Friday, May 25, 2018

Allahu Akram

Bismillah.

Praise be to Allah for His generosities and how He keeps surprising us with delightful bounties.

On a lighter note, my Creator knows me well obviously so that's why He brought me to the world on the 25th day of a Gregorian month cos He already knew that's going to be pay-day LOL.

But the 25th of May 2018 was a wee bit more special. I am here to mark my gratitude so that say...on the 25th May of 2020 or 2022 I could look back and be thankful again.

Dalai Lama said and it is a good universal lesson regardless of one's creed,
"Live a good honorable life. Then, when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time."

:)



Thursday, May 24, 2018

Ramadan Kareem 1439 H

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah, to be alive to witness this sacred month yet again.

It's 8th of Ramadan, and only today have I got some spare time to leave a mark of gratitude on this space for nikmat ijad - the blessings of being alive, for having an existence in this realm. This lesson on nikmat ijad I heard from my first guide/ustaz. Apparently, there's a second part to it called nikmat imdad and this I learned from a reliable source on the internet - an Islamic Centre based in Seremban, Malaysia. It refers to the blessings of the physical body, hearing, sight, intelligence, spirit, life's comfort, job, food and drinks, assets etc. 

In this blessed month of Ramadan, may Allah grant us the tawfiq and hidayah to show much more gratitude for these blessings of both ijad & imdad

[On a lighter note, I am wishing for a brownie point from the Lord for sharing this small piece of knowledge about these LOL]

And yes, more importantly, for me, I wish for His guidance in sorting out my priorities and in giving hukum waqt its due, that is to acknowledge the rules/rights of time. That we remain focused on our own priorities and not be distracted by anything else cos we all run a unique race, just that we want to be fast as in fastabiqul khairat in the race of good deeds.

How many pages of the Quran, have I read today? One should ask oneself. Never mind those who hardly read it because when it comes to measuring our efforts on select performance objectives i.e. reading Quran, Qiyamulail etc. we should compare with those who appear to be ahead of us. Set the desired parameter, a valid one and hustle.

In this blessed month of Ramadan, may Allah give us the tawfik to rub off all the rusts in our heart so we could see with better heart-vision.





Wednesday, May 9, 2018

9th May 2018 | Destiny Day

Bismillah.

Today is the day when my right hand "carried" my hopes and one sole intention witnessed by the Almighty. It's a day when it matters a great deal to get the left index finger stained for a good reason.

I started voting at Malaysia's General Election since I was 22. That's 25 years ago Subhanallah time flies! At that time, many of my friends who had just come home to Malaysia after having studied in the US for several years thought I was a bit strange to be bothered about exercising my rights. They thought it's not important as there's no urgency for it.

Today as Malaysia embraced the 14th General Election I realized many more young, first time voters turned up, somehow. That's a very good sign indeed.

Anyway, as a Malaysian citizen and as a Muslim, what's most important is that Allah has heard my prayers during the wee hours today. He knew my intention when I made my choice. He knows everyone's intentions and wishes. In any case, His plans shall come to be. No matter the outcomes, may Allah continue to grant us the blessing of living in a peaceful and prosperous country. Ameen.



Hasbunallahu wanikmal wakil
Nikmal mawla wa nikman nasir


Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Merry May | Renew

Bismillah.

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah.
Praise be to Allah for today, for another opportunity to do better than yesterday. Monday had been fruitful for me and Tuesday is looking good as I sip some decaf Earl Grey tea at home. (How boring has she become, you might say, decaf coffee ok but not tea? LOL). Ah...but perhaps we should "decaf" our day from meaningless deeds and talks. And detox our life continually. 

May is looking awesome bi-iznillah. Ramadan is just around the corner.  YaHuuu!

Just wanted to record my amazement at the young ones who inspired me lately. The young lady who gave me a crash course on Statistics handed me her textbook on Stats. I considered myself blessed cos she almost gave it away as she did for her other books but somehow kept this one - one she would never have thought would end up with her mother's schoolmate LOL. On the cover of the textbook, she had Bismillah written on top and then to the side she wrote a simple but significant reminder. She wrote: "Tajdid niyyat" - meaning: renew your intention, and "study for the sake of Allah" that is to gain knowledge cos we are asked to read and acquire knowledge for as long as we live; and "do not study for the sake of exams". How spiritually smart! How often do we, students study and prep like mad for exams without realizing the subtle polytheism beneath that? And this precious reminder/lesson, I learned from one young bright lady. Ma Sha Allah.

In fact, the lesson is not just limited to the intention we secretly make when it comes to studying. We should renew our niyyat every single day. This I heard from Habib Ali Zaenal Abidin some years back. 

It's 10 am now, have you performed solat sunat Duha? Have you made a petition (du'a) to Allah? So that He grants us beneficial knowledge, that He grants us good/pure provision and deeds that are accepted.

  
   

Wish ya'll a terrific Tuesday.
May we feel renewed - feel renewed with new knowledge that we are acquiring; and feel energized by a renewed spirit.


p/s
I didn't realize some of my longtime friends are so "Statistically" intelligent. There's another friend who majored in Mathematical Statistics. MashaAllah. He gave me a good coaching yesterday. And my immediate superior at work too majored in Statistics. LOL. Alhamdulillah when the universe seems to be plotting to do you good.

Rabbi zidni ilma
war zuqni fahma