It is Confirmed

Alhamdulillah I am back to my damp-smelling mansion. Sya's room bocor again and more plaster ceilings came down right on Sya's bed. If she actually sleeps there, it would smack her face.

It's raining plaster ceiling!

Well it is confirmed that I put on 4 kilos in the three weeks I went back to the glorious food land of Malizia. *Roll eyes*

Ramadhan is here. Alhamdulillah. Praise to Allah that He has lengthen our life that we can embrace another month of Ramadhan. Forgive me for all my shortcomings. Let's try our better best to reap the benefits of Ramadhan.

Boleh hilang ke 4 kilo to cik kiah oi!

What to do? : Summer Project

Alhamdulillah we managed to make one decent looking lapbook for our summer project before I go home.

Initially I was not so sure when we are going back. As a matter of fact, I thought we were not. Qadr Allah. So we will be going back TODAY y'all.

Anywaaayy, we did a lapbook on one of the sahabahs today, Sayidinna Abu Bakr AsSiddiq.

I must say, to date, this is the most challenging lapbook that we did. We have done only three so far. Hahahaha. Macamlah banyak sangat.

Challenging because first of all I had to read ALOT. Ok reading a lot is not the most challenging part. The challenging part was, to dilute the overloaded of information so that it is usable for the children. There are just so much to tell, I feel like giving them all.

I am not an experienced teacher as you may know.And my personality is, I want to give lots. Cewah. Actually sometimes when I tell a story I become too passionate. Itu maksudnya by loving to give lots. Tak caya bacalah entry entry saya.

Thus, as a solution to this, I forced them to read as well.



Gosh, we are messy. And hmm Haziq is always wearing that pink baju melayu each time I put his picture here.

So so so the cover page was partly done by Jack. He did the blue sky and he wrote the Abu Bakr and the menggerutu As Siddiq. Berkerut dahi melihat tulisan bergerutu. :P




Who can guess what the two yellow humps are?

Anyway the the two yellow spiky humps are cut from paper folders. I am now a collector of paper bags and folders whenever I can get them free.

And lapbook projects like these test my craftiness to the limit. Sebabnya I am not crafty to start with. To be able to make a chain man like in the previous entry is a big achievement already. Hoyeh! Hoyeh!

So my perasan crafty moments are making Abu Bakr's r.a. working files and making a mean looking sword.



And also my perasan good lighting moment.



But the gist of it all, I pray that my little effort is a gateway for them to want to learn more about the history of Islam. To love the prophets. To love the sahabahs. To derive lessons from it and to emulate their virtues. To gain strength from their characters. And most importantly to fear Allah and to rely only on Him.

For details of the lapbook, you can visit my other lollies HERE.

And I seriously recommend you this lecture by Sheikh Anw@r Awl@ki

Abu Bakr AsSiddiq r.a. His Life and Times

And I should be finishing my packing now. :D

Who is he?

Guess who this man is?

When Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. told his people of his miraculous journey traveling from Makkah to Jurusalem and then was raised up to the heaven in just one night, the mushrikeens were actually very happy. They were happy for finally they have the proof that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is really a mad man.

In just one night to Jurusalem? Whereas even professional caravan operators (those days) would take two weeks one way. And Muhammad saw was talking about a fantasy animal which also took him up to the sky?

At last the Mushrikeens could tell everyone how mad Muhammad (s.a.w) is especially to the Muslims.

And when they told this man, expecting him to flinch and agree with them, the man said, "If indeed Muhammad (s.a.w.) did say it, then it is the truth!"

The mushrikeens were disheartened for nothing can dent the strong believe of this man (and also the believers). For his unwavering belief and his faith, Prophet Muhammad saw gave him a nickname which even after more than 1400 years are known best for.

Who is he?

The Prophet Muhammad himself once said,

"If I were to take a Khalil , I would have taken ___________, but he is my brother and my companion (in Islam)" (Hadith compiled by Bukhari, narrated by Ibn Abbas)

Who is he?

After the death of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w, this man who is the closest friend to the Prophet s.a.w. was the one who calmed everyone down by his famous saying,

"Whoever worships Muhammad saw, let him know that he is dead, but whoever worships Allah, let him know that Allah is alive forever."

Who is he?

And just for the sake of more clues (and putting pictures is always good),



Who is he?

What to do : Fat Reducing Activity

I will be going home for the summer break on this 30th July Insya Allah. As much as I love to go home and indulge on the food food food, I also dread knowing that I will definitely put on at least 3 kilos each time.

This is no more a premonition but it is derived from historical trend of two time coming home for the summer. I leave Qtar with jeans fitting nicely, only to leave Malaysia with jeans that I could hardly breathe in. (Hmm why do I use jeans as an example even though I rarely wear one?)

