IF.. :D :D~

Assalamualaikum :)

We often hear that if Islam is based solely on its so-called followers, people would run away and even hate Islam. Personally, If Islam is based on its follower, me myself have long left Islam. The thing that kept me from doing so is I believe Islam should be based on its teachings, not the actions of its followers. The bad apples who freely claim they represent Islam, defending the religion should stop doing so and keep on learning and please, keep your profiles low. Do not suggest to others who you not really are. Hypocrisy is not a good thing, at all.

Jz sharing my 2cents

Cheers :D :D

Hippo..badak? :D :D

Assalamualaikum :)..

I've been wanting to post this, but I can't seem to find good words or examples without pointing to others. So, like I said in my earlier post, if you don't have good things to say (or write..), shut ya yap. If I can't point to others neutrally, I shouldn't point at all. By pointing others, we're pointing to ourselves as well.

I think this is a good reminder for all, especially in this holy month of Ramadhan. May we reflect ourselves, i'Allah, and do our things, our ibadah for Him, and ONLY Him i'Allah, without the slightest intention of doing the ibadah to get acknowledgement, compliments, etc from others.

We live to serve Him alone, and our ibadah, our lives should only be for Him, i'Allah:

From Google..

Definitions of hypocrite on the Web:

• a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives
  wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• Hypocrisy is the act of persistently pretending to hold beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, or standards that one does not actually hold. Hypocrisy is thus a kind of lie.
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypocrite
• hypocritical - deceptive, just pretending to be good, as in: It is hypocritical to say tell your children to behave a certain way and then do the exact opposite yourself.
  www.business-words.com/dictionary/H.html

May we reflect upon ourselves. We are NOT perfect. Thus, If we can find (and we will) even a trace of hypocrisy in our lives, especially in our ibadah, especially in Islamic matters (for we only hope to get rewarded by Allah..rite?), hopefully, we can wash this negative element away by instilling sincerity.

Teach ourselves (okie..now I'm confused when to use ourselves n ourself..huhu) to do things for Allah, without expecting our fellow human beings complimenting us, have certain views about us. Let people misjudge if they want (when we do good things of course..), for their judgement won't help us when we face Allah. Don't let ourselves sink even deeper, trying as hard as we can to please others, or to impress others, ESPECIALLY in religious matters. Truly, there's no benefit in impressing people while we should do our best impressing Allah :).

By saying this, we shouldn't do our best ignoring other people either. As we should preserve the relationship amongst us, His servants, and our relationship between us and Allah. And let not the thoughts of people judging us hypocrite making us stop doing good things, or stop trying our best to be a better person. Other person's opinion won't matter in the Day of Judgement, as long we remember the 1st hadith of Imam Nawawi's compilation of 40 Hadiths, "..Actions are judged by intentions..". May we reflect all our deeds. May we reflect if we're really doing our best for Allah.

Hope my points are delivered.

Jz sharing my 2cents

Cheers :D :D

(somehow this post sounds like a direct translation from Malay to English..hahaha)

How Ar? :D :D

Assalamualaikum :)

Okie, less than 24 hours after my previous post, come another. Then a few months of hiatus, hehe (I hope not :p)

I'm tired, and my brain begs me to stop and sleep, but the same brain suggests I should stay awake and finish up the report and prepare for the test. 2 tests, 3 assignments. The university sure know how to suck the most of your effort before they allow you to go for a short holiday (aka study break..)

Late at night, my brain wont function as it should in daytime. It's like there's a set of random topics flashing in front of me waiting for me to pick any one of 'em and dig further.

Tonight's topic of choice (drums rolling..):

How do we know we're right?

I can't find the right tone on how to start this topic..huhuhu..I'll try being as straight forward as I can. Yosh! Sototaarto!

How often do we hear people say how lucky we're born as a Muslim? Islam is the way of life, Islam will save you, all that stuff. How do we really know we're barking on the right tree? How can we really confirm that other people with different faith as ours weren't as 'lucky' as we're? Why do some people judge a person as if they can be really sure they're on the right path and the other person will be damned to hell (forever~), if that person never do any open-minded, honest research, and just depending on other peoples work?

Why do people easily judge a Muslim based on whether they're Sunni, or Shiite? Why do a Sunni sometimes easily mock the other person just because they pray differently. How do they know they're the one with the right 'method' of praying. What if they're wrong? Why should there be a different between a Sunni and a Shiite? Who coined that term in the first place? Are the Sunni really sure they're practising the original Islam that's brought forward by Prophet Muhammad SAW?

