Ubat Jerawat

I got quite fed up with the jerawats on my face. I have gone to the dermatologists many times. I was also given antibiotics to be eaten and to put on the the said troubled area.

Alhamdulillah, Allah has allowed the ubats to reduce the pimples presence . But upon finishing the ubats, the pimples came back. Most of the time, big and prominent.

Anyway apparently the jerawat issue has been my concern since 2005. This is made apparent in the blog posts I have.

There is one here in 2005. Subhanallah, I remembered 2005 was a hard year for me. For us the whole family. HArd in terms of monies but I remembered being happy. So this is the post on jerawat in 2005.

Another mentioning of jerawat also in May 2005. An attempt to clear the skin by going facial.

In 2007 was the year the jerawat erupted full blown and caused alot of damage. I was already in Qatar then. HERE

In this post another mentioning that my past time hobby is playing with the jerawat. Hahhahaha

The jerawat was so bad that my children can play connect the dots with it. HERE.

Probably the last mentioning of jerawat in 2008 HERE.

Even though it is the last mentioning but it does not mean it has recede. Subhanallah I was too frustrated with it to even mention in the blog anymore. Like I said I went to the doctors many times. Qadr Allah, the jerawat just refuse to leave the face.

Finally I said that was it! I mean if the problem persists after so many attempts surely there is something wrong with the attempts. I decided to use traditional remedy. I have nothing to lose anyway.

I took out a cinnamon stick. Grind it at the bottom of the pestel. Bontot lesung. A bit of water to create the paste. And rub the paste on the protruding pesks. It hrts abit when you first apply it. But Alhamdulillah it didn't cause trouble like the ubat did. SOme of the antibiotics will only stunt the growth but will leave the jerawat like that. So I had millions (exaggeration) of stunted growth jerawat on my face. Add that to the newly coming ones.

Subhanallah the cinnamon paste, not only stunt the growth but made it smaller too. It would leave a black dot for a while. If at the right place on the face, some people might mistake me with Marilyn Monroe. But soon after, bi idznillah, it went away.

Yesterday I was visiting some friends who just came back from hajj. (May Allah accept their hajj). One of the ladies are now under the acne attack. So I shared them my experience. even made demonstration and seletkan kat muka dia. She felt a little stinging pain on the naughty acne. If Allah allows it, the jerawat will go away.

I used to bring my Dalacin-T everywhere. especially when I go back to Malaysia. Now I armed myself with a cinnamon stick. Bi Idznillah this will be an asbab for the jerawat to go away. Err not the lesung though.

So share lah if you have other traditional remedies.

Cuti Sikit

In Qtar there are three public holidays. The major ones are for Eid Fitr and Eid Adha. Both are for good one week. The last one is for the independence day: 1 day.

Because break is so rare, I love them to bits. Many Msians take this time to buat makan-makan (plus it is raya time anyway), or have a break over the others sea, picnic and off sort.

And for me this time round, this cuti eid adha is another breather. I am really bad at housekeepinglah. :( I know and have told myself quietly if I were to allatul (another arabic word for you which means immediately) sort everything - punch papers, staple them put in a file - things will be kept tidy. Most importantly you can find it when you need it. Ni tak, for months there are papers stack here and there. And when I badly need them, I can't find them. And now ehen I am thinking of sorting them, I am stuck hours rereading them. Best pulak. he he.

Picture : My working table at slightly good time.

The new term has nearly end. I really should be writing down what I want to do mostly for the kids besides what I am already doing with them. I have quit some weekend classes, it is time to make full use of the otherwise used time for something good. But I feel the need to sort of schedule what to what and when and how, because my head is fill with so many things.

This for me that for me, those for them and this one and that one and those too and perhaps that also. Plus all of that. Ahah! this is good too!

Subhanallah! Breathe in and out. Ok kita kemas dulu!

Adoi

I told haziq to pick up a rubbish that is so obvious and can be seem glaringly near the table. He picked up Sya and said, "she is too heavy!"

Anyway Haziq, my eldest, managed to sprain his arm muscle so bad that he needs a sling now. He was trying to climb a wall. This is the house wall that divides one house to his neighbour. Or what most of us would call a fence.

