa matanya?

Kerana kerlingannya
Membuai perasaan
Kerana lirikannya
Terlalu mengasyikkan
Kerana renungannya
Sungguh melalaikan
Apatah lagi air matanya
Ahhhh usah dikatakan!

Ketahuilah wanita,
Jika engkau solehah
Engkaulah sebaik-baik perhiasan dunia

Oleh itu tundukkan lah pandanganmu itu!
Terutama pandangan yang ada maksud tersirat
Pandangan yang cukup menjerat
Membawa ke lembah maksiat

Apa adakah lagi yang bahaya selain matanya?

Ada!

Apa dia?

Mulutnya!

Kenapa mulutnya?

Kerana kuntuman senyumannya
Menggegarkan iman
Kemerduan suara darinya
Melemahkan fikiran
Ketawa manja darinya
Terlalu menghiburkan
Pujuk rayu darinya
Sungguh mencairkan
Belum lagi umpatan darinya
Habis pahala bertaburan!

Oleh itu wahai wanita
Jika benar syurga itu impianmu
Peliharalah mulutmu itu!
Berhentikanlah umpatanmu itu!
Sucikanlah perkataanmu
Perbanyakkanlah zikirmu

Sesungguhnya
Itulah yang lebih baik buatmu.

Assalamualaikum

Two nights ago before flopping myself up in bed, I was thinking of my day's event(s). Most put a smile on my face but to my dismay, I realised that most also made my sins-weighing-scale heavier.

I couldn't stop thinking about it that it brought a sudden burst of inspiration to write the poem above. Nothing much really. Just some reminders for myself =)

One afternoon at the Tasek

2007-06-20T20:53:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

How's everyone doing? It's been ages since the last time I posted. I trully apologise for that. I have this one particular post that is still ermm 'under construction'. hehe. Being a perfectionist that I am, I refuse to post it until I can mould it the way that I have in mind. Cheh. I don't know why I can't seem to make it sounds right.

Anyway, time flies sooo fast don't you think? The school holiday is almost over! Aiyaiyai. I'm taking a break from marking my students' essays actually. I have about 40 more to go. Gahh.

I've been going to Tasek for a jog lately. Last week I brought my bubbly 4-yr-old-niece 'N', along. Being alone with N meant that I had to answer her zillion 'why-s' and 'what-s' questions. Thank God Tasek is just 15 mins drive from home.

We reached tasek at about 4.45 p.m. The parking spaces were all occupied except for this minute side park. ERK. Excluding my driving lessons, I think I've only attempted side parkings ermm 4 times??? I was sweating when I tried to maneuver the car into the tiny space at the side of the stream. I had dificulties concentrating too due to N's endless questions blaring in my ears.

Once I finally managed to park the car properly ( my car a bit kesiring but still ok to my standard :p), N suddenly asked me this:

"Bongsu, kenapa bongsu pakai tudung?" (Bongsu, why do you wear headscarfs?)

"Sebab, bini-bini bila basar, bila jalan-jalan mesti pakai tudung." (Because grown up ladies must wear headscarfs when they go out.)

"Nanti bila kaka basar, mesti pakai tudung?" (When I grow up, do I have to wear headscarfs too?)

"Mesti." (yes)

"Kalau inda?" (If I don't?)

"Eh mana bulih tu, Tuhan mana suka tu." (You cant do that. God would not be pleased.)

I helped N to unbuckle her seatbelt and was about to open the car door when she suddenly pointed to some random girl and said:

"Atu bini-bini atu kenapa ia inda pakai tudung?" (That girl- how come she is not wearing a headscarf?)

I immediately pulled her arm down and said, "Ahh antah. Ia inda mau kali." (Ahhh I dont know. Maybe she just doesnt want to.)

N is very persistant you see, so she continued, "Ia inda pakai tudung sebab ia inda sekolah? Nada orang ajar?" (She is not wearing a headscarf because she didn't go to school? Nobody taught her?"

I smiled hearing her questions. N has this thing that whenever someone does something wrong, it meant that that person doesn't go to school, being taught properly like most people do.

So I said, "Ia sekolah kali eh. Inda bongsu tau kenapa ia inda pakai tudung. Bah kaka, akhir tani karang. Tapi bila keluar kereta inda buleh tunjuk2 orang ahh. Sama inda buleh tanya2 soalan pasal orang lain ahh." (I think she went to school. I dont know why she is not wearing a headscarf. Ok kaka, we are going to be late. But once we go out, do not point to others ok? And dont ask questions about others ok?)

N immediately nodded and opened the car door and off we went into the Tasek.

I have an amazing niece. Yeah I'm biased but I cant help but think that her mind works in a very amazing way. Her question about 'school' struck me.

Most of us started learning 'Ugama' as a subject at a tender age of 5 or 6. But years after we 'graduated' from ugama schools, how much do we remember from what we have learned? How much of it do we even practise? We studied, we learned, we memorised, we sat for the exam, we passed the exam....and then? Everything, well almost all, just went out of the window. We forget. We forget because we didn't practise what we learned. Shame on us. Pity us.

But it is never too late to re-learn everything right?

So now we know better. We should learn and practise so that we won't forget.

This reminder goes to me as well. Especially to me.

Have a good rest people. May Allah bless you all always. Amin.

Thoughts of the day :D

2007-05-20T11:43:00.000+08:00

Salaam everyone,

One of my fellow readers, tpot, made a comment in my cbox on the right. I think her comment deserves a proper post as a reply. Hope you don't mind tpot :)

tpot: salaam love the posts. altho i have yet to b a true muslimah, i shall try..& by reading what uve written, i know i can

Tpot, jazakallah for your comment and for dropping by into my humble blog. Truthfully, I think what I have written so far is nothing out of ordinary.

To tell you the truth, I am yet to become a true muslimah. I am a muslim, and I am trying to upgrade myself as a muslimah but from the looks of it, my journey is still far from its destination. I even wonder if I will ever reach my destination.

To me, a true muslimah is not just someone who puts on a full hijab and prays five times per day. But she also needs to protect herself from doing anything that is syubhah. She needs to be someone who tries to do as many sunnah prayers as possible. Someone who gives sadakah. Someone who is well read hence knowlegeadble about her own religion. Someone who you can always turn to when you have doubts and questions relating to Islamic matter. Someone who....Oh the list goes on really.

And I find that I am moving ever so slowly towards that ideal muslimah that I have in mind. Sometimes I even wonder if I am moving forward at all? However, at this stage the most important thing is our niyyah. Make sure we are doing this for our love to Allah. Make sure that when we do move a step forward, we won't go two steps back. Drag that feet, move move move albeit just for an inch.

And that is why I opened this blog. This blog serves as a constant reminder for me to always try and move forward. I get my strengths from this blog. There are times when I just tie my scarf around my neck but when I read back my previous posts on hijjab....I felt ashamed of myself and try to resort back to wearing a proper hijjab.

The point is that we MUST start now and do something. In the past I used to say things like "Nanti tah bila umur ku 25, baru ku betudung". Alhamdulillah Allah gave me hidayah and made me realised that.....what if I don't get to live till 25?? I don't want to die as a non-hijjabi! I don't want to die without asking for Allah's forgiveness.

