Faith in Him Most

Saturday, July 21, 2012 -

A gift of love ( PART 2 )

“ Darling, you know what date is today, right? “ I looked at my mother and answered; of course, it’s Friday, mum!”. “ Just if you had forgotten, Kak Limah and her family will come tonight, can you make it tonight? “

“ Alright, mum, I’ll make sure I make it on time, Insya Allah, I have to go now, Assalamualaikum.” Just then, my mother remind me;

“Ehm, ehm, forget something?” I turned and smiled before I take her hand and kissed it, “ make du’a for me, mum? “ I smiled hoping for her blessings. There is a saying, that I will always remind myself of, about the best deeds in this world,

Imam as-Sadiq (peace be upon him) has said: “The best deeds are: Prayer in its stipulated hour, goodness towards parents and Jihad in the way of Allah.”

And, to see my parents smile indeed, give me the warmth in my heart, the feeling of being blessed. And I drive to the collage to start my usual routine as a lecturer, I teach my students and help them with their learnings, at the same time, I hope that I can serve this small group of ummah in finding their way towards the real success, as I always advised them;

Abu Darda’ ( rahimahullah ) mentioned; “ A person will not be an ‘alim , until he is a person who is a seeker of knowledge, and you will not be an ‘alim, with that ‘Ilm until you are a person who acts upon that ‘Ilm”

Oh, and this advice includes me and you, too! =)

Being a lecturer has been my dream, this entire life, and Alhamdulillah, Allah grant it for me, and it is with His help that I had achieved until what I have become today. And every time, I felt this joyous moment of being loved by Him, I can’t help but recalling the song I used to listen to, sung by Maher Zain, “ I love You So “ and prayed;“ Oh, Allah, don’t ever let me be misguided in every moment of my life, show me the way and let your love be in my heart “

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

As soon as I arrived at home that night, I was quite shocked on the arrival of the unknown guest. Just then, I remember the conversation I had with my mother that early morning before I go to work.

“ Oh, this could be Kak Limah and her family, I murmured myself. I greet them with salam and a smile, but yet this-innocent-me could not catch on to their real intention on visiting us that night. Until, my mother happily expressed;

“ They come for a proposal.”

“ On what?” there goes this innocent child, again.

“Marriage, of course, what other could it be? “ And before I could think long for all the question that occupies my mind at that time, my mother aided me with the answers.

“ He is my friend’s son. He’s quite your age, an engineer who memorizes the Quran. Now, he’s doing his PHD in Wales. He’ll be back in 2 months. Oh, actually, he had been here last year during Raya, but I assumed that you would not have noticed him. I’ll let you decide; give me your answer, later, ok? “

Suddenly, for all these years, being a student and a lecturer, having to reply those difficult and challenging questions inquired by my lecturers and my students, I have no doubt, that I can find the answers in books or through my learning experiences, but, yet, I didn’t have the answer for this easy and straight-forward query, by my own mother.

All I need now is an answer from Him!

Subhanallah, could you think a day that we lived without having to turn to Him in supplication?

We are just a human being created upon His mercy, and live upon His Mercy, and you think that we don't ever need to ask for His Mercy? Even soul mates are given as a mercy from Him. Right?

And during the last third of the night, He witnessed the hopeless girl who supplicates to Him, for guidance and mercy upon the best choice for her Istikharah. And as tears falling from her eyes, she remembered, a quote from her dearest mother, when she asked, about her father;

“ Mother, how come you know that father is the right guy for you? Haven’t you got a number of proposals before meeting him? Why did you refuse them and why did you choose him? “

My mother smiled meaningfully before answered; “ I make a do’a ever since I ‘m in your age, and He granted it, I never feel regret that I married on my late 20’s, when all my friends have been blessed with an early marriage, because having to meet your father and let he becomes my life partner is the greatest blessing I had ever get, it’s A GIFT OF LOVE “

“ Oh mother, what is the du’a? Tell me, tell me!” And my mother laughed.

“What is it?” I asked curiously.

“ It seems just yesterday, I hold your little hand when you’re just a baby, I just didn’t realize that you have grown up being a lady, a muslimah, Insya Allah”

“And, the du’a is…”. I smiled, as I repeated the du’a in my heart, and promised myself, “ To love Him before him is a must that would surely brings you an ultimate happiness in life, a gift of love”

Thursday, July 19, 2012 -

My Diary~

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A gift of love ( PART 1 )

I felt something churning in my stomach. I can't really think well. I take a book and read, but in minutes, my head just like wondering other things. What just happen to me? It seems I am losing my focus right now. I thought of getting something to eat but just received disappointment upon looking at my empty fridge. " I need to go to the market " I monologued.