3 kilos up you. Let's say it will go down after sometime I am here but it never did go down to less than the 3 kilos that I started with. In fact sometime at the end of the year (which is June to me), I would have added myself at least 1 kilo from the stagnant sit on my butt all day long activity I am doing (tapi buat homework tau bukan FB :p).

And then come July I go home, add 3 kilos more to it. And these numbers are minimal!

If I really sit down, I think i can come up with a janjang aritmetik equation for the incremental of weight with variables of the location of whereabouts am I.

I should force myself to put a slot of fat reducing activity in my what to do this summer list.

I really should. Like really really. Like seriously really. Like no smiling on the face seriously really.

But first let me try to figure out whether it should be janjang aritmetik or geometri.

Violent Song

Zachary complained to me that Sya is singing to him a very violent song. Song about babies being put one a tree and the tree come down and the baby fell down dead.

I don't like that song, he said.

Rock a bye baby, on the tree top
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall
Down will come baby, cradle and all.

Mari Kenali Nama Kedai Dalam Bahasa Arab

Cubalah teka nama-nama kedai di bawah ini. Siapa yang pertama dapat menamakan kesemua kedai-kedai tersebut dengan tepat akan mendapat hadiah dari saya, Insya Allah.

Peraduan ini however tidak terbuka kepada mereka yang bermaustatin di tanah arab kerana sebab-sebab yang sangat mistirius dan tidak tersebut di sini. Sekian terimakasih. :D

Haziq is now 11

Alhamdulillah. It has been 11 years and I still remember the day he came out blue into the world.

He didn't do too well in his apgar score. Which when in the conversation with competitive mothers, even apgar score is a benchmark. I think he got 8/10.

Alhamdulillah, though, he did quite well in most exams and his SATs this year. Bagged some awards to end his year in primary school.

Early this year both of us agreed to compete in our memorisation. But I confess, I have lost hands down. Haziq, at the point of me writing this entry, has just a few more verses to complete his memorisation of the whole Juzz Amma. While I have err one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.. (look I can count)surahs to complete it. So yes, I am proud of him. I pray that he will be steadfast and SERIOUS in this effort.

The other day we talked about the transition of boyhood to manhood. He is not there yetlah. Still very childish this Haziq. But I gave him the prophecy of a dream that he will get to signify manhood.
What kind of dream, he asked.
Ohh you will know that dream when you get it.
Is it scary?
It is not scary.
How will I know then?
It's different from any dream you have ever had.
Big eyes and bewildered, he asked, "Is this dream from shaytan??"
He he he, it is a mercy from Allah this dream I must say.

Saspen budak tu.

Haziq being the abang is forever teasing his siblings. Sometimes I think him playing with them macam bebudak, will make him like little child himself, which I suppose I don't mind much. He compensates by being brotherly and the eldest in other ways. Like correcting their reading for example. Which many times he would correct mine walaupun aku tengah solat. Making me very conscious to read long surahs when he is around. Kalau dia ada baca qulhuallah ajele. :P

I had to tell him to be more tactful when he is correcting us the parents. Kang ibu naik anghin baru tau. But Masya Allah I pray that he fulfills the hadith, "The best among you (Muslims) are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it."

So next year he would be in secondary that is if we are still here. Otherwise he would be in standard 6 in Malaysia. With alamak UPSR! Oh no.

I pray the best for him in this world and the hereafter.







More of him
When he is seven
Eight
Nine
Ten

Lollies Has a Helper

Tee he he.

I have a BIG helping hand now.

The Faths have gone back to Malaysia and left their helper here. She asked whether I can take care of her.

I did think for a week or two. And finally said OK.

And now she is here taking care of the kitchen.

Me, the control freak, has told her what she can touch and where to put things. And she immediately make the things that used to shine, glitter. Ooohh silau.

So so so..I am thinking of making a major overhaul in the kitchen. Which actually I have done half way. Eh sorry a quarter way. With her presence, perhaps we can turbo charge the overhauling.

Hmm let me think about more overhauling work over a good cup of coffee. Bibik bikin air kopinya satu ya.

Musim Panas Minum Asir

Asir - jus

Over here, and also many of the arab countries, they have wonderful small juice stall. And in this juice stall they sell, surprise surprise, juice. Well they sell other snacks too like burgers which resemble sometimes the popular brand. Hmm perhaps another entry that one.

And the juice is simply simply best. Sebab pertamanya they don't dilute the juice. Mostly it is pure pulp. And they don;t use ice cubes. When they do use ice, it would be crushed ice together with the pulp like ice blended. But still the taste of the real juice is there. Tell them you don't want ice if you wish.

And the options even in one shop sungguh membeliakkan mata. Mana satu nak pilih ni?