The fence in most Arab houses are very high and are usually wall like. It is usually very high. I suppose this is to make it easier for the women to go out and water the plant or clean the halaman without the need to cover her head. I am kinda enjoying this. It is probably also to reduce the sand that goes in the house. But i would probably be worried to have this fortress wall in Malaysia because of the possibility of crime. The house would be somewhat isolated.

Anyway, haziq climbed it because he is very clever. I think also he wants to peak at the neighbour's house because they have a pool. We so need to address this in our halaqah.

Anyway when Haziq was somewhere three to four years old, he definitely was no stranger to our nearby hospital: emergency department. So much so, the doctor had to interview us to make sure we are not abusing our child.

The first one when he was three. Lover was piggy-back him. he miscalculated Haziq's position such that when Haziq comes off him he fell and hit his head at the besi part of our beloved teak coffee table (it is no more beloved now) and the besi hit him at the most delicate part of his back of the head. And there was just so much blood. Non stop coming out. Serious panic!

Sometime later, he was running around our dining table and miscalculated himself and managed to hit himself on the corner of our dining chair. It sliced his eyebrow and nearly hit his eye. There is still a scar on the brow now. My advise is don't get the besi dining set. Wood is better. Or plastic? :P

One time he was playing outside and perhaps out of protest he pushed our house gate. Because he pushed it so hard, the gate bounced back and the ear of the gate, where you put your padlock, which was at the same height as Haziq's ears then, hit Haziq at guess where? The ears. Blood was trickling out from his ears.

Another time he was playing this funny looking three wheeled car. The one that you need to wriggle the steering to move about. But because he was and still is very clever, instead of looking forward to drive, he decided that he wants to face backward and paddle his way. The thing about this three wheeled car is tht, it has a heavy bottom. So when he sat the wrong way, it made the bottom heavier and the car lost its balance and lopsided. It lopsided with haziq falling face down, two front teeth first. More blood and two front teeth were loose.

I can't remember other smaller things but I do not wish for more.

In all cases, Allah has saved him and protected his head and brain, his eyes and sight, his ears and hearing and his teeth. The teeth did come out later like normal children though. Alhamdulilllah.

Ibu punya jantung manyak kali mau jatuh woo.

May Allah protect all of us Ya Rabb.

Matahari sudah bersinar kembali

I think my arabic teacher is realising something about the class. She must have noticed our blur faces. Two have quit the class. And a few more have said to me they are planning to do the same.

So last Monday she slowed down. Alhamdulillah. And the information she plans to give is little by little. She slowed down also on describing the nitty gritty details of the kana sisters and the i'rab(arabic grammar. You will find the word kana alot in quran). Instead she focused on vocabularies and encouraged us to build sentences describing pictures or giving opinions.

I went to talk to her to say thank you to her. i told her how much i love learning the language but understandably twice a week lesson won't be enough to expect all of us to be so fluent. She is a new teacher as in this is the first time she teaches non arabs. She realises also that non arabs observation on the language is different than the arabs themselves which she is slowly learning.

Then we can help each other. For her to be a better teacher as well as me to be a better student. Alhamdulillah.

The arabic classes here are the best for me. It suits my timing as a mother who has free time ONLY in the morning. It is for non arabs. And most of all, the classes are filled with reminders about Allah. At the end of the class, the teacher would pass out hadith. My arabic teacher would give hadith in arabic (without harakat) for us to read. I myself just hentam most of the arakats (of course strong sound i'rab will help you to read :P) and she will explain the meaning and peel short lessons from it.

I really love this. I love it so much that each time I think about it, I feel like crying. Even the books we used, the articles that we need to read would always include hadith or quran verses. May Allah bless them with manifolds of hasanat and bestow on the ilham to spread the deen.

Learning arabic languages at most places would be like learning any language but in the centre I am learning, it is really learning the language of the deen. (I am sure in malaysia is the same). Insya Allah tak mau quit!

So if i am not happy, I will tell (the teacher and err put a post here) because I want to stay as long as I can. Allah Musta'an.

