When Going Abroad

We are taking a winter break and will be travelling Insya Allah. I thought of putting down some reminders for them in their excitement. May we not bring back things that do not please Allah.

I thought of sharing this story with my children (taken from Ar Raheeq Al Makhtum; The Sealed Nectar).

The story is about Amr bin Luhai. He is the chief of the tribe Khuza'a. He was also known as one of the righteous person in Makkah in his time. Do read on.

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Most of the Arabs had complied with the call of Prophet Ishmael alaihi salam, and professed the religion of his father Prophet Abraham alaihi salam. They had worshipped Allâh, professed His Oneness and followed His religion a long time until they forgot part of what they had been reminded of. However, they still maintained such fundamental beliefs such as monotheism as well as various other aspects of Abraham’s religion.

Until the time when a chief of Khuza‘a, namely ‘Amr bin Luhai, who was renowned for righteousness, charity, reverence and care for religion, and was granted unreserved love and obedience by his tribesmen.

One day, he came back from a trip to Syria where he saw people worship idols. This is a phenomenon he approved of and believed it to be righteous since Syria was the locus of Messengers and Scriptures.

And then he brought with him back an idol (Hubal) which he placed in the middle of Al-Ka‘bah and summoned people to worship it. Readily enough, paganism spread all over Makkah and, then, to Hijaz, people of Makkah being custodians of not only the Sacred House but the whole Haram as well. As a result of this, a great many idols, bearing different names, were introduced into the area. [Mukhtasar Seerat-ar-Rasool p.12]

An idol called ‘Manat’, for instance, was worshipped in a place known as Al-Mushallal near Qadid on the Red Sea. Another, ‘Al-Lat’ in Ta’if, a third, ‘Al-‘Uzza’ in the valley of Nakhlah, and so on and so forth. Polytheism prevailed and the number of idols increased everywhere in Hijaz.

It was even mentioned that ‘Amr bin Luhai, with the help of a jinn companion who told him that the idols of Noah’s folk – Wadd, Suwa‘, Yaguth, Ya‘uk and Nasr – were buried in Jeddah, dug them out and took them to Tihama. Upon pilgrimage time, the idols were distributed among the tribes to take back home. [Bukhari 1/222]

Every tribe, and house, had their own idols, and the Sacred House was also overcrowded with them. On the Prophet’s conquest of Makkah, 360 idols were found around Al-Ka‘bah. He broke them down and had them removed and burned up. [Mukhtasar Seerat-ar-Rasool p.13-54]

Polytheism and worship of idols became the most prominent feature of the religion of pre-Islam Arabs despite alleged profession of Abraham’s religion.

Listen to this: Traditions and ceremonies of the worship of their idols had been mostly created by ‘Amr bin Luhai, and were deemed as good innovations rather than deviations from Abraham’s religion.

I wrote down my lesons from this story in the other lollies' site. Read HERE.

Do share what are the lessons you derive from this story so we can help enrich one another.

Winter Break

The school will be off for two weeks by this Tuesday. I will be taking a break too.

We will be going to Dubai this Tuesday to visit so many blogger friends there, Insya Allah. Will be driving and staying over at Elisa's from the defunct elisataufik.blogspot.com. Hoping to meet Ruby from maknenek blogspot. Thetha from anamcarathots blogspot, blabs from blabarella blogspot and of course nazrah from nazrahayu blogspot. All of the blogs are defunct or almost defunct. hahahhahaha. But the person are functioning extremely well!

So I am staying until Wednesday and then will be flying off somewhere else. he he. We will, insya Allah fly off to Iran. :D.

So this is the plan and as usual I will put a map.



So like I said, I will be flying to Tehran from Dubai, Insya Allah. Immediately the next day we will drive to the north and our stop will be in Dizin - ski resort. Main snow and perasan boleh ski walhalnya tak boleh. I am still praying the snow is good enough.



We will overnight there. And the next morning will travel further north driving along the Caspian sea and stopping at wherever that is worth to stop. Which is plentiful.



And the next day we will travel even further north to visit and stay at the village of masouleh famous for their charming village by the hill.

Will then go to Zanjan and visit Sultaniyeh and its famous 'washing room."



If Allah permits, we will then move even further to the North to the town tabriz. and Insya Allah to visit its Bazaar and other things. But my main highlight will be the village of kandovan, the kapadokkya of Iran.



We will then fly to Esfahan, the jewel of Iran. This is my lover's main interest.



We will end the Iran trip back In tehran and visit their famous museums Insya Allah before flying back to Dubai and spend sometime with good friends over there.



We hope to see some of the beautiful sceneries there and even more.

We ask Allah to protect us during the journey and the journey will enrich our experience and will only increase our eeman.

Adik Beradik

Haziq shares the room with Jack while Sya sleeps on her own. That's the plan.

But sometimes jack is found in Sya's room. Sometime Sya is found bunking in with her brothers. And sometime to the annoyance of haziq, he sleeps in Sya's while the other two cramped in Jack's small bed.

But now they have a plan and both of them told little jack to sleep with me instead. So they could have privacy in their rooms.

I don't mind Jack sleeping with me. I do miss his presence. Lover is annoyed though. But still say yes and send him to our bed when Jack ask for his permission.

And this was tonight. Each of them told jack to sleep with me. Of course I told the two of them off for sending jack out of their rooms.

Anyway, before he sleeps, I read with him the story of habil and Qabil. A simple one with pictures to colour. And when come the part that Habil got killed, Jack began to look sad.

And when we finish it with Habil being buried, he cried.

I was not expecting that.

I hugged him and reminded him that he has brother and sister who loved him.

Ooooppss I forgot, the two just send him out of their rooms.