At first it takes a lot of dicipline to just simply leave behind what we used to do. But after sometimes it grows on you. In fact it makes your life so much easier. I seldom go to the saloon to cut my hair anymore. lol. I always just ask my sister (or a particular friend *uhuk*) to cut it because noone is going to see it anyway! Plus it's cost free!! hahaha. But please, you don't have to join my don't-have-to-go-to-saloon-to-cut-hair-club! hahhaa. It's just that I don't have time to go to one. I'd love to go soon though. hehe. I'd probably go during the hols.

One thing for sure, I don't remember feeling this comfortable with myself. In the past I always think of stuffs like " Do I look good in this?" or "What would people think of me if I do this or wear this?". It was just plain tiring. Besides we can't please everyone.

But now, our focus is solely to please Allah. It is difinitely much much easier to please HIM. And there's something beautiful about our religion that if one follows it, one will always look beautiful to others. Both inside and out. Just look at the Ustazs and Ustazahs on tv. Don't you think there's something about them that just soothes you when you watch them? Something that just drawns you to them? ........Or is it just me? Hmmm.

Pokoknya, there's something about our own religion in which the more we follow its teachings, the more we have this feeling of 'I am doing something that is definitely RIGHT'. And it's a very very niceeeee feelinggg. :D

The first step will always be the hardest. You will be thinking of: What will my friends say? or What will everyone else think of me?

But you know what? That is just syaitan's way of stopping us from entering Jannah and joining him in hellfire. So which one do we want?

Penawar Hati

2007-05-06T18:38:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

It hasn't been a very good week. Bucket loads of tears were shed here and there. Sighh. SOoooOO I'm going to post a story about my adorable niece again. :D

I truly thank Allah for giving my second sister 3 adorable daughters as well as giving my eldest sister a son. Alhamdulillah. The laughters that I hear and the hugs and kisses that I get everytime I come home from work never fail to lift my spirit. Somehow the world seems sooo simple when they are around. It makes me wish to be like them. Young and carefreeeee!

Sometimes it overwhelms me how much i lapppp my nieces and nephew. They are growing up sooo fast tooo. Too fast to my liking!

A few days ago my niece N ( the one i mentioned in previous post) and her little sister D were playing around in my room. N took a pair of scissors and started cuting up some of my loose (phew!) papers. I trust N, she's young but berakal (smart), so I let her play with the scissors.

She was sitting a bit too close to Lil' D that I said to her:
"Kaka, jangan pakai gunting ampir2 sama adik D, karang kana adik D."
(Trans: Kaka, don't play with the scissors and sit closely next to Lil' D, you might cut her)

N immediately moved away from her little sister and said:
"Awu ahh Bongsu....karang sakit adik D."
(Trans: You are right Bongsu.....I might hurt her)

Then suddenly N asked, " Bongsu, kaka gunting2 keratas, keratas inda sakit kah?"
(Trans: Bongsu, when I cut this paper, can it feel pain?)

ERK. I dont like it when N started asking questions like this, cause she will NOT stop asking until you give her a reasonable and sensible answer!

So I tentatively answered, " Inda." ( No)

"Napa keratas inda sakit bongsu?"
(Trans: Why can't it feel pain Bongsu?)

I knew it! Hiyaaaa...what do i say to that?
So I went: " Keratas inda pandai rasa."
(Trans: Coz papers can't feel anything)

"Kenapa keratas inda pandai rasa?"
(Trans: Why cant they feel anything?)

I started mumbling some answers but suddenly N went:

" Ohh!! Pasal keratas nada mata, idung, mulut!! Sebab atu lah ia inda rasa sakit!!!"
(Trans: Ohh!! Cause papers have got no eye, nose and mouth! That's why they can't feel pain!!)

PHEW!! She solved her own problem! hahaha

SO i went: "Ahhhh banar tuu! pasal ia nada mata, idung and mulut."
(Trans: Ahhhhh that's right! It's because they have got no eye, nose and mouth."

Satisfied with that, N immediately went on cutting the papers. Ahhhh peace.

Sayang sayang sayaaaannggg ku kan drg ani ehhhh. Lil' D's second bday is tomorrow. I still havent bought her anything. I dont even know what to buy. HmmmHHmmm.

Innalillahi Wainna Ilaihi Rajiun

2007-05-01T17:21:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum,

A colleague, Hjh S, passed away this morning. Innalillahi Wainna Ilaihi Rajiun. I was told the news before I reached the door of the work place. I was numb all over. I couldn't believe my ears. Hjh S gave birth to a baby boy who also passed away this morning.

Whenever I walk to my workstation, i have to pass Hjh S's first. Today was no different. Her slippers were still there under her table. Her books, pens, her notes. Everything was there.

She was the person that i always run to whenever I needed that special pen for transparencies - as i always forget mine.

She was a good teacher - I saw a lot of students crying at the canteen area this morning and some even came up to me and begged me to bring them to the funeral.

She was one of the nicest people I've ever met. She never say no whenever we needed her help - no matter how tired or busy she was.

InsyaAllah she passed away as a syahid. Mudahan roh nya di rahmati Allah. Amin.

Everyone, life is short. We can never tell when is our time.

But the question is....

Are we ready?

Donation for the building of a Masjid in Canterbury, Kent, UK

2007-04-29T20:11:00.000+08:00

Edit: I've editted this post and added in the comments made by Hjh May. Just scroll fown peeps :D

Assalamualaikum,

I received this email last week and I thought I should post it here. Really it's the best that I could do at the moment. To those who are in UK, you shouldn't pass this chance in helping the building of a Masjid. Even a few pounds will do. Girls, If you can buy an LV bag, then what's stopping you from donating now? Boys, if you can spend your money on those different types of football shoes that you have now, then you shouldn't think twice to donate. Come on peeps!! You can do it!!

*******

Assalamualaikum,

Sukacita kan menyempaikan hajat pihak Canterbury Muslim Cultural Centre (CMCC), Kent yang memohon derma seangkat-angkat hati untuk membangun sebuah Masjid di Canterbury. At the moment, Muslims here meminjam tempat di University untuk digunakan sebagai tempat beribadat incl. Sembahyang Jumaat, terawih etc...Alhamdulillah tahun ani barutah the Islamic society dapat kebenaran UK planning untuk mendirikan masjid after about 20 years waiting for approval. Iatah the planning approval atu validnya inda lama, the most 2 years. So, now the CMCC is pleading for derma (Kesian...durang dah minjam duit apa, iatah they need to raise about 50K pounds lagi) in the next 2 months. Anyway (panjang lebar tah pulang my email ani) could I ask you please to forward this email to all our Bruneian in-service training officers yang ada di UK yang abiskita tau, manalah tau ada yang kan membuat amal.

Kepada sesiapa yang kan menderma seangkat2 hati or bagi sesiapa yang generous, GBP100 for 1sq feet, please could you send a cheque (NO CASH please!) payable to: CANTERBURY MUSLIM CULTURAL CENTRE and send it to my address:

MAY ARIFFIN.
27 CAMBRIDGE WAY,
CANTERBURY
KENT CT1 3QJ
UNITED KINGDOM

We've spoken to the Treasurer asking for copies of the permission letter, and if anyone wants, I can send it to you.Bah..sekian saja di sampaikan. Mudah2an panjang amal and semua urusan kitani pun nanti Insya Allah dapat bejalan dengan lancar.

On behalf of Muslims in Canterbury, THANK YOU Very much!!!

Wassalam
Hjh May Fa'ezah, Kent.