Today's classes were great. We talked about good food, bad food. Describe pictures. Laugh. I can make jokes again. I had a great time even though more than three quarter of the words in the article are still alien to me. :P

Of course she ends the class by telling us there will be exam after eid.

Don't wanna be friend lah like this.

First of Dzulhijjah already

Yesterday, i went to sent off some of my friends for hajj. Already? It seems like it was just yesterday that I was being sent off.

And as they were all getting themselves prepared and we talked or tried giving tips based on my own experience, I can't help feeling sayu throughout.

I remembered the times when I was told I am not accepted to go.
I remembered more the feeling of being told we can go later.
I can still remember the fajr prayer that I had, before we depart to Mina on the 7th Dzulhijjah.
And the silence as arafah hour was approaching.
I remembered the I-dont-care-if-lunch-is-late feeling when they served us lunch quite late while I want to run off in isolation armed with head and heart bursting with du'a.
And the final tawaf - tawaf wida' - when I cried and cried and cried in realisation that hajj is finally over.

Subhanallah. I cannot think about hajj but not drop a tear or feeling tight in the chest.

Alhamdulillah still I am allowed to go to another Dzulhijjah and experience the best ten days in Allah's sight. Grab this first ten days of Dzulhijjah like how you want to grab the last ten nights of Ramadhan.

Fast for nine days if you can. At least on the 9th Dzulhijjah.
If you can afford it, make qurban.
Say tahmeed (Alhamdulillah) as you cruise in the day. Takbir. Tahlil (lailahailallah. bukan buat tahlil arwah ya) and tasbih (Subhanallah. Bukan pegang tasbih)

Again, this sunnah is something that I see being practise alot here. As you do your grocery shopping, you can hear them doing the dzikir, made order and continue with their dzikir. Sometimes some men would recite the takbir (Takbir raya as you would call it). Of course I only realise this after I learn this. Otherwise what i can see is people mumbling or queue cutters or rude people. I guess you see what you choose to see.

May Allah grant the pilgrims hajj mabrur and May he make it easy for all of them.

Anak sendiri

Ni nak pergi kelas KAFA in 45 minutes.

Sebok mengajar anak orang, anak sendiri pun tak betul.

:((

Ash'uru bissuda'

I have a headache.

Subahanallah! The arabic class is now a challenge for me.Each time I finish the two-hour class, I have a headache. This somehow affected half an hour of my tajweed class which is after that.

I am finding my new teacher difficult to understand. She is also teaching in almost all arabic. And I find myself with vocabularies that are totally alien to me. I admit, arabic was easy(ier) for me earlier because I had a head start with some words.

My new teacher loves teaching grammar.For each new paragraph, she would be making i'rab (sectionalising every word with grammar rules), and it is making my eyes juling. Pages and pages of i'rab. And worse i find it hard to do the grammar rules when i do not know what the words mean. Huhuhuhu.

This month has been most bercelaru-in-the-head month. I am trying to cope with all the classes and the homework. Subhanallah! Allah musta'an.

It does not mean I want to give up. I am reminded that there are beautiful times when I read the quran, and I am beginning to understand the verses. It started perhaps with one word and sometimes it is the whole verse. No I am not into making i'rab of the quranic verses yet. And this (understanding the meaning of the verses without looking at the translation) is a big reward for me. Alhamdulillah.

I think I need to change attitude.
Errr I think i should be studying.

Lately i have been having mental block making it difficult for me to remember new words. This is another worry. My tajweed class is doing memorisation and tajweed. For now it is easy as we are still on the short surahs of Juz Amma.

I think I need to change attitude.
Errr I really should buckle up.

I felt like writing all the complaints about the kids (lack of discipline) and stuff that are going around me. When it rains, it pours. But then as I write it down or mentally blog it, the more I feel that it is me who is not doing enough. :(

May Allah make me steadfast in seeking the knowledge of the deen. And may He make it easy for me.

What difficulties do you have?

