Working as a PR Trainee

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Fuhhhh.... These two weeks are quite hectic. On 3rd of June 2013, I received a phone call from a government agency and the caller said that she has a temporary job to offer to me. Actually I did not haunt the job so much since I am gradually trying to leave the "world" behind beginning with balding my head. I am grateful to get the job though it is just a temporary one. I am placed in the Corporate Communication Unit which is a small unit at the basement of the department. I reported myself at the human resource office at the third floor at the block 08 on 6th of June 2013. 

I sent my thesis on 3rd June 2013 and I went to my mother's cousin sister house. I spent some time with my cousin brother, well not so little but younger than me known as 'Ady. He took me to Mee Udang restaurant owned by his friend in Balik Pulau but he does not know that I am not taking seafood. Since I did not want to make any fuss and he was so happy to introduce his state's delicacy to me so I am just celebrating him and broken the "pantang" while crying in my heart. I am happy to know that he is going to be hired for other job which is more rewarding to him. He loves sailing and I think his father is a native of Pulau Pinang which means that they are the Orang Laut. It is normal for us Arab descent to have relatives of different races... 

Right now I am a trainee of public relations in the department. We deal with publicity, ICT products of the department such as checking the pictures of the CS to the Government and the people there or the media profiles, exhibitions at the department's lobby, handling visit from other government agencies, managing media and controlling photographers in the office's official ceremonies like the Stunning Achievement Award for public servants, clerical jobs, handling complaints, and many other things related or non-related to the job specification. More or less this temporary job is related to both degrees that I have studied. About the payment, they paid me under the O-Level scheme which is RM54 (16.86 USD) per day and it is about RM1620 (505.70 USD) per month. Just be grateful with whatever that He gave us. Maybe there are hidden wisdom that we do not know.

These two weeks were the busiest weeks for me. One of the senior trainee there is going to quit from the unit since he received an offer for permanent job in other department. So, the deputy head of the unit has appointed me to take hold the jobs left by that guy. He is going to end his service in the unit this Friday so I have to learn and also finishing the left-over jobs by previous trainees since they had also involved me in their meetings. On 20th June 2013, I joined the group of trainees to entertain a visit from Bakri Police-Technical Institute. They came all the way from Johore to see the Prime Minister's Office and made a proper application to the Communication and Corporate Unit so everyone should also address their application with manner. 

Tomorrow, I am going to be a media controller in the ceremony of "Anugerah Pencapaian Cemerlang" which will be held in the Putrajaya International Convention Center. Those people ordered me to do so and I am a trainee though I have a master degree. I am going to humble down myself and try to gain experience as much as I can. So tired since today I have been working in the office for half of the day trying to finish the initial tasks received and at 15:00 we have to go to the ceremony site to check whether everything is in order. I just arrived at home at 19:04 and was sent by a younger trainee known as Naqiyuddin. He has a nice name but I am not going to entertain little kid like I used to in the Tekun hostel. I am not trying to be cocky but I am too "Old" or perhaps "Ancient" to mingle with them. Maybe some people would see me like a "sufi" person but let me tell everyone something. We do not mingle so much with people and most of all people would "cast" their sins on us. I am not something which purify people's sin nor grieves! I used to tell this to little kids in the USM hostel in a framed phrase that "I am a human-being" when they uttered some weird words but little kids are little kids... 

I have to finish up with the task. So, I beg on my knees to brothers and sisters please help me to pray to Him may He makes everything easy for me. May He makes me easy to perform every worship and always remember Him as what I had promised in the covenant with Him. Brothers and sisters please take care of your health in this hazy condition. Pray that may He orders the smoke and fire to cease away so others could be healthy and performing worship to Him in their ways.

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!              

Transactions in Islam

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

I just returned home from USM Penang and arrived here in KL just after 'Asr time. I had submitted my thesis. Anyway, for postgraduate students who take full-time classes we actually have to write a five chapters mini-thesis other than hundreds or maybe thousands of weekly assignments. I shut myself down for about a year since the Gregorian New Year 2013 after my thesis being rejected for about.... Well, I do not know how many times.

For this time, I wish that they could accept my thesis and let me go through the candidature as a master graduate student. I did not sleep for about a week to manage my thesis right. Grateful to both sisters, Aida and Premawati. Because they contacted me and reminded me to the thesis, so I came to realize that I had wasted my time in the campus for another three years of my life just after I graduated from undergraduate class. Six years as a higher institution student, plus with my schooling times. I am not trying to brag myself but one could compare our maturity with those who had started their working life since after their schooling times or after their undergraduate times. We could analyze the situation better and not just working for the sake of saving our ass. We learned to be compassionate to other beings and feel others' sufferings.

