About Me

Thursday, July 19, 2007

so this is the plan...

Salam
So today marks the beginning of the non-stop busy days for me.. *Gulp* InsyaAllah will be joining Journey For The End II, a continuation of the program held last year which I also attended. Well, that program changed a lot of my perspective last year and I'm hoping for the same also for this year! Nanti bila balik, kita cerita lagi okeh?
And next Monday: Cambodia Relief Mission. Yeay! 12 days~
And also Pre-Departure Camp a day after we come back from Cambodia. Let's see if I'm still allright and is not out of breath by then...pheww...

So..please please pray for the safety of our journey. InsyaAllah hopefully everything will be smooth and okay!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Cambodia here I come!

heya salam
it has been a hectic few days for me, and it's gonna be even hectic-er(if there's any such word!) by towards the end of the week. But Alhamdulillah I'm thankful that my time is occupied doing things that I do enjoy and more importantly, because it is a little bit of something that I can at least contribute to the community, to the people around me and to my religion. :)

So neways, yesterday I just attended the Cambodia Relief Mission committee meeting in Cyberjaya University of Medical Sciences (CUCMS). It's a waaayy cool university, like really modern and everything. All the designs in there makes me go...woahh cool place for a uni! We had a few matters needed to be discussed in preparation for the Mission which will be held this next Monday..OMG I can't wait! I'm really thrilled about the whole thing.. and the team members, although for some of us, that was the first time of ever meeting face-to-face, I can say, I can already smell the team spirit! The girls especially are all very nice.. so yeah I'm really looking fwd to working with them!

I guess the highlight of the meeting was the 'latihan sunat' or circumcision. We were taught by the 2nd year CUCMS students,who had done numerous sunathon activities. They are already like, very professional doing it, as they are exposed with these activites guided by Dr Latiff and his team. And they're all very friendly and bersabar with us yang terkial2 nak jahit sutures during that sunat practice to kan. Ala, first time what! But nevertheless it's a good experience to know the steps to sunat people, he he. I actually enjoyed it, (err I mean, the whole surgery-experience thing!) so yeah, perhaps becoming a surgeon may be a future for me? Hmm... who knows right?

Lastly, I plead to anyone who's reading this, come on and help to donate in this charity. (do contact me for more info on how to.) You can donate however much amount that you wish, but the most important thing is not to lose this opportunity to contribute to our amalan and ibadat. Bukankah sedekah itu sangat2 besar pahalanye kalau kita ikhlas? Maybe this time it is us who help these people, but maybe one day, who knows...it may be our turn to need help from other people, right? What more, we as Muslims especially must take this chance to help our own brothers and sisters in Islam.. right? May Allah bless us all in our deeds..insyaAllah!

and yeah, one more! The head of the project made his debut on tv (his first la kot kan?) regarding this Cambodia Mission..he was interviewed on RTM today!! heheh bangga pulak walaupun bukan saya yg masuk. you can view it here

http://cambodiareliefmission07.blogspot.com

okeh that's all folks,(& saya ade no baru anyway, tp dah lupe la tak hafal lg..haha.. )
salaam!

Friday, July 13, 2007

Defend what is right!

Assalamualaykum
Sometimes it feels so sad to know that there are so many more people out there who still does not understand the real beauty of Islam.Of what it means to be a Muslim, NOT just by name, but also by real faith and practice. Some may be purely ignorant and absolutely have no intention whatsoever in trying to get to know their religion a little bit more.[hey, cmon, how about a lil' initiative. ya know, a little time spent in this path of Allah really won't hurt..]. and there are also some who just can't stop trying to find faults in this perfect religion, just to suit their own needs and satisfaction.

But no, I wouldn't say the same goes to every single person in this world. Believe me, there's still hope. There are still so many more who are searching for that inner voice, yearning so much for that spiritual well-being, to have all their questions on life answered. And these people are and will be always searching, until they find the real truth of life.

In an encounter back there in the home of the 'whites', I had one of the most interesting experience ever. I was there with a friend handing out flyers of invitation to some of the most amazing talks held in conjuction with the Islamic Awareness Week. A non-believing woman (a law student as she told us later) from Cyprus if I'm correct, was questioning this friend of mine on certain Islamic principles. So, now, just as an exercise, how about some self-test, people? Ready?
OK, What would you answer if someone came to you and said:
- I have studied the Quran. I don't know how you can say it teaches peace, when it allows a husband to hit his wife? Is there any law that states, that it is legal to hit your wife? Do you know any? Why does it seem like Islam is being unfair to the women?? [And with that firm intonation of a lawyer-to-be.. you can imagine!]

