The Sweetness of Sacrifice

Celebrating 'Eid-ul-Adha' is a commitment to sacrifice.
Sacrifice is a commitment to love.
Love is a commitment to faith.
Faith is commitment to life.
Hence life is but sacrifices.

Life is about struggle, and struggle certainly needs sacrifices.
Our readiness to sacrifice means our readiness to face the challenges of life, which is an evident challenge itself!

Thanks to Uncle Firman for sharing the above words of wisdom.
Life is but sacrifices...
But what is actually sacrifice?
Some people say that giving money to the poor is a sacrifice.
Some sacrifice their wealth for entertainment..
some sacrifice their time for sports
worst... some sacrifice their eternal HereAfter for this temporary world...

I am not saying that all mentioned above are not sacrifice.. (if we're talking about the dictionary's definition here) but the thing is...
what is true sacrifice?
of course... any 'true' thing has to be from Our Creator.. Allah
other than Allah, in this world, are all His creatures, all is dependent on Him and shall soon return to Him.
so lets get our defnitions right!
dont just go with the flow...
we have to look into our deen, turn to Islam... it is the way of life!

of course, everyone has their reasons for choosing one way or the other
everyones life is different, everyones tested in different ways, they have their own situations
.
whatever it is.. we have to be sincere,
have that strong intention to please Allah, not our lusts/ ego/ desire.
this life is for Allah.. insyaAllah, with a sincere heart.. Allah wil show us the way from whence we have no expectation!
life is but sacrifices and true sacrifice is a commitment to true love... for Allah.

Ya Allah, give me the strength to sacrifice for your sake.
Accept my sacrifice...
For there is nothing sweeter than the sweetness of sacrificing for You.

Failing/Falling in Love...

Are you in love?
Falling or failing in love?
either one.. we have to admit that it doesnt sound nice.
i mean falling is usually associated with pain, accidental, out of control, failing and all other negative things.
come to think of it.. no wonder we always say falling in love, cause in reality.. truly, the aforementioned things really describe love... worldly love that is! or should i say...the forbidden love?

That love which usually occur 'accidentally'. What they say- love at first sight?!

But somehow personally, i dont believe in this. I mean i think the reason these things happen accidentally is when one has no stand before the 'accident' happens. If we strongly believe that Allah knows best, Allah is Ever Watching all our actions and that falling in love or having pre- / extra- marital relationships are forbidden by Allah.. then we would surely took all measures to prevent ourselves from falling into it.

Islam forbids free mixing with the opposite sex. We have to believe that our future spouses have already been decreed by Allah. That even if we know this guy or girl for years... its not gonna make any difference... in a positive sense that is. The only difference it will make is we're gonna end up with more sins and if we end up with this guy or girl in the end, we're worried that the barakah of the marriage would be taken away cause it was built out of a haram relationship.

Thats if the relationship ended up with marriage.. if not...
we'd be frustrated, humiliated, disappointed. After all our 'hard' work- all the energy, time and money spent..
gone with the wind!
Its a loose-loose situation!

of course, for those people out there who are currently falling in love... we are humans, mistakes and of course 'accidents' happen... no doubt about that. What had happened has happened so we have to move on!
From now on wards... choose to please Allah. Choose to gain His Mercy and Blessings!
Be sorry for yourself for being naughty/ flirty before this. Its not just that ok naughty.. you have to realize that having this relationship equals to disobedience to Allah. The thought of this alone should make one leave the relationship at once!
AllahuAkbar... instill taqwa in our hearts. Dont let our sins blackened our hearts so much so that we are unable to differentiate whats right from wrong! Allah, save us all!

Remind yourself that this thing here is a serious matter. we're talking about your marriage here! Your future life partner!
That other half of you that people say if its a good one..then you would be a complete person, otherwise,you would be finished!
Its about your future generations to come!

Of course, the feeling of love is from Allah. In fact.. everything is from Allah.
Whatever we have here, in this world is from Allah and it shall one day return to Him. Everything is a test- some people are tested with wealth, some with health and some with feelings..
So believe o you lovers! You are being tested by Allah. The greater the test, the greater mujahadah is needed.The greater sacrifice, in terms of suppressing your desires insyaAllah will earn you greater rewards from Allah. So, if i could suggest to you some practical ways to save you from further falling/ failing in love, i would say drop everything for Allah- the sms-ses, facebooking, picture taking, phone calls, datings etc. Allah knows whats in your heart. How hard it is for you to forget him/ her.. Allah knows. Choose to gain His pleasure.. you never know what reward is waiting for you there!