Haziq was already feeling guilty when I told him off earlier. And when I called the two of them, and when they saw him, they hugged him and treat him like a baby until a smile came back to his face.

Then Haziq accussed me of purposely chose this story tonight.

Later I told Jack that Allah tells us stories in the quran for us to take lessons from. I cried, I told Jack, to many stories because of the lessons that I derived from some of them. Understandably that you cried in this one. Allah wants you to take lesson from this story. jealousy. Siblings rivalry. Fear of Allah. I didn't use these big words though.

I ask Allah that my children will continue to love each other for the sake of Allah even without my presence. May they live their life in taqwa.

Quiz

The New President of the ASS (the Malaya association that i was the editor for in 2006-2007) asked me to participate in a quiz for the Qtar national day. The quiz is for the non-arab expats in this country.

Hmmm hmmm hmmm.

Punyalah banyak hmm, finally I did agree to it. I don't know why I agreed. Whereas I know I have exams and TONNES of unfinished work this week. Sedikit menyesal pun ada.

But I went on anyway along with nine other team members who are more knowledgeable than I am. He he. We had to read up the history of Qatar. How it was found, formed and general knowledge.

The quiz was held last night. SOme written questions and some verbal. Thankfully it is team work effort. Kalau sorang-sorang mati kot.

The other countries that participated were India, Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Phillipines and I cannot remember the other one.

I haven't read anything factual as much as this in a few hours. To the extent I can now recite to you the country's national anthem. I can also list down the rulers of this country since 19th Century.

Kepala pun tepu.

Once in a while I would disturb one of the participants and discuss through. I think that was helpful. Talking helps?

Anyway the important thing to tell you is WE WON! He he. Cash plice woooo!!! QR5000 for the group. QR500 seorang. Alhamdulillah

Penyesalan yang sedikit itu tadi nampaknya sudah hilang.

Siapa nak kasi 500 ya tak?



Page 3, the Peninsula, 17th December 2010.

In case you are looking for me, I am right at the elbow of the quiz master.

Bakar Semangat

Subhanallah! I am feeling overwhelm. It's like I am chasing things but it always slip off my hand.

Perhaps the lessons are getting tougher. And Subhanallah things are always piling up. One will always be busy. And one will get busier and continue to be busy.

This is what I said to the girls in the teenage group that I handled before (not anymore). they didn't believe me. They think that their busy studying for exam is the ultimate busy of their life. Ever!

And I smiled at them for I have eaten loads of salt and I know that these girls whose life are in the best comfort life can give. Chaperoned everywhere. Kerja rumah pun minimal. Schooling international. Busy?

They wouldn't know they will get no less busy than what they have.

So many knowledgable people have attained the best of family life, the knowledge of the deen and the knowledge of dunya and can still manage their life. Do they have 24 hours like me? Allah Mustaan. May Allah put barakh in my time.

In short, take care of your time. take beneficial knowledge. Because dunya will get busier. make time, then you will have time.

Anyway, just something to burn the semangat for me. The comment says it is a funny video.

Then why am I crying?

The Day the Horns Honk!!

Qtar won the bidding to host the World cup in 2o22!!

They won hands down against Korea, Japan. The States and Ostrolia.

These are the number of votes
First round
Qatar 11
South Korea 4
Japan 3
US 3
Australia 1 (eliminated).

2nd round
Qatar 10
South Korea 5
US 5
Japan 2 (eliminated).

3rd round
Qatar 11
US 6
South Korea 5 (eliminated).

4th round
Qatar 14
US 8.

I petik from one of my facebook friends who said he takes it from Reuters. he he.

And Qtar ran wild the very night and the following. Horns echoed everwhere. people honked their car horns. People blow the vuvuzela. People dancing on their car. Sitting out of the window of a moving car. Driving crazier than normal. Accidents too.

The first ever Middle east country will host the W0rld cup! Wow!



Anyway the truth is I was actually hoping that Qtar wouldn't win the bid. I have been through the experience of this country hosting a smaller event that World Cup which is the Asian Games. And the havoc the country runs into was a burden to people like me.

The house rental would go sky rocket high. Seriously during the time of the Asian Games, they even rent out houses which was build from gypsum for thousands. This year the house went down a little bit making normal houses more affordable. But with the coming sport event, I speculate the rents would go up.

Why just this morning we went to scout a house for a friend, and the same house we asked before has increased by QR2000 and upon questioning, the owner said, "It's the Games."

And they will get the experts to build the nation so they can spend billions on making the event. Experts selalunya mat salleh who will put up high demand and high perks and affording all the good houses. reflecting back in the year 2006 during the Asia Games. We were left with partitioned houses paying 10k at that.

The grilled chicken now cost QR4 more than yesterday.

I wonder also would this country be ready for the ripple effects that come with the events. Woman in little fabric. Booze. Mingling.

The general ruling in this country is that woman are not allowed to wear skimpily and everyone should obey this. When I came in 2005, people were more modest. I have heard of the locals would tell the women off for dressing too tight, too low and too short. Nowadays people do not seem to mind anymore. We'll see more of this or less of fabric in 2022.

Up to 2010, alcohol cannot be drunk in public.

I don't know how long will I be in this country. Would I even be here in 2022? I would be 50!! Would I even be alive?

But for now, I'll probably observe what this country will have to go through to be among those who host the world's most watched game.

And I suppose congratulations are in order. Hope it doesn't kill us too fast.

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.

Discipline

My class has started. And thus storm is brewing.


This is my fourth year in my class and understandably it is getting harder.

In the tajweed class the teacher was stressing on my ihfaq. I have managed to get that "kaf" sound of it but now she wants me to move the tongue to move to the next letter's makhraj. And I am finding it difficult to do all the min shahri... in both suratun Nas and Al Falaq.

