Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Eid Mubarak!

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

First and foremost Eid Mubarak to everyone, especially my mum, dad, my fellow siblings, my grannies... Miss you all so much. Not forgetting all my friends wherever you are right now. To my youngest brother, Kamal - Happy Birthday to you!!

Hopefully we have fully utilize the holy month of Ramadhan to train ourselves towards attaining piety, and most importantly to remain steadfast after the month of Ramadhan. During Ramadhan, the battle was just between ourselves and our desire (nafs). Now we have another deadly returning enemy- the devil (syaitan). 

Apart from that, I would like to share some photos of September babies (I was born in the month of September too..lol). Yeah I know it happened ages ago, but it was Ramadhan and I'm too busy to update my blog too. Anyway here it is...

Iftar & Zhariq's, Syuk's and Zik's Birthday Celebration (5/9/08)


Guess what, the birthday boy-Zhariq cooked Nasi Beriani with ayam masak merah with the help of Meezan and Syamim


From left: Zikri, Zhariq & Syukri 

Zikri: Senyum lain macam je wahai akhi manis- ada ape-ape ke?? (hint2 :p)
Zhariq: Nak buat suprise tapi tak jadi (why not ye tak?)... semoga bertambah cemerlang dunia & akhirat ana doakan
Syukri: Dah makin tua nta ek, dah sampai masa nampaknya.... :p

Eid Mubarak again and may Allah accept all our deeds insyaAllah. Amin.

Lebaran Ini - Raihan, Nowseeheart, Ajai & Rem

والله علم
والسلام عليكم

Monday, September 29, 2008

Andai ini Ramadhan terakhir...


بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Andai kau tahu ini Ramadan terakhir, tentu siangnya engkau sibuk berzikir, tentu engkau tidak akan jemu melagukan syair rindu mendayu, merayu...kepada-Nya, Tuhan yang satu.

Andai kau tahu ini Ramadan terakhir tentu solatmu kau kerjakan pada awal waktu, solat yang dikerjakan...sungguh khusyuk lagi tawaduk, tubuh dan qalbu...bersatu memperhambakan diri menghadap Rabbul Jalil...menangisi kecurangan janji ‘innasolati wanusuki wamahyaya wamamati lillahirabbil ‘alamin’ [Sesungguhnya solatku, ibadahku, hidupku, dan matiku, kuserahkan hanya kepada Allah Tuhan seru sekalian alam]

Andai kau tahu ini Ramadan terakhir, tidak akan kau sia-siakan walau sesaat yang berlalu, setiap masa tidak akan dibiarkan begitu saja, di setiap kesempatan juga masa yang terluang alunan al-Quran bakal kau dendang, bakal kau syairkan.

Andai kau tahu ini Ramadan terakhir, tentu malammu engkau sibukkan dengan bertarawih, berqiamullail, bertahajud, mengadu, merintih, meminta belas kasih ‘Sesungguhnya aku tidak layak untuk ke syurga-Mu, tapi...aku juga tidak sanggup untuk ke neraka-Mu.”

Andai kau tahu ini Ramadan terakhir tentu dirimu tidak akan melupakan mereka yang tersayang, mari kita meriahkan Ramadan kita buru, kita cari, suatu malam idaman yang lebih baik daripada seribu bulan.

Andai kau tahu ini Ramadan terakhir, tentu engkau bakal menyediakan batin dan zahir, mempersiap diri, rohani dan jasmani, menanti-nanti jemputan Izrail, di kiri dan kanan, lorong-lorong reda ar-Rahman.

Andai ini Ramadan yang terakhir! Duhai Ilahi...andai ini Ramadan terakhir buat kami, jadikanlah ia Ramadan paling bererti, paling berseri, menerangi kegelapan hati kami, menyeru ke jalan menuju reda serta kasih sayang-Mu, ya Ilahi semoga bakal mewarnai kehidupan kami di sana nanti.

Namun teman...tak akan ada manusia yang bakal mengetahui apakah Ramadan ini merupakan yang terakhir kali bagi dirinya, cuma yang mampu bagi seorang hamba itu hanyalah berusaha...bersedia...meminta belas-Nya.

Oleh kerana kita sama-sama tidak tahu apakah Ramadan ini terakhir buat diri kita, mengapa tidak kita mengambil langkah selamat, iaitu terlebih dahulu mengambil kesempatan Ramadan yang kita lalui ini untuk beramal ibadat sedaya mungkin, berdoa serta merintih memohon keampunan. Selamat beramal!

والله علم
والسلام عليكم

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Road Not Taken: At the Crossroads of life

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم


As a continuation from my previous post on making hijrah (to change) to a better person, I would like to share my story and my personal thoughts on it. Here it goes...

As a teenager, I rarely had the priviledge of sound advice when making big decisions. At that age, it never dawned upon me that those decisions would cause a cascading effect and impact the rest of my life.