************

To those who wants further information on this matter, I do have Hjh May's email address but I'm going to have to ask her first if I can post it here.

We shouldn't miss this chance people. May Allah reward Hjh May for her efforts and everyone who is donating or thinking to donate. :)

Salaam,

Just to make an addendum. If anyone di Brunei/UK kan ikut menderma, an easier way is to just transfer/deposit your donation to my HSBC UK or Brunei account. Insya Allah tarus sampai and will be cost free! Please email me for my account details at mimimalil@hotmail.com

Ps. Total contribution made through me (cheque/bank accounts/paypal/cash) to date is GBP2,830 = B$8,490. Termia kasih! Allah Ta'ala ganya dapat membalasnya.

Oh and another good news, Insya Allah pembinaan masjid akan bermula bulan hadapan.

Oh and another, pihak CMCC express their gratitude to the people of Brunei. They were overwhelmed with our response and generousity...

Regards,

Hjh may, Kent.

Well done People!!!! Alhamdulillah.

Marrying a pregnant lady....sah or not?

2007-03-21T12:05:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

I just received a forwarded email from a good friend and I find it rather disturbing. If the email were true, then I think quite a number of nikahs in the country would be not valid (inda sah). So read on people and tell me what do you think?

********

About marrying a pregnant lady (especially for muslims)

To find out kesahihan about this info, please do discuss this with an Imam or Ustaz - takut bercanggah. (source : article from webkl portal)
Look at questions 1-5. This is serious. This kind of marriage is very common in Malaysia. Bila dapat tahu anak pregnant luar nikah, cepat kahwinkan. Based on the statement below, the nikah is tak sah. Thus, it is considered as zina...Pls. pass to all your muslim friends. If it is not too much to find Out kesahihan Q2 & Q3... because many Muslims actually get their children married off once they know that their daughter is carrying an illegitimate child.

A question was asked of an Imam recently, which raised many other questions. I would like to share them with you, as they are very important:

Question 1 : What is the correct thing to do when girl become Pregnant outside of marriage?
Answer 1 : She should not marry anyone until the baby is born.

Question 2 : Assuming the father of the child wants to marry her, can he?
Answer 2 : No, he cannot marry her, until the baby is born.

Question 3 : Is the marriage valid if they did marry?
Answer 3 : No, the marriage contract is invalid. A Muslim cannot marry a pregnant woman, even if he is the biological father.

Question 4 : If they married, what should they do now to correct it?
Answer 4 : They should separate. She should wait for confirm that she is not pregnant. They can then marry, as this will be now a legal marriage by Islamic law.

Question 5 : What if they don't correct it?
Answer 5 : They will still living in a relationship of Zina as the Marriage contract is not valid.

Question 6 : What are the rights of the child that was conceived Outside marriage?
Answer 6 : According to the scholars, the child is not the father's by Islamic law. Hence, the child cannot inherit from the rights over the child. The child also has no rights over the father.

Question 7 : If you say that the father is not the father by Islamic law, does that mean he cannot be the mahram of his own biological daughter?
Answer 7 : Yes, he cannot be her mahram.

Question 8 : A Muslim man and a Muslim (or Non-Muslim) woman decides to get married after having lived together, how should they go about it?
Answer 8 : They must separate immediately and the woman must wait for one menstrual cycle (to prove she is not pregnant), before they can enter into a Marriage contract (i.e. Nikah).

Question 9 : If I know someone that is in this situation, should I tell them about what I have learnt or is it none of my business?
Answer 9 : It is your Islamic duty to inform them, so they can rectify their situation, otherwise all the children from that relationship will be born outside an Islamic legal marriage.Na'uzubillah.

Please do not discard this hand out. This is a very serious matter, so I urge you to understand it, discuss it further with a scholar if you are not clear, or do not agree. Inform those that may be in this situation and pray that you or your children should never be.

***********

Nauzubillah! I find this email rather worrying because this is exactly what most unwed couples tend to do when they find that they are having a baby. The perfect solution: Get married before the baby was born.

I tried to do my own research on this matter but so far....nada...nothing.

The only explanation that I could come up with in relation to the email is that, as we all know, a man cannot marry a lady who is still in her iddah.

The duration of Iddah is 4 months and 10 days for those who are not pregnant while for those who are is until the baby was born. Maybe that is why the marriage contract (Nikah) mentioned in the email was invalid. A lady who is pregnant outside wedlock is equivalent to a pregnant lady who is in her iddah. hmm I don't know. Please don't quote me on this. But I think it is pretty important for us to know.

Anyone out there who knows more about this?

A story to learn from.

2007-03-20T04:08:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

I was contemplating whether to tell this story or not as I was afraid that doing so would be considered as Gheebah. Gheebah means to talk about someone behind their back in a manner that he/she would dislike i.e. mengumpat.

However, I truly think that there is a lot to learn from it, especially for the parents out there. My sister told me this story years ago. She didn’t mention the names of the parties involved, so InsyaAllah, this is not Gheebah, but if you think otherwise, just shout out yea.

One of my sister’s colleagues came to the office one day with red puffy eyes, a running nose and a look that was beyond sadness. The sound of her hiccups showed that she was probably crying the whole night before. Everyone was alarmed and immediately rushed to her side and tried to calm her down. But she just continued crying. No one knew what to do. Suddenly she started talking.

“Anak ku. Perasahanku semua udah ku buat bah. Ku antar ia ke sekulah Ugama. Pass ia periksa ugama. Ku antar ia belajar mengaji. Khatam Qur’an ia. Alum cukup kah?? Semua udah ku buat bah rasaku. Alum cukup kah apa yang ku buat ani. Alum???”

“My sons. I’ve done everything that I could. I sent them off to religious school. They passed their religious school exam with flying colours. I sent them off to Qur’an reading classes. Now they are able to read the whole of Qur’an. Isn’t that enough?? Is it not???”

It turned out that the night before, the said colleague was cleaning up one of her sons’ room and found packs of condoms in the son’s pencil case. She was alarmed when she saw the condoms. She tried to think positively. Her son was a form 4 student at that time. There was no way for him to do anything that could possibly shame her. So she waited for the son to come home

Once the son entered the door, she immediately called him.

“I was cleaning your room and I found this. Apani? (What’s this?)”
“Condoms.”
“Why is it in your pencil case?”
“EH napa lagi kan Ma? Untuk dipakai lah.” (Eh why else Ma? Of course it is for me to use.)
“Ya Allah! Tau ko kah ani haram??” (Ya Allah! Don’t you know that this (zina) is haram??”
“Oh come on Ma. Everyone does itl! Ask Abang (brother)!”

Astaghfirullah.

I can’t imagine the sorrow that my sister’s colleague must have felt at that time to find out that not only one but two of her sons were practicing sex outside marriage.

Nauzubillah!

This is the reality of our society today. Judging from the increasing number of abandoned babies found, it seems like adultery is being herald as something to be proud off. Young kids nowadays shamelessly hug and kiss each other in public! I’ve come across sooo many friendsters’ pictures of two young couples, probably no more than 15, hugging each other in bed. The question is…where are their parents at that time?? Who’s room was it? Who’s bed??

The fact that the kids are proudly posting those pictures up shows that they truly think there is nothing wrong with what they were doing at that time.

I find the question my sister’s colleague asked herself very interesting. “Isn’t it enough??”