Not to mention the letter ain when it has kasrah and dommah.

May Allah make it easy for me and all of us.

I have a new arabic teacher who is so cute Masya Allah. Masya Allah, I am amazed that she herself is taking up english course so she can communicate with the non-arabs like me. Masya Allah. Allahumabareek. And she is not getting paid at to teach us. And she doesn't have to trouble herself for she can teach the arabs which would be far easier for her.

I find many arabs are like this. When they do daawah, they'd go all out. So sometimes when people talk badly about them, I am just happy that I have met many are beyond good. May Allah increase their reward.

We will continue with our tafseer class. Through skype this time you, because my beloved teacher, may Allah bless her, has now moved to Egypt. So, Insya Allah, we will still continue lessons with her through skype. The problem with lessons through network is unstable lines.

And we have new aqeedah class (WITH EXAMS!!). I am also taking Quranic Arabic which concentrates on grammar used in quran. It's tougher but the best part is, it brings out alot of the quran words to explain a particular grammar. Even if I am lost in the mudhof ilaih, maf'ul bih, fael, feel and apa lagi entah, I am just happy that I learn at least one word from the quran. I am easy to please.

The storm is brewing but I am already feeling that two hands are not enough. My mind is continually making time-planning of what I should do now and the next hour and the next hour until i get to sleep.

If you do not know already, I am particular about my time schedule. And I get agitated when my scheduled is disrupted.

The thing is many times, the one who disrupt my own schedule, is myself. But being a mother, lover, student, driver, strategist, planner, chef, tukang mop require flexibility in the time. So as much as I want to sleep early (because subuh is at four in the morning), I find myself getting excited writing out notes for K@f@ or the kids' halaqah. I have passed the bedtime and my eyes are as big as saucers.

I need a stick perhaps because the carrot is already right in front of me.

Panitia = Kahuna

I just want to tell that at the moment I am happy with what is happening at the K@F@ Doha that I am "working" with.

Loads of credits must be given not only to the teachers but to the working committee members who, in my opinion, gave their very best to make this programme a success.

Masya Allah, I love the idea that they came and gave up their time to work together. The way I see it, many can gain the ajr of spreading knowledge. In the previous years, they have the same people who would teach, run administration, layan parents, layan students, registration, layan government officials, layan traffic jam bila masuk sekolah. But now, Alhamdulillah, the support system are there, the teachers can concentrate on doing what they should do - teach.

None of this credit go to me but rather my friends here and I am here to glide along and learn, Insya Allah.

This year they have formally selected the headchamp (HM as in head master. LOL!!!)So now they are trying to be more systematic with a more detailed syllabus guidleine. They are creating new posts - PANITIA - for different subjects like aqidah, fiqh, seerah, al quran and akhlaq. And this year we even have the sacred academic calendar. Whoa!!

These are all going so fast and making me seperti biasa excited such that I am sure I have thousands of typos in this post. But fast going action and non stop thinking makes me lompat sana-sini.

Until of course when they told me that I am the panitia for the subject akhlaq.

Hah!!! Excuse me mrs Headchamp, I cannot accept this. Is panitia some kind of dummy that kids hit at a party?



Ahlaq ah? You sure or not?

May Allah facilitate me and help me have ikhlas for all that I do.

Should Not be in Denial

I turned one year older a few weeks ago. i am 38 now.

One grey hair.

Sakit lutut.

Sakit tumit.

Bau lauk sedap aje badan naik 500 gram.

Sakit dada bila marah.

A wonderful lover.

Three wonderful children.

An alive father.

Missing my Ibu whom I ask Allah to be reunited in jannah.

Still alive and still have chance. And that is alot to be thankful for.

Alhamdulillah ala kulli hal.

May Allah make the rest of my predestined life easy to worship Him.

Cast Off

Alhamdulillah Jack is now released from his clenching cast. It has been a month.

I was worried at the thought of taking off the cast and was wondering what kind of tool would they used. And would it scrape some of my beloved son's fragile skin? And he is so skinny would it accidentally slice off his skin and flesh and ohhhhh.

Of course a good friend had to remind me of the story of another friend's daughter who was on the body cast and they actually did slice her a bit. Horrors!

But Alhamdulillah it went well. The instrument was scary but the doctor said it is safe and demonstrated how it won't cut soft things rather only hard things. Hmm. See it on the first video.




After the cast was off, Jack went on in the same position for sometime, very afraid to straighten his hands. Infact to day being the third day, he still is very concious about his hand. We are seeing the doctor again for follow up in case he would need physio therapy. Pray not.

Anyway the video of the moment. Apparently I was laughing at the end of the video because the doctor commented that the mother was more scared than the son. Ngarut aje doctor ni. Macho tau!

Jangan jadi hipokritlah

When I related the story of Bee earlier, I realised that I wrote this part. That the other lady was only doing solah initially sebab terpaksa.

Reminded me of the story of Hamzah Abdul Mutalib radiallahu anhu. Remember how he came to islam? It was initially out of him defending Rasulullah sallahu aliahi wasalam who was hit by the despicable Abu Jahal. Out of spontaneity he also told Abu Jahal that he is now a Muslim, believing in the one God and the religion that his nephew was teaching. Much to the dismay of the other mushriks especially Abu jahal himself. But he is Hamzah. Well known for his bravery even in his mushrik days. So they left him at that.

But Hamzah went home and realised what he had said. Am I really a Muslim? What have I done, he'd probably said. He then asked Allah to show him the truth from the wrong. And Allah guided him after that.

Hamzah later on became the Lion of the Dessert always at the forefront of Islam. He became a martyr in The battle of uhud. May Allah accept his deeds.

