The reason is Allah

"Allah is the reason why even in pain, I smile; in confusion, I understand; in betrayal, I trust; and in fear, I continue to fight"

Another road less taken.

Imam saya dan unta-untanya. She, not funny. 

Forgive me blog for my long ignorance. I was too busy with life. Many things need to be prioritized so I pushed you down to the bottom of my need-to-do list. One thing for sure, I never forget you, not once.

I once wrote on 'A road less taken', I would like to emphasize more about that. It is norm when relatives and friends curious about your path in life. Graduated as a best student even pressured me more. To cut a long story short, I gave up on reaching their expectation by just trying to be hamba yang solehah, anak yang solehah, dan isteri yang solehah. My daily prayers. For me, to achieve those, one main thing that I would love to highlight is, find a great guy. A great guy will be your Imam, a great son to your parent, taking care of them more than you do, guide you to Jannah, taking care of your well being, and always try to give the best that this temporary world could offer.

I found him, I grabbed him, I clung on him, I served him, and I am in cloud nine. 

Still, some people inquiry on how I serve my parent. Am I a great daughter? Getting married while studying so how on earth I am capable to provide them materially? Mind you, rezeki Allah itu luas. Even though I am not receiving a big paycheck every month, Allah gave me another way to serve my parent. Not to mention, their son-in-law is also taking a very good care of them. I do not have to list up every goodness that I did just to please a few, right? I believe I am a good daughter, and I will try my best to be better!  

Another thing that people love to talk is how are you going to organize your study with housewife's duties? Simple. Enjoy them. I love to study. I love gaining new knowledge. Knowledge made me. I am who I am today especially in the term of mindset is mainly because of knowledge. On housewife's duties, I am happy to serve my husband. Full stop.

I chose a road less taken. I took risks. But I put my faith in Allah. I believe He will guide me to bahagia dunia and akhirat. For the time being, I will put my best foot forward to be  hamba yang solehah, anak yang solehah, dan isteri yang solehah. I am sincerely happy with my life, do you happy with your life too?

Berdoa' lah

I would love to write about dua'/ doa. Hopefully, there's reader out there who will read this, and pass this to their children, friends, or relatives. Segala peringatan adalah untuk diri sendiri juga. Saling nasihat menasihati dalam Islam cukup indah, bukan? 

Setiap kali selepas solat, saya akan berdoa. Setiap kali sebelum exam, saya akan berdoa. Saya tahu kepentingan dan kekuatan doa', sayangnya saya tidak selalu amalkannya melainkan ketika waktu-waktu tipikal. It took me quite a long time to figure this.

Suami saya dalam doa' nya memohon supaya Allah membimbing kami ke jalan yang diredhaiNya. Menurut suami, dia ada terbaca, mintalah pertolongan Allah supaya Allah bimbing kita dalam membuat keputusan, gerak hati naluri, dan segala macam perkara yang diluar kemampuan kita. Contoh termudah adalah ketika sesat jalan. Selain mengikut papan tanda, kita semestinya menggunakan naluri dalam membuat keputusan. Berdoa' lah kepada Allah agar Allah bimbing kita ke jalan yang benar. Manusia penuh dengan limitasi, berdoa' lah supaya hidup kita sentiasa dibimbing.

Ibu mertua saya berumur 65 tahun tetapi masih sihat dan awet muda. She told me untuk sentiasa berdoa'. Mintalah dengan Allah untuk sentiasa sihat, tetapi jangan hanya minta dan tidak berusaha langsung. Adik ipar saya student medic yang mengharapkan Allah cukupkan waktu untuk dia ulang kaji dan bersedia sebelum ujian.  Allah kabulkan doa' nya dengan melewatkan examiner agar dia mampu bersedia. 

Di usia 26 tahun, saya bersyukur dikelilingi orang-orang yang sangat menjaga agama. Sebelum saya kahwin, senior saya juga menasihati saya supaya berdoa' sebelum memasak. Saya amalkan. Sebelum saya mandi, saya berdoa' agar Allah anugerahkan saya badan yang selesa untuk disentuh suami, buang segala kekotoran yang ada, bersihkan diri saya luar dan dalam.