Have that fear in your heart that as long as this relationship is still on.. you are actually sinning. And 1 sin will cause a black dot on your heart. Without tawbah, it will only grow more and more until your heart will be all blackened with sins... naudhubillahi min dhalik!
Then.. you wont even realize you're sinning... May Allah save us all!

Come.. lets rise in love.. lets be victorious in love. Keep yourself busy looking for the true love!
That love that will never disappoint you!
That love that will give you peacefulness and happiness in this world and in the next!
That everlasting love.. longer than forever!
None other than the love for Allah.
May Allah give us the chance to taste the sweetness of loving Him. Amin.

Wor-ship vs Wor-ries

The heart of a muslim whose object is the life HereAfter does not care for the worldly pleasures yet the world is brought to his feet; on the other hand, whoever goes after the world, he is overpowerd by miseries and calamities, yet he cannot receive more than his allotted portion.

The Prophet Sallahu'alayhiwasallam said: Allah says: "O son of man! devote yourself to My worship and I will free your bosom from the worldly anxieties and will remove poverty, otherwise I will fill your heart with a thousand worries and will not  remove your poverty."

Worthless Worries

People can  worry about almost  anything- interviews, marriage, wealth, exams, wealth.. (no, its not typing error).  For me, this element of worrying about things is a great gift from  Allah. I mean, imagine those without this quality, he or she would be called crazy/ insane. If we know  any crazy people- we'd see that they dont have any worries. They would dress up/ not according to their wishes, wander around with no destination, say what they   want to say to anyone.. in conclusion.. they just dont care.. No worries!

On the other hand, there is another group of people who worry about almost everything. This group of people may sometimes be called a perfectionist, initially... but some of them, when they're not able to cope with their worries may end up with what the medical field termed as depression...

In the middle, we'd find a group of people, which, probably is where most of us belong to..people with worthless worries! Whats worthless worries?
well.. simply those worries on stuffs that we can never be in control of.. those things  that are beyond our reach. no doubt that  these things may have a great impact in our lives but worrying about it would  just make life more gloomy and difficult. In a lecture, it was said that in order for us to know our Lord, we have to know who we really are. We have to understand and believe that we are nothing but servants of Allah. Everything we have is from Allah and shall return to Allah whenever He wills.We have to believe that it is not our intelligence that brought us our certificates.. its not our effort that brings success/ wealth.. its all the decree of Allah. the following are some of  the common examples of this kind of worries:

1. Exam/ Interview results...
-last time when i was a student i like to remind myself that all i need to do is my part and thats pray to  Allah for guidance then just try my very best.. thats it! i use to have this big poster on my study table saying: 'DONT BE AFRAID OF FAILURE, BELIEVE IN ALLAH'S WILL! Alhamdulillah, with this in mind, believing that Allah knows whats best for me and that everything is preordained by Him, it  gives  you a kind of  inner peace that is very very useful at times of interviews / exams. With a peaceful heart and a clear mind, its much easier to perform  the very best out of you, insyaAllah. On top of that, holding to this principle will make one ever  ready to accept anything that may befall  him/ her. Success/ failure in this world, on worldy matters, for 1 with iman would just bring him or her closer to Allah. As a mukmin, we believe that our part as servants of Allah is just to worship Him first, put His desires above all then we are the most successful person in  this world eventhough in the eyes of men we may be the worst loser ever lived!

And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, He had  indeed achieved a great success. (Al-Ahzab:71)

2. Life partner
-being a lady myself living in a world where they say the ratio of  men to women is 1 to 4, its difficult to avoid worrying about 'jodoh' / who my future husband would be. i remember when i was in my final year of study in the university i came across friends who came to me sharing their worries on this matter. Come to think of it again, i think the root cause of all these worthless  worries is a weak iman. If we truly, strongly believe that it is preordained by Allah, we wont bother to even think about it.

'Abdullah ibn 'Amr RadiAllahu'anhuma narrates: Nabi Sallahu'alayhiwasallam said: No person is a true believer until he believes in Qadr (predestination, that both)every good and bad are from Allah. (Musnad Ahmad)

We'd  understand  that all we need to do is to please Him. We  should be very worried to displease our Creator Whom all of us would be  held accountable of 1 day. We should be very worried of getting ourselves  into relationships which are forbidden by Allah. We must believe that, even if i dont know him / her, if he/ she is already  written as my spouse, than thats the best for me...Allah is sufficient! Some people may question: what if the coupling-free-marriage didnt work out.. well i would say... again..that is beyond our reach. thats for Allah to decide. As long as i've done my part, to choose the halal way- then i have nothing to worry about. Success/ failure in this world will only bring me closer to my Creator...