Well….ugama school is just a starting point for the children to gain more knowledge about Islam. It would be up to the parent to ensure that the children are executing what they have learned in school. Sadly, for some kids, the day they finished their last ugama paper would also be the day of their last obligatory prayer.

Parenting is hard. I know. I can hardly keep up with my 3 nieces and nephew. But a parent should at least know where his/her children are and who they are with at a time.

I hope we (daughter, son, mother, father) learned something from the story I posted. Enjoy your day everyone. May Allah bless you all today. Amin.

Maluuuuuuu

2007-03-09T21:26:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

I apologise for the lack of updates. Work’s been pressing me inside out lately that I find myself cracking lame jokes everyday just to cheer me up. My poor colleagues!

I’ve decided to talk about one of my nieces today because her antics never fail to cheer me up. Hope she will brighten your day too :D

When my bubbly and outspoken niece, N, was a bit younger (she’s 4 now), she had this habit of running around the house, unclothed, after her shower. Chasing and convincing her to put on her clothes was such a chore! Imagine me and her mom pulling her from under the table armed with a towel and a diaper twice per day, everyday! LOL Thank God, N’s younger sisters are not following her steps.

The whole family then came up with this plan. Every time her unclothed-habit strikes the whole family would say “ooooo maluuuuu” (oooo how embarrassing!) The first time we used that line little N asked “Napa malu?” (Why is it embarrassing?) and we explained “Bini-bini mana boleh jalan-jalan dapan laki-laki inda pakai baju.”(Girls are not supposed to walk around in front of men with no clothes on.) Then the male members of the family would pretend to close their eyes saying stuffs like “Inda boleh buka mata! N inda pakai baju” LOL. (We cannot open our eyes because N has no clothes on.) And it worked! Unclothed-habit is a thing of the past now. Hehe.

But little do we know our ‘brilliant’ plan had created another problem.

Little N went to one of the shops in Bandar one day with both of her parents. N’s mom was busy looking at some stuffs when suddenly a lady wearing a spaghetti strap and a mini skirt walked passed the trio…..and GUESS what did little N say??????

.
.
.
.

Yesss you guessed right! ERK.

Little N pointed one of her chubby fingers to the lady and loudly said, “Aiii babu…ooooo maluuuuuuu”. (Look mom, how embarrasing!)

I have no idea who was more mortified. My sister or the lady. Poor little N earned herself a good pinch right on the arm and ended up crying.

LOL

One of the things that both N and I love to do is curdling together on my parent’s bed with a women’s magazine in our hands. I’ll be holding one end and her the other. I was flipping through the pages of the mag when she suddenly stopped me and pointed to a picture of a lady wearing a piece of skimpy lingerie.

“Bongsu, ani inda malu kah?” she asked. (Bongsu, isn’t this embarrassing?)
“Apa N pikir?” (What do you think?)
“Maluuuuu!” (It is!!)

MasyaAllah, and she is only 4! May Allah guide my niece N throughout her life. May she become a strong muslimah, a true muslimah. Amin.

My dear readers, haya (shyness) can be taught from an early age. I’ve seen parents who bought skimpy clothes for their 9 year old daughters….teenage daughters even! The daughter might not have entered puberty yet but the parent is inadvertently teaching her that it is OK to wear revealing clothes. By the time she enters puberty she would have thought nothing of showing off her skin. And they say old habits die hard.

It’s getting harder to keep my eyes opened now. The screen is getting blurry. I better end it here. But before that….

"When there is no haya left, then do as you please." (Bukhari)

“Bila sifat malu itu hilang, buatlah semahu mu.” (Bukhari)

Sports anyone?

2007-02-13T12:21:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

Ok so I’ve discarded the pink template. Green is much nicer to the eyes no? :)

Anyway, guess what? My work place is having a fitness test for its staff members soon! LOL. And yours truly has been selected as one of the committee members to ensure the smooth running of the said test. (Double LOL!) My colleagues and I had a good laugh during our committee meeting as for most of us, climbing a flight of stairs can be considered as a form of strenuous exercise! If you think that we can skip the test as we are the ones who will be keeping the time and all that – you are so wrong! We still have to run. Hehe

I used to play netball A LOT. There was a time when I played netball for three hours non-stop for two consecutive days and was still able to walk without wincing on the third day. And now? Hmmmm lets just say my netball-ball (??) is collecting dust somewhere in my cupboard right now. Oh and umm I played netball with a bunch of teenagers a couple of weeks ago and could only last for 5 mins. Oh alright…3 mins actually :p. Believe me my heart was beating so furiously that I thought it would burst. Erk. Am I getting old? Or maybe the girls were too good. Yeah must be that they were really good. Hehe. But the point is, I truly need to start my training regime soon or else I might fail the fitness test. Oh the shame!

But I digress. After reading quite a number of health blogs and seeing an increasing number of people running around the stadium area everyday, I thought I might as well talk about sports in Islam.

In Islam, we are expected to look after our own health. We need to keep fit to enable us to do our religious as well as worldly duties. The Prophet SAW said:

“Allah lebih menyayangi orang Mukmin yang kuat dari yang lemah, namun keduanya adalah baik (disisi Allah)” (Muslim)

“The strong believer is better and more loved by Allah than the weak one, but they are both good.” (Muslim).

We, Muslims need to be strong both mentally and physically especially now when the enemies are trying hard to pound on us from every direction. At least if we appear strong, they will think twice before they bug us.

Islam stresses the importance of both spiritual and moral training and both of these can be found in team sports. Through team sports we learn to trust our team mates, to support each other, to accept each others’ flaws, to share those new strategies/moves. We also learn to be punctual for trainings, to obey our coach or team captain as well as to follow any rules that has been set. In other words, we learn to become a better ummah through team sports.

Unfortunately, through team sports and any other sports for that matter, we can also learn to forget the prayer times, to ignore the call of the Azan, to forget to cover our aurah as well as to fight with other teams that managed to beat us in the last tournament.

There truly are two sides to every coin. But the key here is our own deen or iman that should be able to rule our ability to make choices. To choose to either start a catfight with your opponent for beating you or to simply shake their hands, say your congratulations and accept defeat with pride. To choose to either continue kick that ball when you hear the call of the Maghrib prayer or to immediately head home, take your shower and pray. If we choose Islam over anything in our life, then decision making shouldn’t be that difficult for us. Islam itu mudah dan indah.

Prophet Muhammad SAW once said:

“Teach your children swimming, archery and horse-riding.” (Ibn Majah and Nasai)

“Ajarlah anak kamu berenang, memanah serta menunggang kuda.: (Ibn Majah dan Nasai).

So if we learn any of the three sports mentioned above, we are actually following the Prophet’s sunnah. Isn’t that nice? We get rewarded for having fun. However, we must make sure that we properly cover our aurah when we do sports especially when there are non-mahrams around. So girls, swimming in your swimming suit in the same swimming pool with the boys is a no-no. Besides, I think the swimming pool at the stadium is open for the ladies only every Tuesday (or issit Wednesday?). Once a week is better than nothing right?

Before I end this post, let me just include the response of a Muslim scholar regarding body-building. I think his response is applicable not only to the Muslim body-builders out there and those who are interested in body-building but also to all of us who are involved in sports in one way or another.

Salafi scholar Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid has made the following
statement in response to this question: "What is the ruling on our body building
in Islam? Are we allowed to put our bodies in structures like the wrestlers so
long as we don't show it out and it's to our own good?"

