Two Important Things Which are Related: I Must Remember

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah!

Just had dinner which is noodle in soup at the canteen. I don't like the chicken used in the soup since it smells. I would prefer to have only veggies especially in this stressful time where I have to run over my time to finish up few chapters for thesis. I was invited by Husaimi to have dinner with him. He's a Tablighi kid who is the balance of those older ones. Heard that they talked about the Qiblah in a hostel inside the campus is misguiding the people who pray there since the direction is not right. So, they wanted to inform the chief of the hostel and Islamic Center to do something about it. 

I didn't feel like I wanted to meddle in. I have no mood to talk about anything related to their activities anymore after I closed the contact with those who previously came by to talk with me and left me without any notification while I had already being stuffed in the camp. I had violated the rule of using community property because we could not touch anything which belongs to the nations without being told what are their 'intention' once we are aware about ourselves. I'd told my family members too but they are stubborn. They do not want to listen to me and consider that as old traditions which only bring troubles to ourselves and restricting our movement. The search about our ancestral lineage was initiated by me. Lately, mum also begin to search her ancestral lineage through the network of her relatives. Her relatives are more established compared to dad paternal lineage because they scattered everywhere that makes it hard to find them or recognize them. I always prefer to act rather than just talking. I know it is good to advise each other, but we just do everything according to limit since everything has its own space. Act should work together with the talk. 

After Isya' service, I heard something delivered by those kids from Pusat Islam who also prayed in the musalla. Maybe they are now collaborating with Tablighi kids. That is a nice thing to see, but I am already old. At least older than those who are doing first degree. So, I don't think my way of thinking is the same like other people and I must also respect others. We are travelers. We're not permanent in a certain place just like Bedouins wandering in the desert. I don't like to talk with my mouth, but with acts and mind. When I am typing this, my mouth is closed but my mind is not. It is talking and telling me to act. I believe, the same thing goes to other brothers and sisters who talk in medias through their writings. I can talk, and I don't mind to talk but I think my time for that is over. I don't care what those Tabligh kids wanted to think or say about me anymore. We just devote ourselves according to our way, as long as it is according to Quran and Sunnah I am sure it will never contradict each other.

Now, we come to important part where I listened to the points delivered by those Islamic Center kids, they talked about the importance of time for us. We are always careless with it even when we still remember how crucial it is. I myself always having this problem. It is not easy brothers and sisters, when we are alone. We try to pray to the God to always be with us and remind us. We don't have anyone even parents to tell us to do anything. So, everything must be planned. I am actually very bad in planning something, but I tried. 

When we have free time, we tend to do something else and not doing any charity and penance to Him. Charity and penance includes things such as reciting Quran, memorizing Quran, reading sunnah articles, dzikr, and other beneficial activities. But when we are occupied, we would feel sorry to ourselves and think that it must be fun if we can do all sort of things that we had left during free time. Hurmmm, this is true. I always lament myself for this. I can't get the momentum and struggling. Is it because of internet? I believe so. It's not good for me perhaps. But now lecturers uploading everything in the portal so I have no choice but to look at the net. Tomorrow I have a class. I must put determination to fast for Yomul-Khams (Thursday) to beg for Quran from Allah. 

And later, we do not appreciate our health to remember Allah 'Azza wa Jalla. When we are in sickness we perhaps remember Allah and pray to Him. I guess this is also true. When we are in war only we want to prostrate to Him. When we are not in haste in war, in occupation and others we won't even remember Him. We are so happy and we forget everything. This is human, in Arabic, we call human with the root word an-naas, which could also mean the forgetful. 

Let us take the essence of the surah al-'Asr to benefit ourselves....

 

In the Name of Allah the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

Says Allah 'Azza wa Jalla: 

By time

Indeed human is in loss

Except for those who believe and had done righteous deeds and advised each other with patience

To benefit the time according to the sayings of the God the Most Highest are:

1. Believing in the God, so we remember the God with dzikrs, prayers, and supplication services.

2. Doing righteous deeds, repenting our daily sins including for time wasted, be good to everyone, and other charity which is related to the first matter.

3. Advising among brethren with patience toward penance and charity.  

These are basic things that we should understand, once we understood, we could apply this in daily life. I wish that Allah sayings become inseparable from my vessel and soul, amin :''(

Allahumma salli 'alaa Muhammad wa 'alaa aali Muhammad. May Allah protects everyone of us, brethren in faith from evil eyes.

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

Ten Things We Waste

Assalamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah!

Tablighi Musalla al-Hidayah,under Flat Hijau, Precint 9, Putrajaya Night View

Alhamdulillah, we completed our salatul 'Asr without any obstacle. I would like to congratulate people of precint 9/15, 9/16, Camelot area, and around for the establishment of a musalla in your area. It is a good news as many are waiting for the musalla. I wish that it would be lively with beneficial services in peace and harmony, inshaallah. Today is a celebration in Malaysia and a public holiday for most of people. It is Malaysia Day, a day commemorating the formation of Malaysia like we see today as a nation in 1963, 16th of September. Through votes, Borneo side which was the Northern Borneo Territory (Sabah and Serawak) included together with Malayan Peninsula to form Malaysia. 