Untungnya kita beragama Islam. Pesanlah kepada diri sendiri, sahabat handai, dan keluarga agar sentiasa berdoa'. Jika masih ada ibu dan ayah, mintalah mereka doa' kan kita. Sayangnya kalau tidak dimanfaatkan.

Prof. Dr. Hamka-Tasawuf moden

"Kalau engkau masih muda remaja senangkanlah hatimu! Kerana pohon pengharapanmu masih subur, dahan-dahannya masih rendang dan rimbun. Tujuan kenang-kenangan masih jauh. Sebab umurmu masih muda, mudahlah bagimu menjadikan mimpi menjadi kenyataan yang sebenarnya. Kalau engkau telah tua, senangkan pulalah hatimu! Kerana engkau telah terlepas dari medan pertempuran dan perjuangan yang sengit, dan engkau telah beroleh beberapa ilmu yang berguna di dalam sekolah hidup. Engkau telah tahu firasat, mengerti gerak geri manusia dan tahu ke mana tujuan jalan yang ditempuhnya. Oleh sebab itu, segala pekerjaan yang engkau kerjakan itu kalau engkau suka lebih banyak akan membawa faedah dan lebih banyak tersingkir daripada bahaya. Satu detik daripada umurmu di masa tua, lebih mahal harganya daripada bertahun-tahun di zaman muda, sebab semuanya telah engkau lalui dengan pandangan yang terang dan pengalaman yang pahit"

Hadith palsu di bulan Rejab, hormatilah hadith nabi s.a.w

"Saya menyeru diri sendiri, para penceramah, ustaz-ustaz, media elektronik dan cetak, bahkan semua pihak yang membaca sesuatu hadis memastikan kesahihannya dahulu. Semoga Rejab dan Syaaban tahun ini tidak dibaluti dengan pembohongan terhadap Nabi s.a.w."-Dr. Maza

Ramai kalangan kita yang tidak berdisiplin dalam memetik hadis-hadis Nabi s.a.w., begitu juga dalam menghuraikannya. Sebahagiannya langsung tidak mengambil berat persoalan kethabitan iaitu kepastian di atas ketulenan sesebuah hadis. Apa sahaja yang dikatakan hadis terus sahaja dibacakan kepada masyarakat tanpa meneliti takhrij dan tahqiq (keputusan) para ulama hadis terhadap kedudukannya. Lebih malang ada yang menyangka apa sahaja yang dikatakan hadis maka pastinya sahih dan wajib diimani.

Misalnya di tanah air kita, didapati apabila munculnya bulan Rejab dan Syaaban maka hadis-hadis palsu mengenai bulan-bulan tersebut akan dibaca dan diajar secara meluas. Antaranya hadis: “Rejab bulan Allah, Syaaban bulanku dan Ramadan bulan umatku.”Ini adalah hadis palsu yang direka oleh Ibn Jahdam. (lihat: Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah, al-Manar al-Munif fi al-Sahih wa al-Dha‘if, m.s. 95, cetakan: Maktab al-Matbu‘at al-Islamiyyah, Halab, Syria). Nama penuh Ibn Jahdam ialah Ali bin Abdillah bin Jahdam al-Zahid.

Kata al-Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah (wafat 751H): Hadis-hadis mengenai solat Raghaib pada Jumaat pertama bulan Rejab kesemuanya itu adalah palsu dan dusta ke atas Rasulullah s.a.w. Begitu juga semua hadis mengenai puasa bulan Rejab dan solat pada malam-malam tertentu adalah dusta ke atas Nabi s.a.w. Demikian juga hadis-hadis mengenai solat pada malam Nisfu Syaaban (kesemuanya adalah palsu).Solat-solat ini direka selepas empat ratus tahun munculnya Islam (Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Manar al-Munif, m.s. 95-98).