So how can we say worrying is a gift  from Allah?!
Well, of course when that worrying brings us peace, tranquility and happiness.
When that worrying brings us closer to Allah.
When that worrying creates a will in ourselves to achieve our deeni goals.
When we sin, we'd be worried of Allah's chastisement, so we make tawbah..
When we see people around us disobeying Allah, we'd be worried of their state of iman, so we remind them.
When we think of death, we'd be worried about the questioning  in the grave.. so we put effort on our deen.
These kinds of worries are truly great gifts from Allah to any of His servants.

Naturally, a businessman would be  worried of his businesss profit.. so he'd work to overcome his worries..
a farmer would be worried of his  crops, so he'd take all measures to grow them well
a student would be worried of his coming exam, so he'd study really hard to score
Thus, a mu'min should be worried of his state of iman and give great effort in keeping it!
A slave would be worried to upset his master, so he'd be very careful of all his actions in front of his master.
Being   a slave of Allah, we should have this worry of disobeying Him in any aspects.. anywhere  cause we know that  He is the All Seer and All-Knower. He knows everything.. even those concealed in our hearts!

A reminder for myself, also...Especially dedicated to my dear bro. Mohamad  Rafiq who's facing his captainship tests and dear sis.  Muna Munirah who's  facing  her exam.

May Allah guide us all and save us from worthless worries! Amin.

Forgive & Forget... For Allah

Forgive & Forget... nice to say, nice to hear but in reality...very very difficult to achieve!
If you have that one person in your life who just never fail to hurt you..  emotionally..
every words of his or hers are just so painful, each time you thought that you had forgiven  him/ her, he/ she just continue to upset you again and again
up to the point that  you thought that he/ she was actually born to make your life miserable!
hearing his or her name can suddenly turn your day cloudy and sometimes stormy
and worst...flashbacks!.. every bad things that this person had done to you kept on haunting your mind..
yes.. you need just 1 person in your life  with all the above characteristics..
then you'd understand what i'm talking about here..

Forgive and forget would be the last thing on your mind!
unless.. we add another 'for'.. none other  than...For Allah! Then, insyaAllah, we'd be sooo please that this person came to our lives. we'd look at it as an opportunity for us to clean our hearts.
We believe that this person here is a test from Allah. That Allah is using this person as a tool to test our iman. Everything bad that this person had done to us.. anything.. even the worst of evil can never happen without the will of Allah. So lets train our eyes to look beyond this person.

People  talk about so many kinds of defense mechanisms in the psychiatric field, but if we look into our deen.. we'd  see that in it lies the best way of life for everyone, everywhere, in any situations.
verily with deen, one will attain success not only in the HereAfter but also in this temporary world.
Allah is our Creator.. so Who would know better than Him?!

The point i'm trying to convey here is that if we choose to  blame this person for all that  he/ she had done then its not gonna solve the problem. What will happen is that we'd hope for this person to change/ we try to make him/ her change and if he/ she didnt change/ when we fail to change him/ her then we are the one who'd suffer.. the  most!

So in this situation.. as believers, we need to understand who we are- our limitations and responsibility.
We need to realise that we cant change people.. its Allah's job
we need to put effort on whats within our reach.
Allah gave us this person in our lives..as a test.. so what can we do to please Him?
in fact, in anything that we face in life.. this should be the first question that come across our minds.
the principle of tawheed is  a great blessing for all of us cause its makes our lives easier by knowing that our responsibility is Only towards Allah.
That this 1 life that we have is Only to please Allah..
Not our ego! Not our pride!

Yes.. pride is definitely one big culprit in this issue of forgiving others..
remember o muslims!

Abdullah Ibne Mas'ud Radiallahu'anhu narrates Nabi Sallahu'alayhiwasallam said:
Whoever has the smallest particle of arrogance in his heart, he will not be able to enter paradise.
(Muslim)

Not our husbands/ wives/ children/ parents/ bosses!
Only Allah.

Ibne Abbas Radiallahu'anhuma narrates that Rasulullah Sallahu'alayhiwasallam said:
He who makes Allah angry for pleasing people, Allah becomes angered and makes people also angry with him; including those he had pleased to anger Allah. And he who pleases Allah by making people angry, Allah is pleased and makes people also pleased with him; including those he had made angry  to please Allah; so much so that he becomes virtuous in the eyes of those people who were angry and his words and deeds become adorned in their eyes.
(Tabarani and Majma-'uz-Zawaid)

About the flashbacks..whenever you're having this attack..
ask Allah  to protect you from the devil, say istighfar.
remember Allah.. do lots of   zikr.
Tell yourself that i am  not gonna let myself trapped in the past..
what had happened has happened and its the  decree of Allah
i have to move on.. to please Allah!

