take care of your duties with Allah, He will take care of you.

Allah does what He wills.

Almost every single day, during 'Asr the same brother will come and make the call to prayer. I knew this brother and this brother knew me, but our conversations never went beyond 'How are you' or 'where do you live' or similar small talk. 

Until today.

Today during 'Asr, i prayed next to him. Then after prayers ended, suddenly and out-of-the-blue (out-of-lauh-mahfuz would be more appropriate, don't you think?) he talked to me about some hadeeth detailing the rewards of making zikr after prayers. He was making the point that people rush off to work, wealth and the worldly life, while forgetting the most important thing, which is our relationship with Allah.

Although she was the daughter of a prophet and the ruler of madinah, Fatimah radhiyallahu'anha was working very hard to provide for her family. She was grinding grain until her hands blistered. When she went to ask Rasulullah for a servant, he (SAW) said

"I will tell you of something that will serve you better than a domestic servant. Recite Subhaa-nallaah 33 times, Alhamdu lillaah 33 times, and Allahu Akbar 34 times after each Salaah and on retiring to bed. This will be of greater value to you than a servant."

This brother said that reciting the zikr of fatimah before sleeping will make you feel energized the whole day tomorrow.

Remember Allah, and He will make the mountains on your shoulders feel like a clump of dust which can be easily blown away. But forget Allah, and even small obstacles will feel insurmountable.

He said a lot of other things in that short span of time, but this point got to me the most. After running in the rat race for some time, this brother's advice felt like cool, fresh water pouring down upon the desert that is my heart.

rat race - everyone's running, but no one's going anywhere

I'll end with post with an advice from this brother, so we could reflect.

"People commit shirk (idolatry) while they are in front of Allah. 'O Allah, give me this project so my life could be better off.' And they're saying this in front of Kaabah! 'O Allah, give me good grades so i can get a good life.' Right in front of Allah they're associating partners with him."

Jobs and grades and (even governments?) can't guarantee our security and happiness. We need to put in effort, but in our hearts we must be certain that only Allah has power over everything. 

And that was the best 'teatime' i ever had. Drinking from the well of faith is definitely, definitely better than tea. 

keep calm, uphold solah and carry on

Sometimes the most basic advice is the most profound.

"It all begins from ikhlas and mujahadah (sincerity and struggle). Even if Umar al Khattab or Hasan al Banna rise from their graves and become your murabbi, won't do a thing for you (if you don't have these two things)."

After a while in D&T, the truth of this statement hits you with a resounding 'WHACK'.

Some people are forced to live in far-off places with no people around to always support them, yet they are steadfast.

Others can't be luckier. They are surrounded by good people, have all the reading materials in the world, have lots and lots of opportunities to do good

And yet they stumble.

Abdullah bin Ubayy could have become the best among the people of Madinah. He had Rasulullah as his teacher! He had the sahabah as companions, and je lived when Quran was being revealed!

And yet, his obsession for power overwhelmed him.

And when the going got tough, his heart failed him. He defected from the army of Uhud. The baking sun provided an easy excuse for his men to stay behind while the believers went out to Tabuk.

Ikhlas, and mujahadah. Do it for Allah, and struggle even if the going gets tough. Excuses are easy to find but when you fall for excuses syaitan leaves you behind.

We don't win because our planning is excellent or because we have mastered every single recording of ISK. We win if we are true believers.

you know you're in d&t when...

poli'tick'-whatever, as long as you tick me

Salam álaikum.

I miss writing. The other day someone called me up to get ' career advice' and asked me what my plans were. I said

' i want to become an author'

And he said ' really? Then why did you take accounting?'

Good question. Back then you could ask me to take a degree in garbageology (don't be surprised, there's a lot of stuff you could learn from people's garbage. If you looked through my bin you'd know that i still eat mamee monster -.-) and i'd take it because all i wanted to do was go overseas.

We never really know allah's plans. If i'd never got into LSE i'd probably never knew how much fun history was (may you perish, form 5 history textbook).

"History,blueghh. Too many dates"' so you say.

Well, did you know that

Even before independence, there was a group of people who had brown skin like us, spoke the same language as us, wore kain pelekat and ate belacan like us

BUT

They were struggling to fight the british. And they were proposing to rule based on what Allah sent down and they were fighting for unity of the ummah.

Rasulullah said "a group among my ummah will not back down, upholding the truth"

They were, unfortunately, unsuccessful in the worldly sense. Because in the days of independence, in the 1st half of the 20th century the strongest currents in our country (and arguably the world) were race-centric (which explains why the ruling parties were organised based on races) and they ultimately won the battle for the people's hearts and minds.

But now, now the time is ripe for a new current. The communist system, is, for the lack of a better word, the subject of garbageology. The capitalist system is slowly tearing apart. Fact: in a lecture by Niall Ferguson that i went to, the cost of the 2008 financial crisis is 3 trillion, and the Iraq and Afghan War cost around that much. Allah declares war on riba', literally. AMAZING!

So the historical conditions are right for a new awakening. TV stations like alhijrah and astro oasis are sprouting up, mosques could be packed for a popular ustaz, signalling that there is demand for a return to the truth.

But there is still much work to do to win the battle for hearts and minds. We must instill a true understanding of islam, and not just play around with islamic sentiments.

Islamic sentiment: kurang ajar! Pijak quran!(curse you! You step on the quran) *punches the guy in the face,picks up quran and puts it on the shelf and goes to mamak stall for teh tarik. Reads quran after retiring*

Islamic understanding: "these people are stepping on quran and throwing it behind their backs every day. They like a quote from gandhi but pull faces if they hear a quranic verse".

And that is what i think of politics in malaysia. Politics is a clash of values. You could be politicking even without a party. The Ikhwan were politicking long before they had a party. And when they eventually had their own party, they already had millions of supporters.

Because the values were already in the people's hearts and minds and they will choose leaders who uphold those same values.

So let us work hard to put true values in people's hearts. Then we wouldn't need to worry, because they'll know who to choose.