What is life all about?

When I woke up this morning, I asked myself, “What is life all about?”

I found the answer in my room. The fan said, “BE COOL.” The ceiling said, “AIM HIGH”. The window said, “SEE THE WORLD!” The clock said “EVERY MINUTE IS PRECIOUS.” The mirror said “REFLECT BEFORE YOU ACT.” The calendar said “BE UP TO DATE.” The door said “PUSH HARD FOR YOUR GOALS.” The floor said, “KNEEL DOWN AND PRAY!”

Life is about controlling your temperament. So getting angry too easily is not a good idea. Be cool, be more understanding. Over look people’s mistakes and help each other to improve. There’s always a solution to a problem. So don’t make it a big thing!

Life is about aiming high. Learn from people who are successful. You wanna ace in your exam, learn from those who have aced the exam before. And more importantly, you wanna ace your Akhirah life, you’ve gotta read more stories of the pious because they have aced their life of Akhirat!

Tick tock tick tock and every minute is precious. When you feel bored, instead of thinking of what you can do to ‘kill’ some time, why not read 1 SUBHANALLAH while playing football? Your garden (Jannah) will be decorated with 1 tree InsyaAllah. Or maybe LAA ILAHA ILLALLAH while jogging? Your sin is forgiven with every step you take. After all, you are a Muslim athletic person right? 

Now girls....Mirror, mirror on the wall! Who’s the prettiest of all?! Give some attention to your internal beauty while you care for your external beauty. Have good character with parents, siblings, friends and co-workers means no BENCI, no DENGKI, no BALAS DENDAM, no MENGUMPAT and lots more!

Nokia N9? iPad 2 ? Samsung Galaxy tablet? Be up to date with the latest gadgets, fashion and music trends? Don’t worry about that so much people, those things get out-dated too quickly. Rather up date yourself with knowledge and ‘amal’ (practice). Are you still repeating the 4 QULS (Surah Ikhlas, Falaq, Naas, and Kaafirun) in 5 times Solah? Whoa….that’s so out dated!

Alright, you want to memorize few more Surahs? Now push hard for your goal. Learn 1 new surah every week, or if you can’t do that, memorize 1 surah in one month. Come on, we have 12 months in a year. If you are consistent, you’ll know 12 new surah every year, Subhanallah. This is not just a wishful thinking. Try and you’ll see the result.

Nothing is ever too hard when we ask help from Allah the Al-Mighty and Powerful. He will make impossible things become possible and unimaginable conditions become reality.  So KNEEL DOWN AND PRAY to Allah and sincerely ask HIM to help us in every aspect of our sweet and sour life!

Muslim Home- Assisting with house chores

Many men are reluctant in helping around in the house. In-fact many people feel that they will lose their status as men by sweeping, washing dishes, doing laundry etc. However the practice of Rasulullah was contrary to this. The beloved wife, Aishah (r.a) narrated that “Rasulullah used to assist in household chores and when the time for salaah would approach, he would leave immediately for salaah.”

Aishah (r.a) was once asked, “What work did Rasulullah do while at home?” She replied, “Rasulullah was a man among men. He would clean his own clothes, milk the goats and take care of himself.”

If all men of today follow this wonderful example, we will also reap the following benefits;

1. We will be fulfilling a beautiful sunnah of Rasulullah S.A.W
2. We will be of great help to our families at home.
3. Humility will develop in us.
4. The bond between husband and wife strengthened. 
5. Loving and caring environment in one's home.

Why not start with these simple tasks?

1. Setting and clearing of the table/sufrah/dastarkhan for meals.
2. Washing dishes or at least your own plate
3. Putting away the ironing. 
4. Helping with the children like getting them dressed when you're not working)
5. Making the bed after sleeping.
6. Helping the children with their homework.
7. Light maintenance work at home e.g. changing light bulbs, tab washer, etc.

Men shouldn't have a very demanding nature. Instead of assisting with the children and household work, they demand attention for themselves. Yes, that is your right, but Rasulullah taught us the 'give and take' rule.This sunnah is in-fact a prescription to cure many of the ills which are so common in marriages today.