Sebenarnya hadis sahih mengenai kebaikan malam Nisfu Syaaban itu memang ada, tetapi amalan-amalan tertentu khas pada malam tersebut adalah palsu. Hadis yang boleh dipegang dalam masalah Nisfu Syaaban ialah: “Allah melihat kepada hamba-hamba-Nya pada malam Nisfu Syaaban, maka Dia ampuni semua hamba-hambaNya kecuali musyrik (orang yang syirik) dan yang bermusuh (orang benci membenci) (Riwayat Ibn Hibban, al-Bazzar dan lain-lain). Al-Albani mensahihkan hadis ini dalam Silsilah al-Ahadis al-Sahihah. (jilid 3, m.s. 135, cetakan: Maktabah al-Ma‘arf, Riyadh).Hadis ini tidak mengajar kita apakah bentuk amalan malam berkenaan. Oleh itu, amalan-amalan khas tertentu pada malam tersebut bukan dari ajaran Nabi s.a.w.

Sumber daripada Dr. Maza

Semoga diriku, suamiku, kaum keluargaku, dan keturunanku terpelihara dari hadith-hadith palsu

Islamic approaches on broken heart/ Cara Islam mengatasi kekecewaan

Leaving is hard. Losing is harder.

Allah (glorified is He) tells us in a very profound ayah (verse): “Verily with hardship comes ease.” (Qur’an, 94:5). Growing up I think I understood this ayah wrongly. I used to think it meant: after hardship comes ease. In other words, I thought life was made up of good times and bad times. After the bad times, come the good times. I thought this as if life was either all good or all bad. But that is not what the ayah is saying. The ayah is saying WITH hardship comes ease. The ease is at the same time as the hardship. This means that nothing in this life is ever all bad (or all good). In every bad situation we’re in, there is always something to be grateful for. With hardship, Allah also gives us the strength and patience to bear it.

If we study the difficult times in our lives, we will see that they were also filled with much good. The question is – which do we chose to focus on? I think the trap we fall into is rooted in this false belief that this life can be perfect—perfectly good or perfectly bad. But that’s not the nature of dunya (this life). That’s the nature of the hereafter. The hereafter is saved for the perfection of things. Jannah (paradise) is perfectly and completely good. There is no bad in it. And Jahannam (hell – may Allah protect us) is perfectly and completely bad. There is no good in it.

So in answering the question of whether what is lost comes back, I study the most beautiful examples. Did Yusuf return to his father? Did Musa return to his mother? Did Hajar return to Ibrahim? Did health, wealth and children return to Ayoub? From these stories we learn a powerful and beautiful lesson: what is taken by Allah is never lost. In fact, it is only what is with Allah that remains. Everything else vanishes. Allah (swt) says, “What is with you must vanish: what is with Allah will endure. And We will certainly bestow, on those who patiently persevere, their reward according to the best of their actions.” (Quran 16:96)

Sometimes Allah takes in order to give. But, it’s crucial to understand that His giving is not always in the form we think we want. He knows best what is best. Allah says: “… But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows, and you know not.” (Quran 2:216)

Allah gives us gifts. But then we often become dependent on those gifts, instead of Him. When He gives us money, we depend on the money—not Him. When He gives us people, we depend on people—not Him. When He gives us status or power, we depend on, and become distracted by these things. When Allah gives us health, we become deceived. We think we will never die.

Allah gives us gifts, but then we come to love them as we should only love Him. We take those gifts and inject them into our hearts, until they take over. Soon we cannot live without them. Every waking moment is spent in contemplation of them, in submission and worship to them. The mind and the heart that was created by Allah, for Allah, becomes the property of someone or something else. And then the fear comes. The fear of loss begins to cripple us. The gift—that should have remained in our hands—takes over our heart, so the fear of losing it consumes us. Soon, what was once a gift becomes a weapon of torture and a prison of our own making. How can we be freed of this? At times, in His infinite mercy, Allah frees us…by taking it away.

Yet in that process of taking, the most important thing happened. The losing and regaining of the gift is inconsequential. The taking of your heedlessness, your dependence and focus on other than Him, and the replacing it with remembrance, dependence and focus only on Him was the real gift. Allah withholds to give.