Do not underestimate your lack of sincerity when you started off to do deeds that you know are commanded. Many times when we want to put the step on doing good, we would be overcome by insecerity, laziness and the feeling of hypocriteness.

Rather if it is already a command of Allah, go ahead and over time fight the feeling of inserity. Ask Allah that He show you the correct path.

This include putting on the hijab for instance. Many times i was overpowered by the whispers of Shaytan, alaaa jangan jadi hypocritelah. Pakai tudung tapi jahat nak buat apa? True pakai tudung tapi jahat buat apa. But remember Allah asks us to do all good and obey His command. So we do and strive. Because that is what life is. Striving.

Like what I have said in my post AGENT OF CHANGE. What you need to concentrate not on making your slightly weak side worse, but rather to enhance your good side. Do what Allah commands and work hard to please Him. Ask Allah for sincerity in your heart and Insya Allah, Allah will open up more doors for you.

I was watching in dismay when a lady said, "takkan I dah balik haji tetiba i nak jadi baik, Assalammualaikum she said mockingly. Kita jangan jadi hipokritlah." Do we become even more of a hypocrite when we are striving to obey Allah's command and wanting to please Him even with all the weakness in ourselves?

Jangan jadi hipokritlah is an old Shaytan's trick to make you procrastinate. Don't allow them to trick you anymore! Win over our greatest enemy!

Jom change.

Enjoining Good

I have a friend. Her name is Bee. I remembered her as always persistent in asking her friends who were lazy for solah in the office to go and make solah.

And I know through her actions, and mostly through hidayah from Allah, a lady after that actually make solah. Starting from only twice a day - Dzuhur and asr (because it is the office timing) till she finally bring herself to make solah 5 times a day.

Perhaps initially it was terpaksa sebab asik kena ajak aje, but somehow after years, she knew the importance.

Imagine you are Bee. You are the one persistent in enjoining good to people you care. For any good deed that the lady did, the hasanat will, Insya Allah, go back to Bee without reducing the reward for the other. And if by making solat one starts doing even more good deeds (because truly that is what solah does to a person), wallahu alam, some of the hasanah may go back to Bee.

Come judgement day, Bee may find herself with heaps of hasanah which she doesn't even know where it comes from.

Do we not want to have the same hasanat as Bee?

Jom enjoin good.

Cerita Hantu

There are just so many cerita hantu/ bomoh aired for the six days of raya. Not to mention the tele series ular emas which is shown everyday even way before raya.

The consolation (?) is they also show that iman precedes syirik. So the good guys are naturally people with songkok kopiah and dzikir beads and recite the quran. Relative to masa cerita hitam putih where they need to call mambang to fight another mambang. There is no white magic against black magic such as those glamorise in Harry Potter. Magic are all evil.

But how come none of them read any of the quls and ayat qursi? Let alone Suratul Baqarah. Allah has armed us with these surahs to fight the evil. The only surah I heard (in the drama) read on a possed person was Suratul Kawthar.

Or there must be something I do not know. Plus I have never been involved in helping anyone possessed or catching flying lights or the sorts.

Oh filem ek?

---

for layman like me, I will stick to what is taught in the sunnah. That is to read the i. 3 quls three times in the morning and evening and also before sleep. Read the before sleep evidence HERE.
ii. Read the three quls after solah. For Fajr and maghrib prayer read it three times.
iii. Read ayatul qursi in the morning and in the evening and also before sleeping and after solah. Read the virtues of ayatul Kursi HERE.
iv. And Al Baqarah must be read often in one's home to protect the house from any evil, Insya Allah.

My old post about AMMO AGAINST THE SHAYTAN.

Calm Before the Storm

I am back in Qatar and the kids are already in school.

My school has not started yet though. So i have so much free time in the morning, i can't believe it. I cooked early and find hours and hours and hours for myself. Alhamdulillah.

That reminds me when i first came to Qatar. Out of job. Finding myself so many dishes to wash. All the time. The floor needs to mopped. All the time. Dusts actually exist. Baju needs to be ironed. And a baby who is clinging on me even though I am in the toilet.

I remembered wanting my own time.

And now I have it. So for those finding their hands full with their little kids, ENJOY THEM. After forgetting the wish of having my own time, i went ahead and enjoyed the time with them. And am still enjoying them.

Anyway this quiet morning are hard to get even though I am not working. LOL! I don't even have any free time last year (last year meaning September 2009-jun 2010). i didn't have my weekends also. I had classes everyday including weekend and I teach in the weekend too.

It has been fulfilling.

But somehow, I think i want to cut down some of them particularly the weekends one. I don't get to spend time with the kids. I mean I do, but it was always a rush. Even our halaqah was a rush and sometimes I forgot to put some creativeness in the teachings. I looked back at my earlier notes, and I was surprised myself. That was me? So many games and quizzes and fun activities. last year was very academic.

Because I had so many classes, i didn't have time to study what I learnt. I think my performance last year was not so good. In my books lah. But still I learned alot, Alhamdulillah.

So I am starting off this new year by wanting to put more quality time in what I am doing. And with that I am cutting off my weekend classes except for the tawheed one (ada lagi tu nak simpan). I will still continue to teach Insya Allah but currently weighing the teen group. Hmmm.

My priorities are still my family and children. I don't want people to threaten me concerning this. True children are one of the adornment of this world and boleh melalaikan kita and hindering us from doing righteous deed. but Insya Allah spending time with them to build up their taqwa and eeman is not in vain. May Allah make this as one of my righteous deeds. Refer to Al Kahf 18:46.

For now i am enjoying my quiet mornings with intermittent of chatting, cleaning up, reading and planning.

Three Weeks Up

OK It's almost time for me to go back to Qatar. I am leaving on the very very early morning flight on Friday which is essentially as good as leaving on Thursday. So when people ask me when I am leaving, I would say Thursday night I am already at the airport.

