Saturday 4 June 2011

~I beg to differ~


I was sitting at the bench in the station just now
waiting to return a belonging to a friend who asked me to watch over it for a while..


The whole time I couldn't lift my head at all.

Not because of a stiff neck,
not of heavy-headedness,
nor caused by extreme fatigue.

It was because of the many attacks on my eyes.

Zina mata.


Well yeah of course it's summer, this is the time when the Brits and the other locals want to enjoy the sun which they rarely get throughout the year, so they will want to expose as much of their skin with their partners, and if I'm not careful this would just cause me to accumulate sins of maksiat.

I don't blame them.

Am I supposed to? No.


They don't know. They are victims of situation (or mangsa keadaan in Malay). Their culture dictates how they are supposed to behave and act. You might call them ignorant, but it is not their fault (if you ask me) if knowledge are not reaching them, it is because we are not doing our jobs as the Khalifah of Allah and becoming the role model of the whole world as how we had been during the Golden Age of Islam.

That whole time I spent observing my knees I thought to myself:

"How great would it be if I'm back in Malaysia..."



Then it occurred to me.




Are we any different?


Forget about the non-muslim Chinese & Indians, I'm talking about the Muslims of Malaysia. Malay Muslims.

Are we any different?

The more decent ones might be covering their hairs, but other than that?
And what about the ones who considers the other gender as if they are members of their blood-related family?

(You know what I mean..)


We are glorifying the Western Culture.

We are making them the icons of modernisation and greatness.

They separate their governments and life from their churches and religion, becoming secular countries and we follow them.

We forget that once the Islamic world was the trend.

We forget that once the West were the ones who are racing to copy us.

We let wahn rule our hearts and society.. and what is wahn?
"Cintakan dunia dan takutkan mati."


The problem of our society is that we don't have the understanding of Islam.
The basics of Aqidah itself has not reach our hearts.
Knowledge will not move us, only the understanding and appreciation will.

Remember that if a wealthy father gave his first son abundant fortune and little for his other son, he will be most outraged by the first son if he acts the same as the other son and falls into poverty with him.

The greatest ni'mat that Allah will give is the understanding and knowledge of Islam. Similarly if we act as if we are no different than people who don't, we will be judged worse than them in the court of Allah in the Hereafter.

"And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or rejects the Truth when it reaches him? Is there not a home in Hell for those who reject Faith?"
(Al-'Ankabuut: 68)



When will Muslims see that we should live Islam that we have learnt?

When will they grasp the understanding of Islam?



But will the whole blame be brought on them?




No, because it is our job to wake the society up.

Nothing will come from giving out statements. We must do what we have to do, little by little.

"Man is hasty by nature. I shall certainly show you My Signs. Do not ask Me to be hasty."
(Al-Anbiyaa': 37)

And InshaAllah Islam will rise again.

Thursday 2 June 2011

~Server Down~






Just a short animation I made (tell me if the link's broken and nothing appears above). Our research group's cluster was down since yesterday, someone overloaded the server so I can't do any work =_=''.

This is also a reminder to me though.. not to waste time.

Translation of the above message:
"Time is like a sword, if you don't make use of it, it will cut you."



What have we been doing during our spare time?



Something beneficial? Lagho?





Only we can answer.

Wallahu'alam..


بِسْمِ ٱللَّـهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

وَٱلْعَصْرِ ﴿١﴾ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ لَفِى خُسْرٍ ﴿٢﴾ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ (٣

"By the time! Lo! Man is in a state of loss; save those who have faith and do righteous deeds, and counsel each other to hold on to truth and counsel each other to be steadfast."
(Al-'Asr:1-3; Translation: Maududi)


Tuesday 31 May 2011

~Believe it or not~

*PRAAANGGG!!*

Mum comes to the crime scene running..

"Ok who broke this mug?"

A: Err.. the cat did it. I was just sitting here reading... "

"Hmm.. Ok I believe you, but I will still punish you for it."