"Praise be to Allah. Bodybuilding aims to make the body strong and sound, which is an important and desirable goal. If the purpose of sport is to prepare the body to
be fit to carry out the duty of jihad so as to make the word of Allah supreme, then sport is essential... If the aim is relaxation and maintaining good health, then sport is permissible. If it involves something haraam, such as missing prayers, uncovering any part of the ‘awrah or mixing with women and so on, then it is haraam.

Those who engage in bodybuilding uncover their ‘awrah when practicing this sport, which is undoubtedly haraam. The ‘awrah of a man extends from the navel to the knee, and it is not permissible for him to uncover it in front of anyone other than his wife. It is also not permissible for him to look at the ‘awrah of anyone else.

Some of those who engage in this sport are motivated by self-admiration and love of pride and showing off before others because of their beautiful bodies and strong muscles… and other bad motives, some of which are worse than others. The believer should shun such things and seek the adornment of good attitude, humility and fairness.

Going to extremes in making the body look good and being concerned with that is not a good thing. What is good in this regard is that which helps the Muslim to maintain good health, to practise Islam, to engage in jihad for the sake of Allaah and to do the acts of worship which require physical strength such as Hajj.

But doing more than that and going to extremes usually distracts the Muslim from doing things that are more important, as happens in the case of those who practise many kinds of sports nowadays, so you see them training for many hours each day.

What benefit can a Muslim gain if his body is as strong as a bull, but his heart is devoid of faith and all virtue?

Yup, that last statement is worth thinking about….

Salam Ma'al Hijrah

2007-01-20T20:03:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

Salam Ma'al Hijrah everyone!! Alhamdulillah Allah let us live long enough to celebrate this new Hijrah year. May we become closer to Allah in this new year. May we become better muslims/muslimahs than the year before in this new year. Amin

As you can see. I've changed my template. It's new year...hence the need to revamp my blog. Hehe. I'm feeling rather girlie today...so pink it is! Pink is not exactly my favourite colour so we'll just wait and see how long I can put up with this new look.

New Hijrah year also means that this is the month of Muharram. Muharram is one of the four sacred months of the year. Abu Bakar (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAW) said:

“The year is twelve months of which four are sacred, the three consecutive months of Dhu’l-Qa’dah, Dhu’l-Hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab Mudar which comes between Jumaada and Sha’baan.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 2958).

An ayah in the Quran also mentions the four sacred months.

"Sesungguhnya bilangan bulan-bulan di sisi (hukum) Allah ialah dua belas bulan, (yang telah ditetapkan) dalam Kitab Allah semasa Dia menciptakan langit dan bumi, di antaranya empat bulan yang dihormati. Ketetapan yang demikian itu ialah agama yang betul lurus, maka janganlah kamu menganiaya diri kamu dalam bulan-bulan yang dihormati itu (dengan melanggar laranganNya)..." [At Taubah 9:36]

“Verily, the number of months with Allaah is twelve months (in a year), so it was ordained by Allah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them, four are sacred. That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein…” [al-Tawbah 9:36]

Fasting in the month of Muharram is highly recommended, and should be observed religiously by all of us, especially on the tenth day, Asyura.
It is reported that when asked which prayer is better after the obligatory prayer (sembahyang lima waktu) the Prophet (SAW) said:

" Prayer in the middle of the night" and when asked again which fast is better after Ramadan, he said: "In the month that is called Muharam."

Rasulullah (SAW) said, regarding fasting on the day of Asyra:

"I hope that Allaah will accept it as expiation for the year that went before.” (Reported by Muslim )

" Semoga Allah menerimanya sebagai penghapus dosa tahun yang lalu". (Sahih Muslim)

As Jews and Christians also fast on the day of Asyura, we are also highly recommended to fast on the day of Tasu'a, which is on the 9th of Muharram, the day before Asyura. This is to differentiate us from both the Jews and the Christians.

Sadakah should also be observed on this day. Let us not miss this opportunity to heighten our iman in the hope to bring us closer to Allah.

Just a lil' something

2007-01-18T23:00:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

I was watching Hijrah Remaja, a religious talk show hosted by Wardina and Farihin, earlier this evening and this particular quote really caught my attention :

Aurat adalah ibarat makanan. Jika ianya terdedah, lalat akan mengerumuninya, makanan pun akan menjadi kotor dan tak ada siapa yang akan mahu menjamahnya.

Aurah is just like food. If it is left in the open, it will be swarmed by flies, become spoilt and in the end noone would want to eat it.

Hmm too meaningful to ignore don't you think? Something worth to think about and reflect on.

An Opportunity not to be missed

2006-12-29T01:47:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum,

I just want to share this....

Abu Hurairah relates that the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said, "There are no days more loved to Allah for you to worship Him therein than the ten days of Dhul Hijja. Fasting any day during it is equivalent to fasting one year and to offer salatul tahajjud (late-night prayer) during one of its nights is like performing the late night prayer on the night of power [i.e. Lailatul Qadr]." [At-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and al-Baihaqi]

MasyaAllah! We should not miss this opportunity. Today is the 8th of DhulHijja. Two more days left my brothers and sisters. Grab the chance.

Something for the sisters...

2006-12-11T00:54:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum

I'm really sorry for the delay of this post. I must admit that my increasing number of readers kind of make me a bit self-conscious to write. I wrote several drafts for the past few weeks and kept on err rewriting all of them. In the end, I thought what the heck, I'm just going to write this one and straight away post it. So here goes...

There's something that I have not mentioned regarding my wearing the hijab. That is actually I first started wearing it when I was eleven...yes, you read it right... eleven. It was only when I was in the UK that I decided to abandon it under the pretense of for fear of my 'safety'. Why do I say 'pretense'? Well...for starters the boarding school that I went to could be one of the safest places in the world. I was 16 when I went there and even at that time I was aware that if I were to wear my hijjab, nothing would have happened to me as the people in that school were very nice and friendly. But still, I chose to flaunt my hair and even bought a pair of hair straightener! (Hiya! waste of money I tell you!).

So that's the way how it was, for the next 3 years after that, everytime I landed my feet in Brunei, the hijjab would be on but once the feet were roaming around the wet England roads, my hair would be swaying down my back for the whole world to see. Hypocrite you might say? Well, thats exactly how I felt about myself at that time. Sigh...if only I could turn back the time...

In one of my previous posts (here) I mentioned some of the difficulties that I faced when I first donned the Hijjab in the UK. Now I'm back, I'm still facing more challenges but not in terms of wearing the hijjab but in term of putting on the right clothing befitting a true muslimah. Somehow I think the challenges I'm facing here seem to be greater than the ones that I faced in a non-muslim country.

My dear sisters,

Have you ever chosen a tight shirt over a loose one as the later won't show off your curves?
(And also because it can make you look older than your age?)
Have you ever chosen a short shirt which shows off you bum over a long one as the later won't show off your long lean legs?
(And also because it can make you look shorter and hence chubbier?)
Have you ever chosen a short-sleeved shirt over a long-sleeved one as the later will make you sweat like there's no tomorrow?
(And also because all the nice shirts/blouses are short sleeved. The long sleeved ones are rather drabby looking.)

