Faith in Him Most

 

It was a bright sunny day as I walk along the lake on my way to attend my weekly Halaqah. I smiled as I watch a group of people having their lunch while enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Lake Garden.

 9.20 a.m

" Here we are! Sorry girls for being late :) " Khadijah surprised us. Ain cleared her throat and said, " Ehm, Assalamualaikum Khadijah ". Khadijah giggled. "Waalaikumsalam..hehe" she answered.

" Let start our Halaqah, girls ;), this is the best time to start, our topic today is so much related to this particular time of the day" They all looked at me puzzled. 

" What is our topic of discussion for today? " Salwa asked excitedly. I let them guess for a moment. " What time is it now, Fatimah? " I asked. Fatimah looked at her watch and said, " It is exactly 9.30 a.m, kak Sara"

" How is the day today, Maryam? Did you notice anything while you are driving just now?" " Hm, nothing special, it is a bright sunny day today!" Maryam answered confidently. " Do you know the Arabic word for this particular time of a day?" And just then, Salwa smiled and said," It is the hour of Dhuhaa." I nodded.

" You are right, Salwa, and do you know what is so special about Dhuhaa? "
" Is not that we are encouraged to pray the 2 rakaat of Dhuhaa prayer, for a blessing of Rizq?"

That is true, but why did Allah took an oath by the name of "Dhuuhaa " in Surah Ad-Dhuhaa?. We soon will learn that there are two important reasons why Allah swear by the name of Dhuhaa in the Quran." 

"What is it? What is it? " They asked anxiously.

" The purpose of oaths in Surah Ad-Dhuhaa is  to catch our attention and to make us reflect on what is happening around us. Dhuhaa literally means Morning Brightness.

" If you are used to commuting and driving in the morning, you would notice that when the sun is starting to rise it can get really bright. It may not be as hot as the noon sun, but it sure is bright. Just like today, just like right now, " I emphasised.

" The Arab used to give the name Dhuhaa to the time in the morning when the sun is at its brightest that you don't see the moon and the stars. Ad-Dhuhaa is the time when the sun is alone in the sky. Allah used "Dhuhaa" as a soothing word for His beloved, Muhammad S.A.W at the time where his people ignore and abandon him. As if He was saying, " Don't be sad, I am here with you."

"Your Lord has not abandoned you, [O Muhammad], nor has He detested [you]. ( Ad-Dhuhaa : 3)

" What happened at that time? " Fatimah inquired.

" The revelation stop coming for few days and at the same time, a group of Mushrikoon, ( one of the scholar says, it is the wife of Abu Lahab) made a sarcastic comment to Muhammad S.A.W that "your God has forsaken and abandoned you". They further commented that "God is displeased with you."Some of the mufasiroon says that it is due to this upsetting comments that this Surah is revealed. Allah was comforting the Prophet by revealing the Surah. Subhanallah.

That is something that we can take a lesson from,  the beauty of the word "Dhuhaa". If the whole world rejects you, realise that you are not actually alone in this world, because there is the One who is above the Heaven who accepts you and just like "Dhuhaa" who stands alone in the brightest, we sometimes have to be alone to shine the brightest.

Sometimes, we need that time to be alone and just spend it by talking to Him. Do you know what is the best time for it? " I asked them.They all shook their head.

" It is during Tahajud, the time where you are being alone with Allah at the one-third of the night. The feeling of being alone and talking to Him is priceless. It is something that you will never get to explain in words, but you can feel in your true heart." 

Their eyes widen. " Subhanallah, there are more story of "Dhuhaa" than I already know, it is not just about the Dhuhaa prayer, it is something more, something that we can reflect whenever we see the sun shines brightly in the sky" Fatimah concluded. " Indeed, it is not just about " what a sunny day today" but more on " how wonderful that Allah gives us the beautiful Dhuhaa " Maryam continued.

" Alhamdulillah, a new gem from today's halaqah, thank you, Kak Sara for the sharing, I hope that I can be as bright as the "Dhuhaa" whenever I stand up for my Tahajud spending my time alone with Him during the one-third of the night" Salwa prayed.We all prayed the same.

" Alhamdulillah, I'm so happy that we all can benefit from the lesson of Surah Dhuha, and that conclude our Halaqah for today. Hm, since it still Dhuhaa time, let us pray Dhuhaa together here, is it ok with all of you? "

" With pleasure " They answered.

In a hadith recorded in Sahih Muslim, the Prophet (s) said:
“Every morning there is on the bones and joints of any of you a charitable act. Every tasbeehah is a charitable act; every tahmeedah is a charitable act; every tahleelah is a charitable act; every takbeerah is a charitable act; ordering the good is a charitable act; eradicating evil is a charitable act. To fulfill that charity, it is sifficient to pray two rakats of Dhuha.” 