And so sometimes, the ‘something better’ is the greatest gift: nearnesss to Him. Allah took the daughter of Malik Ibn Dinar in order to save him. He took his daughter, but replaced her with protection from the hell-fire and salvation from a painful life of sin and distance from Him. Through the loss of his daughter, Malik ibn Dinar was blessed with a life spent in nearness to Allah. And even that which was taken (his daughter) would remain with Malik ibn Dinar forever in Jannah.

So to the question, ‘once something is lost, does it return?’ the answer is yes. It returns. Sometimes here, sometime there, sometimes in a different, better form. But the greatest gift lies beneath the taking and the returning. Allah tells us: “Say, ‘In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy – in that let them rejoice; it is better than what they hoard.’” (Quran, 10:58)

There are many Islamic articles here,

http://www.suhaibwebb.com/

Do spare some times, OK?

Kenapa perlunya lelaki sebagai pemimpin

Riwayat daripada Abu Sa'id al Khudri r.a. katanya,

"Suatu hari ketika Rasulullah s.a.w keluar pada Hari Raya Aidiladha atau Aidilfitri menuju ke tempat solat dan melalui sekumpulan wanita. Beliau Bersabda: "Wahai kaum wanita, bersedekahlah. Sesungguhnya aku telah diperlihatkan bahawa kalian adalah majoriti penghuni neraka". Salah seorang wanita yang fasih dan bijak bertanya, "Mengapa wahai Rasulullah?". Beliau menjawab: "Kalian banyak melaknat dan durhaka terhadap suami. Dan tidaklah aku menyaksikan orang yang memiliki kekurangan akal dan agama yang dapat menghilangkan akal kaum lelaki yang setia daripada salah seorang antara kalian". Mereka bertanya lagi: "Apa yang dimaksudkan dengan kekurangan akal dan agama kami wahai Rasulullah?". Baginda menjawab: "Bukankah kesaksian seorang wanita sama dengan separuh daripada kesaksian seorang lelaki?". Mereka menjawab: "Benar." Baginda berkata lagi: "Bukankah apabila seorang wanita mengalami haid maka mereka tidak melakukan solat dan puasa?". Mereka menjawab: "Benar". Baginda berkata: " Itulah (bukti) kekurangan agamanya".

(Riwayat al-Bukhari no. 298)

Umum mengetahui bahawa lelaki yang soleh akan berdampingan dengan isterinya yang solehah di syurga kelak. Jika anda ingin bahagia di dunia bersama isteri/ suami tersayang, maka berusahalah malakukan amal kebajikan agar anda dapat merasai nikmat yang jauh lebih hebat di syurga nanti.

Firman Allah s.w.t yang bermaksud:

"Sesungguhnya Kami menciptakan mereka dengan penciptaan baru. Dan kami kembali menjadikan mereka gadis-gadis perawan." (Surah Al-Waqiah 56: 35-36).

Secantik apa pun para bidadari ini, namun wanita-wanita Mukminat jauh lebih cantik daripada mereka. Iaitu orang yang membasuh mukanya setiap hari dengan wudhu', melaksanakan solat dan taat akan suaminya demi mencapai keredhaan Allah s.w.t. Satu kisah menarik untuk dikongsi iaitu kisah Ummu al-Darda (nama sebenarnya Hujaimah al-Himyariah). Beliau adalah isteri Abu Darda', seorang sahabat nabi s.a.w yg hidup di Syam. Suatu hari Ummu al-Darda' berdoa dihadapan suaminya, "Ya ALLAH, sesungguhnya Abu Darda' meminangku didunia,lalu aku menikahinya. Maka sekarang aku meminangnya kepada-Mu untuk menjadi suamiku di Syurga."

Sama-sama kita beruasaha untuk menjadi mukmin yang soleh dan solehah.