A: D=






There are about 1.6 billion Muslims around the world presently (Wiki P. ed ia, 2011). That's a huge number innit? But how many among them are muslims?

...what, you can't see the difference?
I repeat: How many among these Muslims are muslims?


Got it? It's just capitalisation, but in English, one is a proper noun and the other is a common noun. Proper nouns symbolises names of objects, but a common noun is a class of entities where same entities share the same characteristics or definition.

You can always call a cow Wolf, but no matter what it is still a cow.
Look at this book below:


what genre would you call it? (ignore the fact that I mispelled a certain writer's last name. I was rushing, and first try on GIMP is not easy when you're unfamiliar with photoshop =_='')
No matter what the name on the book is, you can't call it a book on classical literature. It doesn't have all the boring winding old English written which needs deciphering to understand, but it has panels and drawings, so it's a comic book.

Likewise, someone claiming to be Muslim does not necessarily mean that he's a muslim.

Muslim-ity is not a genetical inheritance, nor an attribute granted to you through verbal affirmation or engraved in your identity cards.

A Muslim is a muslim if (and only if) he submits to Allah and follow the teachings of the Messenger as his way of life, and bearing witness that Islam is the true Religion. Enforce Good and Forbade Evil, do what Allah commands and leaves what He forbids.

"Eh, aku nampak je camni. Aku Islam je. Aku percaya je Tuhan. Tak semayang pon takpe, asal hati baik sudah.."

We might hear something like this though.. =__='''

Let's go back to the sketch earlier on this post. Can you see what is wrong with the whole incident?
I bet even a 5-year-old can answer that. If Mum really does believe in A, then she shouldn't have punished him right?
Wrong? Unless she wanted to no matter what, which we should then call Child Abuse..


Ok that's not the issue here.

The point is that if we do believe in something or someone, we should reflect it with our actions. There's no point in just saying "I believe you/him/her/it/them/that" if our actions do not tally with what we said..

..if you can't agree to this then you might want to knock your head against the wall or something. It's common sense.
Isn't that right? =P

That is why there's a hadeeth (which often comes up during prayer times on TV3 in Malaysia before.. don't know if it is still there) that the difference between a muslim and a kaafir is Solat, since it is one of the main pillars which defines a muslim.



And what about Iman? What defines a Mu'min?
The Prophet (SAW) answered Jibril (AS) in the famous hadeeth narrated by Umar (the second of forty by Imam An-Nawawi), that Iman is to believe in Allah, His Angels, His Holy Books, His Messengers, the Day of Judgement and the Divine Decree.


So let's muhasabah ourselves, are we really worth being called Mu'mins?

To believe in Allah.
but are we still disobeying His commands as if He is not watching us?

To believe in the Angels.
but are we still doing what Allah forbades as if our words and actions are not recorded by the Raqib, Atid, and Katibin angels?

To believe in the Holy Books.
but how often do we read the latest and untampered version and actually following its guidance?

To believe in the Messengers.
but are we following or mocking his Sunnah?

To believe in the Day of Judgement.
but are we still performing sinful acts to others as if we won't be Judged for every single dzarrah of it?

To believe in the Divine Decree.
but when something seemingly bad and terrible happens to us do we accept it willingly or unwillingly as something that has been decreed to us by Allah?




You say you believe?

Then prove it.


TT__TT





"Ahh! Allah tahulah apa yang dalam hati aku. Tak perlulah nak tunjuk, ko jaga hal ko je ok?"

Yeah. But Allah knows your heart even more than you do. I'm just worried that He doesn't agree with you.
Me? I am minding my business. My faith is not complete if I don't want for my brother what I want for myself, and since I want Jannah, I want you to get it too. :)



Wallahu'alam...