We had a visit by Sister Mariah Ma the other day. for those of you who are not in the know, Sister mariah Mah is a muslimah from Singapore and is a very active philanthropist over there. She is involve with tremendous charity work. Her work mainly focuses on improving the Muslims brothers and sisters in China. She is also cited to be one of the 500 most influential muslims in the world 2009 due to her charity work in China. Masya Allah! Google the book up.

Do you know that there are about 30 Million Muslims in China? And do you know that the Malaysian population alone is about 28 Million people (latest stats Jul 2010). And another trvia is that there are 1.4 billion Muslims in the world.

Anyway Islam in China goes a looong way. Some said that Prophet Muhammad sallahu alaihi wasalam has already send the risalah to china at the same time He (sallahu alaihi wasalam) sent the daawah to Emperor Heraclius of the Roman Empire and Chrosoe in Persia. And Allah knows best.

A more notable history is that during the time of Khalifah Uthman bin Affa radiallahu anhu, he sent an envoy led by one of the most prominent sahabahs, among the ten promised jannah, Saad bin Abi Waqas radiallahu anhu, to spread daawah of Islam in China. With the guidance of Allah, many embraced Islam and they have been Muslims for more than a thousand years.

However, many of our brothers and sisters of Islam in China are poor and many of them are deprived from the basic necessity that you and I are enjoying. Sister Mariah Mah shared with us some photos and many are living in very poor accommodation and some still live in caves.

Sister Mariah Mah work involve in providing water, rehabilitating masjids, mengimarahkan masjid, setting up madrasah and paying the teachers, setting up orphanages, giving scholarships and so on. Masya Allah.

She is calling for plenty of charity drives to help her to help our brothers and sisters in China. There are many ways you can help but one of the most interesting charity drive she is doing is, providing a tour service around the famous places in China of which all the profits go to the charity projects. If you are interested to go to China, but afraid of eating improper food and not knowing where to pray perhaps you can consider her services. The best part is, depending on the package, you can choose to go visit the Muslim community there. If you wish to volunteer to become a teacher, she would also welcome you with open arms.

Check this site out China Muslim SilaturrRahim. She also do a qurban project.

Anwyway when she was showing pictures of the condition of their living and the orphanage houses, I felt sad but not too sad. Because there are something even more sad than being poor. What saddens me is when she also said that many of them do not practise Islam anymore. Life is hard in china especially during the hardcore communist time.

Just proclaiming believing a religion may deem persecution and torture! Many of them had to smuggle themselves out to do hajj. Saving up so much money, smuggle themselves out and back in only to come back being discovered and death on them.

The imams who survived narrated that they had to hide to learn the quran when they were young. These are all risks to the families. Fear and death are looming on them all the time.

And after some time, what is left on them is just knowing Lailahhaillah, no pork, no alcohol and to say Bismillah when slaughtering animal. But because they are poor, slaughtering is a rare occasion anyway. The woman mostly don on hijab to distinguish themselves that they are muslims. But no more solah, no more fasting and other things.

And Subhanallah time is easier now, it is time to revive what is lost among our brothers. And Insya Allah that is what Sister Mariah Mah is doing. Many of those who Allah kept their heart firm with iman are coming out to spread Islam again.

I came across a hadith or saying of the salaf. i am not sure. once but I cannot find it anymore. So do correct me

"There will come a time when people only know Lailahha illallah and that is only because they heard the older people say so. What good would it be? It will make them enter jannah."

May Allah alleviate their difficulties.

The question to myself again, so what difficulties do you have Lollies?

Again do consider this charity tour programme if you are thinking of going abroad. I would.

We are having it easy

I would like to share with you today the story of one of my favourite soorahs - Suratul Burooj. It is in Juz Amma. Juz Amma is what the malays like to call muqaddam.Or perhaps surah lazim. Hah! I have a story about surah lazim, eh tapi nantilah story. Anyway it is Surah no 85 and it has 22 verses.

I strongly suggest that you memorise this surah. Actually I strongly suggest that you memorise the quran (I have not though :( ) at least aim to finish the whole of Juz Amma first. When one memorises the surah and know the meaning of it or at least the gist of the meaning, the level of concentration is different in solah, Insya Allah.