Abu Hurairah Radiallahu'anhu narrates Nabi Sallahu'alayhiwasallam said:
Musa Ibne 'Imran Alayhissalam said: O  my Rabb (Sustainer)! Who is the most respectable slave in Your esteem? Allah the Almighty and Majestic  replied: He who forgives despite having the capability to avenge. (Baihaqi)



May Allah clean our hearts and give us the taufeeq to be kind to everyone. To be humble, patient and ever-forgiving like our dear beloved Prophet Muhammad Sallahu'alayhiwasallam. Amin. 





Its been long since i last received a hand made eid card, so i have to show  it!



An Aid for an Excellent Eid

AllahuAkbar.. its coming to Eid already?!
How quick time passes by these days..
Eid...Its suppose to be a time to celebrate.. a glorious victory of having to fast for 1 month and pushing ourselves to the limit in worshipping Him by night..
the question is.. are we truly eligible to celebrate? Can we call ourselves victorious? Have we truly excel this Ramadhan?
InsyaAllah.. may Allah accept our deeds. Amin.
Hope for Allah's mercy and fear Him, if because of some shortcomings, our good deeds not accepted

And those who bring what they have brought while  their hearts are fearful. (Mu'minun: 60)

well, dont want to talk about what have gone  here, but its hard to contain this feeling of sadness and regret  when i came across this one hadeeth from 'Ubaadah bin Saamit RadiAllahu'anhu, reported by Tabaraani.. wherein Rasulullah Sallallahu'alayhiwasallam said:

Ramadhan the month of blessing has come to you, wherein Allah turns towards you and sends down to you His special mercy, forgives faults, accept prayers, looks at your competition for the greatest good and boasts to His malaa'ikah about you. So show to Allah  your righteousness from yourselves. For verily te most pitiable and unfortunate one is the one who is deprived of Allah's mercy in this month.

O Allah.. forgive us all for our unmindfulness.. again and again..
Allah the Most forgiving, Merciful

yesterday is gone  and will never return.. so lets move  on!
Lets try to excel on eid!
the statement sounds a bit weird. Probably because we dont really use the word excel when it comes to religious matter huh?! Excel only comes  with exams/ worldly achievements!
Come to think of it.. this life is a test! one BIG test for all of us..
One in which, if u  fail you'd fail forever and if u succeed.. you'd be successful forever..ever!
So,insyaAllah this coming  eid day is apart of that big test.
This is another  weird statement.. eid a test?!
yep.. we tend to regard something tragic/ saddening/ worrying as a test when in fact
something happy/ makes you proud/ worldy achievements are even bigger a test!
cause when we're happy.. we tend to forget Him..  we tend to forget that its still a test
In  fact, whatever happens to us in this world.. good or bad.. is a test..
Reward is in the HereAfter

So lets plan to excel this eid test! How?
Simply .. by celebrating it the way Rasulullah Sallallahu'alayhiwasallam and His Companions did!
Why?!
Simply because they are the people whom Allah had promised Paradise even during their lifetime
The Companions are normal people- with desires, temptations, etc but they had lived their life in the way that had gained Allah's redho..
What else are we looking for in this life?!

1. Takbeer! As soon as the announcement has been made on the tv for example.. switch it off! Lets do takbeer! It is mustahabb to recite takbeer during the night of Eid from sunset on the last day of Ramadaan until the imam comes to lead the prayer.Men should raise their voices reciting this dhikr in the marketplaces, mosques and homes, but women should not raise their voices.
2. Do  ghusl ( a bath with intention.. in conjunction with eid)
3. put on your best clothes. for men that is. For ladies..as usual, pleasant ones within the law of shariat. And please leave your make-ups and perfumes.. for the sake of Allah. Better.. for single ladies esp..  throw away everything or keep it somewhere out of reach until you're married when u need to use them in front of your husbands! It was narrated from Abu Moosa (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
   

   “If a woman puts on perfume and passes by people so that they can smell her fragrance, then she is such and such,” and he spoke sternly - meaning an adulteress.

   Narrated by Abu Dawood (4173) and al-Tirmidhi (2786); classed as saheeh by Ibn Daqeeq al-Eid in al-Iqtiraah (126) and by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.
4. Eat an odd number of dates before going out for the prayer.
5. Go out everyone! Perform you eid prayer! Everyone ok.. ladies too. I need to emphasize it here because back home.. usually the ladies would stay back at home to prepare food etc, thus leaving this great sunnah. Strange... when we are asked to go out.. we choose to stay at home! Who is the stranger now?!
6. greet one another.. congratulate each other.  some famous greetings would be: Taqabbala Allaah minna wa minkum (May Allaah accept (good deeds) from us and from you” or “Eid mubaarak”
7. dont forget to pay zakat al-fitr before prayers ok.
8. Also i is prescribed for the one who goes out to the Eid prayer to go by one route and return by another.