Friday 27 May 2011

~Of a greenhouse gas..~

Hehe, in this post let's go into physics/chemistry ;) .. NO! Don't go away you Arts & Humanities Major (or History *cough*), just keep reading on it won't be that bad. =D
Although be warned that there are quite a number of references to Chemical Engineering here and there (but of course, explanations are given).
Let's call it tadabbur Chemical Engineering eh? :D

What would you answer when I ask you: what are the three states of matter?

Three? Well yeah of course: solid, liquid and gas.

Some of you guyz who has extra scientific knowledge (or maybe a wiki addict) might also answer Four; including plasma. No not blood plasma (atau plasma darah in Malay), I mean: "Plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized." (Wiki P. ed ia, 2011).

Ok I don't want to go into plasma, that is not the main point of this post.

But do you know there's another "phase" of matter? Call it the 2.5th state of matter if you want (although technically it's not). At this phase, a matter is neither a liquid nor a gas, there's no specific distinction between the phases. Or in thermodynamic terms (ok you Arts major can skip this if you want ;D) the enthalpy of evaporation ΔHvap equals zero.
When a fluid reaches this phase, it is called a "Supercritical Fluid".

So what's so great about this supercritical fluid? Let's look at carbon dioxide. In its supercritical state, it has many useful purposes. Since it is neither a gas nor a liquid it can effuse (i.e. individual molecules going through holes without collision with other molecules; or in simple terms, menembusi. You know how balloons left alone will shrink even when it has no visible holes? That's effusion) like a gas AND has solvent abilities of liquids.

This highly dissolving attribute of supercritical carbon dioxide is very useful in the extraction of chemical components, such as caffeine from coffee and even dry cleaning (which uses chemicals as solvents). It is also used in removing toxic residues, soot and odours of fire. In other words, it is used as a "cleaning" agent and what's more, it has very low impact on the environment (almost 100% non-toxic). So by becoming a supercritical fluid this common gas becomes a valuable and useful commodity.

So... what's my point in bringing up this... fluid, supercritical thingy thing. Chill, mestilah ada point dia =P

Actually what I said above relates quite closely with life and us, human beings as khalifah on this earth.

Our life is just like carbon dioxide (yeah, sorry for the analogy but I am a Chem Engineer see?). If we are released into the atmosphere, being allowed to roam freely in the environment without any restrictions, we will only be pollutants on this earth. We will only gather up in the atmosphere, increasing the temperature of the earth, causing forest fires; basically destroying the earth, making it a living hell. We might even mix with clouds, form carbonic acid and drop down as acid rain, killing trees, fish and deforming structures. In other words we will only kill and cause destruction on this earth.



"Dan (ingatlah) ketika Tuhanmu berfirman kepada para malaikat, "Aku hendak menjadikan khalifah di bumi." Mereka berkata "Apakah Engkau hendak menjadikan orang yang merosak dan menumpahkan darah di sana, sedangkan kami tasbih memuji-Mu dan menyucikan nama-Mu?" Dia berfirmanm "Sesungguhnya Aku mengetahui apa yang tidak kamu ketahui"
(Al Baqarah: 30)


Believe it or not, that is the nature of human being if they are left freely.
But then what are we supposed to do with our life? That carbon dioxide. Are we just pollutants? Well, as polluting carbon dioxide can be, it can become a form which is very useful.

We must be supercritical fluids.

Instead of just being free in gas phase, we should be controlled as supercritical fluids, then we can become the cleaning agents of this earth, removing impurities and nasty odours; purifying this earth. (which kinda coincides with one of our jobs as khalifahs kan?)

But do you know what causes substance in their gas phase to change into supercritical fluids?

The answer is Extreme Pressure.

(Below is a special warning to a certain person I know of who reads this blog)

Warning: Numbers below!

Trivia: The critical point of carbon dioxide (i.e. the point at which if the temperature and pressure go above that point, the substance will become a supercritical fluid) is 7.38 MPa (Mega Pascals) at 31.1°C. That is about 73 times the pressure the atmosphere is exerting on us.

