Allah loves us

Alhamdulillah, just finished packing. The house is a little bit in order; rubbish out, laundry done, dishes put away in the cabinet. I hope the trip will be a smooth one and  my concern  is attaining Allah's pleasure in whatever deeds I am doing. My mum and Dijah will accompany me. Or is it the other way round. It was cik tutor's plan all along. She 's been trying hard to make the trip since last year. Then she met this lovely lady who organised holiday and umrah packages.She joined in and  I volunteered myself to accompany her . Out of respect we mentioned it to my mum. Of course mum was so glad that we asked. Fortunately, it coincides with Kerol's semester break, so he'll joined us a day after our arrival in Madinah, insyaAllah.

I know we have to devote ourselves entirely to Allah. A month earlier Cik tutor's purse was stolen. I was in Putra Hotel waiting for my sister after a one day meeting there. In between tears she called and told me about the incident.
I asked her to make a police report, block the credit cards , and be patient with the mishap.

Two weeks later my handbag was stolen. Luckily there wasn't much cash but I took one whole day to renew my ic, driver's licence, atm cards and doctor's appointment card  with the help of en suami who happened to be home at that time. I asked cik tutor to be patient and now I have to eat my own words!

En suami told me; when the sahabahs migrated to Madinah from Mekah, they left every worldly things behind; their businesses, dwellings, farms  and even loved ones. So what the people took from us is incomparable to the sacrifices made by the sahabahs. In fact, when people heard about cik tutor's fate, they purposely came to see her and made du'a for her.  Alhamdulillah, lesson learnt! May Allah grant us His blessings.

Lastly, I hope all my friends and the people who stop by to read my blog will forgive me for any mistakes I have done or any harsh words I've written in my blog. Let's pray for Allah's pleasure.

Just coming back from a short course at INTIM.  My days are hectic nowadays. I wonder whether age is catching up with me. There are so many things to be done although I am alone most of the time.  Azhar enrolled in SBPI Gopeng last March so I often sleep at my parents' house, and leave their house shortly after Subuh  for work. Around 2 o'clock I'll be at home, feeding the cats and doing the laundry.

I know, I can be more productive. I love cooking but I'm hopeless in keeping my house in order. I'm glad Cik tutor and Azhar are at home now. If only I can hide the laptops somewhere......

Ringtone

I let my phone rings longer, so please be patient....

Day 2 - 2012

Salam.

Hik,hik.. It has been quite a long time. I didn't manage my time well, that I missed updating my blog. Dijah insisted that I keep on writing ; may be on excerpts of the books I've read, on talks that I've attended or anything at all. We talked on the phone almost everyday so I'm sure she never misses us.

Alhamdulillah, Allah's blessings are always with us. Don't get me wrong, there are shortcomings here and there but I wouldn't complain. My son is posted to Selangor so he is reunited with his family (Cik Hanim and Humairah!) . Dijah is happier and Azhar is focused in his studies. En suami is still in Pilah so I have lots of spare time during weekdays to concentrate on my work. This year I intend to work smart rather than work hard, so it involves lots of planning and group discussions . I really hope, 2012 will be much better.

My new year resolution..... I am going to be positive and talk of happy things.

Day 2 - Meaning behind your blog name. (Boleh ke skip day 1?)
Sakinah, mawaddah wa rahmah - partly copied from UstaZ Haji Mohd Nawi.

Firman Allah yang bermaksud: “Dan di antara tanda-tanda kebesaran Allah itu bahawa Dia jadikan bagi kamu pasangan hidup agar kamu mendapatkan ketenangan/kebahagiaan bersamanya. Kemudian Allah ciptakan di antara kamu berdua mawaddah dan rahmah.” (Surah al-Rum, ayat 21)