Mari saya tunjukkan a typical menu



Boleh pilih nak yang biasa-biasa macam shakes. Or mango juice or banana juice. As for myself if I am feeling a bit heavy and tak nak creamy stuff, I would choose promeganate juice (buah delima).

Otherwise i would order avocado juice. Which typically they would squirt a bit of honey or chocolate. Or I would order abood. Honey dew mix with milk and ice cream i suppose. Or chickoo juice or what you would know as air ciku. Serious sedap.

Kalau tak adventorous you can always order banana juice, mango juice, water melon juice, guava, carrot and orange juice.

Or be like my lover. he always pick the strangest looked drink. Yang paling colourful. Yang paling berbelang. Dan saya akan pau air dia kalau rasanya sedap

The price differ from shop to shop but typically it is QR5 for a small mug (which is enough for me). But my lover would choose a big one which is typically QR10. Kalau minum avocado in a big mug perut kembung dan kenyang gila.

QR5 is really ok considering the juice is very thick and rich. Of courselah kalau beli kat kedai mahal like the Mandarin, a big cup is QR18. And rasa pun sedap. Tapi bayarlah QR18 macam tu. Sebolehnya kalau orang kedekut macam aku, I only buy at the small juice stall yang mostly run by Indians over here. murah and sedap. that's the way to buy things.

The taste as expected, differ from one stall to another. I have a few favourites. I personally think the one at tasty king, salwa road serve great juice. So far yang saya order tak menghampakan. And same goes to tasty bell kat west bay petrol station. My husband drinks his avocado kat najma. One of the petrol stations. Somewehere near navigation plaza. Memang betul sedap.

So agak-agak korang nak order yang mana?

Defensive

I met a local lady the other day. She told me that she has visited Msia (along with the mass exodus or arabs who come and visit Msia). And then she told me that she is sad with the Msians.

Err I asked why. Because, she said the msians can really read the Quran very well but they do not understand a thing they read.

Hmmm. OK I know this fact already because I am one of the statistics.

Well first of all it is the different culture. We just are not born speaking in arabic. It requires one to actually learn it. And really there are quite a large number of us who can not only recite but also understand the language and on top of that write and speak it too. Too bad you didn't meet these people in the mall or in genting or langkawi.

Also most of us use the translation and read the tafsir book to understand the quran. We may not be able to speak the language, but it does not mean we do not understand anything from the quran. And many people attend tafsir class for deeper understanding.

But i didn't say this to her lah.

I did tell her what I have written in this blog though. I told her first of all praises to Allah that my husband come here to work so I have the opportunity to learn the language. Then she said, perhaps mixing with the society helps you.

Heh heh I said. Actually not so much. It helps that my teacher is an arab so she can point out the way I pronounce a letter. But the society is not of much help.

First of all, the local ladies don't really speak to the foreigners. Perhaps there are a lucky few. But otherwise they just don't speak to us. Nor even smile at us. Especially if you are an asian whose facial feature is very similar to her helper.

And if we do meet some arab, most of them want to practise their English anyway. But mostly are men.

Or if we try to shuay shuay speak arabic, they think our arabic is funny because we sound ancient or we sound like a newscaster. No one speaks the Fus-ha yaani the quranic arabic.

Of course we can try to speak arab to the guy in the souq when we shop. But they actually speak the worse arabic. Sometimes mixing arabic with their own language. No arab work in the souq nowadays. Mostly are the indians or the bangladeshis or pinoys.

None of this helps you with the understanding of the quran.

So i was just a bit defensive. Even though, sadly i know she is right. But making a general remark about us I feel is unfair.

Ya ka unfair? Hmm..

Anyway, days later while I was chatting with my friend, I was suddenly reminded of this verse in Al baqarah 2:78

وَمِنۡہُمۡ أُمِّيُّونَ لَا يَعۡلَمُونَ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبَ إِلَّآ أَمَانِىَّ وَإِنۡ هُمۡ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ (٧٨)

Among them (the Jews) are unlettered folk who know not the Scripture except trusting from desires. They but guess.

ummiyeen - unlettered folk (buta huruf).

Not just unlettered but also common people and those not from people of knowledge.

This verse is actually describing about some of the Children of Israel who can only read the tawrah but do not know what it means. They are only following presumptions and blind following the scholars.

Let us not be one of them.

---

Just some suggestions.

I found this link that Insya Allah may help us understand the translation of the quranic words. As Quran are highly repetitive, if we are disciplined enough, Insya Allah we can learn more Quranic words.

Go to this link. UNDERSTAND QURAN. Check out the courses they offer. Can start with the kids one if you wish. They are free by the way. Barakallahufikum to them.

Of course just knowing the meaning of the words are not enough. Accompany ourselves with good tafsir books. I am using Ibn Kathir. It can also be accessed HERE.

May Allah make it easy for us.