give

Generally, 'give' can refer to the act of giving or to present voluntarily and without expecting compensation. Also, it is linked to other words such as charity, fundraising and generousity.

For some, the verb 'give' always being denoted as having to give away money and so by spending lots of money for charity during ramadan is part of the obligation. Donations for various causes, online fundraising, charitable activities etc are some of the examples. I believe that all of them are noble acts but what about other charity acts? Those more everlasting which can be done physically.

According to the Prophet (pbuh) : “Every good deed is charity.” (Bukhari)

And He also said: ”On every person’s joints or small bones (i.e. fingers and toes), there is sadaqah (charity) due every day when the sun rises. Doing justice between two people is sadaqah; assisting a man to mount his animal, or lifting up his belongings onto it is sadaqah; a good word is sadaqah; every step you take towards prayer is sadaqah; and removing harmful things from pathways is sadaqah.” [Muslim]

Hence, there are few ways we can do to give 'physical' sadaqah this ramadan.

✔ always start the day with a smile =)

We can never underestimate the wonders behind a smile. The Prophetic teachings tell us that every smile is charity. So the 1st step is smile and spread the salaam. ^_^

✔ remember Allah always

To remember Allah is to give sadaqah with your tongue. The value and weight of dhikr are heavy and outstanding, and is our key to being rich in our relationship with Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta’la). Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta’la) says in Surah Al-Baqarah: ‘Remember Me, and I will remember you’ [2:152]. Let's say Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah, Allahuakbar!

✔ remove harm from the pathway

A noble act we often overlook is to remove something harmful from others’ pathway. It may be a piece of glass that is dangerous on the road, a needle on the floor, or a disturbing rock on a busy school road where children may trip and fall.

✔ utter good words

Our tongue can be the cause of our destruction or our salvation, yet we often speak before we think. Good words are like a plant that flourish with many fruits, as the Prophet (pbuh) said: “It is also charity to utter a good word.” (Bukhari)

✔ share your skills/talents/strenghts

This Ramadan donate your skills/talent/strength to your community by many kinds of way.




There are many other forms of physical sadaqah I have not touched upon above, such as visiting the sick, caring for an orphan, taking care of your body, looking after your parents etc. So, have you think of What form of physical sadaqah can you do this Ramadan?

source: http://productiveramadan.com/

this is goodbye...

Sorry I forgot to say goodbye. By the time I realised about it, the plane has already climbed thousands feet above the ground. The same thing happened to few others before. Such a pity for them for having me as their friend. But I always look at the bright side of it where I believe we can still meet each other later in life as it will not be a forever goodbye. Brilliant! ^_^

I would like to dedicate this post to someone who is dear to me (u know who u are) the one that I forgot to say goodbye to. Ok here goes the lyrics of the song that I used to sing when our family watch the evergreen movie the sound of music. You can sing along if you like! Tata! I'll be missing you..see you again some other time insyaAllah.

From "The Sound of Music"
Words by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd
Music by Richard Rodgers

There's a sad sort of clanging
From the clock in the hall
And the bells in the steeple too,
And up in the nursery an absurd little bird
Is popping out to say "cuckoo".

Regretfully they tell us,
But firmly they compel us
To say goodbye to you.

So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, good night,
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight.
So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, adieu,
Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu.

So long, farewell, Au'voir, auf wiedersehen,
I'd like to stay and taste my first champagne
So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, goodbye,
I leave and heave a sigh and say goodbye,
Good bye

I'm glad to go,
I cannot tell a lie.
I flit, I float,
I fleetly flee, I fly.

The sun has gone to bed and so must I
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye,
Goodbye,
Goodbye,
Goodbye!

a reminder

Be Thankful
~ Author Unknown ~

Thanks for not having
Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Thanks for lacking knowledge
Be thankful when you don't know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Thanks for difficult times
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Thanks for limitations
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Thanks for challenges
Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.

Thanks for mistakes made
Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Thanks for exhaustion
Be thankful when you're tired and weary,
because it means you've made the effort.

Thanks for setbacks
It's easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who
are also thankful for the setbacks.

Thanks for troubles
Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings.

Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.