The raya has been very good for all of us. It is so nice to be able to spend it with our parents mostly and seeing relatives. But mostly our parents and most most mostly my lover's mum. In fact I must say she is the strongest reason that I think we should go back for raya.

Personally I like to go back during normal months and not the fasting month. Fasting in Qatar is such a bliss and Raya abroad is nice also.

You don't get to do much when you travel during the fasting month. And worse because there is this feeling that I need to get certain things and people to see on my once-a-year annually trip, I still take a lot of time out. And this, errrrr, affected the fasting months time.

But because I am ALSO feeling that since it is a fasting month and only a once-a-year trip, we all stayed kampung for the longest time. Truly sorry that I don't get to meet the normal people I meet. Next year Insya Allah.

In the end everything is made wonderful because my lover's mum, mak, was so happy.There are lots of cries when she greeted us and even more cries when we are leaving. :(

Having lost my own mother, I feel that lover must, as much as we can of course, without sacrificing some of my must-go places in KL :P, spent upmost quality time with his mom, my mak. Other things fall to close second and third places.

May Allah give us health and strength throughout our predestined length of life so that we can worship Him more.

Jack Broke His Arm

Jack fell down and broke his arm
and no one come tumbling after.

Qadr Allah Jack broke his arm a week before raya.

He was jumping at the hanging chain at the cashier counter. Probably miscalculated his jump and fell. It was a short fall but a hard one on his elbow. He cried unlike his normal cries and curl himself on the floor.

It took me a few seconds to asses the situation. I didn't even pick him up immediately but stared at his arm. It seemed wobbly. But didn't look broken. But that is also because none of us either have X-Ray visions nor do we know how a broken arm should look like.

Picked him up a few seconds later and began to swallow that for usual fall he doesn't cry this long. His cries were too little for a boy with broken arm and taking that cue, I didn't think it was serious. But in relative to his other falls, he looked more distress.

Took him to the nearest clinic amd the doctor didn't think it was serious also. But gave us Ibuprofen and told us to observe him for a few hours.

But lover did not buy it. Zachary slept most of he time on lover's shoulders sweating. So we took him to the orthopaedics (spelling?) and had a proper X Ray on him.

There you go. A broken arm.

Had a cast on him or whatever you call it. t is like a bandage that the doctor wrap around his arm and it went hard a few minutes later. I thought they will slap him with those heavy paris cement. Alhamdulillah for new inventions. Itwill be cracked open in a month, Insya Allah. Obviously in Qatar because I am leaving very soon.

But that did not stop him from being himself a few days later. Still looking very cheeky in his baju melayu.

It is two weeks now that he is in the cast. He can make a fist, display peace sign and play the computer games (!!!!). And also the highlight is he can make sujud with two arms. Alhamdulillah.

Would you give him extra duit raya?

shorter.smaller.

Is it ok for me to say that I am shock coming back to Malaysia to see that most of the common masses ladies' garments and tudungs have become shorter and smaller? People have traded the longer (but jarang) tudung bawal to a teballer but short and small tudung lycra. Even the older people don this shorties and smallies.

May Allah make it easy for us to understand the deen better.

I love the "Tudung syria" that they have now. Prticularly if it is plain coupled with two-toned inner. But it is nice only for Sya because of the length. The lady who was selling it to me was telling me that it is long and it covers the front. And I looked at her full exposed chest (since she is wearing a super tight shirt). And it does cover her chest. But not the bosom. On Sya, it looks fine. Well not according to Sya though. She prefers the easy to sarung tudung. I think she hates the inner cengkaming her head.

When I was in UK, due to my size, sometimes I had to find clothes at the teens' store. The teenage clothes usually are for people of my size (saiz zaman 90an dulu). Now even the adult clothes do not fit me. And that is not just because i have tripled in size. It is also because the clothes have shrunk. The young adult clothes now fit a 9 year old girl. So I bought one nice shirt yesterday for Sya, at the young adult section. It fits her nice and loosely and goes down to her knees. It would look like sarung nangka on me. Not that I look like a nangka though.

But I have not been to KL yet. Or should I expect worse?

---

It is already the last ten days of Ramdhan. :(

Coming back to malaysia during Ramadhan is hard for me. I am challenged by my surroundings greatly.

All this coupled with own evil nafs.

I ask Allah to guide all those that we loved to the straight path. May Allah help us.

Having It Easier

Truth to be told, it has been an easier fasting month (for me) in the mid of the hot scorching summer in this country.

Since it is summer, the kids have no school. And since the kids have no school, I don't have to brace the summer sun sending them and picking them up like the previous years.

So I got to stay in the house most of the time the whole day and nearly for a whole week. The only time I go out is for my once a week Tauhid class.

I don't have to do groceries for I already have the major stuff. For the perishable I have my lover to order from. Unlike me, of course, he has to work and still walk under the hot sun drenched in sweat and bearing the heat (no wonder he lost so much weight). And then he will get orders from me to buy spring onion, keledek, togeh, tepung, shawarma and such. And I know he loves me asking him to buy this things.

I do almost all my cooking in the morning while I listen to the children practice their surah. And am free almost all afternoon to do what I want. Then when it is about one and half hour to iftar time, I would reheat the food, make some form of savoury or dessert (because I don't favour nasi for buka) that was prepared half way earlier, prepare some hot and cold beverage and Insya Allah leave myself about half hour to iftar time where usually i would tell the children to have their own "me" time and concentrate to make dua'.

By the way, the best time for dua' that one needs to grab is the time when nearing the iftar time.