(Ok, dah habis nombor)

So what does it mean? What makes us supercritical fluids? Challenges.
If we take challenges that we face on this earth as forces, then after taking a lot of it naturally our pressure level increases, and we'll get closer and closer to being a supercritical fluid.

This pretty much sums up the role of challenges in our life: shape us into better people to suit our job on this earth as the khalifah of Allah.

...

So is that it?

Well not really, that's just the whole concept, but there are other things that we need to do in order to prepare our lives to be pressurised into useful fluids.

(the following is explained in the form of Chemical Engineering [again.], but please bear with me k? =P)

The first step is to have a direction/purpose for our lives. If the carbon dioxide is meant as waste, then it will be waste. But if you direct it into proper pipings you can control and manage it better.
So what's the purpose of our lives? Refer to the first two lines of verse (2:30) given above, and (51:56) below:

"Aku tidak menciptakan jin dan manusia MELAINKAN agar mereka BERIBADAH kepadaKu."
(Az-Dzariyat: 56)

What's next? The gas needs to be channelled and stored in a proper containment; a pressure vessel (a container handling substance of high pressure. Aerosol cans are examples).
In other words, we need a confinement, the rules of Allah, the walls/barriers that is Syariah.

The walls however needs to be very strong and thick to withstand the high pressure that would be exerted on it, welded with one another properly and strongly or else the container will explode (heee explosions. now that's Chem Eng ;D) causing even more damage to the surrounding and to yourself. The walls should also be complete, without any holes. Allowing holes of course can release some of the pressure in your container, giving freedom to some of your carbon dioxide, but that would only lower down your value (since the amount of pressure you accumulate is what brings you closer to supercritical point), and at very high pressures, it could propagate into a crack and failure of the whole container. So always make maintenance to your walls everytime an external factor tries to damage it. ^^

Now you have your container, you are in Islam, you want to claim to be in Iman. Now as more carbon dioxide gets into the container, pressure will accumulate, and Allah will also provide additional sources to exert more pressure. Isn't this what Allah promised us?

"Apakah manusia mengira bahawa mereka akan dibiarkan hanya dengan mengatakan, 'Kami telah beriman,' dan mereka tidak diUJI?"
(Al-Ankabuut: 2)


Allah will not just let you be, He will test you with challenges and increasing your pressure value.

However the rules of thermodynamics (this is a simple one. believe me) state that increasing pressure will also increase temperature proportionately.
We are but mere humans, with challenges comes Stress. Our temperature will increase with pressure, and at high temperatures, wall materials start to get weak. It's Sunnatullah.
This is when you will need coolants to reduce the temperature of your pressure vessel. So what is it that will cool us down? Do'a, zikrullah, ibadah, patience.

".. Ingatlah, hanya dengan zikrullah (mengingati Allah) hati menjadi tenteram."
(Ar-Ra'd: 28)


Reading the Qur'an also helps, since Allah often reminds us in the Qur'an with verses such as this one below so that we will be calm and cool:

"Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang berkata, 'Tuhan kami adalah Allah' kemudian mereka meneguhkan pendirian mereka, maka malaikat-malaikat akan turun kepada mereka (dengan berkata), 'Janganlah kamu berasa takut dan janganlah kamu bersedih hati; dan bergembiralah kamu dengan (memperoleh) syurga yang telah dijanjikan kepadamu.' "
(Fussilat: 30)


Masha Allah =)
Tak cukup best ke?

And as time goes by, inshaAllah we'll become successful cleaning agents of this world.

Akhir kata: Life teaches us a lot doesn't it? Whatever we face are lessons to us. Ponder around life and our surroundings and they can provide lessons and become reminders to us. =)

Jom kita berusaha untuk menjadi khalifah di muka bumi Allah ini inshaAllah!!

Monday 23 May 2011

~Left but lives on~


Salaam 'alaikum..