When suddenly, a phone rings, and luckily, it was from my dearest friend whom happen to just arrived from a 2 weeks vacation in Sydney. The call somewhat made my day, as I was alone and really need someone to talk to right now, we decided to meet in a cafe house that evening.

“ What happen to you? You look thin, I remember , the last day I saw you, you are cheer as ever, it seems you encounter problems lately? Or just missing me too much? hehe “ I smiled thankfully, she always have a way to make me felt content enough just seeing her, As what I expected would have been blurt out by my dearest friend, oh, she always have this remarkable strong of mind, no kidding, I remember the day when I met her in school, and she said, “ hey, you’re the girl I met at the shop yesterday, the one who wore the blue dress, and a white scarf, buying the blueberry cake, right? ,not to mention, in details, yup, that’s her. And to think these past 12 years I had known her, I had no doubt that she will still remember our old times in school as teenagers. We are grown up now. We have our own work and family to attain to, but these just making our bond of friendship getting closer.

And, that moment, I just felt like bursting into tears and tell all that had been distracting my mind all the while, but something stop me from doing it, it’s my pride. And just then, I told myself, " You need time, to figure this out, before you get anyone else involved in your problem right now. Be patient, find your own solution, only then, you ask for your friend’s advice" I just regard her with a "nothing" and smiled pretending to be all right, but this clever friend of mine seems to notice it, and she said, “ If you have a problem, split it out, don't hide it too long in your heart, it might be a disease , you know, sometimes, we really need someone to talk to apart from Allah, of course, isn’t it our nature, itself?"

“But..” I try to deny, before then she continued,” Isn’t this is what you want all along having to meet me here, to talk about your problems? “ She really knew me well, I can’t even hide it from her, she had figure it out long ago, before our meeting. This is what I really like about her, she always there, to talk to, to lend her ear and eyes, to listen to my problems, since the day I met her, she had been a friend that I long to search for and I ‘m glad that Allah destined me to meet her. ALHAMDULILLAH.

“ Hm….but…” before I can finish my line, my friend cut in “ now, what? “ “ I really want something to eat, hehe, it seems my stomach is rumbling begging for some dishes” My friend laughed joyfully;
“ haha, I bet you can eat anything right now!”
I can’t help but smile. We decided to continue our conversation after maghrib prayer and headed quickly to the mosque nearby. The soothing voice of an Imam reciting the Quran somehow made my heart in tranquility. Before long, the call of Maghrib prayer was heard and we took our ablution and prepared ourselves for the Jemaah prayer.

I took the chance to greet other’s jemaah after we had finished performing our prayer. It was a pleasant scenery to watch indeed, I always have this attached feelings whenever I’m in a mosque, it feels that my heart had found the place where it belongs, “ Hey, you seems quite lost in your thought, what are you thinking?” my friend patted me from behind, I turned to face her and smile, sincerely, I answered
“ Nothing much to tell, I just feel tranquil "

“So, what is it that you want to talk about, I ‘m all ear! “ my friend said anxiously. I was a bit reluctant to tell at first, but seeing that eager face in front of me, that always find a way to comfort me, I exhaled and begin to tell my story. And within the moment, the memory seems so fresh playing on my mind , and to begin with…

Sunday, March 25, 2012 -

My Diary~

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Him or him? You choose :)

Bismillah, my friend once asked me, "who's your dream guy?"

And what I usually answered was," It would probably be one of the manga's characters in comics *dayreaming*^^"

*cut it off*

So, it was actually at those time when one of my dearest friend confess to me; " I love someone, but I know it is not the right time, what can I do?"

I smiled at her, quoting what my sister used to say, " To love Him before you love him is a must that will surely brings you an ultimate happiness and serenity of life "

It reminds me of her, and there is nothing that I would like to say, except this dua' that really catched my heart;

Let us love Him before him,ayte?:)

Tolong sampaikan kepada bakal imamku..

Tolong beritahu si dia, cinta manusia bakal membuatnya alpa..

Tolong nasihati sia dia, jangan menyintaiku lebih dari dia menyintai Yang Maha Esa..