Ooookay. It seems like this lady over here, has been taught some teachings of the Quran, but sadly, some facts are manipulated to distort her understanding, perhaps. And it seems that petty things like this have been the target of the people who would do nothing else but to attack Islam based on these.

So, yeah, what would your answer to the above question be, again? What would you say to defend your religion, or.. oh, I don't know, perhaps you too are shaken by the above statement?

The best way to answer these misconceptions of Islam is really simple: ie, tell the truth. And tell what you know of it. And if you don't, just tell them that, ask their contact details and say that you'll contact them as soon as you seek the answer from some wiser people. And do not try manipulating facts yourself just to 'save face'. That's not what Islam teaches, remember?

Alhamdulillah, while we were having that conversation another Muslim sister who was really 'alim, and knows a lot more than us, was also there. She shared of her knowledge of what it meant by that verse in Quran that state that husbands are allowed to hit the wife.
It goes something like this, forgive me if I have forgotten/added some of it:
-the Quran is a book of guidance, and the Prophet helps to explain certain details on the Book that the human mind may not be able to fathom just by reading the Book.
-In this case, on the verses regarding a man is allowed to hit a woman,the reason or hikmah behind to do so is not actually with the intention to hit, but to teach or precisely to 'mendidik.' And this verse has more often than not, been made to be out of context. In actual fact, there are some verses before or after that ayat, which states the strict criteria/condition before a man is allowed to hit the wife. That includes (please correct me if I'm wrong), making sure that the man has done everything to advise the wife for things that the wife has done wrong, to talk things over, and hitting is like, a last resort if the wife still does not want to change her behaviour.
-And surprise surprise! The 'hitting' as explained by Rasulullah is only made by a siwak! A siwak!! That's like a toothbrush used by the Arabs back then, and the way to 'hit' is by a tap on the head or something. I wouldn't really imagine it would actually hurt or anything that much kan. And helllooo.. I probably wouldn't call that hitting. Islam would not allow the hitting to cause any big harm, it's just as a reminder to the wife or a lesson to her, nothing more than that. And the people who don't understand Islam keeps on using that as their 'modal' to attack Islam. *sigh*

But then, perhaps they are also in the quest of finding the truth. Perhaps they too finds Islam an interesting religion and wants some more insights about it. So, I say these kind of dialogs are actually very good things. You, too, get to learn so much more of your religion than you would before. So, come on, let's get to know what Islam is about all over again, think of what you would answer if people were to ask: why do you wear hijab? are you a terrorist and does Islam support terrorism? Why do Muslim men can marry 4 wives? Is there freedom of religion in Islam? How about the Lina Joy case? *panas panas* Hehe.. Sila jawab ye..

OK, till then. Salam...

ada apa dgn SEJARAH?

Salam..
Bila berpeluang ke program-program ilmu sebegini, baru la terasa sangat2 betapa sedikit nya ilmu yang ada kat dalam diri saya ni. Banyak sangat lagi ilmu dalam dunia ni yang masih saya takde idea tentangnya pun. Banyak lagi sejarah diri saya sendiri yang saya masih tak tahu. Dan nampaknya banyak lagi sejarah tentang nenek moyang di suatu masa yang lampau yang belum pernah saya di-exposedkan sebelum ini. (Atau.. mungkinkah sejarah itu semua memang sengaja disembunyikan? )

Ye, seingat saya, semasa belajar TOK di KMB dulu, salah satu benda yang saya faham tentang history ni: History is quite prone to be manipulated, designated into something else, into stories which can be quite far from the truth.
(Apa yang saya cuba bebelkan ni? Sejarah? *Yawn*)
tapi, kawan-kawan...tak boleh yawn2!! Penting sangat tahu tentang sejarah ni..penting sangat!! Bagaimanakah mampu kita belajar dari kesilapan yang lepas jika kita tidak tahu apa yang berlaku pada yang lepas itu utk kita belajar drpdnya? (haha mesti semua orang tak faham ayat di atas). Mesti kita semua dah sedar sekarang ini, yang setiap perkara itu berlaku ikut sunatullah, ketetapan Allah. Perkara yang lepas semuanya ada sunatullah, mesti ada hukum Allah yang menjaganya.