Lifestyle of the pious - Moulana Ashraf Ali Thaanwi (RA);

He once said, “This is something that I don’t wish to mention, but due to necessity I am saying it. If you wish you can find out from my wife how I conduct myself with her at home and what service I take from her. Al-hamdulillah neither am I restricted, nor do I restrict anyone else. In this way, one lives like a king.”

It is always my practice that when I go home to eat and if there isn’t any fresh bread that has been baked then I eat the bread which was left over from the previous day. Most of the time when I arrive home and I see my wife engaged in some household work, I take the bread myself, fill the container with water, dish out the curry from the pot and sit down to eat. Actually if I see that she is busy cooking and she needs anything at that time, for example she needs water for cooking, I will fetch the water for her from the water pump and first give it to her.

If I see that she is not busy doing any work then I will ask her to serve me. It is very important to be considerate in these aspects. After all, she also is a human being. It is not possible for her temperament to remain the same all the time. Even a servant feels lethargic at times.

I do lots of work on my own and I don’t regard it as a burden. If she wants to be of any service to me, I allow her and I feel comforted that she is serving me. She also feels at ease when I am at ease. At nights I sleep very little but when I see my wife fast asleep, I thank Allah Ta’ala that she sleeps so well otherwise I would have been burdened with a double worry, one that I cannot sleep and the other that she cannot sleep.

When I am about to leave the house, I ask her if there is anything that needs to be done before I go. If she doesn’t need anything, then I leave. If she indicated that there was some work to do, I would remain behind and complete the chore. For example, If there was a letter to write to someone, then I would complete writing it before leaving the house. After meals if I felt like eating some *paan, I would ask her where the container with the paan is kept. She would point it out to me and I would take out the paan and help myself.

In present times the youngsters call their wives their life companions. What companionship are they talking about? Have they even fulfilled the rights of this companionship? This is mere lip service. Infact, instead of being their life companions they have distanced their wives because of their uncaring attitude. [misaali gharaana pg. 56]

May Allah Ta’ala enable us all to follow in the mubaarak footsteps of our noble master Sayyidinah Rasulullah and grant us the taufik and ability to be of assistance in our homes. Aameen.

* paan - An Indian, Pakistani and Southeast Asian tradition of chewing betel leaf (Wikipedia)

Jangan Cemari Ayat 'Bismillah' di Kad Kahwin

KAJANG: Sikap sesetengah umat Islam memandang remeh ayat al-Quran yang ditulis di kad jemputan perkahwinan atau di cakera padat (CD) agama dengan meletakkannya di merata tempat secara tidak langsung melakukan penghinaan terhadap ayat suci itu. Walaupun hanya tertera kalimah Bismillah dalam bahasa Arab di kad jemputan perkahwinan maknanya tetap sama, sekali gus perlu mendapat penghormatan seperti kitab al-Quran dan jika mahu dilupuskan ia mesti melalui tertib tertentu.

Pengurus Percetakan Saufi yang menguruskan tempat pelupusan al-Quran, Rahmat Mahdan, berkata selain al-Quran, ada di kalangan umat Islam terlepas pandang petikan ayat suci itu yang ditulis di tempat lain seperti barang perhiasan, seramik, jam dinding, pinggan, sejadah atau kaset agama.

“Al-Quran ialah mukjizat yang diturunkan Allah kepada Rasulullah SAW, jadi dalam apa juga bentuk ia mesti dihormati dan dimuliakan kerana darjatnya yang tinggi."

“Misalnya dalam CD agama yang mengandungi bacaan al-Quran, sewajarnya ia dihormati sama seperti kitab, namun ramai di kalangan kita tidak mengambil berat soal ini sehingga dibuang atau diletakkan di tempat tidak sepatutnya. Kalau kad kahwin seeloknya ditulis terjemahan al-Quran bagi mengelak ia dibuang di merata tempat selepas habis kenduri,” katanya yang ditemui di Batu 9, Cheras, di sini, baru-baru ini.

