on mission:possible

Yesterday a friend of mine posted this status on facebook. Nowadays, after Syaikh Google, The Kitab of Facebook is where people get their wisdom.

"Umar Al-Khattab berubah, Saidina Hamzah berubah, Wardina Safiyah berubah, Amer munawer berubah, Ruffedge, VE, bob lokman semua pun berubah. Kalau diorang boleh berubah, kenapa tidak kita?

:)"

"Umar al-Khattab changed, Sayyidina Hamzah changed, Wardina Safiyyah changed, Amer Munawer changed, Ruffedge, VE, Bob Lokman, all of them changed. If they could change, why not us?"

Nice question.
 
Why not us? Change, as they say, is the only constant.
 
Umar al Khattab was a feared and brutal man before he changed, but after changing, he could cry just from listening to verses of the Qur'an.
 
How did the author change? Ever heard "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach?" It started with physical nourishment, it changed to mental spiritual nourishment.
 
Its strange how people fear change. I've heard some of my friends say
 
"Did you hear about this guy? After he flew to the UK/egypt/america/etc, he became really alim. He's a good guy now."
 
Everyone, in their heart of hearts, wants to be good. Its just that they don't know how.
 
So i'll let you in on a little secret, one that helped me:
 
Step 1: Pray to Allah for guidance.
 
Step 2: Find the good guys. And learn from them.
 
Step 3: I'll post it on this blog if i remember.
 
Have a lecture to catch now. Salaam.
 

on blaming everything else, not me

Salaams all.

I frequently hear this statement from some of my friends and family.

"It's fated. It was my fate to be this way. Nothing could help me."

"Alah, what to do. Ayam patuk itik sudu." (my dad likes this rhyme)

"I was born osem."

Erkkk to the last one. -.-

Could we do nothing to change the situation we're in? are we so hopeless that we just surrender without trying and say 'i've done my best?'

Could we just watch as our brothers and sisters endure this?

And this?

And this?

Allah says,

...إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ ...

"..Verily! Allâh will not change the condition of a people as long as they do not change their state themselves.." (Ar Ra'd: 11)

Allah has set the laws of the universe, and we call this sunnatullah. For example,

If we drink water, our thirst will be gone. This is sunnatullah. Imagine there's a water in the table in front of you. If you just scream out, "water! water!" The water will not magically fly to you, and you will become thirstier from screaming. You have to get up and take the glass of water.

If you just shout out "oh Allah help us! help us!" and just sit there doing nothing, nothing's going to happen either. Every day, babies get thrown away, children go hungry, families fall apart, drugs wreck people's lives, while we sit in inaction, with our comfortable homes, comfortable lives.

"I was fated to be stuck in facebook." 

Sure.

on eid-ul-adha

Eid Mubarak!

From the author, his nuclear family, his extended family, his family-in-faith and everyone who celebrates eid in the spirit of sacrifice.

on golf balls

this is a good one, from a friend of mine.

The parable of the golf ball.

Once you hit the golf ball, it lands somewhere.

If you're an amateur like me, it lands far from the hole, in the rough. in malay we call that 'ke laut' (to the sea).



Or if you're good it may land closer.

Or if you're Tiger Woods it may land just a leeeeeetle bit off the hole.

Either you land in the rough, on the fairway or on the tee, it doesn't matter. The ball's still not in the hole.

Allah says,

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ادْخُلُوا فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَّةً وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ

"O you who believe! Enter perfectly in Islâm and follow not the footsteps of Shaitân (Satan). Verily! He is to you a plain enemy." (Al Baqarah: 208)

 

Some people say "i'm already rotten boy. You still have a chance."

 

Some people say "yeah, im a muslim. During eid-ul-fitri and eid-ul-adha."

Some people say "i know i do these things, but at least i pray and fast. Not like THAT GUY, he's even worse."

 

Rough, fairway or tee, doesn't matter. Still not in. If you're still on the outside, find someone to whack you in.

 

 

 

 

on using every second for good

What do we talk about when we meet each other?

"Bro!"

"Broooo!"

"How's studies? OK?"

"Yeah, it has ups and downs, but everything's good man."

"How bout you?"

"I had an internship over the summer. It was awesome."

we are, i must admit, boring people.

What do the Sahabah say to each other?

There was this one time when Ibnu Rawaahah r.a held the hand of Abu ad-Dardaa' r.a and said:

"تعال نؤمن ساعة ان القلب اسرع تقلبا من القدر اذا استجمعت غليانا"

"Come, let us have iman for a moment. Verily the heart changes faster than the contents of a boiling kettle"

maybe in sounds better in malay : Marilah kita beriman sejenak. Sesungguhnya hati lebih cepat berbolak-balik daripada isi periuk yang sedang menggelegak.

Now that is awesome. They talk to each other about the things that are important. "How is your iman (belief)", "did you do good deeds today", "please remind me of Allah".

Even the first thing that we would be asked in the grave is ما ربك, who is your Lord.

And the stories we hear about the Sahabah are not stories about their professions, what businesses they did, how they made money etc. Instead we hear about their legendary deeds, like the 3 people who were dying on the battlefield, and one of them was given water to quench his thirst. He declined and said

"give it to my companion"

the second person also declined and said to give the water to his companion.

the 3rd person also asked to give the water to his companion.

In the end all of them died, preferring their friends over themselves.

Maybe the sahabah knew that we have no time to lose, like Allah says

"The Day they see it, (it will be) as if they had not tarried (in this world) except an afternoon or a morning." (An-Nazi'aat : 46)

On Judgment Day, we will feel as if we spent only one afternoon on Earth.

So find good friends who understand the purpose of life.