Anyway, I am putting a hadith that comes with this particular surah. It is a good story in it.

The Book Pertaining to Piety and Softening of Hearts (Kitab Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqa'iq)
Muslim :: Book 42 : Hadith 7148

Suhaib reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) thus said:

There lived a king before you and he had a (court) magician. As he (the magician) grew old, he said to the king: I have grown old, send some young boy to me so that I should teach him magic. He (the king) sent to him a young man so that he should train him (in magic).

And on his way (to the magician) he (the young man) found a monk sitting there. He (the young man) listened to his (the monk's) talk and was impressed by it. It became his habit that on his way to the magician he met the monk and set there and he came to the magician (late).

He (the magician) beat him because of delay. He made a complaint of that to the monk and he said to him: When you feel afraid of the magician, say: Members of my family had detained me. And when you feel afraid of your family you should say: The magician had detained me.

It so happened that there came a huge beast (of prey) and it blocked the way of the people, and he (the young boy) said: I will come to know today whether the magician is superior or the monk is superior. He picked up a stone and said: O Allah, if the affair of the monk is dearer to Youe than the affair of the magician, cause death to this animal so that the people should be able to move about freely. He threw that stone towards it and killed it and the people began to move about (on the path freely).

He (the young man) then came to that monk and informed him and the monk said: Son, today you are superior to me. Your affair has come to a stage where I find that you would be soon put to a trial, and in case you are put to a trial don't give my name.

That young man began to treat the blind and those suffering from leprosy and he in fact began to cure people from (all kinds) of illness. When a companion of the king who had gone blind heard about him, he came to him with numerous gifts and said: If you cure me all these things collected together here would be yours. Be said: I myself do not cure anyone. It is Allah Who cures and if you affirm faith in Allah, I shall also supplicate Allah to cure you.

He affirmed his faith in Allah and Allah cured him and he came to the king and sat by his side as he used to sit before. The king said to him: Who restored your eyesight? He said: My Lord. Thereupon he said: It means that your Lord is One besides me. He said: My Lord and your Lord is Allah, so he (the king) took hold of him and tormented him till he gave a clue of that boy.

The young man was thus summoned and the king said to him: O boy, it has been conveyed to me that you have become so much proficient in your magic that you cure the blind and those suffering from leprosy and you do such and such things. Thereupon he said: I do not cure anyone; it is Allah Who cures, and he (the king) took hold of him and began to torment him. So he gave a clue of the monk.

The monk was thus summoned and it was said to him: You should turn back from your religion. He, however, refused to do so. He (ordered) for a saw to be brought (and when it was done) he (the king) placed it in the middle of his head and tore it into parts till a part fell down. Then the courtier of the king was brought and it was said to him: Turn back from your religion. And he refused to do so, and the saw was placed in the midst of his head and it was torn till a part fell down.

Then that young boy was brought and it was said to him: Turn back from your religion. He refused to do so and he was handed over to a group of his courtiers. And he 'said to them: Take him to such and such mountain; make him climb up that mountain and when you reach its top (ask him to renounce his faith) but if he refuses to do so, then throw him (down the mountain). So they took him and made him climb up the mountain and he said: O Allah, save me from them (in any way) You like and the mountain began to quake and they all fell down and that person came walking to the king.

The king said to him: What has happened to your companions? He said: Allah has saved me from them. He again handed him to some of his courtiers and said: Take him and carry him in a small boat and when you reach the middle of the ocean (ask him to renounce) his religion, but if he does not renounce his religion throw him (into the water).

So they took him and he said: O Allah, save me from them and what they want to do. It was quite soon that the boat turned over and they were drowned and he came walking to the king, and the king said to him: What has happened to your companions? He said: Allah has saved me from them, and he said to the king: You cannot kill me until you do what I ask you to do. And he said: What is that? He said: You should gather people in a plain and hang me by the trunk (of a tree). Then take hold of an arrow from the quiver and say: In the name of Allah, the Lord of the worlds; then shoot an arrow and if you do that then you would be able to kill me. So he (the king) called the people in an open plain and tied him (the boy) to the trunk of a tree, then he took hold of an arrow from his quiver and then placed the arrow in the bow and then said: In the name of Allah, the Lord of the young boy; he then shot an arrow and it bit his temple.