It's been a long time since I've last written..
So much to do, so much to learn, so much yet to do, but have I done enough? Have I make full use of my time? Without ever learning, I repeat the same mistake again and again. If not because Allah (SWT) the Almighty had been the Most Merciful to me, He might have taken away that particular ni'mat away from me long ago, that ni'mat called TIME.

وَٱلْعَصْرِ ﴿١﴾ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ لَفِى خُسْرٍ ﴿٢
By TIME! Indeed Man is in a state of LOSS!!

Wake up me!! Can't you see that verse is directed to you??! ><''



Anyway, last week was Teachers' Day in Malaysia. My special tributes to all my teachers, (although it's a bit late, I apologise for that..) and especially to my first and best teacher ever: My Parents. If it's not for them, I won't be who I am today. I am eternally grateful for all my teachers who had been patiently passing down their knowledge to me =) you guyz are the best!

But in this post, I'd like to highlight a certain teacher of mine whom I've been holding in a special place in my heart. Someone who has taught my class for most of my childhood years, teaching the wonderful subject of Islamic Studies, and whom left us quite suddenly near the end of my schooling years..

I was browsing through my collection of pictures and found an old photo of her and memories started to stream back into my mind. She had been my teacher for as far back as I can remember (ok maybe a tad bit later), she taught us a lot about Solat, she taught us a lot about the Seerah of the Prophet (SAW), about 'Aqidah, the Most Beautiful Names of Allah (SWT), and much much more. But truthfully speaking, when I think back I've never given her the level of appreciation that she deserved, and I was astonished that it affected me so much when she left 8 years ago, crossing the barzakh separating this world and the next. Only then I realised how much contribution she had made in my life, teaching me the most valuable knowledge of all, the knowledge of Islam.



But dear (Allahyarham) teacher Wan Zarinah, even when you have left, your amal lives on. For every time I practice what you taught, you get your share in it. Every time I read Surah Al-Fajr, I'd remember the first time I learned about its tafseer from you. I can't imagine how much you've obtained even when you are no longer in this world.

And now I want to follow your footsteps. I want to follow the footsteps of the Prophet (SAW). I want to pass down beneficial knowledge to others, become a Da'ie of Allah, sowing the magnificent teachings of Islam and the Prophet. I want to contribute for the Ummah, towards the rise of Islam in the future, all for the sake of Allah's Love.. Ya Allah please guide me.. I don't want to be among the people in the state of Loss.

Ya Rasulullah, I want to follow your footsteps to da'wah. I want to meet you and the Sahabahs in Jannah someday (inshaAllah), to thank you for spreading the words of Islam till it has reached me today.

But with my current state, it is impossible.

O Allah, guide me..
please give me the strength to stay steadfast..

Ya Allah, bless my teachers in this world and the hereafter..
Give my parents the best in this world and the hereafter..

Amiin.

Tuesday 8 February 2011

~Challenges and differences~

Let's face it.

Hidup ini susah. Banyak betul masalah dia. Cabaran sana-sini, dugaan datang dari setiap sudut. Dengan study nya lagi, dengan kerjanya lagi, dan selain dari masalah dunia tu masih ada tujuan hidup manusia yang perlu dilaksanakan, yakni 'ubudiyyah dan khilafah. Beratnya rasa, perjuangan terasa begitu perit. Kerja makin banyak, study makin susah, masa makin kurang, tapi da'wah tak boleh lak dibiarkan begitu je. Dunia atau akhirat? Argh!! Tak ke mengundang dilema tu? Takkan nak dibiarkan je study untuk akhirat? Lagi teruk ialah fokus study je dan tanggungjawab Allah dibiarkan begitu sahaja, tak ke lagi naya tuh?