What if the people who mock the other person because they're from a different school of thoughts of Islam, been born in the opposite camp? Will they do their best to find the right path? Are we doing our best to check whether or not we're on the winning (in the herefter) side? Or do we just blindly believe we're the right ones because we're being told so?

What if we're born in a different environment, different faith. Will we do our best to do research whether we are following the truth? Or will we just strengthen our faith (whether or not it's the truth) and start preaching. What if we preached the wrong idea? Who are we to say those Christians missionaries are bringing false messages? Who are they to say Muslims are a bunch of uncivilized, blood-thirsty souls who need to be saved? Do people really care if they're on the right side? Or do we really care on defending our beliefs whether or not it's the truth, just by being confident that we're on the right side?

How many of us are willing to take an honest journey for the truth? We all know the fate for the unbelievers in the hereafter, no matter what religion you're in. Are we afraid to find out if the religion we're in right now are not the right one?As for me, sure I am.

May He showers His blessings and mercy upon us. Pray so we're enlightened and guided so we can see clearly and distinguish good from evil.

Cheers :D

Just sharing my 2 cents :D :D

D: D: sdoolf natsikap

Assalamualaikum :)..

As for a standard opening for a long time inactive blog. “fuuhh, been a very while since my last update..”. People say if you got nothing good to say, well, shut ya yap. Same goes if u got nothin good to write, OR, if ur lazy enough to write. Lazy to write leads to lazy to think of what to write leads to lazy to think and leads to brain idle which is not very2 good. So, here goes..

First off, happy Ramadhan. Another Ramadhan abroad for me. Another period when I'm in lab when every one else prepares for their iftar. Sad? Tired? A little, but I'm quite excited as well, as I'm not sure when (and where) else can I gain this kind of experience, yes? As usual, this is the period of the year when the prayer room will be full (for iftar..what else :p). Not a very bad thing really, at least people come to the prayer room and perform the prayer together, nicee~

Just because I don't write, doesn't mean I don't know bout our world kan. Big flood in Pakistan for example, they're gonna need billions of dollars to recover. Any idea how big a billion is? As we're still in the month of Ramadhan, it's somehow a blessing for us to be given such an opportunity to help our brothers and sisters there. And this can serve as a great reminder for us as well, as Allah promised in His Book:

“Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil)” (2:155)

Wallaweh rite? He promised to test us with fear, hunger, loss in goods or lives. Come to think about it, when was the last time we were tested with those things? When was the last time we were tested with hunger, without knowing when exactly can we fill our stomach? Not the I-don't-have-anything-to-eat-but-Maggie type of hunger. When was the last time we were tested with sudden loss of everything we hold dear? At least our brothers and sisters in Pakistan, Gaza, West Bank, and everywhere else have already tasted the promised made by Allah Himself. We, who are still in a very comfortable blanket of safety should be worry for we don't know when and how will we be tested (and how we will react).

So, what should we do? Sit and think about the unknown that might happen? Well, that's not a bad idea, if that's not the only thing we do. We can prepare whatsoever, but what about our brothers and sisters who are already in dire need for help? That's when we, the ones who are still 'saved' ('saved' - as safety is a kind of test, if you think about it..) from those disasters, come into picture. HELP THEM for the mercy of Allah!! It's pretty obvious, rite?

Cheers :D

Click on the picture for further info

Jz sharing my 2 cents :D :D

Graduation Pom Pom Pom :D :D

Assalamualaikum :)..(fuuh fuuh~ byknye sawang blog neh..huhu)

This post is dedicated to the graduates of University of Auckland class of 2009. I'm not good with words, have long lost touch producing good arguments and essays. So, congratulations to all graduates :D :D, whether or not you guys made it to the graduation ceremony, the fact you guys were once here that matters. All the memories and hardships, the fun and sad moments, bla bla bla.. (being lazy to describe :p). Celebrating Aidilfitri together away from home, struggling together to finish up seemingly endless course works, the same face I see everyday..haha. You guys are the best, only second to my own family. If only people can just read minds, so I don't have to write lengthy words just to express my gratitude. Well, you guys are totally irreplaceable!! You guys make Auckland feels like Kajang to me, even better. I really am hoping that I won't forget the memories here, well, I'm an expert at forgetting things, unfortunately (sigh~). So brain, if you can hear my thoughts now, please, don't forget this.