Tolong nasihati si dia,jangan mengingatiku lebih dari dia mengingati Yang Maha Kuasa..

Tolong nasihati si dia, jangan mendoakanku lebih dari dia mendoakan ibu bapanya..

Tolong katakan pada si dia, dahulukan Allah kerana di situ ada syurga..

Tolong katakan pada si dia, dahulukan ibu bapanya kerana di telapak itu syurganya..

Tolong ingatkan si dia. Aku terpikat kerana imannya bukan rupa..

Tolong ingatkan si dia. Aku lebih cintakan zuhudnya bukan harta..

Tolong ingatkan si dia aku kasihinya kerana santunnya..

Tolong tegur si dia, bila dia mula mengagungkan cinta manusia..

Tolong tegur si dia, bila dia tenggelam dalam angan-angannya..

Tolong tegur si dia, andai nafsu mengawal fikirannya..

Tolong sedarkan si dia. Aku milik Yang Maha Esa..

Tolong sedarkan si dia. Aku masih milik keluarga..

Tolong sedarkan si dia, tanggungjawabnya besar kepada keluarganya..

Tolong sabarkan si dia, usah ucap cinta di kala cita-cita belum terlaksana..

Tolong sabarkan si dia, andai diri ini enggan dirapati kerana menjaga batasan cinta..

Tolong sabarkan si dia, bila jarak mejadi penyebab bertambah rindunya..

Tolong pesan padanya. Aku tidak mahu menjadi fitnah besar kepadanya..

Tolong pesan padanya. Aku tak mahu menjadi punca kegagalannya..

Tolong pesan padanya aku membiarkan Yang Esa menjaga dirinya..

Tolong khabarkan pada si dia. Aku tidak mahu melekakan dia..

Tolong khabarkan pada si dia. Aku mahu dia berjaya dalam impian dan cita-citanya..

Tolong khabarkan pada si dia, jadilah penyokong dalam kejayaanku..

Tolong sampaikan pada si dia. Aku mendambakan cinta suci yang terjaga.

Tolong sampaikan pada si dia,cinta kerana Allah tidak ternilai harganya..

Tolong sampaikan pada si dia, hubungan ini terjaga selagi dia menjaga hubungan dengan Yang Maha Kuasa..

Tolong sampaikan kepada si dia kerana aku tidak mampu memberitahunya sendiri...

Hanya engkau Ya Allah mengetahui siapa si dia.. Moga pesananku sampai padanya walau aku sendiri tidak mengetahui siapa dan dimana si dia.. Moga dia seekor lebah yang sentiasa memuji keagungan Yang Maha Kuasa memasuki taman larangan dengan sopan santunnya dan bertemu mawar berduri yang terjaga oleh tuannya..

Simpanlah pesanan ku ini sehingga engkau bertemu dengan si dia suatu hari nanti...

A friend once quoted this,
‎ We don’t need to rush things, if somethings are bound to happen, it will
happen…in the right time, with the right person and with the best
reason.^_^

We usually heard a verse in Surah An-Nur, 26;

"Vile women are for vile men, and vile men for vile women. Good women are for good men, and good men for good women; such are innocent of that which people say: For them is pardon and a bountiful provision."

But I believe in our struggle in becoming a good muslim, we should pounder upon these verses from Surah al-Mu'minun, 1-11;

" Indeed are the believers. Who are humble in their prayers. And who shun vain conversation, And who are payers of the poor-due; And who guard their modesty , Save from their wives or the (slaves) that their right hands possess, for then they are not blameworthy, But whoso craveth beyond that, such are transgressors ). And who are keepers of their pledge and their covenant, And who pay heed to their prayers. These are the heirs, Who will inherit paradise. There they will abide. "

May we becomes from those whom HE guides and loves, Amin! Peace :)

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 -

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Twins of Faith : 3 Steps in Learning The Deen

9:50 am – PICC ,Putrajaya

“We’re late, the speech has started!”

You’ll gonna miss the powerful welcoming speech by Sheikh Yahya!”

“ok, ok, just keep walking and stop nagging” :p

Hehe, eventually, we arrived at the venue around 10 am, just after Sheikh Yahya Ibrahim had ended his speech with the greeting of Salam. Ok, so, is there any interesting topic he came up in his speech just now?

I was eager to know when my sister smiled and answered;

“There are two kind of people in this hall today, the one that will walkout and got nothing, and the one that will walkout and change, you choose!"

