guest who?

Last weekend, I'd a wonderful person stayed at my place for a few days. We had such a great time alhamdulillah though the weather was truly unpredictable, from light shower with hot sunny intervals to gloomy cloudy days. She was the best guest ever! (She must be proud if she read this ahaks) Easygoing, up for anything and just happy to be hanging out together. Thank you Allah for this lovely ukhuwwah, hope you're doing good now that you don't have to walk (nor run) miles and miles just to catch the bus! ^_^

We saw beautiful landscapes of sea coast, lakes and lush greenery nature; enjoyed rowboat on the lake, window-shopped till drop, played frisbee until tired, stayed up late for comfy pillow-talk, cycled to the bay and the most important bits of all would be captured hundreds of professional-like pictures. Thanks for the memories! I'm a happy bunny =)

I remember that our great Prophet teaches us to be generous and how to entertain guests. He wants a Muslim to show gratitude. The Messenger of Allah further guides us by saying: "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be hospitable with his or her guests." Hence, we must tend our guest the best as we can.

We deduce from both the Prophet’s verbal declarations and practices that it is a very important moral principle for Muslims to entertain guests and to treat them well. In the Holy Quran Allah has mentioned about Hazrat Ibrahim’s treatment of guests. When guests came he sent a message home to have a meal prepared. He didn’t wait to see if they had come from far, whether they were hungry, or whether they had already eaten. He immediately had food prepared for them. This is how Allah’s chosen ones honour their guests. Our Holy Prophet Muhammad set such high standards of hospitality that cannot be seen anywhere else.

There's even a hadith says:

“A guest comes with his bounties and becomes a means for the sins of the hosts to be forgiven before he leaves.” InsyaAllah. This shows the importance of following the sunnah of the Honorable Messenger (pbuh). May Allah give us the capability to look after our guests to our best capacity so they suffer no hardship. Ameen.

Change

Want VS Need. Which 1 is more important??

Of course the latter is crucial. What we want is not necessary what we need and likewise we often feel that what we need is not what we really want. My dear brothers and sisters, as Muslims, we have to distinguish the priorities in life and make sure we do positive changes in the name of Allah be it in changing our own habits, characteristics and personalities to the way we think and act. Thus, always identify what we need and want to change to better ourselves or in other words we do self-reflections (muhasabah) lillahi ta'ala.

Be the change you want and need!

There are a few tips to change which I'm inspired by the excellent talk by Mufti Ismail Menk during the Fosis Conference 2011 last week.

1) We need to know that every single person has the potential to change. It is our very own nature instinct that leads to positive changes which comes from within and will happen somewhere in life be it now or later.

2) The changes must be based on something solid which will not be affected by any other elements. Say a guy really want to stop smoking, it can't simply because of his girlfriend or parents, but he did it for the sake of Allah.

3) Never lose hope in Allah as He will help His servants who strive to obtain mardhatillah fi dunya wal akhirah (Allah's approval and pleasure in this world and the hereafter). Always pray and ask sincerely from Him, The Almighty.

4) Always have somebody to look upon to aka role models - and of course the best of all mankind would be our beloved Prophet's Muhammad SAW. Role models can be anyone really, those having the great qualities that we also want to instill in ourselves.

5) Never ever underestimate own self. We could never walk properly when we used to be toddlers trying to walk on our own if we don't trust ourselves and believe that we can do like others did. So if we keep on being so negative and pessimist, the desired changes we want and need wouldn't happen.

6) Clear aim and targets. Have long-term and short-term goals in hand. We have to decide on how we're living this life by the will's of Allah - good or bad.

7) Be the people of good characteristics! Don't follow the wrong examples and we must distinguish between the person and their habits - it's the bad habits or mislead actions of the people that we hate, not the people themselves. Train ourselves to be husnuzhon (positive thinking) insyaAllah.

Let's change for the better..don't just cocoon ourselves in our own dark shallow world. Explore life to the fullest, seek knowledge and experiences as much as we can.

May Allah ease us. InsyaAllah ^_^

faith

Faith is trust. Faith is hope. Faith is belief.

All in the goodness or trustworthiness of a person, concept or entity.