To Imran, Abah, Luqman and their band of engineers, Safwan and the gang of educators, Nizam, Meor, and many more. Congratulations!! May this success by no means stopping you guys from achieving more :). Yosh!!

p/s – Living in Auckland somehow made me realizes no matter how much we love this place, no matter how much memories it represent, we'll have to someday return to Malaysia (or we can definitely stay, that's another unrelated topic to discuss :p). Seems time has no regards of who we are, and we're totally bounded by its rule, no matter how much we want it to stop and would really want to enjoy the time here without much regrets or the fear that this will all end. At the end, a visitor needs to do what he do best, leave. The same can be said about life in general, rite :), because that's who we really are, visitors to this wonderful planet we call home :). wallaweh~ :p

Ktak..Bom (Murphy's Law in action)

Assalamualaikum :)..

23 December 2009

0730:

Received an order from bapak to buy a new cooking gas cylinder (wasn't the current one jz bought bout a week ago? No matter..)

1430:

Since I'm in no mood of cookin, and the fact that I can survive for a day without eating, I decided to buy that cylinder a lil bit late. Went to the grocery and order a cylinder

1500:

The grocery guy came with the cylinder. Was going to replace the old cylinder with the new one. “funny, the current one seems to be still heavy..”. [Malay McGyver Mode: ON]. After a few amateur-like inspection, I found the 'issue'. There's this turner on the hose connecting the cylinder to the stove. It's completely closed. So I turned it anti-clockwise to turn it on, so the gas could flow. Heard the gas hissing, and I said to myself, “that's the problem”.

Seemed to me I'm right. lit the stove and the fire came out. Then the fire went smaller before it went off altogether.

“Erm, I jz need to turn the knob (the turner that needs to be turned anti-clockwise..) even more”. I turned off the stove and went to watch some tv, knowing what the 'problem' was.

1730:

Knowing there's no problem with the stove, I decided to boil water to make Milo. “Ktak, Ktak” the stove flickered but no fire. “Ooh, the hose..”. I turned the knob anti clock-wise, all the way, knowing that when I turn the knob a little, the fire jz came out for a short period of time.

Heard the hissing. “Great, the gas is flowing..”. Turn the knob on the stove, “Ktak..Kbooff”. There's this big fire. Not that shocked at first, coz I thought the fire would subside. It took me jz about 1 second to convince me I'm wrong. Tried to turn the stove off. Then the knob on the stove came off. Literally. My sister watched in horror. I asked for some powder, (coz it would be stupid to pour water on the stove, there still traces of cookin oil left..). The powder did some good. Well, you can say no good at all, coz the fire was too big. Now, with this situation, even a moron wouldn't stay. So I went out of the house, with the fire still burning on my stove.

My little sister went to my neighbour's house. I ride my motorcycle, went to the nearest school, asked the guard for any fire extinguisher. The rain started to fall, I wore no helmet. The rain started to fall heavier, how dramatic. Good timing, hehe. Back to the guard, she said the school don't have any that she knew of (what??!!) . She asked me to ask the school office. I said I had no time. She offered me her cellphone to call the emergency service.

Lesson for all: On cellphone (in Malaysia), the emergency number = 112, not 999.

Thanks makcik :D :D

I dialed 112, and there's a beep, then the line went off. Great.

Lesson #2: If you can find a public phone, better use the public phone and dial the emergency service.

I found 2 public phones, tried to dial 999, heck, the public phones not workin.

Lesson #3: Public phones suck. Well, the ones who make the public phones suck, suck more.

Went to the nearest grocery, borrowed their phone to dial 999.Thanks Pacik kedai

Lesson #4: It's better if you could remember the phone number of your local fire department. That would save time.

After all that hectic, all I can do was wait. The agony of expecting the kitchen to blow, while at the same time you hope nothing would happen, was indescribable. Mind you there were 2 gas cylinders in my kitchen. 1 fully loaded, the other bout half. With big fire around, what else do you expect. Oh, 10 minutes has passed since the first fire.

To cut long story short, the fire engine arrived about 10 minutes after the call. It's a relief. They went inside and put off the fire. By this time, the fire was up to the ceiling. And the smoke, well, all I can say is, the deadly fume of melting stove, isn't a good thing to breath with. Fortunately, there was nothing around that can spread the fire even more, but the gas cylinders.

I asked the firefighter bout the cylinders, they said the cylinders were designed not to blow on this scale of fire. It will only explode when the outside temperature reaches 1000-2000 degrees Celsius. This fire juz now, was juz a baby (hehe, I add this myself :p). Well, baby or not, that really got me. Thanks Hollywood for showing every single fire with gas cylinders around, spells explosion.