InsyaAllah may Allah give us the taufeeq to practise what we know and spread it to others.
Have an excellent Eid, everyone.

Specially dedicated to my dear family in Hulu Langat-mak, ayah, muni, taufiq, umair, rafiq and farah in puchong, sidiq in sabah, um-in-law in Kluang, nenek, atok, wan kek rombaw, aunties, uncles and all who knows us... Eid  Mubarak.. maaf  zahir batin..
Taqabbala Allaah minna wa minkum (May Allaah accept (good deeds) from us and from you!
Love and miss you all... and lemang, ketupat, rendang, kuah kacang kak com, tat, almond london... sob, sob.

May Allah bless!

Weeding Weekend

Its coming to spring  here in Perth. SubhanAllah, the weather is nice, flowers everywhere, bees  and butterflies, also.. not forgetting.. the weeds!
After hibernating in the house, specifically.. in the  room.. more specifically near the heater..in conjunction with the winter season.. i was shocked to find a baby forest growing very healthily in front of my house. Well.. ok. shock is not the right word.. amazed would be better!
Anyhow, thats our front yard.. you leave it for a while, the weeds will come, and if you leave it a bit longer, it will turn into a big bush, then a secondary forest and so on.. (my geography teacher must be proud of me ;P)

Come  to think of it...its like our heart in a way. Leave it a while, without the remembrance of Allah, without busying ourselves with ibaadah, without talking about the greatness of Allah... then the greatness of the world will creep in. Like weeds! if you leave it longer the root of the weeds  will go in deeper, the stem will become harder, and worst.. those with thorns.. their thorns will grow more and stronger that its difficult to even touch them,  not to say to pull them!
well.. am talking from experience ok..

So yeah, we have to make effort on our imaan. Everyday..
or else, the worldly desires and temptations will definitely take a hold of us
Iman is not  something that you achieve and thats it. Its an everlasting battle...til we return to Him.
on the other hand.. worldly desires/ dunya is something that can easily come to us if we leave this effort for iman.. so dunya is exactly like weeds! and  weeding is the effort you put in  to keep your iman!

And its very difficult to  keep your iman when you're not in the right environment. Like if we go back to our garden, weeds will come out more in spring and less in summer. Simply because, Allah sends more rain  in spring and less of it in summer. So we need to look for the best environment for our iman. We need to look for the gardens of jannah in this world...Whereby  if we passed by it we need  to eat its fruits to our fill.. its none other than the gatherings of  the remembrance of Allah...

For the ladies, lets  live up an islamic environment in our houses. Lets talk about the greatness of Allah to our children in our daily conversations. an example with mus'ab, before giving him his milk we would ask him, siapa kasi rezeki? (who gives you rizq? ) siape kasi kenyang?(who makes  you feel full) and he would say.. Allah. Then at the same time.. deny the power of creations ie mus'ab would say: Bukan mama, bukan abah, bukan maya, bukan susu.. and at one time while answering, he was looking at the fan and then said, bukan fan!

Teaching tawheed to kids is very easy cause their hearts are still so clean.
InsyaAllah, if we do this- talk about the  greatness of Allah, the greatness of  the world will come out of our hearts.

Abu Hurairah Radiallahu'anhu narrates Rasulullah Sallahu'alaihiwasallam said: Renew your iman! It was asked O Rasulullah, how do we renew our iman? he said: Testify repeatedly the Kalimah La ilaha illallah. (Musnad Ahmad, Tabarani and Targhib)

Its also good if we can space out like 30 minutes or so everyday ie after maghrib/ isya/ fajr... get the family to sit together and talk about the greatness of Allah.Lets have our very own garden of jannah in our  houses! Alhamdulillah, our family has been doing this for quite some time now and believe me, its really is rewarding and nourishing for the heart. Ask the kids to take turns talking about the greatness of Allah
i remember last time when we, my husband and i started doing this, it felt awkward at first, to talk about the greatness of Allah.. even  to your own husband!  but, insyaAllah, with practise, Allah will make it easy.
A few examples would be: "Allah is the Sustainer of everything/ Happiness comes from Allah.. Not wealth/ titles/ fame/ Allah is Independent, in this world theres only 1 Allah, other that Him  are all His Creations and everythng is dependent on Him.