Well, tonight I am connecting myself with the mosque again which is the al-Najah Mosque at the religious primary school in Precinct 9. I just love that imam guy. I feel connected spiritually to him and also some other guys but only specific people. It is like being connected to another brother when seeing him or other specific people. Coincidentally, there was a religious lecture related to communal activity component in Sharia Islamiyah or the Way of Islam. The ustad talked about the interest or in Arabic we call it as al-Ribaa. This is quite interesting because I learned about this but I had forgotten, lol. 

Basically, there are six matters which is mentioned in a Hadith I guess reported by Abu Sa'id al-Khudry r.a as interest matters. They are:

1. Gold 

2. Silver

3. Wheat grain

4. Dates

5. Salt

6. Barley

Well, because this country and most regions in South East Asia are following the jurisprudence of imam al-Shafi'ie rahimahullah then I am offering him my honor, love and respect. I will just mention about his method of jurisprudence other than my family in majority follows his method. In modern days, there are matters subjected to interests such as money and they are reasoned through a process known as deductive analogy by jurisprudence scholars. Not by commoners.

The imam al-Shafie jurisprudence method categorized interests into three categories:

1. Ribaa' al-Fadhl

2. Ribaa' al-Nasee'at

3. Ribaa' al-Yad

The adherents of Hanbali jurisprudence usually would follow the method of Ibnu al-Qayyim and other scholars from the particular school of jurisprudence where they recognize two categories of interests in transaction. It is not a problem at all but do not impose the method on others like they do not have their schools of jurisprudence or scholars of jurisprudence. 

I guess these are the summary for basic things in our daily transaction whether with money or barter system. These form the basis of our financial law and economic system where Islam is not based on any Enlightenment products from European continent but it is an "Enlightenment" product from Arabian Peninsula where the people there were regarded as barbarians although it is perhaps an overgeneralization by Orientalists or Western academicians.

I just read some books written in Malay language from our library in Hamzah Sendut USM. I guess I took two books about tariqas in South East Asia and one is the Book of Aphorism written by Ibn Athaillah al-Sikandari and compiled again by Sheikh Fadlullah al-Haeri of Karbala. The book about tariqas among them is known as the "Syariah: Ilmu Fekah Menurut Tarekat Qadiriyah" or "Sharia: Jurisprudence according to Qadiri Lineage" written by Haji Abu Bakar Aceh and published by Pustaka Aman Press. Another one is the "Tarekat Ahmadiah in Malay World" but I cannot remember the author's name and publication. Qadiri lineage is actually my paternal family lineage but we had forgotten and leave the practices behind when our elders passed away. My father was not properly educated (religiously speaking) and I am lamenting him because he is unfortunate. Basically I have some basic knowledge about the Qadiri lineage where I just look at the contents and I could elaborate them again from my basic understanding of Islam. Some of the practices I had already get from elders at our "centers" when I was little child. I am just referring to the book as to recall my memories back while waiting the time to take the bus to return to Kuala Lumpur. Did not have much time to xerox the book and violating the publication copyrights because I was rushing with thesis submission and others.

Tomorrow will be my first day working in an organization. It is just a contract based job but anything will do because I need some experience in working areas and getting used to whatever that I had left before. Thank you brothers and sisters for visiting this humble site. I am grateful for brothers and sisters prayers.

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!        

Undergraduate Class

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah!

Just a picture that I have from our class. The truth is I had never capture any picture of mine during schooling times nor during undergraduate period. Just got this from colleague, brother Amir and he took it from other sites of our classmates, lol...

Urm, I cannot remember all of their names... We never really mingle together because the class was divided into groups. One group of students went against one another. I am with brother Amir because he is my Kedah state compatriot. I could say that I was quite racist at that time and strictly mingled with Kedah, Kelantan, some students from Besut in Terengganu and Thais, ahaha...  This is around 2008-2009 while I studied Translation and Interpretation studies where the basic languages were Malay and English. Right now I am still practicing these studies and translated many things which also include both Muslim and non-Muslim wisdom. I still keep some of the notes and rewriting them again as to preserve and to spread it out to other Muslim brothers and sisters.

I do not mix with other students in the class and have problems with some lecturers because I was also an orthodox Muslim guy. I respect Friday and the calculation of the holy day for me begins from Thursday evening up to Sunday dawn. My German language lecturer surprisingly understood me but Malay Muslims do not understand me and our rituals. 

Usually we, observant orthodox Muslims would have problems even in Muslim society ourselves. Not only in Western society. However, I could assure everyone that I am even more open-minded than any "liberal" thinking people in the West. I never have any conflict with people of non-Islamic faiths. I am in the photo anyway but only those in the pictures know me, hehe...

Sealed with prayers with mercy, peace and love, amin! 

Thesis AGain

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah!