You see, the world changes so fast that it has become something vastly different from that of our ageing parents that they sometimes take a hands off approach towards "bigger decisions" in our lives. Yes, they may fret about what you wear, what you eat and what time you are supposed to sleep, but these are little things that are sometimes insignificant in the long term.

Decisions about friends, about education, about life and... about love. All made with advice from similarly confused peers, surrounding influences and through mere gut feeling.

I was quite a high achiever back then. But here's the conundrum - teens have so much knowledge and information made available to them, but those who lack guidance do not have the necessary framework or methodology to digest these information and make smart, well-informed decisions.

All we needed was advice. All we needed was advice. All we needed was advice. So seek advice!

From Tamim Al-Dari RA:
Prophet SAW said: "Religion is nasihah (advice)." We said: "To whom?" The Prophet said: "To Allah and His Book, and His messenger, and to the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk." [ Hadith Narrated by Imam Muslim]


We can read from several hadith narrations how the young companions of the prophet would approach him and say, "Advise me, oh Rasulullah..."

And not having the comfort of an understanding mentor during the transitional teenage years is a common experience too many of us go through... making decisions that we may regret later in life...

Making choices in life


We face many crossroads in life. Sometimes, the decision to initiate change is not as easy as it seems. There have been times when certain factors seem to conspire to prevent that change from occuring.

Yes, we may plan, but verily Allah is the Best of Planners.

“They plot and plan, and Allah too plans; but the Best of Planners is Allah” (8:30)

And we husnu dzon (think positively) towards what Allah has in store for us.

"With God is the Decision, in the past and in the Future..." (30:4)

From Suhaib RA:
Prophet SAW said: "Strange are the ways of a believer for there is good in every affair of his and this is not the case with anyone else except in the case of a believer for if he has an occasion to feel delight, he thanks (God), thus there is a good for him in it, and if he gets into trouble and shows patience, there is a good for him in it." [ Hadith Narrated by Imam Muslim]


Teenagers are not the only ones who are in the transitional period of their lives. From time to time, we face periods of transitions that we have difficulties assimilating ourselves into - studying overseas, changing jobs, death of kith or kin, etc...

One of the most prevalent form of transition among youths is in embracing hidayah. A sudden surge of God-given Islamic awareness causes a whole lot of introspection and fuels the passion for change.

Why do we need to change? Why can't things just remain the same?

"...Verily never will God change the condition of a people until they change it themselves..." (13:11)

People in a crisis of change usually feel isolated. The urge to change brings forth overwhelming guilt if one continues to suppress it and continue to live in denial. And, sadly, some do in the end choose to stay the same, preferring the comfort of familiarity over the pursuit of a better goal, a more pristine destination.

In fact, change is beautiful. The struggle of change is a joy to behold for those who understand. Like watching the leaves turning a magnificent hue of red and orange when it changes to autumn...

They say life's a journey, not a destination.

The purpose of life is for the ultimate destination to meet our Creator. Yes, our journeys may differ, but let us come to the same path before time expires, for our destinations are all the same.

"Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become."

" Should your path be the same as mine,
Take my hand... let's walk the straight line,
But should your path still veer and bend,
Go in Peace, my friend... "




May Allah guide us all...

والله علم
والسلام عليكم

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Ramadhan Mubarak

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم




Just came back from a one week trip to Wellington and Palmerston North. I think it is still not too late to wish everyone Ramadhan Mubarak! I'm not going to ramble much for this whole month for sure. All I wanted to say to all my friends, especially those whom we just met in Wellington, Palmerston North and not forgetting my beloved fellow friends here in Auckland...

TAKE THIS VERY RARE GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY OF RAMADHAN TO MAKE HIJRAH (to change)... TO A BETTER PERSON. Don't be scared to change as I know you will lose a lot from this worldly life when you change.. and become a 'stranger' to most people nowadays... but have faith in Allah's promises in the Quran:

Indeed he succeeds who purifies his ownself. And indeed he fails who corrupts his ownself. (91:9-10)

O you who believe! If you help (in the cause of) Allah, He will help you, and make your foothold firm. (47:7)

If Allah's promises can't even convince you, then you should you really start worrying about your iman (faith) and ask yourself do I really believe in Allah?

Let's all together be a better person throughout this Ramadhan and pray a lot that we will remain steadfast with our deeds even after this Ramadhan has ended. Yakinlah kawan-kawan dengan jalan yang lurus ini...

Daripada Abu Hurairah RA:
Bersabda Rasulullah SAW, "Islam mula tersebar dalam keadaan asing. Dan ia akan kembali asing pula. Maka beruntunglah orang-orang yang asing". [Hadith Riwayat Imam Muslim]






والله علم
والسلام عليكم