Namun disebalik rasa susah itu, terlintas hati untuk buka kembali lembaran Sirah Rasulullah (s.a.w.). Kadang-kadang, bukak buku. Masa lain pulak tengok video The Message (1976; versi Arab subtitle BI ada je kat Youtube. Versi BI lak lakonan Anthony Quinn tapi lagi suka versi yg pertama sebab baru dapat lebih menghayati keadaan masa tu).

Betapa hebatnya perjuangan mereka. Betapa besarnya pengorbanan mereka. Betapa berjayanya mereka disamping menjadi kaum minoriti yang ditindas. Walaupun mereka menjalankan kerja Da'wah yang meluas dan tanpa henti, sehingga ke seluruh tanah Arab, tapi ia tidak menghalang mereka berjaya dalam hidup dunia mereka. Pahlawan2 yang mantap, pedagang2 yang berjaya, ilmuwan2 yang bijaksana.. Nak dibandingkan perjuangan dan usaha mereka, betapa kerdil rasanya usaha yang sedang dilakukan sekarang. Usah kata Rasulullah (s.a.w.), tak boleh nak banding usaha perjuangan ini dengan para Sahabat. Boleh ke nak banding dengan Abu Bakr, 'Umar Al-Khattab, Uthman ibn 'Affan, Ali Abi Talib, Khabbab ibn Al-Aratt, Mus'ab ibn Umair, Hamzah ibn 'Abdul Muttalib atau Bilal ibn Rabah.. Mereka telah mengerahkan segala kuderat ke jalan Allah, biarpun betapa peritnya perjalanan mereka.. Bagaimana pula dengan aku? Kata nak syurga Allah, tapi cukup ke usaha? Kalau ditakdirkan menghadap Allah sekarang dan aku persembahkan usahaku yang sangat tak seberapa ini kepadaNya, bagaimana agaknya Allah menilai?

Tanpa sedar air mataku bergenang dan mengalir..

Di mana silapnya aku Ya Allah.. mengapa begitu payah rasanya menempuh halangan yang tidak seberapa ini Ya Allah..

Jawapannya hanya satu.. Kerana kerja yang ada tidak dilaksanakan kerana Allah sahaja. Kemungkinan besar ada salah dari segi niat. Kenapa perlu dipisahkan da'wah dengan study? Kenapa perlu dipisahkan ibadah dengan kerja2 dunia lain? Study boleh jadi da'wah, kerja boleh jadi ibadah, tapi kena betul niatnya. Jika betul kita cintakan Allah dan agamaNya, segala akan jadi mudah jika kita jadikan ia sebagai da'wah ke jalan Allah. Betulkan niat kita. Berbaloikah mengejar dunia tetapi akhirat tercicir?

Kalau kita pergi kedai mamak dan mintak pinggan, pinggan je yg kita dapat. Tapi kalau kita mintak roti canai, kita dapat roti canai dan jugak pinggan. Pinggan hanya hiasan, tapi roti canai adalah makanan untuk hidup. Akhirat ibarat roti canai tersebut, di mana kalau kita mahukan dan meminta untuk ia, Dunia akan menyusul bersama.

Ya Allah, ku ingin betulkan niatku.. Bantulah diri hambamu yang lemah ini dalam memperoleh CintaMu..

Wassalaam.

Thursday 20 January 2011

~Of a camel and its owner~

Salaam 'alaik.

Seorang lelaki sedang berada di tengah-tengah padang pasir, hanya ditemani untanya yang seekor. Dia meletakkan bekalan makanan, minuman dan pakaian di atas untanya dan mula berjalan merentas padang pasir itu. Tiba-tiba untanya melarikan diri jauh daripada lelaki tersebut dengan membawa kesemua bekalannya. Apa agak-agaknya perasaan lelaki tersebut setelah dibiarkan seorang diri di padang pasir yang luas itu? Marah? Kecewa? Sedih? Tak susah nak bayangkan perasaan dia kalau kita berada di tempatnya.