We do lots of conversations everyday, but how many times do we speak about the greatness of Allah?
I know a true story of a man who always talk about his land/ properties and then on his death bed, at  the throes of death, those were the things that came out of his mouth.. my land.!.my properties..!
may Allah save us all. Amin

this pic was taken when  the job was half way through... fiuh!

Paying for Insurance VS Praying for Assurance

I once heard a famous rapper who reverted to Islam, in an interview, he said that we need to pay  for the disease while the cure is free!
I know 1 job for ladies...highly insured, highly rewarded but strangely is getting more and more vacant these days. The job is.. actually not even acknowledged as a job by some people.. none other than.. housewifery!
One of the things that make housewifery difficult to be accepted by some people is the fact  that it means no salary..  and in this world, if you are salary-less you are thus dependent.. and as 'modern ladies' , we must be independent. If you're not working, dependent  on your husband,  imagine whats gonna happen if something happen to your husband? Who's gonna feed you? Who's gonna sustain you?
Ask these questions to Mus'ab and he'll give you the answer, insyaAllah, without even thinking!
Its Allah!

Yep, its difficult to accept the answer, when our hearts are so far away from deen. When our hearts  are so polluted by the deceptive worldly desires and temptations. When everyone else around us are striving for the world, everyones talking about this  world, when sins are being committed everyday,  and we didint even realise it. How can we expect our hearts and mind to accept the fact that, Allah is our sole provider, that our rizq  has been preordained by Him, that its not our effort/ husbands/ qualifications that can promise  our rizq.. its Allah!

Being a housewife gives you a free training course on this subject. It really gives you the opportunity to  test your trust to Allah. Always remind ourselves that, Allah is The Provider, Allah is The Sustainer. If anything happen to your husband? Another opportunity to come closer to Allah.

And for him who fears Allah (observes taqwa) Allah Ta'ala ever appoints a way out; and He provides for  him from quarters from whence he has no expectation; And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, He will suffice for him. (At-Talaq: 2-3)

I remember those days when i was a medical student, each time when big exams were  approaching, solat was sweeter, prayers were longer cause you know that whether you're gonna go through it or not is in His hands. You  may  study all day and all night  thru but Allah willing,  a disease that you had never came across may appear in your test and thats it.. see you next term! Thats why in anything that we do, always remember  to pray  1st then do it. A common misconception in our  society is to give our all first and then, lastly.. make doa and tawakkal..

some people may say that by leaving your job, you're like digging your own grave..
well.. even if you did dug your  own grave.. you would never be buried until the time comes..
dont you think?!

strange people would rather risk their deen than their wealth..
may Allah save us all from this..

i mentioned  just now, housewifery is highly insured.. why?
For ladies, yes, because being at home means- no mixing with the non-mahram, no make-up or dress issues and most importantly.. no fitnah..

it was narrated in a saheeh report that  The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)said, “Beware of this world and beware of women, for the first fitnah (trial) that befell the Children of Israel had to do with women.” And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I am not leaving behind me in my ummah any fitnah that is more harmful for men than women

yes you may not have the capacity to pay  for the worldly insurance if you're a housewife but in return, insyaAllah you'll get your deen..insured!
Housewives dont pay for insurance but they pray for assurance!

Verily Allah loves those who  put their trust in Him. ( Ali Imran: 159)

A reminder for the strangers...

Australian Election

Yesterday was the election day here in australia and weeks before that, i got the chance to 'experience' the campaigning atmosphere here  for the first time. why the inverted commas?!
well.. because, theres not much  of a difference at all!(.. more junkmails i suppose ;P)
probably because i came from a very politically-atmosphered-country, i was expecting a bit more posters and flags, and a public holiday for the polling.. but no. NO flags, posters were put up at appropriate places..only, trees were untouched, no demonstration, or cars honking each other.
and worst.. no polling holiday.. but, wait, do we have it back home?! anyhow.. if we dont we should have it  you know, i mean to make the decision is a big task!

anyhow, back to the topic, as a whole i would say that the campaigning here was done very professionally. No such thing as insulting each other, unbiased media, debates were on real country issues NOT on personal issues. so yeah, theres a lot to be learnt here.

one party caught my attention.. family first!
yep, thats  the official name of the party.

when its becoming very difficult sometimes to convince people the importance of having a good family structure, this party here is fighting for it! one of the things that they fight for is for full time mums be rewarded! when more and more ladies prefer to work outside, have a career of their own, be at par with the men, this party acknowledge/ appreciates those who choose to stay at home to take care of the family. on the other hand, sad to say, many of us now look down on those ladies who choose to be at home. Come, lets have our principles right. am not asking you to vote for family first, polling has ended anyway. Am just asking you and myself of course to devote to our deen. Get our priorities right! Know what we should do! Whats our true responsibilities! some people may say that this is the right way and that is old fashion.. in the end, those are peoples words/ ideas.. everyone will be held accountable with what they do/say.