The prophet (SAW) declared, 'Three men whose dua is never rejected (by Allah) are: when a fasting person breaks fast (in another narration, the fasting person until he breaks his fast), the just ruler and the one who is oppressed.'[Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi - Hasan]

I don't do the tarawikh at the mosque. Not my time yet. Insya Allah one day Allah will give me the time. I don't fancy bringing the cannot-keep-still JackJack to the long tarawikh prayer. He goes to other fards when lover is at home though. So slowly Insya Allah. And I don't feel easy leaving at home alone either.

And tarawikh usually finishes at 930 over here. And that is a loooong one mind you. On average, some mosques finsih tarawikh at 9.

Fasting in this country is easier and there are very little distractions. The malls (if yo do go there) does not play music. Usually they play dzikir or the quran. And the masjid here will get busier as Eid approaches particularly the last ten nights. There will be some selected masjids that will provide food for those who wish to do i'tikaf. But otherwise you can go to any masjids you wish. The last ten nights are the the most "festive" time at almost all masjids. The imam will start doing qiyam in the later part of the night and people who don't actually stay in the masjid for i'tikaf will come from their homes as if it is another fard prayer.

And if you are living in such environment, you'd feel you want time to stop in this last ten nights. You can feel that people are actually immerse in the business of worshipping Allah. It's like rushhour. fast and furious. I feel so much excitement during this time.

And when the Imam announced that the next day is eid, you may just cry because you would feel that you have not done enough. But then you will still enjoy the next day of eid when you go to solatul eid in the open. It is a glorious day.

Alhamdulillah. I have to remind again and again that time and easier to practice is an expensive commodity.

I am leaving for Malaysia tomorrow.

May Allah protect me from my own evil soul.

________________________________

By the way. I have a few books left for sale. The title is Explanation of Important lessons. You can read here for the review of the book.

If you are interested email me at hudishh at gmail dot com. First come first serve. :)

Answerable

Whoever feeds a fasting person will have a reward like that of the fasting person, without any reduction in his reward."[At-Tirmidhi, authenticated by Al-Albani (rahimahullaah).

Over here, there are plenty of charity bodies putting up a tent to cater for iftar targeting mostly the labourers. One thing that one can emulate from the locals here are their generosity for when they give, they really give.

It is a common sight to see local people stopping labourers in random to give food and money. Both men and women. Not to mention big donations here and there. It is not surprising if you hear stories of individual who, when they chance upon a group of Indonesians wanting to go for hajj, he sponsored 500 of them to go.

Anyway I was reading a newspaper strip about the charity bodies not happy with some of the chosen restaurant lack of quality in their service for the iftar tent. This is what they said, in the Gulf Times

They indicated that the contracts signed with some restaurants were cancelled on the second day of ramadhan when it was discovered that they were not abiding by the quality of the food and were resorting to fraudulent methods.

"This is an act of charity which we are carrying out on the strength of the money given to us by many donors. We are ANSWERABLE to the ALMIGHTY and to the donors.""

If we really believe and understand that we are all answerable, Insya Allah we are at a better place than where we are now.

I like this. I like it very much.

What My Mother Taught Me

Sometime ago, I think it was during the Malaysia's mother's day Ummikusayang dot come launched a competition for any of the members of ummikusayang to do a write up about "what your mother taught you". I didn't participate because I am slow that way. I did read many of the write ups. Many of them wrote about how their mother was their influence on their excellent culinary skill.

This bring shame to me. My mother was a great cook. She also used her talent for the extra pocket money. When I was young, i had to follow her send her kuehs to kedai kopi. She made excellent kueh. But did I learn any? Noooo. To much shame.

I taught about this for sometime until the competition finished. Hahahahha.

Until recently I was reminded again. I think I know the answer now. My mother was the one who taught me to read the Quran. She always spend her time on the floor and me with a muqaddam on the rehal doing the alif ba ta and later on continued to read. Until i was confident enough to read the quran then only she sent me to some ustazahs.

I grew up thinking,this is what mothers do. Mothers are the one who teach their children the early reading of the quran. There is no other way to it. So that was it!

I knew I will grow up becoming an executive and drive an Audi and play tennis and I know I want children of my own and I will make sure I will take the full gear responsibility to teach my children to read the holy book.

But not the masak kueh and jahit-jahit part though. despite growing up seeing my mothers do it, I don't feel that it is a mother's job. Maybe because she did that for our living. I kan nak jadi executive bawak Audi. :P (sekarang menyesal dan kueh tak ada bubur nasi pun tak ada)

But now, looking around me, i see all mothers send their kids to a better teacher, a better sheikh. I am sure their kids reading are much better than mine. Not to mention faster too. So I am not sure whether I am actually doing the right thing.

But then when I think of my mum, I always make dua' that Allah multiply her hasanat and the good ilm that she taught me (and the other children she taught)and that the quran will be her defender in yaumul akhirah. When i read the quran I ask Allah, to double triple quadraple the hasanat of me reading to her.

And I feel that I want these from my children too.

We talked about this, Haziq and I. That how much i need dua' from him (and the other two copetot). I may not be able to fulfill this hadith,

Narrated by Uthman, "The best of you is the one who learns the quran and teach others."

I may not be able to teach others but at least I have my children, Insya Allah.

And if we cannot teach, do not despair, because our effort and encouragement in ensuring our children are learning the quran counts big time!

I ask Allah to guide me to do the right thing to nurture them in becoming the best of mu'meen.

Kena Tegur

Ibn Mas'ud reported that the Messenger of Allah, salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallim, said, 'No one who has got faith in his heart to the weight of a mustard-seed shall enter the Fire and nobody who has got pride in his heart to the weight of a mustard-seed shall enter Paradise.'

It is the beginning of time that your child has grown to certain age, and acquire certain knowledge that you may lack yourself. So be ready with them correcting you.