Let's change for good

WHY JEWS ARE INTELLIGENT

Written by Dr. Stephen Carr Leon

Since I spent about 3 year in Israel for internship in few hospital there, It came to my mind about doing thesis/research of “Why the Jews are Intelligent?” It goes without denial that Jews are ahead in all aspect of life such as engineering, music, science and most obvious in business where nearly 70% of world trade/business are held by the Jews such as cosmetic, fashion, food, arms, hotels and film industries (Hollywood and others).

During the 2nd year, in December 1980, and I was about to go back to California, this idea came to me and I was wandering why God gave this gift/ability to them, is this a coincidence or is it man-made that could be produced like the goods from a factory. My thesis took about 8 years to gather all the information as accurately as possible, like the food intake, culture, religion, initial preparation of pregnancy and etc and I would compare them with other races.

Let’s start with initial preparation of pregnancy. In Israel, the first thing I noticed is that the pregnant mother would always sing and play piano and would always try to solve mathematical problems together with the husband, and I was very surprised to see the mother always carry math books and sometimes I would help her to solve some problems, I would asked, “Is this for your child in the womb?” she would answer “Yes to train the child still in the womb so that it would be a genius later on”. She would solve the problem without let-up until the child is born.

Another thing I noticed, is about the food, she loved to eat almonds and dates with milk, for lunch she would take bread and fish without the head, salad mixed with almonds and other nuts, they believed fish is good for the development of brain and the fish’s head is bad for the brain. And also it is like the culture of the Jews for pregnant mothers to take cod liver oil.

When I was invited for dinner, I always noticed that they always like to eat fish (flesh and fillet) and no meat, according to their belief, meat and fish together will not give any benefit to our body. Salad and nuts is a must, especially almonds.
They would always eat fruits first before the main meal. Their belief if you eat the main meal first (like bread or rice) then fruits, this will make us feel sleepy and difficult to understand any lesson you learn in school.

In Israel, smoking is a taboo, if you are their guest, don’t smoke in their house, they would politely ask you to go out for a smoke. According to scientist in university of Israel, nicotine would destroy the main cell in our brain and will affect the genes and DNA, resulting in generation of moron or defective brain. So all those smokers, please take note (Ironically, the biggest producer of cigarettes is… you know who.. make your own guess).

The food intake for the child is always under the guidance of the parent, first, the fruits with almonds, followed by cod liver oil. In my assessment, the Jewish child, most of them knew 3 languages, i.e. Hebrew, Arabic and English, since childhood they would be train in playing piano and violin, it is a must. Accordingly, it is believed that this practice will increase the IQ of the child and will make him a genius. And according to Jewish scientist, the vibration of music would stimulate the brain and that is why there are lots of geniuses among the Jews…

Since grade 1 to 6, they would be taught business mathematics and science subjects would be their first preference. For comparison I could see the children in California, their IQ is about 6 years back. And Jewish children were also involved in athletics such as archery, shooting and running, accordingly it is believed that archery and shooting would make the brain more focus on decision and precision.
In high school, students are more inclined to study science, they would create products, indulged in all sorts of projects , although some looks very funny or useless, but all attention is given seriously especially if it is armaments, medicine or engineering, the idea will be introduced in higher institute in polytechnics or universities.

Business faculty will be given more preference, in the last year of university, the students in business would be given a project and practically they can only pass if their group (about 10 in a group) can make profit of USD1 million. Don’t be surprised, this is the reality and that is why half of the business in the world is held by the Jews, who design the latest levis, it is being designed in the Israel university by the faculty of business and fashion.

Have you seen them how they prayed, they always shake their heads, accordingly they believed this action will stimulate and provide more oxygen to the brain, same thing with Islam where you need to bow down your head. Look at the Japanese, they always bow down their heads as their culture, lots of them are smart, they love sushi (fresh fish), is this a coincidence?

In New York, the commercial/trading center for the Jews are based in New York, catering for the Jews only, if they had any beneficial idea, their committee will give free interest loan and will make sure the business prosper. Due to this, starbuck, dell computer, cocacola, DKNY, oracle, levis, dunkin donut , Hollywood films and hundreds other businesses were under their sponsorship. Jewish graduates from faculty of medicine in new york were encouraged to register with them and allowed to practice privately with this free interest loan, now I knew why most hospital in new york and California always lack of specialist doctors.