Rahmat berkata, sejak mengusahakan tempat pelupusan al-Quran bersama ahli keluarga, dia bukan saja menerima kitab al-Quran sama ada uzur atau tersalah cetak, malah barang lain seperti ukiran kayu dan kulit kambing, kepingan kaca hiasan, kitab pengajian agama, buku teks, kad kahwin, kain, kaset, pita video dan CD mengandungi ayat al-Quran.

“Kesedaran perlu wujud di kalangan umat Islam mengenai perkara ini supaya kesucian ayat al-Quran terpelihara kerana dalam apa juga bentuk, maknanya tetap sama,” katanya.

Di sebalik tanggungjawab fardu kifayah yang dilaksanakannya itu, Rahmat kesal kerana ada pihak memandang hina tugas dilaksanakannya, malah disebabkan marah, kitab al-Quran turut mendapat penghinaan.

“Saya buka tempat ini tanpa mendapat pembiayaan mana-mana pihak, jadi apabila ada orang mahu menghantar al-Quran, saya meminta sumbangan untuk menggaji pekerja, membayar bil elektrik serta kos operasi lain, namun ada di kalangan mereka menganggap ia umpama menjual surat khabar lama di tempat kitar semula dan mengharap wang daripada saya.

“Menguruskan pelupusan kitab suci memerlukan tertib tertentu dan saya memerlukan sumbangan kewangan, tetapi disebabkan tidak mahu membayar ada yang memberi ‘kata dua’ supaya saya menerima al-Quran dibawa atau ia akan dicampak ke tengah jalan. “Ada juga yang meninggalkan kotak mengandungi kitab suci ini di depan pejabat tanpa pesanan atau akad semata-mata tidak mahu membayar kos operasi pelupusan,” katanya.

Menurutnya, tujuan dia membuka pusat pelupusan itu bukan untuk mengaut keuntungan sebaliknya rasa tanggungjawab selepas mendapati al-Quran dibuang sesuka hati di tempat kitar semula selain tidak mendapat penghormatan sewajarnya.

“Apabila ada orang yang menghantar kitab lama dan membuat sumbangan, kami akan memberi al-Quran baru sebagai menghargai mereka, namun masih ramai yang tidak faham usaha kami sehingga membuat tuduhan dan menghina kami,” katanya.

Rahmat berharap jabatan agama Islam serta agensi berkaitan bekerjasama dengan pihaknya bagi memudahkan fardu kifayah itu dilaksanakan.

“Kerja ini dilakukan atas dasar tanggungjawab dan kami amat mengharapkan bantuan serta kerjasama pelbagai pihak,” katanya.

Lihat sumber untuk keterangan: Percetakan Saufi

* Nota saya:

Sebagai individu yang beragama Islam, kita memainkan peranan yang penting dalam hal pelupusan al-Qur'an ini. Sudah tentu sukar untuk kita pergi ke tempat pelupusan al-Quran yang terletak di Kuala Lumpur ini jika kita tinggal di suatu tempat yang jauh, dan naskah yang kita nak lupuskan itu  hanyalah 1 naskah atau beberapa helai kertas. Eloknya, kita lakukan sahaja sendiri. Caranya mudah, jika kita punyai naskah al-Qur'an lama atau helaian kertas yang mengandungi ayat suci al-Qur'an hatta kalimah Allah sahaja pun, dan kita tidak lagi menggunakannya, janganlah kita sewenang-wenangnya buang ke dalam tong sampah. Sebaliknya, kita harus bakar, kemudian buang abunya ke dalam air laut atau sungai. Atau cara kedua; balut naskah al-Quran itu dengan kain bersih, kemudian tanamnya di tempat yang tidak dipijak oleh orang ramai yang lalu lalang. InsyaAllah kita dapat pahala sebab beradab dengan al-Qur'an dan nama Allah. Wassalam

Matematik Isteri Solehah (very interesting)

Pious

Beautiful

Wealthy

Good lineage

=

SUPER WOMAN

Now how is this for MATHS ?

Al Khawarizmi, a Muslim mathematician, was asked about the best woman,
He said : If a woman was pious and religious so she is = 1
If she was beautiful, so add a 0 to 1 = 10
If she was wealthy, so add another 0 = 100
And if she was from a good and known family, so add another 0 = 1000

But if "1" is gone then nothing remains but a bunch of zeros.
* Bijak tak bijak ahli Matematik Islam kita? 