Have you ever chosen a tight/short/short-sleeved shirt because you don't want to look different from your trendy and fashionable friends?
(Beside most girls in Brunei are wearing tight/short/short-sleeved shirts with the hijjab still nicely concealing their hair. So might as well join the crowd you know. Plus you wouldn't want to look like a mother who is chaperoning you chic looking friends.)

I'm ashamed to say that I have to say 'yes' to all the above questions (and statements). Especially the last one. Wearing a long, loose, long-sleeved shirt with hijjab covering my hair and chest area together with a pair of baggy trousers would mean that I will look exceptionally different from my friends. And not to mention much older. The funny thing is, I didn't feel this way when I was back in UK. I felt totally at ease sitting in between friends cum classmates who wore mini skirts and spaghetti straps.

I think it's because at that time I was aware that my classmates were non-muslims so we were meant to be different in a lot of ways. But here in Brunei, I see all the muslim ladies as equals. When you are equal, you are supposed to be the same in a lot of ways. Including the way how you dress. And this makes me unconsciously think that if it's ok for 'X' to wear a tight shirt with hijjab, then it should be ok for me too. We truly are influenced by the people around us. I have the feeling that I'm not the only one who unconsciously feels this way.

Sisters, did you agree with any of the questions I asked above? Any ‘yes’ there (like me) as an answer albeit one. To those who answered ‘yes’: We are a bunch of silly creatures don’t you think? Sorry if I sounded so insulting but seriously, we are actually willing to sacrifice ourselves in the hellfire so long as we don’t look OLD!.....OLD!

"Sesungguhnya sebilangan ahli neraka ialah perempuan-perempuan yang berpakaian tapi telanjang yang condong pada maksiat dan menarik orang lain untuk melakukan maksiat . Mereka tidak akan masuk syurga dan tidak akan mencium baunya." ( Bukhari dan Muslim.)

Translation: "Among the dwellers of hell are such women as are clothed yet naked, seduced and being seduced. These shall not enter the Garden, nor shall (even) its fragrance reach them." (Bukhari and Muslim)

We are actually willing to let ourselves being hanged by the hair in the hellfire until our brains literally boil so long as we don’t look less chic or unsophisticated here in dunyah.

" Wahai anakku Fatimah ! Adapun perempuan-perempuan yang akan digantung rambutnya hingga mendidih otaknya dalam neraka adalah mereka itu di dunia tidak mahu menutup rambutnya daripada dilihat oleh lelaki yang bukan mahramnya " (Bukhari dan Muslim.)

My own translation: "O my daughter Fatimah! There will be women who are hanged from their hair until their brains boil in the hellfire and these are those who do not want to cover their hair from the non-mahram males." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

We truly need to set our priorities straight. Sometimes we tend to forget that we are not here in this world forever. Us, humans are blessed with intelligence ( akal) and sometimes it is worth to just sit back and ponder what is the real purpose of our lifes. The way we live today is as if we truly do not care whether we enter paradise or hellfire. The way we live today is as if we are strong enough to face the toments that await us in the hellfire. The choice is truly ours. Hope we are not too late.

Last but not least, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said: "O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women)."

Are we ready?

Managing stress

2006-11-16T20:42:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum,

Ahhh finally I have time to blog without feeling guilty. Been so busy up to my ears with work. Though its all my fault for leaving all of them till the very last minute.

The hectic pace of my life during the past three weeks reminded me of the time when I was preparing for my finals. This one particular module made me cry like there's no tomorrow. My days were spent in the library, my nights were spent with my nose buried in several different textbooks, I googled every single info I could find but when I tried out the past paper I couldn't answer a single question! And I cried. I curled myself up near my window and cried. I threw up several times and cried some more. I phoned up my brother who was in the UK as well and poured my heart out. I can't remember what he said but I became calm and collected after that and went back studying. The next day I received an email from him....

*********

Relying on Allah

"...And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, then He will suffice him…"

At-Talaq Chapter 65:Verse 3

When a person knows that Allah is able to do all things, that He alone makes choices for His slaves and runs their affairs, that the way He runs His slave’s affairs is better than the way the slave would do it for himself, that He knows better about the slave’s interests than the slave does, that He is more able to achieve them, that He is more sincere and more merciful towards His slave than the slave is to himself; and also knows that he cannot progress or regress any further than the limits that Allah has decreed for him, for nobody can change the will and decree of Allah – when a person knows all this, he submits himself to his Lord and hands over his affairs to Him. He gives the burden of his needs and interests to the One who is not concerned about how heavy or great the burden is. Allah will take care of it, instead of him, and will show him His kindness and mercy, without the slave getting tired or worried, because all his concern is now focused on Allah alone. He knows that Allah has guaranteed to take complete care of the one who puts his trust in Him, so he trusts Allah and has confidence in His promise. Thus his heart gains indescribable strength, his worries and anxiety disappear, hardship is replaced with ease, sadness turns to joy and fear turns into a feeling of security.

But as for the person who insists on running his own affairs and making his own choices, whose concern is only for his own share and not for his duties towards his Lord, Allah will leave him alone with the choices he has made, so he will be surrounded by concerns, worries, distress, grief, fear, exhaustion and depression. His thoughts will be confused, none of his deeds will be pure and none of his hopes will be fulfilled. He will gain no respite, and will enjoy no pleasure. He will never feel joy or contentment. He will be labouring like a working-animal, with no hope of gaining anything that could help him in the Hereafter.

Source:“Dealing with worries and stress” - By Mohammed Salih Al-Munajjid

********

I was lost in deep thoughts after reading the email. I realised my brother was reminding me that I forgot to put all my problems in the hands of Allah. HE will help me but only if I put all my faith in HIM. I can only do my best but Allah will be the One who will decide my path. I believe in rezk but my actions showed otherwise.

I became much much calmer after that. It felt like as if a huge burden had been lifted up off my shoulders. Who was I kidding? Allah knows me better. He wouldn't put me in this 'ordeal' unless He knows that I could face it. He was just testing my perseverance. My sabar. Studying wasn't much of a torture from then on. And Alhamdulillah I managed to go through it in the end. Alhamdulillah indeed.

Iklan Raya 2

2006-10-19T14:01:00.000+08:00

The raya commercial that made me weep is finally up on youtube. But I still wanna keep the two commercials in my previous post. Enjoy everyone.

But on a happier note...here's a commercial that i'm sure will make everyone smile :)

Iklan Raya

2006-10-17T22:14:00.000+08:00

Don't you just love petronas raya commercials?? I do! They are usually very touching. The latest one made me cry a river. But it's not up on youtube yet. So I will just have to make do with this one

sighh. I'm sure those who are miles away from their love ones right now are in their syahdu mood. Here's another one.

Don't forget to ask for their forgiveness.

Friday prayers

2006-10-07T05:03:00.000+08:00

Friday Prayer

Wifes... please remind your husbands to go for their Friday prayers

The kain raya shopping can wait

Mothers...please remind your sons to go for their Friday prayers

The grocery shopping can wait

Girfriends...please remind your boyfriends to go for their Friday Prayers

The window shopping can wait.

I was supposed to post on something else but I think this post is more important and significant at the moment.

You see, my mother, sis and I goes out every Friday morning to do our general shopping. And every week we see muslim men walking around during the Friday prayers. The sad thing is, masjid in Brunei is everywhere. The furtherst masjid should be about 20 mins drive at most from whereever you are at the time. Hence there should be no excuse for not going for the Friday prayers.