He (the boy) placed his hands upon the temple where the arrow had bit him and he died and the people said: We affirm our faith in the Lord of this young man, we affirm our faith in the Lord of this young man, we affirm our faith in the Lord of this young man.

The courtiers came to the king and it was said to him: Do you see that Allah has actually done what you aimed at averting. They (the people) have affirmed their faith in the Lord.

He (the king) commanded ditches to be dug at important points in the path. When these ditches were dug, and the fire was lit in them it was said (to the people): He who would not turn back from his (boy's) religion would be thrown in the fire or it would be said to them to jump in that. (The people courted death but did not renounce religion) till a woman came with her child and she felt hesitant in jumping into the fire and the child said to her: 0 mother, endure (this ordeal) for it is the Truth.

This hadith cum story affected me alot. I am born a Muslim. Living in a country where it is easy for me to be a Muslim. No one threatens to kill me if I say Lailahhailallah . No one rips off my hijab and put a saw on my head when I want to obey Allah's command. No one spies on me in case I am making solatul fajr and point a gun at me when I go out in the morning.

I do not have to throw my baby and my family in a trench of fire for obeying Allah!

Currently the one who is telling me to deny Allah's command is my own nafs who is easily defeated by the whispers of Shaytan and the beauty of the world.

If in easy times, we cannot do it for Allah, do we think we can do it when Allah test us with difficult times? Easy life does not stay forever. Look around the world and you can see how difficulties are encroaching us.

Indeed all the tests around us now is nothing compared to the biggest one that is sure to come - the Dajjal. And at that time, we will be as what we are. Our eeman will not increase but in fact will be tested to the core.

If we do not have the eeman now, be rest assured we cannot have the eeman of the People of the ditch during the harder time.

May Allah make our eeman firm!

Do listen to the story of the Companions of the Ditch (Ashabul Uhdood) by Anwar Awlaki for better excerpt of lessons, Insya Allah.

either on youtube



or download the audio from here

Mooned

The thing about jeans nowadays, most of them are cawat pendek or what they called hip-jeans or low-rise jeans. Basically instead of clinging to the waist, which now they call it the mommy's jeans (degradation of a mummy's status in my opinion like as if wearing this type of jeans is a sign that you are old), this jeans now cling on the hip.

However not everyone can put on the hip-jeans and look good in it. Those who can pass wearing it must be pencil slim. Thanks to the western ideas of beauty, pencil slim now is Marilyn Monroe in the past. So if you are one of those who still want to be in the trend and insist wearing the hip-jeans, be very aware of the fleshy bits that overflow out.

Now, in my opinion, to those who fear Allah, if you so wish to wear these jeans, pencil-slim or overflow flesh alike, do wear a top that not only covers your butt but go beyond your thigh to the knee. Or better still cover it with a jilbab/ abaya.

O Prophet! Say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the faithful to draw their JALABIB close around them; that is better that they will be recognized and not annoyed. And God is ever Forgiving, Gentle. Surah Al Ahzab 33: 59 (jalabib is the plural for jilbab. And jilbab is like an outer covering)

If one chooses a short top - say to the waist - even at normal posture one can see her butt crack and also her g-string. If one chooses a slightly longer top that covers the butt, during standing and walking, the butt crack is covered, but when one is in the sitting position is another story altogether.

I have to feel resentment for this because Allah resents this. We all know our awrah. Some of the butt crack may be pleasing to the men, but Allah is not please with this. Whether you wear hijab or not, please do not incur sins on yourselves and other people by mooning your butt crack to people because you cannot cover your crack. And trying best to cover it each time you feel chill on the butt - meaning you know it is exposed - is very distracting to the one who is sitting behind you.

So I do not appreciate it that when I am sitting and listening to Dato' Dr. Asri in his passionate talk, here in Doha, that the ummah should strive to be among the uhlul albab (meaning the people with understanding), I have to be constantly mooned by your butt crack.

May Allah forgive all of us.