Take your Heart Back

Ocean of Dunya

No one likes to fall. And few people would ever choose to drown. But in struggling through the ocean of this life, sometimes it’s so hard not to let the world in. Sometimes the ocean does enter us. The dunya does seep into our hearts.

And like the water that breaks the boat, when dunya enters, it shatters our heart.  It shatters the boat. Recently, I was reminded of what a broken boat looks like, of what happens when you let everything in. I was reminded because I saw someone, just like me, fall in love too much with this life and seek to be filled by the creation. So the ocean of dunya shattered her boat, as it had shattered mine, and she fell out into the water.  But she stayed down too long, and didn’t know how to come back up or what to hold on to.

So she drowned.

If you allow dunya to own your heart, like the ocean that owns the boat, it will take over. You will sink down to the depths of the sea. You will touch the ocean floor. And you will feel as though you were at your lowest point. Entrapped by your sins and the love of this life, you will feel broken. Surrounded by darkness. That’s the amazing thing about the floor of the ocean. No light reaches it.

But, this dark place is not the end. Remember that the darkness of night precedes the dawn. And as long as your heart still beats, this is not the death of it. You don’t have to die here. Sometimes, the ocean floor is only a stop on the journey. And it is when you are at this lowest point, that you are faced with a choice. You can stay there at the bottom, until you drown. Or you can gather pearls and rise back up—stronger from the swim, and richer from the jewels.

If you seek Him, God can raise you up, and replace the darkness of the ocean, with the light of His sun. He can transform what was once your greatest weakness into your greatest strength, and a means of growth, purification and redemption. Know that transformation sometimes begins with a fall. So never curse the fall. The ground is where humility lives. Take it. Learn it. Breathe it in. And then come back stronger, humbler and more aware of your need for Him. Come back having seen your own nothingness and His greatness. Know that if you have seen that Reality, you have seen much. For the one who is truly deceived is the one who sees his own self—but not Him.  Deprived is the one who has never witnessed his own desperate need for God.  Reliant on his own means, he forgets that the means, his own soul, and everything else in existence are His creation.

Seek God to bring you back up, for when He does, He will rebuild your ship. The heart that you thought was forever damaged will be mended. What was shattered will be whole again. Know that only He can do this. Seek Him.

And when He saves you, beg forgiveness for the fall, feel remorse over it—but not despair.  As Ibn ul Qayyim (ra) has said: “Satan rejoiced when Adam (peace be upon him) came out of Paradise, but he did not know that when a diver sinks into the sea, he collects pearls and then rises again.”

There is a powerful and amazing thing about tawbah (repentance) and turning back to Allah (swt). We are told that it is apolish for the heart. What’s amazing about a polish is that it doesn’t just clean. It makes the object that is polished even shinier than it was before it got dirty. If you come back to God, seek His forgiveness, and refocus your life and heart on Him, you have the potential to be even richer than if you’d never fallen at all. Sometimes falling and coming back up gives you wisdom and humility that you may never otherwise have had. Ibn ul Qayyim (ra) writes:

“One of the Salaf (Pious Predecessors) said: “Indeed a servant commits a sin by which he enters Paradise; and another does a good deed by which he enters the Fire.” It was asked: How is that? So he replied: “The one who committed the sin, constantly thinks about it; which causes him to fear it, regret it, weep over it and feel ashamed in front of his Lord—the Most High—due to it. He stands before Allah, broken-hearted and with his head lowered in humility. So this sin is more beneficial to him than doing many acts of obedience, since it caused him to have humility and humbleness—which leads to the servant’s happiness and success—to the extent that this sin becomes the cause for him entering Paradise. As for the doer of good, then he does not consider this good a favor from his Lord upon him. Rather, he becomes arrogant and amazed with himself, saying: I have achieved such and such, and such and such. So this further increases him in self-adulation, pride and arrogance—such that this becomes the cause for his destruction.”

Allah (swt) reminds us in the Qur’an to never lose hope. He says: “Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against their souls [by sinning], despair not of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful,’” (39:53).