Husbands walking around with their child in one hand and a son in tow while their wifes are buzy looking for the perfect kain raya is a norm for the past couple of weeks. So not only the husband was neglecting his duty to go for the Friday prayers, both parents were also teaching their son that it is ok to do so. I am afraid that there will be a time when the masjids will be completely empty during the Friday prayers. Nauzubillah!

Go to The Mall on Friday around 1pm and you will see muslim couples walking around holding hands or the bf sitting around in C&K while waiting for the gf to choose the perfect pair of shoes during the Friday prayer times. Ladies, please ask your bfs to go to the Jame' mosque while you try to choose the perfect pair of shoes.

"Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Apabila diserukan azan (bang) untuk mengerjakan sembahyang pada hari Jum'at, maka segeralah kamu pergi (ke masjid) untuk mengingati Allah (dengan mengerjakan sembahyang Jum'at) dan tinggalkanlah berjual beli (pada saat itu); yang demikian adalah lebih baik bagi kamu, jika kamu mengetahui (hakikat yang sebenarnya).
(Surah Al-Jum'at: 9)

Translation: " O ye who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly), hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business: That is best for you if ye but knew!"

(Surah Al-Jum'at:9)

We have been warned by Allah. HE specifically mentioned 'business' !

My dear sisters, let us not be the cause of the downfall of the morale of our generation. Little do we know that us, women, are powerful beings. Because of "love" men follow us blindly and set their religious duties aside. It is something that we should not be proud of. Remember how Hawa (Eve) influenced Adam to eat buah Khuldi (I forgot whats the English term for it)?

Since this is Ramadan, the holy month, there is no other better time then now to change our attitude. Come Friday, remind your husband/son/bf to go for their Friday prayers. I will end this post with these two hadiths:

"Barang siapa yang meninggalkan sembahyang Jumaat tiga kali dengan tiada keuzuran maka dia adalah seorang munafiq."(Hadis riwayat Ibnu Hibban)

"Aku menitikberatkan (memerintahkan) supaya seorang lelaki itu bersembahyang dengan beramai-ramai (berjemaah), kemudian aku berazam membakar rumah-rumah mereka (lelaki) yang meninggalkan sembahyang Jumaat."(Hadis riwayat Muslim)

Munajatku

2006-10-02T19:56:00.000+08:00

Munajat Ku

Ya Allah..

Aku mohon kepadamu

Tingkatkanlah kesabaranku

Peliharakanlah Lidah ku

Kikiskanlah Angkuh ku

Hilangkanlah Amarahku

Ya Allah...

Aku mohon kepadamu

Setiap kali Angkuh itu timbul

Peringatkanlah aku

Sedarkanlah aku

Insafkanlah aku

Ya Allah....

Aku mohon kepadamu

Setiap kali Amarah itu timbul

Sejukkanlah hatiku

Redakanlah perasaanku

Tumpukanlah pemikiranku

Kerana Ya Allah...

Sungguh

Dosa ini

Berat dirasa

Sungguh

Sesal ini

Tiada noktahnya

Namun...

Lidah ini kelu

Untuk memohon

Maaf.

How it begins

2006-09-07T23:52:00.000+08:00

How it begins...

Assalamualaikum.

I was reading someone's blog just now and one of her entries reminded me of the time when I first decided to permanently cover my hair everytime a non-mahram is around.

It all started on the first day of my second yr in Uni somewhere in UK. When my friends saw me with a piece of cloth on top of my head, they all thought that i was trying to hide my bad-hair-day. I'm ashamed to say that I was ashamed of myself at that time. I actually felt embarrased that i was wearing a hijab even tho it was my decision to start putting it on.

I was expecting all sorts of reactions and comments from my friends but to my surprise....they only asked a few questions and thats it! I really was expecting the worst. They didn't treat me any differently. And you know what? I find it much easier to answer " Why are u covering your hair?" than " If you were a Muslim, then why are you NOT covering your hair?"

Alhamdulillah rezeki makin murah ever since I started donning the hijab. When I was in Rome, somehow most of the shops that I went to tend to belong to Muslims. The shop owners gave me up to 70% discount!. Same thing happened when I was in Brisbane. Alhamdulillah.

One thing I learned during the first few months of being a hijjabi is that I was the one who was making it difficult for me to cover my hair! Not my friends, not the strangers who were giving me those weird looks as I walked down the streets and not the ghetto kids who said " Nice hat" to me! It was ME who was making myself miserable. I passed Assesorized...and I thought "Aiii nice earings". I went into Next, saw a cute top and I thought " Aiii lawaaa baju ahh but aku betudung...nda tia bisai". It took me months to remind myself that this is for my own good! Islam is a way of life. Everything that Allah told us to do is for our own benefit. We all know that but why are we not following His rules??

I remember how ashamed I felt when an Arab lady asked me if I was a Muslim as she was surprised to see a non-hijjabi in the Uni surau. That got me thinking 'Dont I look like a Muslim?'

But I also remember how happy I was when a stranger said 'Assalamualaikum' to me during my first few days of donning the hijab. It kept me smiling the whole day! I want to be seen as a Muslim. I want the whole world to know that I am a Muslim upon seeing me 100 miles away!

I am still learning though. Everyday I pray to Allah that He will make me a better Muslimah today than I was yesterday. Yes...I'm still learning. I have a long way to go.

Why she won't wear hijab...

2006-06-19T11:31:00.000+08:00

Why she won't wear hijab...