Lets  turn to Allah, cause finally, we shall all return to Him.. alone!
May Allah guide us all! Amin.

BiZARRE RAMADHAN

No..its NOT bAzaar ramadhan ok..pay attention to the spelling! though ya, bazaar ramadhan, come to think of it, is really one of the things that can make your ramadhan a bit bizarre!

Tonight, is the 10th night of Ramadhan already  and Alhamdulillah.. for me its been quite rewarding.
Not to say that i've been sooo good at keeping my time and sooo busying myself with amal but relatively, compared to my previous Ramadhan, insyaAllah, so far, this year is the best for me, Alhamdulillah.
All praise  be to Allah, for surely, its not our effort but its His taufeeq that can give us the strength to push ourselves to the limit/ beyond the limit in worshipping  Him.

As i was praying my taraweeh just now, i thought that, wow how fast time goes by..
its the 10th night already! AllahuAkbar! please dont let me waste this Ramadhan..
for i dont know, if i would be able to see this month again..
make this ramadhan the best ever!
and please o Allah.. dont let this feelings of yearning and craving for your pleasure ends with the end of Ramadhan.. may this Ramadhan be our iman booster til the next Ramadhan, Amin.

About the topic, well, just want to invite my self, firstly, and dear readers to realize how precious Ramadhan is.. lets have this eagerness in our hearts to do as much amal as possible for the sake of Allah..
whats a bizarre ramadhan?
-when Allah's great promises are there for you to grab..you just dont bother...thats when your ramadhan turn bizarre.. ie-shopping/ baking/ sewing/ exhausting your self with worldly activities by  day, and eating/ eating/ eating/ sleep by night!

Remember that whoever intends drawing near to Allah by performing any virtuous deed, for such person shall be the reward like the one who had performed a fardh in any other time. And whoever perform a fardh,  shall be blessed with the reward of 70 fardh in any other time. we're not just looking at rewards here, its the fact that, Allah  will promise more rewards for things that He likes more..insyaAllah

check our hearts.. is there any difference compared to other months..?
do we have that urge of wanting to please Allah.. wanting to ask for His  forgiveness?
do we have that of feeling of looking forward to perform taraweeh, to complete the reading of Quran, keeping in mind how Allah  will  boast in front of His angels whe He look at His servants worshipping Him?
do we feel that closeness to Allah?

or.. na'udhubilllah.. is it just another month to us?!
has our hearts turned so hard and blackened as a result of our sins?
that we just dont care!
Allah.. bring us back o  Allah! Dont leave us for we need you o Allah!

so, muna ,  readers..
come lets do istighfar abundantly!
ask Allah to forgive us all, clean our hearts.
come push ourselves to the limit! in its true  sense!
pray longer rakaat, more nafl solat, more Quran, more time in zikr..more than usual
insyaAllah, with a bit extra sacrifice, a bit more  effort,
Allah will give us the true spirit of celebrating ramadhan and thus let our hearts discover the sweetness of loving Him..

Ya Allah.. A'ab nak..., please..

Alhamdulillah.. thats mama's boy! Muhammad Mus'ab bin Mohd Khairi. I usually call him by his full name including his fathers name when he's naughty/ when i'm showing him my disapproval. so the fact that the first 2 statements are next to each other is a bit weird..
Anyhow, Alhamdulillah, the pleasure, the satisfaction,  the happiness.. i dont know if theres any word can describe the feelings of having a child of your own. its truly is  a grrreat gift from Allah no money  can buy!

of course..as the reality goes.. a great gift usually comes with a great price to pay..
and when it comes to children.. its not money/ toys/ great holidays etc
a hadith mentioned that the best gift a father can give to his child is good manners
after more than 2 years of becoming a mother, i realise that the most difficult part of disciplining  your child is in disciplining  yourself!

Actually, they can be disciplined very easily, insyaAllah..
Mus'ab for example.. just recently we taught him to ask from Allah each time he wants something..
the prayer goes: Ya Allah, A'ab (as he call himself)  nak... please..
so then, SubhanAllah, now he understands that each time he wants something, he has to ask Allah for  it.
so just last weekend, Mus'ab was with his Abah,  as I and maryam were out.
he was sleeping when i left  him but 5 minutes after that, he woke up, crying and screaming for his dear beloved mama..;P
his abah didnt know what to do when suddenly Mus'ab said, while crying intermittently: Ya Allah, ya Allah, ya Allah.. A'ab nak mama tido layi,  please..
Abah couldnt reply better than falling into tears too!

