Is it really that hard?

:-)

truly BEST FRIENDS

Assalamualaikum :) Quite long time without any new post. No interesting story to share. But insyaAllah this post will help us to think and ponder about friends, at least for a few seconds if not for hours.

Close friends, that Day, will be enemies to each other, except for the righteous 

[43:67]

Pada hari itu sahabat-sahabat karib: setengahnya akan menjadi musuh kepada setengahnya yang lain, kecuali orang-orang yang persahabatannya berdasarkan taqwa (iman dan amal soleh).

[43:67]

I was deeply stabbed this morning when one of my high school friends dedicate this ayah for me. I'm trying to recall my early years of having friends. Of course we called ourselves as best friends, but is it true that we are friends because of Allah?


I used to have many friends, so you do. But how many of them will become our friends in the Hereafter?


Just imagine, in our daily life, when we got some minor problem with our friend, we will feel restlessness, tak senang duduk. So, how are we going to face the future life when our best friend is no longer a friend but an enemy?


Before this, we have friends so that we could have someone to talk to..
someone to gossip..
someone to watch movies together..
someone to accompany us going to shop..
someone to take lunch and dinner together..
someone to play games together..


But have we ever had a friend, so that we could have someone to remind us of Him?
someone who will wake us up for prayer..
someone who will tell us that this and that is haram in Islam..
someone who will always dedicate us with ayah of Allah for us to ponder on..
someone who will teach us His religion deeply..
someone who will take a very good care of us because of Him..


To ponder without action results nothing. But ponder accompanied by action is something. Of course, it is not too late for us to have friends because of Allah.

One companion asked Rasulullah (saw), “Who can be my best friend?”

Rasulullah (saw) answered, “Your best friend is a person: when you see him, he makes you remember Allah; when you listen to him, knowledge of Islam is increased; and when you see his actions, you are reminded of the life of the Hereafter.”

[Muslim]

 

Yes it's not easy

I do heard the rumor that many of us went to the marital course weeks ago. Well, we're not little kids anymore not to be given a chance to talk about marriage and so on. This is the only thing that I can share with everyone of u even I just copied this from my senior. May we earn some benefits from this.

I remember a beloved girl telling me how in surah Kahfi, Khidir a.s hid the orphans’ treasure, because abuhuma shaliha, ‘their father was a shalih man’. He also killed the young boy, and prayed for a son of greater purity as replacement, because abawaahu mu’minain, ‘their parents are both mu’min’.

I remember another beloved girl telling me how Yusuf a.s was beautifully raised up in the house of Ya’qub. With a father who had perfectly prepared him in both iman and akhlak, young Yusuf faced his subsequent tests after tests gracefully. 

I remember Hajar with her excellent level of tawakkal, even after being left to raise isma’il in the desert alone, managed to bring up a strong faithful child who, when his father came to claim his life, calmly said ‘’do what you are commanded, you shall find me very patient insyaAllah.".

I remember Zakaria, never losing hope, iz nada rabbuhu nidaa an khafiyya, ‘ketika berdoa kepada rabbnya dengan nada yang rendah (khafiyya)’, was blessed with the miracle of Yahya, who was given hikmah, purity, taqwa, wa barram bi walidaih, ‘and is dutiful to the parents’.

I remember Khadijah, with her selfless sacrifices for Islam, blessed with daughters as dwellers of jannah. 

I remember Ummu ‘Aiman with her deep love for Allah and Rasul, blessed with sons ‘Aiman and Usamah, as well as zauj Zaid. All three, martyrs. 

I remember Yassir wa Sumayyah, killed right in front of the eyes of their teenage son. But Allah took care of ‘Ammar.

Rabbana hablana min azwajina wa dzurriyyatina qurrata a’yun, waj’alna lil muttaqina imama. (25:74) "Our Rabb, grant us in our mates and offspring the joy of our eyes and make us imam for those who guard against evil."

While scrubbing the surface of the living room table, (mom made me scrub off the soooooo BANYAK permanent marker stains I left while writing down ifa's kertas mah-jong presentation the other night), I was reminded of how another beloved girl of mine used to tell me, it’s not easy being a parent, so don’t blame parents for the fault of the offsprings. Each child has own personality, and you'd never know what's to become of them when you're away or gone.

 

Some say parents will be the ones who are left to scrub off the mistakes of the children. They say parents are like erasers while children are like the pencils who scribble around aimlessly. And the erasers struggle to erase up their mistakes, bound to get all used up sooner or later. 

Yes it’s not easy. But we have Allah. ^^

MSC sports Day Photos part 1

shall we?

 

 

it's fun in having rest.
rest physically & mentally
free from any form of works, any interference of thoughts

at one point, we may be tickle with questions why this & why that,why we have to do this & that

why we have to burden ourselves with this &  that

& at that time, we may shout for some rest.

a little while or the long one,

also,might envy others who just can do what they want to,

*rising hand, & blurt :chop! shall we have some rest?

& kita masa tue, kita juga lupa,

kenapa ye syurga tu berat?

kenapa ye syurga tue tak senang nak dapat?

 

Reason why still live

Let's stop for a while and start thinking why we are still alive.

Why some people, they are sooo evil but still, Allah do not take his live and just make him the dwellers of hell.Or why there's a person which is veryyy very veryyy kind, but still Allah lets him live in this transient world that full of filth instead of putting him in paradise? why ? Is it not that paradise is for those who did good and believe in Allah, and hell is for those who are tyrant, do injustice and bad things?