Tiba-tiba untanya kembali bersama-sama bekalan lelaki itu. Bagaimana pula agaknya perasaan dia sekarang? Mestilah dia rasa sangat gembira dan bersyukur.

Samalah juga dengan kita.. Allah (swt) pastinya murka kepada hambanya yang telah pergi jauh dariNya, mengabaikan tanggungjawab yang sedang digalas di muka bumi ini. Namun Dia pasti akan berasa gembira setelah hambaNya yang sudah sekian lama pergi jauh dariNya kembali dan bertaubat padaNya. Bukankah Dia menyayangi hamba-hambanya lebih dari ibu-ibu mereka sendiri?

Masih tak lewat untuk kembali kepadaNya. Walau sejauh mana kita telah terpesong dari jalan Allah, kembalilah, mohonlah sebenar-benar keampunan dariNya. InshaAllah Dia akan mengampuni dosa-dosa yang telah kita lakukan, dan mohonlah agar diberi petunjuk hidayah supaya kita tidak akan terpesong lagi.. kerana Dialah yang Maha Pengampun dan Maha Penyayang..

Cinta Allah adalah yang Maha Agung.. ='(


*Diceritakan kembali oleh penulis apa yang diceritakan oleh seorang sahabat yang dia hormati..

Nota: Cerita di atas sebenarnya tak boleh dibandingkan bulat2 dengan situasi dalam realiti, kerana Allah tidak memerlukan kita mahupun ibadah kita. Tapi ade point yang cuba disampaikan yang kemungkinan lebih senang difahami dengan bantuan cerita itu.. Wallahu'alam..

Thursday 6 January 2011

~Mukhlisin-The sincere ones~

Salaam,

I opened my notebook just now to jot down a few items on work when I came across notes I wrote during a talk in PMS by Dr Ayman Ewais about Mukhlisin (people who are Ikhlas-sincere, earnest). It was about the 11 fruits of being sincere. Being Ikhlas is not an easy thing to do especially with all these penyakit hati which all of us are prone to, such as being riak, ujub, and so on. In order for a deed to be accepted by Allah (swt) requires more than 99% sincerity, not even 99.9999% but 100%. One of the hardest trait to achieve, but if you succeed this is the compilation of 11 fruits of being sincere:

  1. Gaining the pleasure of Allah (swt) and have your deeds accepted by Him. (what more can you ask for?)
  2. Allah (swt) puts love to you in the hearts of other people (this can be seen as a sign of sincerity and accepted deeds).
  3. Allah (swt) saves the slave from hardship in this world (remember the tales of the Prophet (saw)'s companions?).
  4. You will get the reward even if there's a mistake without intention; i.e. it is still accepted (there was a story of a sahabah who wanted to give sadaqah at night unknowingly by others but mistakenly gave it to a prostitute, a thief and a rich person. Rasulullah (saw) informed him that his sadaqah was still accepted)
  5. You will get the reward even if something stopped you from doing a good deed; from your intentions and sincerity (it is said that if a muslim went to a mosque intending to attend jama'ah but came in late and the jama'ah has already finished, he will still get the reward of praying in jama'ah even when he prayed alone)
  6. When you do good deed, you won't get just 10-700 rewards, but endless (it is quite impossible to count rewards given by the Most Gracious and Most Merciful isn't it?)
  7. You will get the reward even if something stopped you from doing a deed you habitually do (sounds similar to the above point? what this point means is if you normally do a certain good deed with istiqamah every single day [with sincerity of course!], if on a certain day something stopped you from doing it you will still obtain the reward)
  8. If you are sincere, you'll feel very very strong (you are totally sincere and devoted to Him, and when He, the Most Strong and Giver of Strength backs you up, why shouldn't you feel strong? =D)
  9. If you have Ikhlas, you'll get rewarded for every habitual thing you do (repeat: "for EVERY SINGLE habitual thing you do". eating, drinking, taking a shower, sleeping, reading, if you have sincerity in everything you do, each and every one of those will give you reward)
  10. Ikhlas and intention is the scale of the work done (a small piece of work but with 100% Ikhlas will give you huge rewards, but a huge piece of work not at 100% Ikhlas in doing it will only give you a small reward-- this is an adaptation of a Hadith told by Dr Ayman)
  11. You get goodness and barakah in this world and the Hereafter (again, what more can you ask for?)
Dr Ayman mentioned of two types of worship, "small" and "big". "Small" worship includes doing prayers, fasting and hajj. I was a bit shocked to hear this actually. These are considered small?? And he went on and says the "big" worship is the worship of the heart, which includes sincerity, getting rid of arrogance, riak, takabbur, and to pardon every single wrongdoing of others to you. Frankly, this "worship of the heart" is the hardest part to me, which explains why it is considered "big", in that it is relatively a lot harder to do, compared to the physical fulfilment of our ibadah.