Last week I received emails from my course coordinator and also from the school's clerk. They said that my term is not ended yet. My colleagues which is Aida and Prema both also called me. They thought that I am still in progress to repair my thesis but the reality is that I am not repairing anything. I just went to mosques and praying besides reciting the Quran and litanies to purify myself yet I still feel not purified because I think that I am still selfish. Sometimes I had forgotten to take note on my parents feeling. It is a violation of commandments. 

Just about a week ago, those colleagues called me. And now I am almost finishing my thesis which is around 30,000 > words and about 87 pages, haha... I did not sleep days and nights to cope with the running time because this Monday is the due date which would determine whether I will be graduated as a master student of International and Diplomatic Studies (European). What is the title of my thesis? The title is "The Recognition of Religious Minority Rights in Europe: Muslim and UK as a Case Study". This is not really an easy study, but praises only due to the God the Highest. I am thankful to brother Abdullah al-Andalusi. His debates in the Muslim Debate Initiative series really helped me and because of that I could combine my readings about Islamic civilizations. The study also talks about the Sharia law and political angle of Islam besides analyzing the flaws of Western political philosophies such as liberalism and inequity in human rights as people hypocrisy could also be confusing.  

Right now, I am writing the last chapter which is the conclusion for the thesis. Tomorrow I would print it out and just return to USM, with His Will of course. Please brothers and sisters help me to pray for my success in the study. I love legal, policies and political studies though before I frowned at them. I am countering my fear factors now, haha... Thank you for prayers. My prayers is also for brothers and sisters.

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin! 

Hope is Possible -

Assalamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

While worshiping the God the Highest, a human-being is constantly in the battle with his enemies mainly the cravings and evil whispers. Both of them are influencing human to leave behind the God the Highest in their life.

Some of us perhaps talking within ourselves, if human should worship the God the Highest, why our inner selves are not reminding us? The reason is that, these two spiritual enemies are working their way to influence both of our heart and mind bringing us into the path of destruction.

Says the God the Highest which means, "Indeed the Satan is your obvious enemy" (Surat al-Baqarah vs. 168). Further, the God the Highest also mentions as it means, "Indeed desire always urging man-kind to evil" (Surat Yusuf vs. 53).

Because of these two spiritual enemies that human's heart keep staying in negligence and rebellious toward the Creator. Say that if it is fated these two enemies are not in existence thus human perhaps would know his Creator and loving Him. Even sunken in devotion to Him since it is the nature of every soul framed by human body to know Him and recognizing Him as their direction of reverence, worship and magnification.

Besides studying and pondering everything with the pure heart and mind, we realize from the studies of history that human-being of any period of life or location in the earth could never escape from disasters or those things disliked by them. This is a part of the God's order and divine predestination.

Disaster, tests and tribulations befall on everyone regardless they are a good or evil person, a Muslim or a non-Muslim. They would hit on everyone regardless whether he is a pious or a treacherous person. For e.g a person who could escape from poverty, if he is not facing the lack of means, perhaps is poor at his soul. A person who is poor at his soul never feel enough with anything that he has. Because of the lack of faith that he always feel the lack of everything in his life. Even more severe a person who is poor at his possession but also poor at the soul. At certain times, I could not avoid from questioning my faith and feeling ashamed to Him when this thought emerged in my mind at the midst of my life stage now. Furthermore... I just repented to the path about 10 years ago and trying hard to cope again with the responsibility and environment around. I cried alone when nobody sees me and trying to be close to Him as I do not know where else to go :'(

If human-being could escape from poverty, can he escape from sickness? Even a doctor also subjected to diseases. Doctors are human-being too. This is the Justice of the God the Highest where everyone are subjected to diseases. Disease is a messenger from Him to remind human-being. Even if a human is not lack of material possessions and not sick, but can he avoid from being a victim of slanders and backbitten by others? Human-being could not avoid from troubles caused by other human-being, even many of them were killed and murdered.

Other than that, can a human avoid from being hit with natural disasters such as tsunami, hurricanes, thunder and etc? Or can we avoid from losing our family members such as parents, wife, husband or children? Nobody wants that but He still inflicts it upon them. No one could escape from the tests and tribulations in this life. Muslims, non-Muslims, all human-being alike. If disasters and craps are equal on everyone, thus it is better for us to believer who is tested rather than being a disbeliever. It is better to be a worshiping slave while being tested rather than being a rebellious person in that period of tribulations.

Never in the history of man-kind that those who are inflicted by tribulations and tests are just the righteous ones, those who worship the God in devotion while the disbelievers are not stricken with sickness, never experience poverty nor never troubled by others. Everyone experience it.