Puasa Ramadhan

Daripada al-Harith al-Asy'ari bahawa Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda yg bermaksud:

"Sesungguhnya perumpamaan bagi orang yang berpuasa itu adalah seperti seorang lelaki yang membawa satu bekas yang terdapat didalamnya kesturi, dan ia berada didalam kelompok manusia, maka mereka itu berasa amat hairan dengan wangian tersebut, (begitu juga) sesungguhnya bau orang yang yang berpuasa di sisi Allah lebih harum daripada wangian kesturi."

(Riwayat al-Tarmizi)

Sabda Rasulullah:

"Apabila masuk bulan Ramadhan, maka dibukan pintu-pintu syurga dan ditutup pintu-pintu neraka serta dibelenggu semua syaitan dan iblis."

(Riwayat Muslim)

Sabda Rasulullah yg diriwayatkan oleh Abu Hurairah r.a:

"Sesiapa yang berpuasa pada bula Ramadhan dengan penuh keimananan dan mengharapkan keredhaan Allah, akan diampunkan segala dosa yang dilakukannya sebelum itu."

(Riwayat Al-Bukhari dan Muslim)

Sabda Rasulullah yg diriwayatkan oleh Sahl bin Saad r.a:

"Sesungguhnya didala syurga itu terdapat pintu yang dinamakan al-Rayyan. Orang berpuasa kan masuk melalui pintu tersebut pada hari kiamat kelak. Tidak boleh masuk bersama-sama mereka seorang pun selain mereka. Kelak akan ada pengumuman: 'Dimanakah orang yang berpuasa?' Mereka lalu berduyun-duyun masuk melalui pintu tersebut. Setelah orang yang terakhir daripada mereka masuk, pintu itu tadi ditutup kembali. Tiada lagi orang lain yang akan memasukinya."

(Riwayat al- Bukhari)

Islam is the way of life/ Cara hidup Islam

My thoughts on 'Islam is the way of life'. 

Islam is the way of life offered guidance for a better life based on Islamic principals. There are five basic pillars in Islam. Faith (Shahadah), pray (salah), fasting in holy month of Ramadan, alms- due (Zakah), and pilgrimage (Hajj), are essential for Muslims who want to fulfill the duty of submission to Allah. By doing so, that person fulfills the purpose of his life as a Muslim in general. As a Muslim, it is our obligation to obey the rules set by God (Allah). However, Allah has granted freedom to human beings to use their intellectual abilities to make decisions and to take actions regarding their way of life. Practicing Islam in every way of life will attributes to a better-quality life for Muslims as we lived in guidance following the Islamic approaches.

Individually focus, Islam stresses upon the balance approach of materials need. It is our duty to work and earn money in order to sustain our life. Islam has provided moderate and balance approaches to individual physical needs based on the teachings of Al Quran and As Sunnah. Islam teaches Muslims to earn money via legal, fair, dignified sources, and forbid income from cheating, stealing, gambling, prostitution, and et cetera.

Islam encourages their believers to sustain and living in a healthy, stress-free life-style. In order to sustain a healthy life-style, the importance of personal hygiene and cleanliness is emphasized. Livings in a cozy and comfortable environment later bring inner peace to our soul and draw away stress and potential-mental-health problems.

Islam also nurtures person’s innate goodness and kindness. There is a major emphasis on adopting positive values that include honesty, sincerity, generosity, modesty, decency, dignity, steadfastness, cheerfulness, and et cetera. Islam teaches us to do good things.

It seems perfect, from balancing the materials needed, the emphasizing of healthy life style and the importance of adopting positive values to produce a well-nurtured human being. However as a Muslim, Islam teaches us to be grateful and express our gratitude spiritually by performing prayers (salah). Salah is an expression of gratefulness to Allah and is a method of purifying the heart and soul. During prayers, Muslims continually seek guidance to continue their daily lives. Salah is what separates the Muslims and non-Muslims. Practicing ‘Islam is the way of life’ is perfectly covers the whole aspects of human needs; physically, mentally, and spiritually.

This is from my personal view. I would love to write more about Islam and other religious, but I am short of knowledge. Lots of books need to be read, lots of religious talk need to be attended, but hey, there is no restriction in gaining more and more knowledge right? ^_^