This is just a small reminder to you and me. Let's try our best to be a Mukhlis and be sincere in everything we do. =]
InshaAllah..

Wallahua'lam..

Wednesday 5 January 2011

~From home to home~

Salaam.

It had been a loooong while. =]

After a trip around the UK and spending some more time in London I am now back in Cambridge. The jaulah (literal meaning: jalan-jalan, tour, pelancongan; from Google Translate) was a 10-day trip covering the south of UK, Portsmouth to the capital city of Scotland at the north, Edinburgh before joining PMS (Perhimpunan Musim Sejuk) at Sheffield and then back to London. The whole journey follows the following route: London-Portsmouth-Bath-Cardiff-Birmingham-Liverpool-Manchester-Leeds-Edinburgh-Leeds-Sheffield-London. The overall journey was filled with fun and experiences, and most importantly a lot of knowledge and lesson was learnt and a strengthened ukhuwah was achieved =].

Sebelum perjalanan tu kami dah diberi peringatan memasang niat untuk Allah dan fikirkan apa yang hendak dicapai sepanjang jaulah tersebut. Frankly speaking apa yang saya harapkan sewaktu itu ialah untuk berjalan2 bersama sahabat2, saudara2 di sini, dan di hujung perjalanan menyertai PMS untuk mendapat input dan mengenal lebih orang dari bahagian UK yang lain. Alhamdulillah semua dapat dikecapi, namun yang paling berharga ialah perhubungan ukhuwah yg lebih erat antara kami. Walaupun saya (boleh kata) mengenali (hampir) semua sahabat2 yang turut serta berjaulah dari awal, tetapi rupanya banyak lagi boleh dipelajari tentang mereka dan mengenal mereka dengan lebih rapat. Orang yang nampak agak pendiam dan distant rupanya adalah seorang yg lembut hatinya dan menghargai persahabatan kami, muka yang baik jangan disangka malaikat, dan banyak lagi. Benarlah apa yang kami diberitahu di awal perjalanan, kata2 seorang tokoh Islam di zaman silam (Umar kalau tak silap), jika kita mahu mengenali seseorang, kita perlu makan bersama, tidur bersama dan bermusafir bersama.

10 days... yet after it ended till now, the whole journey seemed like a dream and I have to return to reality. InshaAllah I will try my best to keep all I've learnt and obtained throughout the journey in my heart.

Sangat banyak yang masih boleh dicoretkan di sini, tetapi perjalanan pulang ke Cambridge telah menghabiskan sisa tenaga saya dan juga disebabkan malam telah lewat, maka saya terpaksa menamatkan post ini di sini. Semoga dapat bertemu kembali saudara2 ku di London, Portsmouth, Warwick dan lain2 inshaAllah. =]

(heh ntah kenapa tetibe terasa nak tulis gaya skema. mengantuk kot xP tapi memang sepanjang hari terasa pelik sket badan nih..)

Below is the jaulah video compiled by Akmal Hayat: