Rindu Rasul (pbuh)

In two days time, we'll be celebrating the birth of the greatest individual in history, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Loving the prophet is not only about knowing him, but also following his sunnah. He is the best role model for everyone. Why?

A brahmin colleague of the late Professor Hassan Ali, said:

"No man possesed the characteristics, mannerisms and ethics that he possessed at one time. He was a king under whom the entire peninsula unifeid; yet he was humble. He believed that the dominion belonged to his God alone. Great riches wolud come to him, and yet he lived in a state of poverty; fire would not be lit in his house for many days, and he would stay hungry. He was a great leader; he led small numbers into battle against thousands, and yet he would decisively defeat them. He loved peace agreement and would agree to them with a firm heart, even though he had thousands of his brave and courageous Companions by his side. He was deeply connected about the affairs of the Arabian Peninsula, yet he did not neglect the affairs of his family, household, or the poor and needy. He busied himself with the worship of God and loved doing deeds which pleased Him. He never avenged himself on account of personal reasons. He even prayed for his enemies' wellbeing, and would warn them of the punishment of God. He was an ascetic regarding worldly affairs and would worship God throughout the night".

Those characteristics portrayed by the prophet (pbuh) is an indicator that Islam is a perfect religion. Comparing our present life to the life of the prophet and his companions, we will see one huge gap. They live in poverty yet they are grateful and never complaints. They are the ones whom Allah has promised them paradise but they never stop worshipping Allah in humble submissions. When they see people performing evil misdeeds, they will quickly stop and prevent those with their hands. They never feel reluctance to do so even though it is their close ones that do those. All these is rooted from the 'iman' that they have.

Rasulullah (pbuh) said, "Indeed I have been sent to perfect good character."

Those great mens, the companions is the result of this. The prophet and his companions is the best nation ever produced in mankind history. But how come I still being myself? Why I still refuse to follow them? Simply I got the answer. It is because I am the product of this so called globalisation era. My mind is shaped to think that whatever come from the western civilisation is the best. It is funny as come to think of it, it makes me looks like a clown. A clown think he is entertaining to everyone, and everyone likes them, but in fact, people laugh at you because you follow the act of a clown which is silly. If you define coolness through the movies that you watched in the cinema or TV, you'll be a clown forever.

A great human is one who follows what Allah has ordained him to do. Allah never judge you by your appearence, but it is your taqwa (hope and fear) towards him. Then, when you are someone that fear God, it shines through your characters both inside and outside. May Allah grant us strength to follow the sunnah of Rasulullah (pbuh).

“Sayangnya umat Muhammad kini banyak yang tersasar daripada akhlak Rasulullah. Lihat sahaja kini, umat Islam semakin sukar dibezakan sama ada dari segi pertuturan, pergaulan, pakaian malah apa sahaja kerana semuanya seakan-akan serupa dengan orang kafir. " - Utusan Malaysia.

I am writing this as a reminder to myself.

syukur

Syukur pada Tuhan. Masih lagi saya bernafas di bumi-Nya ini mengharungi segala sisa-sisa usia yang masih berbaki. Terlalu banyak yang harus saya syukuri. Tapi sudah nama pun manusia sebagaimana firman Allah, "Amat sedikit sekali hamba-hamba-Ku yang bersyukur". Kadang-kadang saya lupa, Allah telah mengurniakan sesuatu yang lebih mahal harganya daripada segala isi bumi ini yakni kefahaman yang membawa saya kembali kepada-Nya. Allah telah menunjukkan jalan yang mana harus saya ikuti. Dengan jalan ini, saya telah diajar untuk menjadi seorang yang berfikiran besar. Memikirkan tentang kepentingan sekelompok manusia yang hakikatnya adalah saudara kerana kami sama akidah lebih daripada memikirkan tentang diri sendiri. Di saat awal perjalanan saya hanyut dengan perasaan rindu terhadap sesuatu yang seharusnya tidak dibenarkan Tuhan sama sekali. Berkali-kali Allah memberi petunjuk, itu bukan untuk saya. Tapi cucukan syaitan masih memberi kesan ke atas hati saya. Tapi alhamdulillah Allah beri petunjuk lagi. Saya sangat bersyukur. Benarlah kata-kata seorang sahabat, tidak semua orang mendapat apa yang dikehendaki di atas dunia ini. Lihat sahaja mereka yang bekerja untuk Islam, kehidupan mereka dari segi materialnya sangat menyedihkan, malahan mereka sanggup meninggalkan isteri dan anak yang dikasihi demi perjuangan menegakkan deen ini. Tetapi melihat kehidupan saya yang serba selesa ini, saya seharusnya menjadi mereka yang bersyukur. Dan nikmat iman ini adalah nikmat terbesar kurniaan Allah. Apatah lagi apabila faham tentang-Nya. Faham bererti mengerti apa itu islam. Mengerti apa itu jahiliyyah. Meskipun masih banyak jahiliyyah yang berbaki. Saya masih di peringkat baru mengenal. Semoga Allah dorongkan saya untuk terus berada di jalan yang benar hingga ke akhir hayat saya.

Kata seorang Hukama',

"Penderitaan menyebabkan putih perasaannya yang hitam, pengalaman membasuh jantungnya, kejadian selalu hari yang dilihat didengarnya memupuk jiwanya. Kerana percubaanya maka kenallah dia akan awal dan akhir, pangkal dan akibat. Orang beginilah yang patut disebut berakal."

Untuk digolongkan sebagai orang berakal, harusnya saya menerima segala kesedihan ini sebagai asbab untuk menjadi lebih kuat. Sekurang-kurang saya harus berterima kasih kepadanya, kerana telah mendatangkan penderitaan kepada saya, lantas menjadikan saya lebih mengerti apa itu penderitaan. Mungkin kecil pada mata orang yang terlalu banyak melalui derita dalam hidupnya, tapi sekurang-kurangnya saya kenal dan itu menjadikan saya lebih bersyukur.

Sekarang saya tahu dan yakin, Allah punya perancangan yang lebih besar buat saya. Ya Allah, pandangilah kami.

politik

Suatu hari bersesi bersama Mbak Lusi. Taaruf. Jadi si MJ pun memberitahu minat Mbak Lusi terhadap politik. Dalam hati "Wah, minat politik". Kerana saya belum ikut sangat situasi politik terutamanya di Malaysia. Ikut tapi jarang-jarang. Bukannya apa, tak suka dengan gaya penulisan yang membahaskan tentang politik. Seperti ruangan gossip artis-artis tempatan. Kan baik kalau tulisnya berhemah sedikit. Lagipun saya ada satu pemikiran yang hal-hal politik ini jarang membicarakan tentang kepentingan umat secara keseluruhannya. Lebih kepada keburukan ahli-ahli politik itu sendiri.

Kata Mbak Lusi, "tidak lah terlibat, tapi penting untuk ambil tahu supaya tidak ditipu".

Saya tergamam sorang-sorang. Saya kira Mbak Lusi lebih tahu situsi politik di Malaysia dari saya sendiri padahal dia orang Indonesia. Teringat salah-satu ciri yang patut ada pada seorang individu Muslim.. "berpengetahuan luas". I should work out on it more.

favourite

Sekiranya kita cinta kepada manusia

Tidak semestinya manusia cinta kepada kita

Tetapi sekiranya kita cinta kepada Allah

Nescaya cinta Allah tiada penghujungnya

Sekiranya kita cinta kepada manusia

Kita akan cemburu kepada orang yang menyintai mereka yang kita cintai

Tetapi sekiranya kita cinta kepada Allah

Kita akan turut menyintai mereka yang melabuhkan cintanya kepada Allah juga

Ya Allah, jika aku jatuh cinta,

cintakanlah aku pada seseorang yang melabuhkan cintanya kepadaMu,

agar bertambah kekuatanku untuk menyintaiMu

Ya Muhaimin, jika aku jatuh cinta,

jagalah cintaku padanya agar tidak melebihi cintaku kepadaMu

Ya Rabbana, jika aku jatuh hati,

jagalah hatiku padanya agar tidak berpaling padaMu

Ya Rabbul Izzati, jika aku rindu,

rindukanlah aku pada seseorang yang merindu syahid dijalanMu..

Amin Ya Rabbal Alamin..

This is a poem written by Aminah Qutb dedicated to her husband

matang v zalim

Seseorang itu boleh dikatakan matang apabila dia meletakkan sesuatu mengikut keutamaan yang sepatutnya. Melebihkan dan melakukan apa yang perlu dilakukan segera dan memerlukan lebih perhatian. Kurang terlibat dengan perkara remeh dan sangat menghargai masa. Apabila seseorang itu tidak tahu keutamaan, meletakkan sesuatu pada tempat yang tidak sesuai, maka itu boleh dikategorikan sebagai zalim.

Saya masih seorang yang zalim dan tidak matang. Oh, mari berusaha gigih mematangkan diri.

St. Kilda, Melbourne

perang dalaman

Kesombongan yang tak patut,
kemalasan diri yang berlebihan,
buat aku jadi jelik dengan diri sendiri.

Mujahadah,
aku perlukanmu.

6 Hal-hal Aneh Tentang Diriku

Oh, I've been tagged. The game is you have to list 6 weird things about yourself. This is hard as I don't know which part of me is weird. Weird is subjective you know. Usually, a true creep or a weirdo doesn't know that they are weird. This is what I think based on my experience during the years of schooling. Well, btw below is what I think is weird about myself. But it may not be weird to some people. Again, it's subjective ppl! Ok, let's start with the first one

1. I have this quotation pasted on my softboard, "Orang yang bijak adalah orang yang mengerjakan apa yang orang bodoh akan mengerjakannya3 hari kemudian - Abdullah Ibnu Mubarak". Ok this isn't weird. But the thing is I have this habit of not sleeping for 1 or 2 days before the assignments' datelines. I'm a real professional procrastinator. You can count on me seriously. But really each time looking at the quotation during the sleepless nights of accomplishing my assignments really makes me feel not 'bijak' enough aka stupid. But never did I learned from it. But this new sem, I have a resolution, which is to cure this 'lemau' disease. Pray that I will my dear friends.

2. This isn't a weird thing about myself. But I keep thinking about it each time Pamela or Verna mention the word 'Bahasa'. until now i am still wondering why most of the non-speaker of Malay especially the lecturers here in Macquarie Uni term the Malay language as 'Bahasa'. It's funny as the real meaning of 'Bahasa' is 'language'. Instead of calling it 'Malay Language', they call it 'Bahasa'. This also happens in academic books as well. However it is still acceptable if the writer is a non-native speaker of Malay and do not understand a single Malay at all. I once came across an advertisement in the newspaper about academic workbook. One of the books for the BM subject is entitled as 'Bahasa for secondary level'. The problem here is, the writer is Malay (Aminah something if i'm not mistaken). I'm confused and at the same time annoyed as this teacher is the one who contaminate the language. Well, there's no harm giving it the exact title. Until now, I still can't accept why Malay Language is being called 'Bahasa' here. How I wish I can correct them.

3. I hate being forced to do serious tasks. I admit I dislike reading academic books if I am forced to. Like when we have exams or lectures, by no means we have to read them, right? But I don't feel motivated doing so. However, during other times, for example when the book is the last sem's ones, I can read them happily if I am willing to.

4. There are some valuable and must-do things that I learned due to the urgency of one thing but I haven't practised them all yet. Allah, grant me strengh.

5. The fact that I've spent over 20 years of my life idolising things which do not bring any benefit at all makes up one aspect of my weirdness. I didn't dare to elaborate more. But thank God, for this enlightenment. Nothing in this whole world can replace it.

6. Er, what else.. erm just somehing short and sweet. I'm a left-handed. Weird? No? Yeah I know. Ok, It's alright. I just can't think of anything weird about me anymore. I think that's it. Oh.. *relief*

Well, since Fariza has tagged most of my fellow Macquarians friends... I want to tag those who are not Macquarians.They are:

-Ainee Adnan

-Rosyada Sulaiman (er one Macquarians here but no one has tagged Syada kn?)

-Ikhwan Nazri

-The Influence

Buatlah kalau kamu semua punya masa lapang.

lala

Reading about other people's achievements, in some ways trigger me to work harder to achieve my aim as well. But I'm having this 'malas' thingy. Somehow, I am not sure whether the course that I am studying now really suits me or not. But I love the fact that I am going to be a teacher. I cannot wait actually. By the way, just leave the future alone until it comes.

"Perhaps the secret of depression is in allowing yourself to have time for superfluous thought, especially in whether you are happy or not. Don't allow such thoughts to creep into your mind; rather, you should remain steadfast in working. When you apply yourself to a serious task, your blood will begin to circulate and your mind will spurred into action. You will find that your new life has quickly been removed of anxiety and worrisome thoughts. Work, and do so on a continual basis; for this is the most inexpensive remedy available on the face of the earth and the most effective." - George Bernard Shaw

sibuk ya?

Masa..pening kepala aku dibuatnya...
Banyak sekali tanggungjawab, menuntut kebijaksanaan mengurusnya,
kadang-kadang terasa sesak nafasku, aku jadi malas, lantas kembali kepada perangai yang lama.
Tapi semestinya takkan aku nak membiarkan kemalasan aku berlarutan.
Lagi satu, angan-angan.. Angan-angan memakan masa ku yang berharga ini.
Telah banyak kali aku katakan pada diri, jangan berkhayal, jangan terlalu banyak berehat.. kerana itu tarikan syaitan,
Selagi aku menurut tarikan syaitan, selagi itulah aku kembali kepada yang lama.
Sesungguhnya kewajipan lebih banyak dari masa.
Aku cemburu dengan mereka yang gembira dengan kesibukan mereka.
Aku juga sibuk, tapi aku merasa tak selesa dengannya.
Ya Tuhan berilah aku kekuatan.
Lepaskan aku dari bebanan yang tak sepatutnya, tinggalkan daku bebanan yang sebenarnya keringanan buat diriku menghadapi alam yang kekal.
Ya Allah, perkenankanlah.

bebanan~~

Help me
to let go of the things I don't need
i want myself to be freed
as i can't bear this any longer

it is more about fulfilling my own desire.. but in the end i gain nothing from it.
My inner-self needs to be fixed. But, you know, like they say, no pain, no gain.

Allah Maha Besar

"O people, if you should be in doubt about the Resurrection, then consider that indeed, We created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then from a clinging clot, and then from a lump of flesh, formed and unformed - that We may show you. And We settle in the wombs whom We will for a specified term, ... (Al-Hajj,22:5)."

"... then We bring you out as a child, and then [We develop you] that you may reach your time of maturity... (Al-Hajj,22:5)."

"...And among you is he who is taken in [early] death, and among you is he who is returned to the most decrepit [old] age so that he knows, after [once having] knowledge, nothing.(Al-Hajj,22:5)."

"...And you see the earth barren, but when We send down upon it rain, it quivers and swells and grows [something of every beautiful kind (Al-Hajj,22:5)."

"That is because Allah is the Truth and because He gives life to the dead and because He is over all things competent (Al-Hajj,22:6)."

We are nothing than His humble servants. To Him we shall be returned.

Reviving the individual

Alhamdulillah. Thanks to the Almighty for everything that He provides. Nothing in this world can replace the feelings of holding on tight to Him. Found an article from islamonline. Very inspirational and motivating. Enjoy~

By Arshad Gamiet

Individuals committed to serving Islam, are like building bricks fused together to form a solid wall. Each individual, like a brick, must be strong and capable of withstanding the loads and stresses that he or she is called upon to bear. Just as each brick must be fully burnt and purified in a kiln and pass certain minimum standards, an individual also has to go through a process of training and development in order to be an effective ambassador of Islam. But what is involved in this construction of the individual? What has the individual got to do in order to prepare for this God-given role? These are fundamental questions because a prerequisite to the revival of Muslim society is a revival of the individual or the self.

The starting point in this process is what the Qur'an calls the human heart. Look at yourself and you will find inside you a whole universe — emotions, desires, urges, and instincts — which motivates you from within. The heart does not mean the pump which pushes blood around the body; it means the center of the personality that pumps motivations, desires, and urges and which makes us do what we want to do. The Qur'an goes on to explain that this is the key to ourselves. Our success depends not on what we are physically nor on what we do, but on what lies at the center of our personality. On the Day of Judgment, successful only is (the one who comes to Allah with a sound heart ) (Ash-Shu`araa' 26:89)

A hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says:
Beware,there is a piece of flesh in the human body. If it is right, then the whole body is right and sound; and if it is corrupted then the whole body is corrupted. Look, this is the 'heart'.(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

According to the Qur'an, the basis of corruption stems from within ourselves. The social institutions may be corrupt, there may be exploitation and abuse in the economic and politics spheres, but the basis of all these diseases lies inside our hearts.

What is it that stops mankind from seeing right and doing what's right and turns them blind? The Qur'an explains, (It is not the eyes which go blind but it is the hearts within breasts which go blind) (Al-Hajj 22:46)

Then, the heart is the basic starting point for any positive change or any effort to improve our current situations. We have to purify the heart and then summon it to the service of Allah, through service to mankind, whether it be in a professional career, in government, in political institutions, or in economic ventures. Our whole attention must be focused on this continuous refinement of heart. All the rites that have been prescribed by the Qur'an reach out to purify the deepest regions of our self.

The Qur'an says,
(It is not their meat nor their blood (the sacrificial animals), that reaches Allah: it is your taqwa (piety) that reaches Him) (Al-Hajj 22: 37)
If the individual is the primary building block of society, then the heart is its foundation within each person. The important question therefore is how should we set about preparing this most basic element. First we must understand that the heart must submit totally and exclusively to its Creator. It cannot be compartmentalized — we cannot dedicate one piece of it to Allah and another to some other "god," like our wealth, our status, our career, our families, and so on.

Allah is One, indivisible, and wants our service to be undivided to Him. So long as we remain divided within ourselves, so long as our hearts lie in a 100 places, so long as our eyes are set to 100 directions, so long as our destination is not one but many, we shall never be able to achieve that first condition for building a strong and pure Islamic personality.

We should remember that nothing of this world is going to be of use to us when we die however hard we may have striven for it and however valuable it might seem to us. We must recognize that the prizes we should want are not the worldly possessions received from human beings like ourselves. It is only our Creator who can put a real value on our striving and bestow the real reward.

In the Qur'an, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is told to ask [Shall I tell you of a business which will save you of painful torment?] (As-Saff 61:10).

This "business" amounts to people person committing their whole undivided being to Allah alone and selling themselves in order to seek His pleasure. This is the first step towards the building of the individual. The second step is to love Allah.

The Qur'an says (And there are some among men who take for themselves objects of worship besides Allah, whom they love as they love Allah, and those who believe are stronger in love for Allah) (Al-Baqarah 2:165).

It does not say that one must love only Allah and no one else. Love is a blessing given to us by Allah, which is manifested in so many aspects of life. In Islam, however, love must be foremost for Allah and the Prophet.
What is love? Perhaps it cannot be defined in terms that adequately reflect its nature and importance in people's lives. It is not possible to define it by a formula as we define a scientific fact, nor can we define it by a mathematical equation. But still each one of us knows what love is and can tell, from personal experience, the powerful force it is once it comes to reside in the heart. It becomes the overpowering force in life. It captivates you, it grips you, it moves you and it makes you prepared to do anything for the sake of it. Once love is there, what you do is not something that has to be imposed upon you, because you need imposition only for the things you do not love.