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I just finish my work that evening, and as soon as I came home, my 6 years old Rayyan greet me at the front door, giggling. I was a bit surprised and curious at the same time and said, "I wonder what happen today that makes Rayyan happy, hmm...." I asked myself enough to let Rayyan hears me. " I fast today! " he answered. " It was hard, but I manage to do it well, I thought of breaking my fast in the afternoon, but I remember what Dad said to me early in this morning.."

Before I get to ask about it, he gives me the answer." Dad promises to give me something if I fast a whole day today!" he said excitedly. " And did Daddy say what is it that he want to give you?" I asked out of curiosity. " No, but whatever it is, I feel good about it!"Rayyan answered.

" Very good, Rayyan" I compliment him. " Do you know that Allah is the One that told us to fast when He revealed the Ayah of Fasting to the believers?". 

Rayyan's eyes widen as he asked," Did Allah tell us what we will get in return?". I laughed before answering, " But of course! When someone ask you to do something and you do it, you will get something good in return, right?" I winked at Rayyan as he smiles. "Allah even told us what we will get in return, do you know what is it?" I inquired.

" It's a long road, after all. I need some rest. 10 minutes should be enough" mumbled Haya.  Traveling can be tired but fun, no doubt. But then, it is just time when Haya get into a deep sleep not realizing that one hour has passed. 

And another hour…

And another two hours…

And there goes the sunset…

She woke up looking at the bright shining moon as if the moon was saying to her mockingly, " Finally, you have woke up! Good morning sleeping beauty!" and that just pissed her off. She's late. How can she get into a deep sleep without realizing how time flies. 

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Another story telling, oh! I miss writing. I miss this blog. I miss writing in this blog. I miss creating stories and write it in this blog.* wait a minute.What am I blabbering right now?*

Dear Readers, Please don't mind me, and continue reading…

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Haya was on her way for a promised dinner with her friends at a Korean Restaurant nearby their hotel. They supposed to meet there at 9 pm. She keep looking at her watch anxiously while trying to catch a cab passing by the road."Oh please let me be there on time. Please oh please." She prayed.

A cab stop by looking at her waving her hand and an old man with a mustache greet her with "Assalamualaikum". Before he can utter another word, Haya interrupt him saying " Korean Restaurant, Kiara Mall nearby Kyo Won Hotel, please, and make it fast, because I'm late, and thank you! " and the conversation end. 

The old man get startled with Haya's behavior, looking at her from the front-view mirror, he murmured to himself. " What on earth must have happen to  the young girls' nowadays, where goes their manners and clothing's too, pity on them ". Looking at how Haya's dressed, he shook his head feeling sorry for her. Deep down in his beautiful heart, he prayed that Haya found her way on a true path.

20 minutes later, the cab stopped in front of the huge building of the Kiara Mall. Haya seems to be mesmerized by looking at it glowing with all the colorful decorative light and laser before she came to her sense glancing at her watch which shows half hour past nine. 

"Oh shoot!" she cursed. Just before she is about to enter the mall, the old man from the cab stop her and said," Girl, here you go!" passing her a folded piece of blue paper and left after saying," May Allah bless you!" Haya paused for a moment before she opened the folded paper and read the words scribbled on it and it touched her heart. It was a wake up call.

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The memory seems alive on her mind right now. Haya closed her diary after reading it over and over again, and she cannot thank enough for the old man that she met during  her travel to Korea last year, as she grab the piece of blue paper that she slipped in her diary and look at it smiling to herself uttering "Alhamdulillah" praising Allah for all the blessing He put in her way searching the truth. That was the piece of paper with an amazing phrase that had changed her whole life until this very moment. 

And she turned to her laptop in front of her and start pressing on her keyboard and wrote,

Sometimes you need that someone who came into your life suddenly offering you those precious advice making you realize that you have to make a change, and that someone  is a gift from Allah to you, a sign He put in front of you to show that He loves you and want goodness for you

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( " Ketika mana kita terkesan dengan nasihat seseorang, maka bersyukurlah, kerana Dia sebenarnya menghantarkan wasilah buat kita untuk kembali kepadaNya dan berubah menjadi lebih baik ") -14 October 2012, Facebook

I have this someone who wrote this and tagged me, 

…and I'm thankful for her being that"someone" who came suddenly asking me, " when will you write again?" making me realize how much I missed this hobby of mine ( writing) and hoping that this piece of writing can continue to benefits her and others who read it. May Allah reward and blessed her. Amin.

This piece might be the beginning of the previous year that I have wasted while making this blog dormant for a while, and for those who happens to wonder, what happened to me for this past year , this is my answer;

" Alhamdulillah, being healthier than ever and still manage to write in this blog! " *giggles*