Lesson #5: No matter how careful you are, when something bad is about to happen it just will. Just preparing not to cause something bad isn't enough, we also have to prepare for the worst.

Lesson #6: Accidents wont just happen on the news. If we're not ready enough, we will be the news.

Lesson #7: Fire extinguisher isn't a bad investment.

See all those wires? Scary huh..huhu

Thank God nothing bad happened :D :D, other than the experience. Well, it's a quite nice experience actually. Not everyone had this happened in their own house other than watch it on the news happening to others.

Thanks to everyone for your help. Thanks to my neighbour for giving the first shelter to my lil sis. Thanks to my other neighbour for entering the house with his fire extinguisher. Thanks all :D :D.

Jz sharing my experience. Cheers :D :D

Right? Nee? Meh?

Assalamualaikum :)..

yoshh~..

It's been a very d very very n beri2 while eh :p..

I watched this morning talk show on RTM this morning, something bout the happiness of marriage. The thing that caught my attention was not the topic (well, I'm not an RTM fan anyways..), it's the way its guest talk about the topic. I only watched a small portion of the show when I decided to change the channel. The thing is, there were 2 presenters for the talk show this morning, a Muslim guy and a non-Muslim woman. Yes, I wanna talk about religion-related stuff a little bit. How the guest showed a little consideration towards how he talked. He was talking bout Adam and Eve. How they were created, and so on.

1^st thing is, the story was a bit, I dunno, unconvincing? When I said unconvincing (Islamic related), it's something that I never heard of before, and the guest never cited his source(s). I mean, it's a national TV program, if what he said, was not right, the wrong idea of Islam will be passed on not only towards non-Muslims, but also to Muslims.

Secondly, the thing that quite got on my nerve a bit, was his insensitivity towards the non-Muslim presenter. He was saying something bout how a woman was given the blessings of the instinct of a mother on the moment she's officially declared as someone's wife. The problem was, he gave that description in term of Islamic point of view, and he was like forcing, people to agree with him. It went something like this:

“On the moment the husband declared his akad (the declaration of agreement on something, in this case the marriage), the wife will cry. This is because Allah put His mercy and blessings to the woman; the instinct of a mother. Am I not right(and he was asking the presenters, both of em, and to the viewers)? I guarantee this. If you don't believe me, just look at all other newlywed couples when the husband do the akad. If the wife's not dropping her tears, then something is wrong”

This joke-like statement made me somewhat uncomfortable, as I saw the female presenter's reaction. Even if the presenter didn't show any reaction, I'll still feel uncomfortable as I personally think it's not the right thing to do. How can we 'force' people to agree with us, on something that seems to be hypothetical, especially, when it comes to faith-related issue? When the Holy Quran itself stated that there's no compulsion in religion[HQ 2:256]. Then who are we 'forcing' people to agree with our non-cited, unbacked claims?

And we shouldn't be prejudice, should we? Just because the bride didn't wet her eyes, doesn't mean she's not normal, or something is not right, right? We are not that desperate to make people believe in us such that others who witnessed something other that what we claimed, to be from out of this world, are we?

Everyone makes mistakes, and so do I. In fact, I do lots of 'em, hehe. It's just that, there are some things that really get on my nerves. The lack of tolerance towards others who are different than us is one of them. Sorry if my post this time sounds a bit emotional, hehe. It's not easy to satisfy everyone eh? Just simply don't, it's plain impossible :D. He was saying what he wanted to say, and so do I. Freedom of speech in a non-abusive manner, how sweet :D.

It's been a while since my last post, yes?waah!!

Well, I got a lot of things to write, just don't have enough writing skills to let me post anything (laziness is one of em, thanks..hehe :p). And I think if I got nothing good enough to post, better for me not to post at all, ne?

Jz sharing my 2cents. Cheers :D :D

p/s:

• I wanna take this opportunity to congratulate all of my friends who are ending their bachelorhood this holiday season. Just to name some, Mus'ab, Musa, Tono, and to all of you guys who do the same la :D :D

• Congratulations to Abang Aliem and Kak Husna for their newborn baby. Born as a Kiwi, raised as a full-fledged Muslim i'Allah :D :D

• My deepest condolences to Kak the for her loss. It may not physically seem to be long-lasting, but it surely seemed to be ended after u guys did it the right way. May His blessings be with you, your late hubby, and your family i'Allah. Amiin.