RAMADHAN! dy/dx = 0

Assalamualaikum :) A big smile together with hope is welcoming ramadhan kareem~

Actually this is my post in my own blog during the previous ramadhan. It is just that, I was called to repost this edited entry in AG's blog since we are going to celebrate ramadhan soon, just in a few hours from now.

Recalling Allah's words in Surah al-Baqarah,

"O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous." (183)
[Sahih International]

"Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Kamu diwajibkan berpuasa sebagaimana diwajibkan atas orang-orang yang dahulu daripada kamu, supaya kamu bertaqwa." (183)
[Malay:Basmeih]

I believe that all of us are very familiar with this verse. We do listened to people reciting verse 183 from Surah al-Baqarah to let every Muslim knows that we have to fast during the month of Ramadhan with very few unavoidable excuses. Thinking deeper, that is not the only thing that Allah want us to know. Instead, there is one more important message that some of us do grab it while the rest don't.

"That you may become righteous." & "Supaya kamu bertaqwa."

Dr. Aidh Abdullah al-Qarni, in his book, 'Jagalah Allah, Allah Menjagamu' define taqwa as below:

Taqwa dapat diertikan, iaitu kamu takut kepada Allah kerana cahaya daripada Allah, di samping itu, kamu juga sangat mengharapkan rahmatNya. Dan kamu melakukan kebaikan sesuai dengan aturan Allah, dengan harapan kamu akan memperoleh pahala daripadaNya, dan kamu juga menghindari keburukan, berkat cahaya daripada Allah, kerana kamu takut kepada seksaNya.

Dr. Aidh through the same book also stated the meaning of taqwa defined by Saidina Ali bin Abi Thalib RA as:

Bahawa taqwa adalah takut kepada Dzat Yang Maha Agung, mengamalkan Kitab (al-Quran) yang diturunkan, redha dengan yang sedikit dan mempersiapkan diri untuk hari kematian (qiamat).

While Abdullah bin Mas'ud RA give the meaning of taqwa as:

Taqwa adalah kamu sentiasa tetap mengingati Allah SWT dan tidak melupakanNya, dipatuhi dan tidak diderhakai, disyukuri dan tidak diingkari.

And here is a short story between Saidina Umar al-Khattab and Ubay bin Ka'ab as an anology to define taqwa:

Umar al-Khattab : Sebutkanlah ciri-ciri taqwa kepadaku.

Ubay bin Ka'ab : Apakah tuan pernah melintasi sebidang tanah yang penuh dengan duri?

Umar al-Khattab : Ya!

Ubay bin Ka'ab : Apakah yang tuan lakukan di sana?

Umar al-Khattab : Saya sangat berhati-hati untuk menghindarinya dan menyinsingkan lengan baju untuk menjauhinya.

Ubay bin Ka'ab : Begitulah ketaqwaan itu!

My own personal view always believe that Ramadhan is not the month of competition just like when one asked another, "Dah juzuk berapa dah?" "Owh, aku baru juzuk 2." Or do you believe that Ramadhan is like that? And when Ramadhan comes to an end, everything back to normal. Should it be that way?

When Ramadhan ends, is it that mushaf al-Quran again will take it's place on the shelf while waiting for next year incoming Ramadhan? A break from Qiamullail? No infaq to unlucky Muslims? Then, we can do anything just like before Ramadhan came? Is this is the true meaning of Ramadhan? And every year, we will repeat the same thing again and again.

By referring to the end of that verse, Allah state that fasting can lead us to achieve the level of taqwa.

So, before Ramadhan starts tonight, let us just set up our heart and mind on what actually we want from this Ramadhan. Is it that we wish for the routine Terawih + 30juzuk al-Quran + Qiamullail + Lailatul qadar only? Or we wish for all of these routine ibadah together with His forgiveness + His blessing + His love, things to guide us throughout our life and lead us to be a true Muslim?

Ramadhan will always be a great turning point for those who want to reverse his or her way of life into a better Muslim :)

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.