“That what I called a powerful welcoming speech” Really, the phrase do catch my attention as I take my seat just beside my younger sister who came a bit early that morning ( we came with a different car )

“ What’s more do I get for this entire day, I can’t hardly wait, Subhanallah, I can see that the venue is fully seated by audience from all around the world, and whenever Dr Zaharuddin Bin Abdul Rahman name was mentioned as the next speaker, our host would asked;

“ Is there any IIUM student here, and they would be a crowd of people who would cheer up clapping their hands and some would answered proudly, ‘ME’.

“ok, sure they would come, and that instance, I turned to my right side and smile anxiously to my dearest aunt ( young aunt, btw, she is just 18 years old ) who is still studying as a CFS student in IIUM PJ, give her a wink that say;

“ya, we are IIUM student!” and my sisters will look at us with a smirk;
“ok, we all know you are IIUM students, don’t need to tell the entire world” with that unsatisfying look in their eyes..LOL

USIM girls with their jealousy would be our answer to them.. haha,sorry sis;)

Right, how is it for a start? ☺

Our Journey of faith has just begun~

One of the talk that really intrigued me is a talk entitled “ Our Youth , the Foundations of the Exemplary Community” by Sheikh Navaid Aziz, one of the instructor of Al-Maghrib Institute in USA.

As the majority of the participants are no doubt still can be categorized as youth, it did give us as youth a better view in the thing we should consider as substantial in our life.

“There are 7 main categories in a wheel to help us (the youth) realize our true potential.

The first thing that is listed is our Deen!

As I recall when ever I attend Al-Maghrib Institute’s seminars, they would talk it over and over again, even I can’t forget the formulae ever since, So what is the formulae? Let me share it with you.

Let us take a step back to the history of our prophet, Muhammad S.A.W, when the first revelation that had been sent to him is Surah Al-Alaq,

“Recite in the name of your Lord who created”

It is mention from the first verse itself, the word IQRA’ which mean RECITE, that most scholars agreed that this word gives the indication of the importance of seeking knowledge ( all kind of knowledge which benefits the deen ), and above all, the knowledge of the Creator and this Deen (ISLAM) .

Read continuously as the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know, I suggest a continuous learning will be the best thing to do! After all, you’ll always get to learn something whenever you open a book, right?:)

Isn’t that Rasulullah had left us the two most valuable things that will never let us astray if we hold fast to them ? Quran and the Sunnah!

And this just remind me of what had Sheikh Hussein Yee said, when he challenge us;

“ You proclaimed that you love Allah, but have you spare your time in reading His word? (Quran ), if so, have you memorize it? And if so, have you try to understand His words and implement it in your everyday life?”

“ You proclaimed that you love the prophet, but have you spend your time to go through all of his hadis? If so, have you memorize it all? And if so, have you try to understand and implement it in your everyday life? “

Subhanallah, indeed, there are still a long way ahead us, and still, we think that we had knew enough? I believe that, our deen is not just about praying five times a day, or fasting in the Ramadhan, or paying the zakat, or perform istikharah ( seriously, I can’t understand why most of us are more worried of something that is not certain
(marriage) rather than something that will be a certainty to us (death).

But, as I say, Islam is more than that, it is our way of life, it start from the time we arise early in the morning until we close our eyes at night. Its about our relationship with the Creator and our relationship with His creation. It is about sharing and helping others , rather just helping yourself , indeed, and this is how it is revealed in the next revelation to our prophet, which is Surah Al-Muddaththir, verse 1 and 2;

“O you who covers himself [with a garment], Arise and warn“

Isn’t cleared that Allah ordered Muhammad S.A.W to arise from his bed and warn his people about Him and Islam? Scholars agreed that this verses show how much important that we have to implement the knowledge that we had learn, especially the knowledge of our deen. But when it comes to implementing it, some of us forget the most important thing of their purpose of creation,

“And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me.”
(Az-Zariyat: 56)

Let us reflect our action in everyday life, is it just the matter of pleasing people or pleasing the one and only Lord, Allah? I believe, each of us has desire to live happily in this world, but it is important for us as well, to spend time and effort in investing in the hereafter. When I say, investing in the hereafter, I am promoting on our contribution to this deen. What can we do ( in our strength ) to help this deen? What would be your legacy for this ummah? I just can’t stop envying people who get to live while motivating others, sharing their knowledge of this deen, imagine, what blessing that Allah had bestow in one life whose work is travelling around the world spreading about Islam? Subhanallah, I love those kind of people, and hope to be one too one day! ( Amin )

This is absolutely different with one that makes the world record of travelling around the world within 365 days? That most of us now are busy with just making a world record? How about our real record that is written by Rakib and Atib?