Of  coz the answer is simple, because Allah still gives time to those who act wrongfully to repent, and for those who did good to do more good. Also, the time of test has not ended yet (death). Then, we should never ever look down on people, whoever he maybe.. Who is amirul mukminin before his Islam? And who is him after embrace Islam? Who can expect the harshest person to Islam will turn out to be the strongest to protect it?

We human, know not the future, we strive only for ourselves. Islam doesn't need us, but we need Islam. Allah doesn't need Islam to be revived, but we need and all other human need. The writer believed that, revival of Islam is to safe the whole human being from kufur, it is not to have the muslim dominate the world, it's to create a better world. Subhannallah Allah doesn't need anything from us, if any of us believe or kufur nothing will add or subtract from Allah's power. Wallahua'lam.

The Complete Muslim Personality

It is well known and understood that Islam is a holistic system that impacts all areas of a person’s life. We hear this a lot but many times it is difficult to know exactly what it means and how it plays out in our lives. On this topic Imam Hasan al-Banna has a beautiful, terse, but dense statement. He mentions that the first thing that the Muslim should be concerned with is the reform of herself or himself. Then he says, “A Muslim should strive to attain a strong body, good character, cultured thought. He should be able to earn a living, have pure belief, and correct worship. He should be able to control his desires, be careful about his time, organized in his affairs, and beneficial to those around him. These comprise the duties of every Muslim as an individual.”¹  These ten points provide a well-rounded approach to personal development according to the teachings of Islam.

Our health is a blessing and responsibility from Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He) and the level at which we take care of it affects all areas of our lives. If we are healthy then we think more clearly, we have more energy, and we are even stronger psychologically. However, at the same time, when we neglect our health we fall victim to all kinds of things like fatigue, psychological and spiritual struggles, and even cloudy thought. For these reasons it is foundational in the development of the well-rounded Muslim personality.

Out of this comes the first outward manifestation of the real quality of a person’s relationship with their Creator, character. The word used in Arabic, matīn, does not just mean good but also firm. It’s as if it implies that if a person has a really strong character then it does not only show in good times but also when things are difficult. This is a great measuring stick for us in our daily lives. When things are easy it is not difficult to maintain good conduct and treat people in the best way possible, but in the face of hardship, fatigue, frustration, disappointment, anger, and an array of other emotions it becomes much more difficult. The person who really has firm character can withstand these tests, but the one who is only putting on a show will always be known eventually.

After these two comes the third quality in the set of types of strengths that build the strong Muslim personality. The first strength was physical strength. The second was spiritual discipline, which is the foundation of good conduct. The third strength is intellectual and educational rigor: to be cultured in thought. This particular point is actually of the utmost importance and many times neglected by people who are perceived to be “religious.” The fact of the matter is that Islam is a system of life, informed by the teachings of the Divine, and embodied in the example of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace be upon him). This example lived and existed in reality. The Muslim cannot cultivate a dynamic, powerful, meaningful, and impactful understanding of Islam without understanding reality. Islam is here to provide solutions to the problems that humans and mankind face. How can we understand that and actualize it without cultured thought? We cannot.

The fourth type of strength to be directed into the service of Islam is financial strength; hence, being able to earn a living. The reality of the matter is that it is very difficult to do anything when one is reliant upon others for their income or when their financial situation is so dire that they are occupied with essential issues like food, clothing, shelter, and health care. For these reasons it is important that the Muslim seeks to be able to take care of himself or herself so that they can be independent and capable in their service to Islam. Yes, some people will be poorer and others wealthier but all should seek some sort of financial stability.

After mentioning all of these points Imam al-Banna then moves on to say that the person should also have pure belief and correct worship. This is what directs all of those previously mentioned strengths. They are used in accordance with the guidelines and inspiration provided by pure belief and aided through constant and correct worship. From these sources the Muslim truly finds his or her direction and the kind of relationship with the Divine that is required in order to face the difficulties of service to the Truth. They are the well which quenches the spiritual thirst of the heart in its search for its natural inclination.

When all of these strengths are combined and held together with belief and worship the Muslim will find direction and mission in his or her life. This mission will require much from them and herein lies the secret of the last four characteristics. The first of these last four is that the Muslim is constant in fighting their base desires. In the struggle to worship Allah (swt) and live a righteous life there are endless difficulties and tests. Those tests are sometimes very clear and open but sometimes very subtle. They can be tests of sincerity, seeking praise, wanting appreciation from people, argumentation, and many others. These tests cannot be overcome except through a never-ending process of fighting one’s base desires.

The next of these characteristics are to be strict about one’s time and organized in one’s affairs. Time is life itself and the person that kills time only kills their self. This is why Hasan al-Baṣrī said, “O Son of Adam! You are nothing but a compilation of breaths and with each breath that passes, a piece of you is gone.” The well-rounded Muslim will also find that their responsibilities will always outweigh the amount of time that they have to fulfill them. For this reason the Muslim is always strict with their time and organized in their affairs so that they can reap the most benefit from this life before meeting their Lord in the next life.

The last characteristic is to be beneficial to others. This should be read twice. Everything that came before is lost if we are harmful to those around us. The scholars of Islam have said that the core objective of Islam is to acquire benefit. Everything that we do is in the service of Allah (swt) and all that He requires from us is only of pure benefit to us and all of mankind. Therefore, we should use this as a way to check ourselves and assess our impact on those around us, while seeking to understand not only through our own vision but through the teachings of the Divine.

May Allah (swt) help us to embody these characteristics and bless us with being able to manifest Islam in all of its wonderful beauty.

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1. The Message of the Teachings by Hasan al-Banna [↩]

By: jamal diwan december 16, 2011.

http://www.suhaibwebb.com/personaldvlpt/character/the-complete-muslim-personality/