So, it is better for us to be inflicted with disasters while worshiping and obeying Him since a genuine believer when being inflicted with troubles could take it as the remission of sins. The God the Highest only inflict us to teach us lessons and to raise us up from the torments of the hereafter since the torments in the hereafter is unbearable. For believer who is sinless, and he is pleased with the tests the the tests will be a testimony for the ascension of his position in His view. As for the treacherous person and further that he becomes a disbeliever due to hardships he encounters, thus the tests will turn to him as a curse of the God the Highest whether in the earth or in the hereafter. There is a hell in the world for him, and he will be tormented in the hell in the hereafter.     

So, there is no reason for us to not to worship the God the Highest. If we say that if we worship Him and we will become poor, then it is also the same when we do not worship Him. If we checked daily news about suicide, those who are shot dead, or those involved in road accidents, then we know the fact that not only obedient person who are inflicted with tests and tribulations but also those who do not even know Him.

Since our mind and heart could not evaluate besides being tainted by evil whispers and craving desires that we have forgotten the God the Highest. Whereas if we could evaluate and ponder, we could see that disasters and the craps inflicted upon man-kind are equal though not the same in its situation nor period of time. Why are we afraid of troubles and poverty when we perform our devotional worship to Him??

This is what I am trying to tell people around me when my mouth is tightly glued. This is also what I experienced, touched, feels and see with my own eyes while before I was also ignorant and talking like other brothers and sisters when some people come to me and talking about leaving possessions behind because those who told me are not practicing what they preached. What I realize since being dipped in tortures now is that we should just ignore others but only strive hard with sincerity only for Him. Just leave people behind and let them with whatever they wanted to think or to say.... 

Sealed with prayer for mercy, peace and love, amin!          

Litanies in Morning

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

 

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!

The Derivation of al-Deen

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Idiomatic Derivation

The derivation by idiom, the word al-deen is derived from the third class verb 'daan' which sometimes contracted with itself and sometimes with the letter 'laam' and sometimes with the letter 'baa' and shifting the meaning with the contraction with it. Thus when being contracted with itself it will become 'daanuhu' synonymous to the meaning 'malakuhu' which means His possession, His account, His subjugation, His tribute and His system.

And when it is attached with the letter 'laam' as in 'daana lahu', the meaning something which is submitting to Someone and obeying Him. And when attached with the letter 'baa' and it becomes 'daana bihi' with the meaning adopting a religion or a doctrine and living through its application in ones life, and behaves with it, and believes in it, and this idiomatic meaning for 'the deen' that exists in 'the deen' for terminological derivation as will be seen in the following statement. 'The deen' is something which makes its follower invincible, with only His teachings, and His laws, as it includes the submission of the worshipers to the One which is worshiped and directing worship to His sole Essence. And the worshiper performing worship with psychological motives. He adheres to the 'deen' without any coercion or without any force.      

Terminological Meaning

The deen as per technical meaning refers to, "the changing in the definition of the deen in terminological term, where every person knows it by its drinker, and he does not see that indeed the importance of the specifications of the deen. And among them those who know it as it is the path of the God received through the way of revelation. And many Muslims only know about this definition shortly to refer to the "celestial" religion only. 

Together with this indeed, whatever which has been adopted by man-kind and whatever that they worship is known with the term "deen" whether it is valid or invalid. The God the Highest mentions as recorded in the Glorious Quran which means, "And whoever follows other than Islam as his religion, thus he is not accepted and in the hereafter he is among the losers" (Surat Aali-Imran vs. 85). And in the al-Kaafirun vs. 6, "And for you is your religion, and for me is my religion". 

And the God the Highest named those polytheists among the Arabs as among the followers of heathen religion and their way of life clinging to ethnocentrism. The Arabs during spiritual ignorance period were the nation with no revealed scripture. Some non-Muslims are specializing in the area of morality as what has been mentioned by Rudolph Eucken, "Indeed the religion contains recognition on our responsibilities and duties through divine commands". Some non-Muslims specializing in the area of reasoning, logic and meditation. Rudolph Eucken said, "The religion is mystical experience which outreaches the human-being and in it, there are contradictions of the life".

Other definitions that we could see from the angle where we leave behind the height of several angles and referring to the definition as it says, "The religion is the belief and trust in the Sacred Essence and the assembly of followers of the pathway who submit themselves to the Essence in awe with passionate love and full of humility". This definition includes the worshiper who enslave themselves to the God the Highest or to other entities. This definition refers to the belief be it of those who worship the God the Highest for example Islam, or the previous religions that had undergone long historical period such as Judaism, Christianity and refers also to major religions at the position of non-celestial belief for example Hinduism, Buddhism or all other pagan beliefs.

As for the definition to explain the case of worshiper or people who believe in a religion, then not a must for him to submit himself with humility or with intense love to the one who is worshiped in term of acts of worship. For the "worship", there are other definition which aims at the worshiper in term of his worship acts whether he is worshiping together in awe, with full of love and humility to the one who is worshiped since that is what had been seek by the sons of Adam in their worship. And the God the Highest knows well about the matters of the universe.        

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!