People who aim the akhirah, will have a better life in this world, as I remembered a quote from our dear brother in Islam, he stated;

“As we drive in our road of life, we always need to refill our fuel ( IMAN ), let the 'dunya' be our transport to 'akhirah'”

In other words, whatever we try to achieve in this worldly life, let our ultimate goal be to enter the Jannah! After all, is not the best thing for a Mukmin to have is to see their Lord face when entering His paradise? I believe that is the greatest reward, indeed! And thus makes a believer to try their best to be on their best behaviour. It was mentioned good tongue leads to good heart, hence a person that properly guard his/her deen, will definitely has a good personality to begin with.

Walk the talk, would be my advise ;D ( for me too!)

It doesn’t matter who you are, share anything you know about deen to others, especially to which that are close to you, maybe you are not from that important and famous person, but you have important person around you, your family, your friend, your spouse, your children and your neighbors, you don’t have to be ‘someone’ to spread this knowledge, you just have to be yourself , the most important thing is your intention, let it be that so others can benefits what ever you had shared with them and brought them close to Allah in remembering Him.

The next formulae would be about the third revelation that Allah had revealed in Surah Muzammil verse 1 and 2; the most important thing indeed!~

“O you who wraps himself [in clothing], Arise [to pray] the night, except for a little”

It is all about our relationship with Him, as it is stated in this verse, praying in the night, is our qiamullail. Scholars believe that they are the power that lies in one’s qiamullail, when the time where all of our fellow humans are sleeping soundly, there is the time when we wake up and silence is the only sound, with the blessing of Allah, we take our ablution and pray tahajud.

That is the time, when there is One who remains awake and waits for us to call on Him. That is the time when Allah will come to His servants. Imagine this. The Lord of the universe has offered us a sacred conversation with Him. That Lord waits for us to come speak with Him, and yet many of us leave Him waiting while we sleep in our beds. Allah (swt) comes to us and asks what we want from Him. The Creator of all things has told us that He will give us whatever we ask.

We are told in the hadith qudsi:

“Our Lord descends during the last third of each night to the lower heaven, and says: ‘Is there anyone who calls on Me that I may respond to him? Is there anyone who asks Me that I may give unto him? Is there anyone who requests My Forgiveness that I may forgive him?’” (Bukhari and Muslim)

Imagine, at those moment of silence, in such a peaceful night, we raise our hand and we tell everything that happen to us to Him ( although there is no doubt that He knows all ), but still, you felt somewhat lighten up by having to release all your burden mind to Him, and suddenly, you felt relieved and tranquility entered your mind and heart at that moment, while you shed tears in front of Him, still your heart feel at ease, like someone has comfort you from your trouble.

That is the time we had our sacred conversation with our Lord.

Who would you think that know best about the creation other then it’s Creator itself? Just like scientists who knew best about their machines, carpenters who knew best about their furniture, architects who knew best about their buildings,

And who knows ourselves best other than Allah Himself? He is the one that create us, He is the one that knows us best!

On that Day, we will see the true reality. On that Day, we will realize that two rak`at (units) of prayer were greater than everything in the heavens and the earth. We will realize the priceless check that was left on our doorstep every night as we slept. There will come a day when we would give up everything under the sky just to come back and pray those two rak`at.

There will come a day when we would give up everything we ever loved in this life, everything that preoccupied our hearts and minds, every mirage we ran after, just to have that conversation with Allah. But on that Day, there will be some from whom Allah (swt) will turn away… and forget, as they had once forgotten Him. Nauzubillah!

Build your relationship with Allah! Pray tahajud! Have a sacred conversation with Him!
*reminding myself above others*

As we try to change to a better person in this world, remember this formulae and imply it in our daily life;

Recite, Warn, Build your relationship with Allah ;)

Insya Allah, we will be a better Muslim in a way that we can help others to know Him better, I believe the changes has to start from within ourselves…

As Rumi had quoted;

"Yesterday I was clever. That is why I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise. That is why I am changing myself".

P/ S : save the next categories for the next post, stay tuned☺