A Sunday in UPM

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Sandalwood - Kayu Cendana

I almost forgotten about this site. Have been quite busy lately. It has been almost two years I am stuck with the thesis. I had sent few things to be corrected and still not receiving approval. I guess my supervisor is a kind of perfectionist. It is good to be a perfectionist but we cannot be sure that everything that we produce is perfect. So, brothers and sisters. It is not easy to produce a thesis... I think I would just send it in total to the school to be evaluated maybe like next week before the due date on 7th of December 2012, insha Allah... hehehe...

I had also tried to maintain my rituals as always but I find that it becomes more tough as the day time seems to be shorter than the night one. Maybe in our region. I do not know about other regions unless if I check the weather cast and observing their time.

Well, this evening I just followed my mother to an agricultural expo in Universiti Putra Malaysia. To be honest, I do not like to be among the crowd though sometimes I would feel the importance to have some friends to talk with. I love peacefulness and tranquility more and feel better when I am alone. I am just like that. 

I did not buy anything but my mother bought few things she likes, hehe. I think it is ok as long as she knows the limit and not wasting. Other than that, most ladies sure love to shopping and but things that they like. I understood that and my mother has not really bought anything like jewelry for herself. We do not believe in anything like gold or silver as possession because we are nomadic kind of people. Some of my sisters who had already been to the expo yesterday said that they are interested in business and trade. Well, it is not my nature and inclination. I do not care if people say anything like I have got no life or anything. We do anything because of "specific purpose" and because of the "necessities". What do we really need? Are we really deprived to practice the life of merchants and traders? If we set up the business, we would have to get loan and being tied to materialism because we would always need to roll the capital. We would also have to be aggressive in order to survive in business world and we may tyrannize others or being tyrannized too.  It involves the karmma and it would not easily being stopped...

I just asked my mother to help me to buy a sandalwood tree to be planted behind our house. It is useful for religious rituals and respecting the scripture. It is also a Mediterranean culture to lit up sandalwood in scripture recitation and to "purify" the house's smell for rituals. We have also got some little "lady's finger" plants distributed by the ministry of agriculture in the expo by just filling up the form. Because it involves the "efforts" that I have to write to get the plants so I accept the trees. I do not like to take donated things because it involves our ancestors' dignity and advices. I tried to tell this to all of my family members but because they are not specifically being trained in religious responsibilities so they do not really understand what am I trying to tell them. I think I need to ask people on how to take care the sandalwood tree.   

How's brothers and sisters 'Ashura fasting yesterdays? I just performed it on the 9th day of Muharram and on the 10th of Muharram. It is an optional fasting anyway just to commemorate the liberation of Moses a.s and his people from Egypt but if brothers and sisters performed that. I would like to congratulate you. Other than that I just did some light chest beating, mourning and some prayers for imam Ali r.a, imam Hassan r.a, imam Hussain r.a and other family members alone at the mosque after the Maghrib. 

I walked to the mosque because I do not like people to see me like following some kind of cult and maybe sometimes there are differences because of jurisprudence school as I am a Hanbali in the midst of Shafi'ies. So, praying and worshiping in a larger space would be better because I could hide behind the walls and pillars. I saw Twelver Shi'a brothers performed beating and procession too but I do not think that it is necessary to hurt ourselves just to show how deep our love and sorry for the Ahl Bayt and imam Ali r.a family. I am aware that there are few of the Twelver marjas talked about the importance of the mourning for them. 

I think it is just more than enough to be moderate and pray also for all bani Hashim clan and all Muslim brethren regardless nations and spreading love to all people regardless faith and background. Try not to be selective. Prayers for mercy to be granted upon all is better than prayers for anathema on others because His Forgiveness is wide. 

Reminder too. This month of Muharram is among four respected months within our traditions and rites. We should try to avoid tyranny, war, battle, quarrels and stay away from fighting others or each other if they do not start anything which harm us or our existence. Verses mentioning about these could be founded in Surat al-Tawbah verses 6 and 36. There are also numbers of hadiths mentioning about which months are those respected months and hadiths about practices in the respected months ranging from extremely weak to valid. 

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