As it goes.. when you do da'wah to others you're actually giving a chance for yourself to improve..
in everything that we do, we have to turn to Allah.. thats the principle that we're trying to inculcate here..
but, yeah.. when the world is very deeply rooted in your hearts, its very difficult to get this very high state of iman..
children..they've got clean hearts.. and its our duty as parents to make sure that  they have the correct iman..
that everything that happens in this be world can only occur by Allah's will
that its not milk/ food that makes you full.. its Allah..
theres 1 illness where a gene called ob gene (if i'm not mistaken) is  defective, one can not be satiated/ cant feel full.. people always tend to blame it on the genes and thats it! we seldom go a bit further, we seldom remember The One who control these genes, and thus The Cause of everything.

in the Holy Quran, we are being reminded again and again to put our trust to Allah
to ask from Him
never did Allah say anywhere that to have happiness you have to work for money
never did Allah say to have a long-lasting marriage, look for a lovely wife..
never did Allah say to be successful, you need to have good education/ abundant wealth..
NEVER!
Allah NEVER put His promise in our wealth/ certificates/ fame..
but Allah put His promise in 'amal (good deeds)..NOT maal (wealth)..

for your rizq.. solat dhuha
for  your tasks to be completed.. surah yaseen..
for success.. even in this life.. is in the religion..
how much you can uphold Islam in every aspects  of your life..

strange, huh, whats the relationship between rizq and solat dhuha?- most people would think..
only strangers do these things..
Ya Allah, guide us all.. Amin!

Ghuraba - The Stranger

the stranger?!

i can't say that i am a stranger now, but, insyaAllah, am working towards becoming one, insya Allah.. very, very hard and believe me, i  got a long way to go man!

A stranger to this world because her heart doesnt belong here..
she knows that this life is nothing but a test, a temporary abode..
though everyone else around her is busying themselves looking for fame, wealth,titles etc..
she doesnt care, shes not interested the least..
she firmly believe  that shes got a far bigger mission.
though people around her look at  her with disgust
though they call her a weirdo/  terrorist/ extremist/ batman..
she doesnt  bother.. in fact, all their words will only make her stronger..
in living up the way of life of her beloved!
she leaves her job, her fancy clothes, her make-ups
and stay at home to take care of her family.. when everyone else is climbing up their career ladders..
shes ok, confident of her decision, putting all her trust to her Creator..

may  Allah choose  us all to be strangers
and raise us all with the strangers..insyaAllah, Amin

strange huh.. you have a beautiful face but you cover everything..
strange.. theres so many  beautiful dress out there but ur always in black
strange.. you  have the chance to work but you leave it
strange.. very strange...
its The Stranger..

intro..

Alhamdulillah.. finally!.. after a few months of wanting to have a blog of my  own, at last! Tonight is the night!
basically, my aim of having a blog is just to share my views about life. happenings in my  life that i think i can share with  the readers at the same time giving myself the opportunity to reflect upon it.
Life is a precious gift from Allah, and every second of it is invaluable. The thing with us, humans, is  that we tend to overlook the importance and value of every second of our lives. We tend to think superficially about stuffs, assume that this is right and thats wrong and then suddenly.. thats it.. game over!
Allahu Akbar.. reminding myself as well!
One of the things which i like about writing is that, somehow, it allows me to stop, drop everything, ponder, think and slap my face and say wake up, muna! what are you doing.?!
plus, when you're a housewife, theres no such thing as KPI (key perfomance index) etc., no monthly assessments/ test whatsoever, no one is there to monitor you.. except, of course, once in a while.. your husband, parents or mother-in-law, but really, most of the time..
your day is yours (and  the children's, of course) and at the end of the day.. u have to judge yourself!
is today better than yesterday..?
that brings us to another aim of this blog thats to motivate me to use my time wisely!
not to end up being just another house Maid.. from morn to evening -chores here, chores there.. tired, sleep and the cycle continues..
housewife is  NOT  a housemaid! and a grade A housewife is not just any housewife..
so, yeah with the thought of wanting to share reminders/ beneficial stuffs with the readers, insyaAllah, hopefully it will encourage me to seek knowledge which can help me understand life, how to please The One who gave me this life, so that, insyaAllah He will raise me up among those whom He was pleased with.
as u probably have noticed.. most of the aims is basically for myself..
one very important principle of da'wah, our scholars used to remind us.. is to do it for the sake of Allah of course, and, for yourself..
with these in mind, insyaAllah you wont yearn for fame/ for people to accept your views or praise your blog, you  wont be  despair if no one reads it or u have no followers..
what matters is the pleasure of Allah..
may Allah guide us all.