"Believing in Islam is like believing in the sun rising. Not because we can see it, but because by it, we can see everything."

Allah withheld the gift of faith from some of the closest relatives of His Messengers like Muhammad's uncle, Ibrahim's father, and Noah's son. Yet He blesses us with the most valuable gift ever since our very first breath. and that is Islam! Hence, let us safeguard it and renew our faith all the time, before we meet our Lord sooner or later in the state of the purest soul insyaAllah Taala...

We may not always understand why Allah allows certain things to happen, but we can be certain that Allah is not making any mistakes! For instance, when Allah subjects us to adversity, He is opening our eyes to reality. Allah is allowing us to change our bad habits in order to appreciate life to the fullest, to give us the opportunity to repent for past sins and correct our future actions, eventually to raise our status in the hereafter insyaAllah ameen ya Rabb.

May He always guide us and give us strength to go on with life and be blessed by Allah.

halwa telinga

New contemporary Malaysian nasyeed songs..enjoy! ^_^

duhai diri

Bila kau letih dan hilang semangat,

Allah tahu betapa kau telah mencuba sedaya upaya...

Bila tangisanmu berpanjangan dan hatimu kedukaan,

Allah telah mengira titisan air matamu...

Bila kau rasa ketinggalan dan masa meninggalkanmu,

Allah sentiasa ada di sisimu...

Bila kau telah mencuba segalanya tapi tidak pasti arah tujuan,

Allah ada jalan penyelesaiannya...

Bila tiada lagi yang beerti buatmu, keliru dan kecewa,

Allah adalah jawapannya...

Jadi mohonlah padaNya agar dikembalikan semangat untuk mencari ilmuNya.

Sabarlah wahai diri...

moga ada sinar gemerlapan di penghujungnya...

insyaAllah Taala!

5th June 2011 ~h5

Q&A

We always ask abundance of questions in life and Al-Qur'an had answered it yet we still haven't realised most of it, worst of all we even refuse it. Do take time to ponder these few frequently asked questions and their respective answers!

1) WE ALWAYS ASK : Why was I tested?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS:

“Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, "We believe", and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false.” Surah Al-Ankabut (29:2-3)

2) WE ALWAYS ASK : Why I never get what I wanted?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS:

“It is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows, while you know not.” Surah Al-Baqarah (2:216)

3) WE ALWAYS ASK : Why was I burdened this way?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS:

"Allah does not place a burden to a soul greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns.” Surah Al-Baqarah (2:286)

“So, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief: (repeated) Verily, with every difficulty there is relief.” Surah Al-Insyirah (94:5-6)

4) WE ASK : Why am I losing hope?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS:

“So lose not heart, nor fall into despair: For you will be superior if you are true in Faith.” Surah Al-Imran (3:139)

5) WE ALWAYS ASK : How can I face it?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS:

“O you who have believed! Persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other; and fear Allah that you may prosper.” Surah Al-Imraan (3:200)

“And seek (Allah's) help with patient perseverance and prayer: It is indeed hard, except to those who bring a humbly submissive (to Allah).” Surah Al-Baqarah ayat (2:45)

6) WE ALWAYS ASK : What do I get from all these?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS:

“Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and properties (in exchange) for that they will have the garden (of Paradise)...” Surah At-Taubah (9:111)

7) WE ALWAYS ASK : To whom could I depend?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS:

“(Allah) suffice me: there is no god but He: On Him is my trust,- He the Lord of the Throne (of Glory) Supreme.” Surah At-Taubah (9:129)

8) But..I can't take it anymore!

AL-QURAN ANSWERS :

“...and never give up hope of Allah's Soothing Mercy; truly No one despairs of Allah's Soothing Mercy, except Those who have no faith.” Surah Yusuf (9:87)

“Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives All sins for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” Surah A-Zumar (39:53)

test

There are so many tests:

written test. verbal test.

driving test. quality test.

Yet life is the real test.

and Islam is the best!

Akhirat is for rest.

World is only dust.

If Qur'an is in the chest,

nothing needed next.

So obey Allah first,

and success will be next!

InsyaAllah ameen.