Iman is something that must penetrate deep in our heart and generate love for Allah and His Prophet more than for anything else. Unless that happens inside you, you cannot get the real taste of iman. According to a famous hadith, nobody can taste iman unless Allah and His Prophet are more beloved to him than everything else. But we must remember that this love for Allah and His Prophet is not of a kind to take us into the seclusion of a monastery. It is a love that makes us do our duty to Allah while we are in the street, at home, or at work — everywhere we live as servants of Allah, willingly making every sacrifice required of us. Whether or not we have that love is something for each one of us to closely examine. One of the criteria is that if you love something, one of your most intense desires is to get nearer to it. Now we have a way in which we can come nearer to Allah and talk to Him, and that way is the prayer. When someone performs prayer, they actually comes nearer to Allah and talks to Him.

If you look at how you pray five times a day, you will have a barometer in your hand to find how much you love Allah. Once you are praying to Him, you are in front of Him, you are near to Him, you are talking to Him, you are responding to Him in gratitude, you are asking for His forgiveness. Prayer is not just a ritual in which you go through certain postures. The soul has to surrender itself exclusively to Allah and love Him. This love is like a seed that, as it grows, envelops the entire personality. This will make us the sort of person Islam needs today.

The next question is how to nurse and cultivate this seed of faith. The most important nourishment for it is the Qur'an. We know that the first workers for Islam got their training from the Qur'an. It was their guide, their light, their leader. It is a treasure house of soul-stirring inspiration and wisdom. We should spend much effort in trying to understand the Qur'an. But we must know that the real test of benefiting from the Qur'an lies in translating those divine words and ideas into action in our own daily life.

The Qur'an says that when people really listen to it, their faith will increase. The eyes of those who truly listen to the Qur'an, allowing their hearts to be affected, will well up with tears that trickle down their cheeks. Sadly, many of us listen to the Qur'an or read it, but our hearts are not moved, nor do our lives change. It is as if water is falling on a rock and flowing away. Our task is to replace this hard rock with soft absorbent soil so that the Qur'an may nourish the seed that has been planted. We should always study the Qur'an as if it were being revealed today. One of the greatest injustices we do to the Qur'an is to read it as if it were something of the past and of no relevance to the present.

The next method of sustaining the seed of iman is to develop a strong bond of brotherhood. Brotherhood reinforces people's lives like nothing else. The Qur'an says (Withhold yourself with those who call upon Allah in the early morning and nightfall) (Al-Kahf 18: 28). As soon as you have planted the seed of iman in your own heart, you will recognize it in others. You find that there is some sort of harmony between you and them.

The final method to nourish the seed of iman is da`wah — to strive and invite others to the path of Allah, the same path as you are following yourself. Again, if the faith is there inside you, this is a necessary outcome of it. As iman increases you get aroused and you want to go out and tell everybody what you think is right, or call upon them to join your mission and your group. Moreover, as your group grows, your iman grows as well, each reinforcing the other, and that is how the whole of life becomes integrated and turns into a path to what pleases Allah. To sum up, you, the individual, are the key to the Ummah, and your heart is the key to you.

* Based on a Friday sermon delivered at the Royal Holloway,University of London, UK, on April 30, 1999. Courtesy of http://www.khutbahbank.org.uk.

Arshad Gamiet is a South African writer living in the United Kingdom. He is a co-founder of the Khutbah Bank.

untitled

I love this feeling when I know what my life is all about. I do not live for myself anymore. And now I know what is my priority. To dwell a lot about your own feelings, your own sadness without thinking about others whose life is sufferer makes me feel even more despondent. Now, I am a person with big ambitions :)