I came back home yesterday because I only have a class in a week and the ticketing people at the Sungai Nibong express bus counter are so irresponsible. I don't know if people could sense that I am a person who hates to quarrel that made them dragging me to their counter. I end up with a non-proper bus and it stopped twice, the first stop was in Silvertage in Ipoh and the second time at a place which I can't barely remember. As a reminder to domestic and international passengers, always check on the bus and only go to authorized counter. Don't listen to people who drag you to counters. It's for your safety. Anyhow, I express my gratitude to the God for a safe journey though I didn't properly perform Maghrib prayer service as I had to perform it while sitting and being contained by the journey. I am going to perform it again for that particular masa tercedera (due time, injured time) also the rawatib prayers, praying You dear Lord to forgive me for that due time :'( Brothers and sisters, do not take the obligatory salat easily. It is a practice which brings us in contact with the God, our Creator Who keeps our safety in this mortal life. We are not sure whether the God would accept the compensation prayer services, but we hope and wish that He with His Mercy and Compassionate Love to accept us our service besides forgiving our sins.

Today, my nephew, Fauwaz who is the same age as me came by with his brother, Fida'ie. Fauwaz was my favorite nephew and friend even though I have bitter experience with my cousins who is his father and the younger brother of his father. He is a former schoolmate with me in the Ma'ahad al-'Alawiyyah ad-Diniyyah, Perlis. Again, I am not a well-known student. So, nobody would ever remember me. I am sure and I wish it to be like that. I am very pleased with this condition :)

Each time, when people talk with me about personal matters, I would feel uncomfortable with questions like awek (girlfriend), marriage, and others. People are always fast when talking about sunnah regarding marriage or matrimonial but when talking about the responsibility of raising the child and salvation of family members, the Judgement of the Lord in the Day on what we did as a husband and wife to children, where are those sunnah??? As for me, everything is there in His Guarded Tablet. I don't have to worry about my age or time for marriage. When we follow the trend, we only make ourselves more worried, let people say anything they want. Human are not the same, we have our own traits. Let He decides, that is His job and everything will happen according to fitrah (nature). We just do our job and responsibility.

Now come to our lesson today as what had been delivered in the lesson of Ibnu Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, may Allah be Merciful to him. He summarized that there are 10 things that we tend to waste. They are: 

1. Knowledge. We have the knowledge but we do not taking any action with it so it is a waste. It eventually hits my own nose back.         

2. Our actions. We perform actions and practices without sincerity, so they are also wasted in vanity. The 10 Commandments also talks about the same thing, not to mention His Name in vanity.  

3. Our wealth. It is wasted by using it on things that will not bring us meritorious deeds. We waste our money, status, authority and etc on things which have no benefit on us in this life and hereafter. 

4. Our hearts. It is wasted because they are empty from the love of Allah. It is empty of the feeling of longing to see Him, and a feeling of peace and contentment. Our hearts are filled with something else or someone else (worldly affairs).

5. Our body parts. They are wasted without any usage toward worship and service to Allah (the God).

6. Our love. Our emotional love is misdirected. It is not towards Allah but towards something (like car, motorbikes, world cup, and etc) and someone else (awek, boyfriend, kekasih, lover, cinta hati, etc).

7. Our time. It is wasted and not properly used to compensate for whatever passed, time is wasted without doing any meritorious and righteous deeds as to cover up our past deeds.

8. Our intellect. It is wasted on things which is not beneficial, that are detrimental to society and the individual, and not in contemplation, musing or tafakkur (deep thinking) and muhasibah (reflection). 

9. Our service. It is wasted on someone or something which brings us not closer to Allah. It does not benefit the world and human civilization.

10. Our Dzikr. Our exaltation and remembrance to the God is wasted if it does not affect us in our hearts.

Most of the things mentioned also hit my nose here, so it could also function as an advice for myself. This is actually from mum's lesson that she gets from the mosque she always visit. She said that she's not good in paraphrasing words and her language style is limited so she asked me to help her. I am not good in speech too neither good in writing but I am trying to perform a common duty like other brothers and sisters beside begging forgiveness from the God. A Muslim is a person who helps his brothers and sisters to get closer to the God, helping in charity and chastity, avoiding vices wherever possible and eliminates enmity.

I wish mum and every mother merits from the God, may Allah be Merciful to mum and other mothers by granting each of them health, faith and real wealth, amin! I would like to express my thankfulness to people who help us with the lesson and providing us materials. Thanks also to mum for the circulation orally or materially, thank you for helping me back to consciousness though I was a rebel.

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