Ok, mari kita tengok contoh2 tamadun lampau, pasti ada bangun jatuhnya. Negara2 seperti Rom, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, dulunya adalah nama-nama hebat empayar dunia. Misi penaklukan dunia untuk luaskan empayarnya sehingga ke seluruh pelusuk dunia. Malah tanah air kita sendiri jatuh pada 1511. Mungkin ramai yang tidak pernah perasan, tapi, jatuhnya Melaka ketika itu, hanyalah beberapa tahun setelah jatuhnya kerajaan Islam terakhir di Granada, Spain pada 1492. Nampak connection nya di situ?

Sebelum itu, lebih best rasanya kalau kita bercerita sedikit tentang kerajaan Islam yang sangat hebat dekat Spain suatu ketika dulu. Spain dulu pernah merasa nikmat Islam, percaya tak? Bayangkan orang2 di negara itu suatu masa dahulu pernah dengan izzah (bangga) nya melaungkan azan, berjemaah mendirikan solat, hadir majlis ilmu sbb nak tingkatkan ilmu agama mereka, dan semuanya ada satu faith yang sama: Islam! Dan masyaAllah, bila saya lihat sendiri dengan mata kepala betapa hebatnya tinggalan2 bangunan dan istana serta masjid yang masih ada di Spain, terutamanya di Granada dan COrdoba, tergamam juga sedikit.

Betapa berSEMANGATnya mereka ketika itu hendak kembangkan syiar agama ini, untuk beritahu kepada seluruh dunia, "Islam is the best thing that I have ever have in my life and I want everyone to know!". Dan bahawa agama inilah yang membawa dari gelap kepada cahaya yang terang. Di Spain, sangat banyak lahirnya ilmuwan Islam, dan banyak orang2 barat sekalipun datang ke situ sebab hendakkan sedikit ilmu org Islam di sana. Siap pakai jubah lagi org barat ni. Jubah graduasi kita sekarang ni pun asalnya dari jubah2 semasa zaman kegemilangan Islam dulu tau! Yang paling hebat tentang orang2 Islam dan ilmu mereka adalah kerana segala macam ilmu mereka itu adalah didasarkan kepada Al-Quran dan hadis. Mungkin seronok juga jika saya boleh cerita lebih byk tentang Spain dan pengalaman semasa travel ke sana winter yang lepas kan? One day mungkin.

OK. Lepas ini mungkin kita boleh bergerak sedikit ke belakang lagi, n cerita bagaimana bila Islam datang ke alam Melayu, segala-galanye telah berubah.For me, agak menarik la sbb sy sendiri pun tak pernah tahu ttg hal ini sblm ini.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

updates

salammm!!
hmm i guess i have not actually been updating this blog now, have I? No new posts like I said would write.. But can't help it when I'm enjoying being at home more than anything else right now!!..He he he. Ade je benda lain kena buat ek kat rumah ni. *sigh* Masak. Kemas rumah.lipat baju. tolong my mom buat segala mcm new recipes.. ececece hahaha.
But then again, come to think of it, no matter how busy we may be, or how tiring our day was and how everything else that we do may seem to be taking too much of our time, we should and must always remember..that we must always keep aside some time ..to remind ourselves of who we are in front of God, to find knowledge in His way, and to strive in His name.kan? I guess at times we could be just too swept away with things that are happening all around us that we forget that the purpose of our existence in this world is none other than to be His 'Abd, and of course, as a Khalifah. hmm...
Anyways. I guess now it's time to do some (what do they call it again?) ahaa...sharing moments ,
right? If you ask me about the program that I went last week, yeah I had one of the most eye-opening experience ever!! About what it means to be a Malay Muslim, also of the value of the freedom that we have right now.And on how Islam came to the Malays and bring about a civilisation that we have never once seen before.. and how the Muslim warriors of our own people fought hard to claim our rights from the Portugese, and the Brits one time ago.

(will be continued insyaAllah..)

Saturday, July 7, 2007

back home

home at last. finally. *sambil menghirup udara msia* yeahhhooooo!!!!!!
oh, assalamualaykum ppl.
there's so much to tell, too much to share, and I don't even know where to start.
all that even in just a week right after coming home.
so many inputs from the 2 days-'daurah' recently.
the visit to KMB... sayang all the teachers there sgt2!!

insyaAllah, there's a lot of time to talk about those in the coming days.
tata~