Nuzul Quran

Hari ini cuti. Just coming home from the wet market, and the cats had a lovely fresh fish breakfast. We plan to do a bit of gotong-royong around the house today, in preparation for Hari Raya.

Nuzul Quran is always special to us. Cik Tutor was born on Nuzul Quran. Being old-fashioned, we did not plan any names for her and a friend suggested 'Khadijah'. We were delighted and my family always call her in full even at home. Not dijah, dijay, dij, jah or DJ. I'm glad that she had dropped 'Park' at the end of her name and retain her maiden name.

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against the non-muslims. I only wish that my next 'menantu' is blessed with taufik and hidayah from the al-Mighty. Fluent in reading the Quran, so that he'll take the responsibility to teach his children reading the holy book after every maghrib prayers, try his best to solat jemaah at the mosque or surau and get along fine with his family and his in-laws. Yes, I don't ask for much. If there are a few shortcomings here and there, things such as 'panas baran', 'cranky', 'suka laser', 'kuat tidur', I would just ignore it. After all, we are human and human are not perfect. Normally good husbands will let their hair down at home, so the wives have to tolerate the misbehaviour sometimes!

Another thing, I did a lot of cooking lately and Aman insisted me to post the recipes in the blog! InsyaAllah, I hope I have the time.

Well, it's time for gotong-royong. See you soon, insyaAllah.

As I was Passing .....

If by the end of this year, nothing happens, then please find me someone...

Dia tak kisah, saya pun tak kisah. Berat ni....

InsyaAllah, there's still hope. This is the month of Ramadhan. Allah listens to our prayers...

Tahniah

Salam Ramadan..

Saya sangat bangga dengan kejayaan anak-anak murid saya. Especially the late bloomers.
Slowly, silently, they made it.

Last Wednesday, I met one of my student's mother.
'Apa kabo syamsul? Dah keje ke?' To my surprise he is now a tutor in one of the public universities.
He was one of my favourite students. Mild mannered and very respectful to the elders. Imagine the long winded journey that he had to endure. After getting a certificate in engineering, he continued his study in KUiTTHO for his degree.
We were in Poliklinik Taqwa when I saw a glimpse of him , registering for a medical check-up. He smiled broadly when he saw me and stopped for a chat. Another teacher, muallim razman , joined in the conversation. Syamsul thanked both of us, for teaching him. Then he asked the ustaz.
'Muallim, sekarang ni ada tak budak yang nakal lagi dari saya kat hidayah?'
' Ada' kata muallim Razman.
'Mualim jangan putus asa. Muallim didik mereka sebagaimana muallim didik saya.'

When asked, when would he visit us in Hidayah, he said he was quite shy to go and meet his former teachers because he had nothing to show us yet. He promised to study hard , get his degree and aimed to be a lecturer.

For me, this is a true success. Perseverence, hard work, full commitment in whatever you do and not forgetting your parents' doa paid off in the long run. Congratulations and I pray that your future will be bright, as bright as the morning sun. Ameen.

Kepulangan

Salam. Aman telah selamat pulang untuk bercuti selama 2 bulan. It took quite a careful planning to welcome him home. En suami drove from Kuala Pilah. En doktor took a flight from KB the day before to be with his wife. Azhar and I took an 11 o'clock bus from Ipoh. From KLIA we went straight to Kuala Pilah. En suami had not unpacked the boxes from Labuan so we took the opportunity to tidy the house, bought a portable stove and prepared the meals for berbuka.

The next day, en doktor and cik hanim decided to go home to Ipoh with us. It was indeed a pleasant surprise for their grandparents! Imagine the amount of cooking I had to do! Spaghetti carbonara, apple crumble with custard sauce, daging masak merah, sambal udang, curries and more curries. Luckily, Aman was always willing to help in the kitchen. So, Aman and I did all the cooking and Azhar helped to wash the dishes.

Now, the three of us are off to Tambun for berbuka. InsyaAllah, see you soon.

First Time

Salam. There is always a 'first time' for everything. Today, is the first time I do it with confidence in this holy month of Ramadan. If mom didn't suggest it, then I think I would not bother to try it at all.

Sebenarnya bendanya biasa-biasa saje. Tapi memandangkan ia dilakukan di bulan puasa, jadi ia menjadi agak rumit dan mungkin agak mencabar buat diri saya. Setiap tahun, (for as long as I can remember), ayah akan pilih 1 ramadan untuk buat more (jamuan berbuka puasa di surau) . Ayah akan brief caterer, belikan bahan-bahan untuk dimasak dan kami (anak-anak ayah dan menantu-menantu) hanya tunggu makanan sampai untuk diagih-agihkan kepada jiran tetangga, surau dan saudara-mara.

Tapi tahun ini, mak mencadangkan supaya kami masak sendiri! Menu sama seperti tahun-tahun sebelumnya. Yang lucunya, ayah pasang standby tukang masak, just in case kami tarik diri di saat akhir! Tukang masak siap cadangkan buat menu lain yang mudah.

Tapi kami persevere. Sebaik balik dari pasar, bermulalah sesi potong memotong. Dalam kesibukan itu, mak sempat lagi pergi tadarrus al-Quran di surau. Ayah pula yang sibuk menolong di dapur. Cu pun ada pulang ke Ipoh dan memberi bantuan yang berharga. Lepas zuhur, barulah kami mula sesi masak-memasak. Not bad for a first-timer. Saya pulang awal ke Rapat Setia, jadi tak dapatlah mendengar komen dari food critic (my dad).

Personally, jika dipanjangkan umur, aktiviti ini boleh diteruskan lagi tahun hadapan.
InsyaAllah.

Bertemu kembali

Ramadan bakal menjelang. Mohon Allah kurniakan kesihatan yang baik agar kita dapat tingkatkan amalan di bulan yang barakah ini.

As born muslims, we always take our religion for granted. Semalam saya layan YouTube dengan Azhar. Kami sama-sama tengok video beberapa orang new converts (or reverts) yang bercakap dengan penuh yakin tentang Islam. Betapa mereka mencemburui kita yang dilahirkan Muslim, 'living a structured life as ordained by our Creator' with the guidance of our parents or guardians, sedangkan mereka tercari-tercari jalan yang lurus itu. But the moment they grasp the TRUTH, there was no turning back. Bayangkan baru beberapa tahun masuk Islam, mereka boleh membaca al-Quran dengan baik. Malah boleh mengeluarkan hujah bersandarkan firman Allah dalam bahasa Al-Quran! Saya setakat boleh baca al-Quran dan membaca terjemahan ayat untuk memahaminya.

Learning is a life-long process. There is still a lot to learn. Semoga Allah mencampakkan taufik dan hidayahnya kepada kita sepanjang bulan yang barakah ini dan menjadikan kita muslim yang lebih baik.

Untuk anak-anak semua, rebutlah peluang di bulan Ramadan untuk :-

i) Memohon pertolongan dari Allah dengan berdoa sesungguh hati dan YAKIN bahawa Allah akan mengabulkan permintaan kita.

ii) Tingkatkan amalan solat sunat, tarawih, hajat, taubat, dhuha dan lain-lain.

iii) Banyakkan membaca al-Quran, kalau boleh cuba khatam sekali sepanjang bulan Ramadan.

iv) Make your parents happy. If you have parents-in-law, then make them happier! Allah will bless your life.

v) Always be kind and charitable. Be generous with your siblings.

vi) Jangan buang masa. Keep yourself busy with good deeds.

Best of luck. I love you so much. Muahs.