Alam ini terasa indah kerana Allah menciptakannya berpasang-pasangan. Ada siang, ada pula malam. Ada tempat yang subur, ada pula yang tandus. Ada gunung-ganang yang tinggi tapi ada juga lembah dan lurah yang dalam. Ada lelaki dan ada pula perempuan. Allah menciptakan pasangan untuk manusia agar mereka dapat hidup seiring sejalan, berbahagi suka dan duka serta tetap bersama dalam melayari kehidupan yang penuh dengan onak, duri, dugaan, tentangan dan cabaran demi mencapai satu matlamat mendapatkan keluarga sakinah mardatillah. Menurut Prof Dr Hamka, rahmah lebih tinggi kedudukannya daripada mawaddah sebab ia kasih mesra di antara suami isteri yang bukan lagi berasaskan keinginan syahwat, sebaliknya rasa kasih sayang murni yang tumbuh dari jiwa yang paling dalam sehingga suami isteri merasakan kebahagiaan yang tidak bertepi dan ketenangan yang tidak berbatas. Yang mereka inginkan adalah mengisi hari-hari akhir dengan beribadah dan mendekatkan diri kepada Allah sedekat-dekatnya secara bersama-sama. Mereka juga berusaha memberikan contoh yang baik, teladan dan nasihat kepada anak cucu supaya mereka tidak salah dalam memilih jalan hidup di dunia yang penuh dugaan ini. Inilah hakikat rahmah itu. Allah akan menurunkan rahmah di dalam satu keluarga apabila keluarga berkenaan dibina atas niat mencari keredaan Allah. Oleh sebab itu, di dalam proses membina satu rumah tangga, Rasulullah memberikan bimbingan kepada umat Islam agar memilih pasangan kerana empat prinsip, iaitu kecantikan, keturunan, kekayaan dan agamanya. Akan tetapi Rasulullah memberatkan agar agama menjadi keutamaan. Ada kalanya orang memilih pasangan kerana kecantikan dan kekayaan sehingga mereka lupa bahawa kecantikan dan harta bersifat sementara. Begitu juga dengan keturunan dan nasab tidak selamanya menjamin kebahagiaan. Oleh sebab itulah, Rasulullah s. a. w. menyuruh memilih pasangan kerana agama sebab kekurangan dalam rupa, harta dan nasab atau keturunan akan disempurnakan oleh agama. Wanita yang beragama akan timbul di wajahnya kecantikan yang lahir dari jiwanya dan menyinari segenap tubuhnya, bukan kecantikan palsu yang diselaputi solekan. Wanita yang beragama juga akan melahirkan sifat qana’ah, iaitu berasa cukup dengan yang mereka miliki dan tidak terlalu memaksa diri untuk mencapai sesuatu. Sifat inilah yang dikatakan oleh ahli tasawuf dengan kekayaan yang sebenarnya. Agama pula membezakan seorang manusia dengan manusia yang lain, bukan kerana keturunan dan kedudukan seperti firman Allah yang bermaksud: “Sesungguhnya orang yang paling mulia di sisi Allah adalah orang yang paling takwa”. Oleh itu, keluarga yang dibina atas dasar agama ini akan memiliki matlamat yang jelas. Bagi mereka, hidup di dunia ini hanyalah satu jalan menuju kehidupan akhirat yang abadi sehingga apa pun yang mereka lakukan dalam keluarga itu tidak keluar daripada tujuan asal untuk mencipta keluarga sakinah yang diredai Allah dan berjuang untuk menegakkan agama Allah dalam semua aspek kehidupan mereka.

Happiness

Salam. Everyone deserves to be happy. It's in our mind. If we choose to be happy, then the happiness is yours. But if you choose to be grumpy then, no one will be able to help you.

I know of someone who has a dream job, a dream husband, a dream child, supportive well-to-do family but as usual there is a wee bit of imperfection in her life. Out of frustration, she sometimes refuses to go to work. There was tension in the family and everybody was worried. She pulled herself together after an outsider pointed out, how lucky she was.

There are practically solutions to every problems that we faced. We have our parents, brothers, sisters and eventually we have Allah the almighty to help us.

The basic foundation of my happiness is the trust that my husband gives me. Then there are my children. Cik tutor calls almost everyday. I don't mind the sobs and the tears because that's the time she opens up to me. She might look strong to her friends but actually she is lonely in Armidale. Only Allah knows how hard I pray for her well-being. Kerol on the other hand, loves to shower me with his mushy, lovey words. Halim with his funny comments in the facebook which never fail to bring laughter to the household.


The greatest happiness of all is when my children reminded me of my duties.

'I'm proud of you and Ayah. May Allah gives you pahala for every kilometers that you travelled!'
She texted me when we were on our way to Alor Setar from KB. May Allah bless En suami, Dijah, Halim,Aman, Kerol and Aa.

Granddaughter

This is the picture of my first granddaughter, Amani Humaira bt Abdul Halim. I haven't met her in person yet as en suami and I are busy with our work. We call her Humaira. At the moment she's staying with her maternal grandparents in Kota Bharu. I know she's in safe hands and I'm sure they are looking after her well. We plan to visit them during the festive season this weekend.

Since she is our first grandchild, and also the first niece to a vogue aunt and 3 admiring uncles, we couldn't help it but felt excited with her birth. Eventhough we can't hug, cuddle and kiss her, we can keep track of her progress when her father uploaded her photos and tag us in the facebook. We pray that she'll grow up to be a fine, obedient,solehah young woman just like her adorable aunty Dijah!

Nepal

I was really busy with work and attending to family matters. It was indeed a happy moment when all my children were able to attend Aman's wedding. The last time we were together, was back in 2006, before Aman left for Egypt to study medicine .

Yesterday morning Aman flew to Cairo with his wife.Both families sent them off at the airport.Aman and I took the bus from Ipoh and on arrival at the airport, a young man hesitatingly approached us.

'You speak English,' he asked Aman. Aman was quite reluctant to answer because he was taught to be careful with strangers.

'We do,' I answered and I asked whether he had any problems.

My motherly instinct was right. The nineteen-year old boy came to Malaysia to find work and after a month of labour in a furniture factory in Ipoh, he was found medically unfit and his visa was terminated.His employer used his hard-earned money to buy him the flight ticket home. He looked lost and unhappy so I asked Aman to buy him some food . We chatted and he told us about himself. He was the eldest in a family of three. In Nepal, he worked as a rafter (carrying people across the river using rafts). I was quite impressed with his command in English and his willingness to find work so far away from home. I asked Aman to make sure that all his documents were in order and consulted the information personnel about his flight which was due the next morning. We departed soon after.

Later that day, while en suami, Aman and I were heading towards the surau,the Nepalese boy approached us, beaming. 'Thank you friend,' he kept saying. He also introduced us to his countrymen who worked in Selangor, whom he met at the airport.I was glad that he was not travelling alone. I wished them luck and to have a safe journey home.

The encounter with the Nepalese boy made me ponder how difficult life can be. To make ends meet, he has to use all his savings to find jobs in our beloved country. Unfortunately, it did not turn out well and he has to resume work as a rafter when he gets home. Maybe, when he has enough money, he would further his studies and his life will be much better after that.