And so, this is a call to all those who have become enslaved by the tyranny of the self, imprisoned in the dungeon of thenafs (self) and desires.  It is a call to all those who have entered the ocean of dunya, who have sunk into its depths, and become trapped by its crushing waves. Rise up. Rise up to the air, to the Real world above the prison of the ocean. Rise up to your freedom. Rise up and come back to life. Leave the death of your soul behind you. Your heart can still live and be stronger and purer than it ever was. Does not the polish of tawbah remake the heart even more beautiful than it was? Remove the veil you have sewn with your sins. Remove the veil between you and Life, between you and Freedom, between you and Light—between you and God.  Remove the veil and rise up. Come back to yourself. Come back to where you began. Come back Home. Know that when all the other doors have shut in your face, there is One that is always open. Always. Seek it. Seek Him and He will guide you through the waves of the cruel ocean, into the mercy of the sun.

This world cannot break you—unless you give it permission. And it cannot own you unless you hand it the keys – unless you give it your heart.  And so, if you have handed those keys to dunya for a while—take them back. This isn’t the End. You don’t have to die here. Reclaim your heart and place it with its rightful owner:

God.

All credit to : SuhaibWebb.com

Favourite Qoute of the Day

‎"If she’s not on the deen, she's not fit to be your queen...If he hasn't got Iman, he’s not fit to be your man"

(ml sulaiman ravat)

Konsep Syukran dan ‘Afwan

Suatu ketika ada teman yang mengucapkan syukran ke saya. Kemudian saya jawab sesuai dengan kebiasaan orang Arab dengan kata ‘afwan. Sesaat kemudian, teman saya itu bertanya, “Kok minta maaf, din?”… (‘afwan = maaf). Saya menjelaskan kalo orang Arab diberik ucapan syukran, maka jawabannya adalah ‘afwan. hehe…teman saya terkekeh.

Ada yang bisa kita pelajari dari kebiasaan orang Arab ini. Ketika diucapkan padanya kata Syukran maka jawabannya adalah ‘Afwan. Mereka masih merasa perlu meminta maaf ketika sudah berbuat baik kepada seseorang. Mereka merasa bahwa seharusnya masih bisa melakukan lebih daripada itu, namun yang dilakukan hanya sebatas itu. Sehingga masih merasa perlu mengucap kata ‘Afwan.

Bingung ya? Saya juga bingung gimana mau ngejelasinnya… 

Langsung ke contoh aja deh..

‘Ali memberi ‘Umar makanan berupa nasi goreng (di Arab ada nasi goreng ga ya? nasgor kan dari China). Kemudian ‘Umar berucap “Syukran wa jazaakallah.” ‘Ali karena merasa seharusnya mampu memberikan lebih daripada nasi goreng mengucapkan, “Afwan wa iyyaka.”

Yah, semoga dari contoh itu bisa ditangkap isi pesannya.

Begitulah kurang lebih konsep syukran dan ‘afwan. Tidak seperti orang Indonesia yang kalo diucapkan padanya terima kasih, maka jawabannya adalah sama-sama. Seolah dia memang pantas untuk mendapatkan ucapan terima kasih itu. Yang dilakukan orang Indonesia ini sama dengan yang dilakukan oleh orang yang menggunakan bahasa Inggris.Thank You, maka jawabannya adalah you’re welcome atau doesn’t mind.

Saya lebih sepakat dengan kebiasaan orang Arab mengenai konsep terima kasih ini.

Satu hal lagi, orang Arab atau orang yang menggunakan bahasa Arab, sangat senang sekali dalam tutur katanya mendoakan orang lain. Misalnya dalam pengumuman hasil ujian. Maka selain Lulus, istilah lainnya adalah bukan Tidak Lulus, melainkan Semoga Allah Mengizinkan di lain waktu.

Sungguh indah sekali jika kita senang menebar doa kepada lawan bicara kita dalam keseharian kita.

Baarokallahu fiik bagi yang membaca tulisan ini. Semoga bermanfaat.

* all credit to : http://dinoyudha.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/konsep-syukran-dan-afwan/#comment-2602