Be ready to accept it with open heart and hide your ego. Praise Allah for any beneficial knowledge that your child has acquired and may it benefit his dunya and akhirah..

However one can always teach the child to be tactful.

Zachary First Time Fasting

Zachary got influenced to fast more because his brother and sister kept urging him to do so.

So he fast today.

Or rather he agreed to it.

He had his sohoor at 9 in the morning, 6 hours after everyone else.

Then he went through the day not eating anything.

But half an hour before iftar, he took a sip of the cincau drink and said, hmm sedap.

Haziq found out about this and kept nagging him. Really I don't have to nag much nowadays, I can give it to the "knowledgeable" siblings to do it for me.

Jack was a bit upset and probably embarrassed or guilty or the combination of both. But I didn't mind actually. He is six. I know many six year olds are doing much better. But it's ok. In my books wanting to try is good enough. At ten years old however, deserve a smack on the butt from me.

Then come iftar time, we went on some dates and water and the men of the house prepared to leave to the masjid. I didn't put any food on the table except these, because everyone would be incline to take this hadith instead,LOL.

Narrated by ‘Aisha:

The Prophet said, “If supper is served, and Iqama is pronounced one should start with the supper.”

Bukhari : Volume 1 : Book 11 : Hadith 640

But jack still insisted he is hungry. Ibu rasa kasihan and gave him one baked potato and he savour it to the last drop and went to the masjid in the end. Masya Allah!

Actually if he insisted to not go, I'd probably allow just because...

I am writing this to show this write up to him one day. Perhaps we could have a good laugh.

Ramadhan Shahrul Quran

Subhanallah! Ramadhan is coming very soon. May Allah prolong our age so we can meet Ramadhan again. Our youth (ya ka youth?), our health is not a guarantee of life even a second from now.

And if we sincerely make niyah of wanting to fulfil our time this coming ramadhan with ibadah, and yet we are prevented from doing so, Allah is Most merciful, we would still have the reward of the niyah.

One way to realise this niyah is by making plans for this Ramadhan. Let's make plans to increase our ibadah for this coming holy month. And one of the iabadah that we can and MUST make is the quran.

Ramadhan shahrul Quran.
Ramadhan is the month of Quran.

Let's make plans to how we can fulfill this holy month with the Quran. After discussion with the kids, we came up a suitable plan for each of them. They are of different age and thus different capabilities and different level in terms of the eloquence and understanding of reading.

Same goes to all of us. If you wish to strengthen your memorisation of the quran, you may do so either by increasing the quantity or revising the past memorised ones.

You can also follow the rule of minimum four pages reading per solatul fard to finish the quran by the end of Ramadhan. My advise is, when you have the time to read more, do so for the contingecy times.

For the younger ones or the new to quran, you can set the number of pages or verses.

Or make a change, read the translation and also the tafseer of the ayat. You can get the ibn Kathir tafseer HERE.. Can also look up to the common words in the Quran. I wrotes some tips HERE. May it help you.

I am asking Haziq to write up an action plan to what he wants to achieve. I asked him to look at known distractions like traveling to Malaysia, travelling within Malaysia, possible berbuka with friends. So he can tell how much more he needs to put his efforts during his free time.

I am making log sheets for Sya and Jack just to keep track of their schedule. Can be used as a reward proof later. *winks*

Have a plan. Set a goal or goals to live quran in this holy month. At normal time reciting just one letter in the quran earns us 10 hasanat. What more in the month of Ramadhan. As usual goals have to be realistic but yet challenging. May Allah make it easy for all of us.

I think spending sometime with the quran is doable, whether you are a working mom or dad, or a student with an important exam coming. Whoever you are and whatever you are doinf. If you take a short step to get closer to Allah, Allah will run towards you. Surely we want our ramadhan at this increased age better than the years before. A verse? Maybe two. Perhaps a page. At least listening to them.

And when the Quran is recited, listen to it with attention, that you may receive Mercy.” [Al Aaraf 7:204]

Perhaps more of the quran then lagu raya this time round? He he.

Do you have any tip to share with me? Jom share ajr.

About Swimming

You know watching my kids learning to swim, it reminded me alot about my late brother.

He was a very good swimmer. he didn't even have to go to any swimming classes. Nobody taught him how to swim either. And mind you, we were urbanites, whatever that means. Basically it means we do not have access to river or little streams like Lat and the gang.

He would just hang out at these swimming pool. Watch people swim and he just swam. And he can do all kind of styles. He was like a merman diving in, swimming in and popping out of the water.

I can't do all these without a teacher. Even with teacher, I still take a long time and became just an average swimmer.

My brother can just dive in the sea from the ferry stopping in the middle of nowhere. Something that I will never ever do.

So yeah. I miss him.

May Allah have mercy on his soul and may we be reunited again.

Keeping Them Busy

It is now the two-months long summer break here. And I clearly remember the last year loooonngg summer break. Where they basically sleep, eat, play games, watch TV. Ok we do a few activities but most of the time they sleep, eat, play games and watch TV.

So I thought I just try to keep them a bit more occupied.

I am sending Haziq to the masjid for his memorisation every weekday morning up to Dzuhur. He still has to go to his regular mengaji with his ustaz a few days in the evening. This arrangement has been good, Alhamdulillah. When he is doing one surah for his morning lessons, he needs to strengthen another surah in the evening. This keeps him on his toes being challenged. May Quran be in his heart.