Smoking will lead to generations of moron. During my visit to Singapore in 2005, made me surprised to see smokers are regarded as an outcast and the price of a pack of cigarettes is about USD 7, like in Israel it is a taboo and their form of government is similar to the Israelis. And that is the reason why most of their universities are of high standard, even though Singapore is only as big as Manhattan.
Look at Indonesia, everywhere people are smoking, and price of a pack of cigarette is very cheap only USD0.70 cts. and the results with millions of people, you can count the number of universities, what product they produced that can be proud of, technology.. never… can they speak other than their own language, why it is so difficult for them to master English language for example, all this is due to smoking, think for yourself.

In my thesis, I do not touch in respect of religion or race, why the Jews are so arrogant that they were being chased around since the time of Pharaoh until Hitler, for me it is about politics and survival, the bottom line is, could we produce intelligent generations just like the Jews. The answer could be in the affirmative that needs change in our daily habits of eating, parenting and I guess within 3 generations, it could be achieved. This I could observe in my grandson, for example at the age of 9 he could write a 5-page essay on “Why I love tomato”

May all of us be in peace and succeeded in producing a future generations of genius for the betterment of humankind no matter who you are.

YA atau TIDAK

YA...!

Ya... dengan senyumanmu yang cantik, yang mengirimkan cinta, dan mengutus kasih sayang bagi orang lain.

Ya... dengan tutur kata baik anda yang dapat menjalin persahabatan yang dianjurkan syari'at dan menghapus semua rasa dengki.

Ya... dengan derma yang membahagiakan si miskin, menyenangkan orang fakir, mengenyangkan perut yang lapar.

Ya... dengan kesediaanmu duduk bersama Al-Qur'an seraya membaca, merenungi, dan mengamalkannya, sambil bertaubat dan beristighfar.

Ya... dengan banyak berzikir, memohon ampu, rajin berdoa, dan suka memperbaharui taubat.

Ya... dengan mendidik anak-anakmu dengan agama, mengajarkan sunnah Nabi dan memberi petunjuk tentang apa-apa yang bermanfaat bagi mereka.

Ya... dengan rasa malumu dan hijab (penutup aurat) yang diperintahkan Allah, kerana hanya itulah cara untuk menjaga dan memelihara dirimu.

Ya... dengan berteman bersama wanita-wanita yang baik dari kalangan mereka yang mempunyai rasa takut kepada Allah, menyukai pengamalan agama, dan menghormati norma-norma etika.

Ya... dengan berbuat baik kepada kedua orang tuanya, menyambung persaudaraan, menghormati tetangga, dan menyantuni anak yatim.

Ya... untuk membaca sesuatu yang bermanfaat dengan menelaah buku yang menarik dan berfaedah, buku yang menyenangkan dan memberi tuntunan.

TIDAK...!

Tidak... anda tidak akan menyia-nyiakan umurmu, seperti senang membalas dendam dan berselisih dengan perkara yang tiada ada kebaikan di dalamnya.

Tidak... anda tidak akan menghasilkan wang dan menghimpunkannya dengan mengorbankan kesihatan, kebahagiaan, tidur dan ketenangan anda.

Tidak... anda tidak akan mencari-cari kesalahan dan mengumpat orang lain serta melupakan kesalahan dan aib diri sendiri.

Tidak... anda tidak akan berperangai yang suka mabuk kepayang dengan kesenangan hawa nafsu, menuruti segala tuntutan dan keinginannya.

Tidak... anda tidak akan menyia-nyiakan waktu bersama dengan orang yang menganggur dan membuang-buang waktu untuk hal yang sia-sia.

Tidak... anda tidak akan mengambil sikap tak acuh terhadap badan dan rumah dari bersih, wangian dan disiplin.

Tidak... anda tidak akan minum minuman yang haram, merokok, dan segala sesuatu yang kotor dan najis.

Tidak... anda tidak akan mengingat musibah yang telah berlalu, bencana yang sudah silam, atau kekeliruan yang pernah dialami.

Tidak... anda tidak akan melupakan akhirat dan amal untuknya, dan alpa terhadap tanda-tanda keberadaannya.

Tidak... anda tidak akan berperangai membuang-buang harta benda dalam perkara-perkara yang haram, berlaku boros dalam perkara-perkara yang mubah, dan perilaku yang dapat melupakan perkara-perkara ketaatan.

-Dr 'Aidh 'Abdullah Al-Qarni