"I'm so tired."
"Tired of what?"
"Of all these people judging me."
"Who judged you?"
"Like that woman, every time I sit with her, she tells me to wear hijab."
"Oh, hijab and music! The mother of all topics!"
"Yeah! I listen to music without hijab…haha!"
"Maybe she was just giving you an advice."
"I don't need her advice. I know my religion. Can`t she mind her own business?"
"Maybe you misunderstood her and she was just being nice."
"Keeping out of my business, that would be nice..."
"But it's her duty to encourage you to do good."
"Trust me. That was no encouragement. And what do you mean 'good' ?"
"Well, wearing hijab, that would be a good thing to do."
"Says who?"
"It's in the Qur'an, isn't it?"
"Yes. She did quote me something. She said Surah Nur, and some other Surahs in the Qur'an. Yes, but it's not a big sin anyway. Helping people and praying is more important."
"True. But big things start with small things."
"That's a good point, but what you wear is not important. What's important is to have a good healthy heart."
"What you wear is not important?"
"That's what I said."
"Then why do you spend an hour every morning fixing up?"
"What do you mean?"
"You spend money on cosmetics, not to mention all the time you spend on fixing your hair and low-carb dieting."
"So?"
"So, your appearance IS important."
"No. I said wearing hijab is not an important thing in religion."
"If it's not an important thing in religion, why is it mentioned in the HolyQur'an?"
"You know I can't follow all that's in the Qur'an."
"You mean God tells you to do something, you disobey and then it's OK?"
"Yes. God is forgiving."
"God is forgiving to those who repent and do not repeat their mistakes."
"Says who?"
"Says the same book that tells you to cover."
"But I don't like hijab, it limits my freedom."
"But the lotions, lipsticks, mascara and other cosmetics set you free?!? What`s your definition of freedom anyway?"
"Freedom is doing whatever you like to do."
"No. Freedom is doing the right thing, not doing whatever we wish to do."
"Look! I've seen so many people who don't wear hijab and are nice people, and so many who wear hijab and are bad people."
"So what? There are people who are nice to you but are alcoholic. Should we all be alcoholics?" "You made a stupid point. I just don't want to be an extremist or a fanatic. I'm OK the way I am without hijab."
"Then you are a secular fanatic. An extremist in disobeying God."
"You don't get it, if I wear hijab, who would marry me?!"
"So all these people with hijab never get married?!"
"Okay! What if I get married and my husband doesn't like it? And wants me to remove it?"
"What if your husband wants you to go out with him on a bank robbery?!"
"That's irrelevant, bank robbery is a crime."
"Disobeying your Creator is not a crime?"
"But then who would hire me?"
"A company that respects people for who they are."
"Not after 9-11"
"Yes. After 9-11. Don't you know about Hanan who just got into med school?And the other one, what was her name, the girl who always wore a white hijab…ummm…"
"Yasmeen?"
"Yes. Yasmeen. She just finished her MBA and is now interning for GE."
"Why do you reduce religion to a piece of cloth anyway?"
"Why do you reduce womanhood to high heals and lipstick colors?"
"You didn't answer my question."
"In fact, I did. Hijab is not just a piece of cloth. It is obeying God in a difficult environment. It is courage, faith in action, and true womanhood.But your short sleeves, tight pants…"
"That's called 'fashion', you live in a cave orsomething? First of all, hijab was founded by men who wanted to control women."
"Really? I did not know men could control women by hijab."
"Yes. That's what it is."
"What about the women who fight their husbands to wear hijab? And women in France who are forced to remove their hijab by men? What do you say about that?"
"Well, that's different."
"What's the difference? The woman who asked you to wear hijab…she was a woman, right?"
"Right, but…"
"But fashions that are designed and promoted by male-dominated corporations, set you free? Men have no control on exposing women and using them as a commodity?! Give me a break!"
"Wait, let me finish, I was saying…"
"Saying what? You think that men control women by hijab?"
"Yes."
"Specifically how?"
"By telling women how and what to wear, dummy!"
"Doesn't TV, magazines and movies tell you what to wear, and how to be 'attractive'?"
"Of course, it's fashion."
"Isn't that control? Pressuring you to wear what they want you to wear?"
[Silence]
"Not just controlling you, but also controlling the market."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you are told to look skinny and anorexic like that woman on the cover of the magazine, by men who design those magazines and sell those products."
"I don't get it. What does hijab have to do with products."
"It has everything to do with that. Don't you see? Hijab is a threat to consumerism, women who spend billions of dollars to look skinny and live by standards of fashion designed by men…and then here is Islam, saying trash all that nonsense and focus on your soul, not on your looks, and do not worry what men think of your looks."
"Like I don't have to buy hijab? Isn't hijab a product?"
"Yes, it is. It is a product that sets you free from male-dominated consumerism."
"Stop lecturing me! I WILL NOT WEAR HIJAB!It is awkward, outdated, and totally not suitable for this society ... Moreover, I am only 20 and too young to wear hijab!"
"Fine. Say that to your Lord, when you face Him on Judgment Day."
"Fine."
"Fine."
[Silence]
"Shut up and I don't want to hear more about hijab niqab schmijab Punjab!"
[Silence]
She stared at the mirror, tired of arguing with herself all this time.
Successful enough, she managed to shut the voices in her head, with her own opinions triumphant in victory on the matter, and a final modern decision accepted by the society - but rejected by the Faith:
"Yes!" - to curls on the hair - "No!" - to hijab!
"And he (/she) is indeed a failure who corrupts it [the soul]!"
[Holy Quran 91:10]
Subhana'Allah!!!
"Nay! You prefer the life of this world; While the hereafter is better and more lasting."
[Holy Quran: 87:16-17]
"You are the best community (Ummah) raised up for (the benefit of) humanity; enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allah."
[Holy Quran: 3:110]

It's All about LOVE.

2006-04-24T22:12:00.000+08:00

Its All about L.O.V.E.

Assalamualaikum,

A good friend of mine has lent me a book called "Tentang Cinta" or in English "(All) About Love". Now don't get me wrong, this is not just some romantic novel but this is actually a book on the sort of relationships that we as Muslims should have or aim for. I have yet to finish reading the book but I'd like to share some of the stuffs that I've read so far.

Now, LOVE can be so overwhelming and not to mention consuming that you don't seem to notice anything around you but your partner. The world revolves around him/her. You love him/her sooo much that you never want to let go. You hold their hand wherever you go, you put your arm around them when you are watching the movies at the cinema, you kiss their cheeks before you part at the end of a date. Now when you were doing all of the above, have you ever stopped and think "This is haram. I shouldn't be doing this!"?

That's the thing about 'bercinta'. It seems that once a couple have declared to each other that they are an item, it is permissible for them to touch each other. It's funny really - a girl feels happy and proud to hold her boyfriend's hand but felt outraged when a stranger tries to do the same, when in actual fact both men are not their 'mahram' hence BOTH of them should not be allowed for any touch/kiss/hug sessions. Why allow one and not the other? On what basis makes the girl think that touching the bf is ok but the stranger is not ok?

Now some people might think that I am old fashioned! (Indakan atu pun inda bulih?? Apa jua pigang tangan) What's love without hugs and kisses? What's love without holding each other's hands? Now my dear that is not love, that is LUST.

True love is pure. You love that person so much that you don't want any harm done to him/her. If you experience true love, you should want the person to be safe and happy all the time not only during this life also in the afterlife (akhirat). Now how do you become happy in the afterlife? By going to heaven. How can you enter heaven? Only if you do all the things that Allah told you to do and leave all the things that Allah told you not to do. Now ask yourself do you love your partner? You may say 'YES!' Now think, have you ever hold his/her hand(s)? If you say 'yes' to this, then no, you don't love your partner. Partly maybe, but definitely not wholly.

Let me quote what a friend of mine have said once, it more or less sounds like this "Kalau org atu sayang kau di dunia saja, balum lagi sayang tu, mesti sayang not only di dunia but also di akhirat". Now girls and boys, always look for a partner who can help you to become a better muslim/muslimah. If he thinks that you are weird that you don't want to hold his hands, gently remind him that it is haram. Chances are, he will respect you more. But remember, do whatever you do all because of Allah. :)

On that note, I will leave you with something that I picked up from the "Tentang Cinta" book:

"Cinta yang lazimnya ditujukan kepada pemuasan hawa nafsu semata, sebenarnya ialah cinta yang diilhamkan Tuhan untuk haiwan."

The start of a journey

2006-04-22T20:17:00.000+08:00

The start of a journey

Assalamualaikum my fellow brothers and sisters.

First of all I would like to pray to Allah and ask Him to always give me the patience to actually finish off whatever I want to blog about each time. For as long as I can remember I have always been writing but looking back, I think I have more unfinished stories than finished ones. But enough about that. Let me tell you why I've decided to join the blogging world.

Besides writing I also love doing my own research on anything that is related to Islam. Anything just to broaden my knowledge about my own religion. And I want to share them.

In this era, with so many outside influences, if our Iman is not strong enough, we can easily be 'terpesong from landasan-landasan agama Islam'. Let us all help each other out to make sure that we will always be on the right path. I am also hoping that with the creation of this blog I will be more determined than ever to improve myself as a muslimah. Most of my writings that you will find here are meant to remind me of what I should and should not do as a muslimah and I hope you all will also learn something from it.