There is also some programmes for the girls in the morning. Not everyday though, but sufficient. Apparently for the memorisation they are so far memorising the Fatihah and three quls to the dismay of Sya. But I told her there are always other things that you can learn from different teachers and different environments. Even if we think we know, there are always new things you can learn. Plus not to mention I have already paid the class wokei. :P. But Alhamdulillah they are learning other stuff too like dua's that I haven't got to teaching yet. And also she is getting cool presents for being able to memorise teh surahs and the dua'. He he he

I am sending Jack to the same mosques as Haziq because he kept telling me that he wants to go to the mosque for ngajiing when he is six. So there you go. According to haziq, when he recites with the ustaz he would look down all the time looking very nervous. Once finished, he would go on his fighting mode with some imaginary people and berguling-guling in the mosque.

Also, I signed all of them up for swimming class. Well haziq can swim already, so he is learning to improvise his breast stroke at the moment.

So they are busy but still, once they got home, terus main computer. Grrrrr. I haven't come up with activities to do at home yet for them. We still have our halaqah once a week. I need to do something daily but somehow, I have stuff to catch up too. Allah Mustaan.

At other times, I busy themselves with washing the dishes, lap habuk, siram pokok, kemas bilik and many more interesting character-building activity. they will thank me one day, insya Allah.

Or otherwise, I will remind them to thank me. Hahahahha

A Dainty Lollies and a Flat Tyre

One dusty morning a dainty lady woke up to another routine day. She shouted at her kids to get up early and hit the shower, lest the water become too hot and will scald their skin. She is that caring.

She hang the clothes, made breakfast (garlic bread with cheese). Then she pestered her first son to get ready for school.

She roared the engine and flicked the aircond switch and slowly and carefully as she usually is, preseed the accelerator pedal to reverse her car. But the car seemed to not want to move.

She knows she is dainty but she cannot be that weak. She knew something was wrong. Glanced at the panel. There you go an LED icon that refuse to go away. It says FLAT TYRE. Qadr Allah.

Got off the car and confirmed herself.

What to do! What to do!

Eldest son is late to school. Called the teacher. And called her lover and complained and pretended to about to cry.

But lover, the knight and shining hero, refused to come and save her, but told her to take the pump and pump the tyre herself then go find a mechanic and have it fixed.



(Of course I am not going to pump the tyre myself? And what? Risk my fingers becoming dirty? I have Haziq to do it for me. And later we send it to the professional to patch the tyre up.)

The dainty lady sweltered under the heat and cannot wait to pout when lover comes back home from his day of hunting.

Haziq the shabab

Haziq the shabab.

I consider Haziq as boy of age now. No he hasn't got the dream just yet but there are other signs. So I told him that you have the book now, that record your deeds. And he said, what, you mean all these while you don't have it? The little ones like Jack don't have it? He he misinformed I suppose.

Alhamdulillah Haziq loves learning and take almost all lessons with gutso. Well perhaps he has problems with subjects like history but he does try. His teachers has only good words for him.

He is also feeling the pinch of competition which is becoming very intense. he is always eyeing for those better than him. The problem with this though, is sometime frustration may creeps in. I hope to be his motivator and the one who consoles and keeping up positivity. May Allah help us.

He is still a very cheerful boy and is still the focal point among his siblings. May Allah instill love among them always.

However he is beginning to find his anger streak here and there especially when he "feels" that injustice is not served. And many times I see him arguing his cases with adults, who are also my friends. Thinking back, it was probably like me but now I am on the other side, I can see that it is the emerging teenage hormone who always feel that everything is not just and no-one-understands-me.

I probably should read a book on how to motivate him and to nurture him that the world is not against you most of the time. And also how to pick battles so you can look kewl arguing them.

Did I tell you that he is slightly taller than me now? And his shoes are bigger than mine too.

Haziq has improved his memorisation in quite a leap now Masya Allah. He went through a stumbling block for sometime but something motivated him. It came in the form of some friends who have memorised more. With a reminder to the niyah of memorising and him in return telling me competition in the deen is very good, he tried harder.

He is now halfway through Juz 28, Masya Allah. May Allah wrapped him in the Quran and may it be his protector in dunya and akhirah.

I suppose now that he is a shabab, I probably am not very keen to update his progress yearly after this. I will still write things that concern him or his questions or his doing, but probably the age 12 is the limit for yearly progress update. It used to be cute.

I ask Allah to make him the comfort of my eyes and the leaders of the muttaqun and that we will all gather as a family in the yaumul akhirah with bright faces and laughing together.

Cannot Blame on the Oven Anymore.

Sometime back in 2006, I wrote about my frustration of the non existing facility of my oven back in the old house.

But now Alhamdulillah, the landlord has placed (in his house) a spanking new set of cooker and hood and OVEN! And the oven comes with a temperature mark, in celcius, and also a timer that goes tick tick tick if you wind it and goes TING when it is done ticking!



So lover said when are you going to make all the food that you claim so-many-things-I-can-do-if-I-have-a-proper-oven. Gulp!

I have so far made garlic bread. Cinnamon bread (read bread not bun!). Baked potatoes! And also made a lembik bingka pisang.

So now I cannot blame the problems of the world to the oven anymore. But I can still blame the mirror.

You look fat? Blame it on the mirror.
Oranje lost? Blame it on the mirror.

Anyway anyone know a mean recipe for lasagne?

_______________________________________

Just something to share pertaining to protecting our house.

THE BOOK OF DRINKS (KITAB AL-ASHRIBA)
Muslim :: Book 23 : Hadith 5006

Jabir b. ‘Abdullah reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: When a person enters his house and mentions the name of Allah at the time of entering it and while eating the food, Satan says (addressing himself: You have no place to spend the night and no evening meal; but when he enters without mentioning the name of Allah, the Satan says: You have found a place to spend the night, and when he does not mention the name of Allah while eating food, he (the Satan) says: You have found a place to spend the night and evening meal. This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Jabir b. Abdullah through the same chain of transmitters but with a slight variation of wording.

So let us remember to say Bismillah before we enter our home. :)