Books, Books and More Books Part 33 & 34

And without realizing it I find that I have somehow completed my book on sirah. It was fascinating. And history must be my favorite subject to be able to sail through the pages. FYI I am also reading books by Ustaz Azhar, Haron Din and a couple more (and these are taking forever to finish).

This Fiqh al Sirah by Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan Al-Buti volume 1 tells of the early life of Rasulullah saw till the move to Yathrib (Madinah). Stories I have once knew when I was a kid (and have forgotten since) are narrated in the book. And when I came across them I thought, I (used to) know this story of the prophet (how come I have forgotten it? How could I?)

I have also drawn a line chart and plugged in the important / historical dates along it. I havent gotten a name for this chart yet (I am thinking of one). And maybe I'll share the chart one day when I am satisfied with / verified the result.

Also. If you had asked me before, how many years difference there is between the Gregorian & Hijri calendars, my cocky response would be "easy-peasy", 2011 - 1432 = 579 years. Duh.

But I have since found out it isnt that easy because the number of days in a year for each calendar is not the same. The (almost) correct answer is 622. Kalau tak percaya tengok screen shot kat bawah (the internet never lies.. ??). You've gotta have a formula though.

I am doing some reading on the Hijri calendar also. Maybe I'll share that too later.

Nevertheless. I am into vol 2 of my sirah series now.

In the meantime. In an about-turn story ~ I have finished this book too some time back (like an addict, I need to have a fix once in a while). No comments necessary here I suppose. Although I think I will read more of Ms Quinn's writings in future.

Happy reading to you. Ciao.

*****

"Pulang"

إِنَّا لِلَّـهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَ‌اجِعُونَ

I dedicate this post to a dearest friend who has lost someone very close to her. May she find comfort and peace, in patience dan dalam keredhaan terhadap ketentuan Allah.

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَ‌اتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ‌ الصَّابِرِ‌ينَ ﴿١٥٥﴾ الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّـهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَ‌اجِعُونَ ﴿١٥٦﴾ أُولَـٰئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّن رَّ‌بِّهِمْ وَرَ‌حْمَةٌ ۖ وَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ ﴿١٥٧﴾

Demi sesungguhnya! Kami akan menguji kamu dengan sedikit perasaan takut (kepada musuh) dan (dengan merasai) kelaparan, dan (dengan berlakunya) kekurangan dari harta benda dan jiwa serta hasil tanaman. Dan berilah khabar gembira kepada orang-orang yang sabar:

(Iaitu) orang-orang yang apabila mereka ditimpa oleh sesuatu kesusahan, mereka berkata: "Sesungguhnya kami adalah kepunyaan Allah dan kepada Allah jualah kami kembali."

Mereka itu ialah orang-orang yang dilimpahi dengan berbagai-bagai kebaikan dari Tuhan mereka serta rahmatNya; dan mereka itulah orang-orang yang dapat petunjuk hidayahNya.
[Al Baqarah, 2 : 155 - 157]


Al Fatihah.


ps - Maybe it could comfort you some to know that you have made the right decision when you packed up and moved. Our doas are for you and family.

*****

Sacrifices

I am currently reading a book on sirah (I'll share that when I'm done ~ I am only on Vol I and there are three in this series). Tercapai dek tangan buku ni sebab ustaz kata jahil nye saya mengaku Islam namun sejarah peribadi Rasulullah pun tak tahu (he didnt literally said it like that tapi saya translate lebih kurang begitu lah) Angkuh nye. He added. Saya istighfar banyak2. Memang betul kata ustaz.

Kata penulis,

Setiap muslim yang mengaku dirinya Muslim yang beriman dengan Allah dan Rasulullah saw wajiblah membuktikan keimanannya dengan usaha dan tenaga; serta rela menerima tawaran Allah untuk menukar syurga dengan jiwa raga dan harta benda mereka.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ اشْتَرَىٰ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَأَمْوَالَهُم بِأَنَّ لَهُمُ الْجَنَّةَ ۚ يُقَاتِلُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَيَقْتُلُونَ وَيُقْتَلُونَ

Sesungguhnya Allah telah membeli dari orang-orang yang beriman akan jiwa mereka dan harta benda mereka dengan (balasan) bahawa mereka akan beroleh Syurga, (disebabkan) mereka berjuang pada jalan Allah maka (di antara) mereka ada yang membunuh dan terbunuh.
(Surah Al Taubah, 9:111)

Lalu soalan saya pada diri sendiri - apakah / pernahkah / adakah usaha saya dalam jual-beli ini?

Dan ayat ini.

أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُم مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِن قَبْلِكُم ۖ مَّسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ مَتَىٰ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ

Adakah patut kamu menyangka bahawa kamu akan masuk syurga, padahal belum sampai kepada kamu (ujian dan cubaan) seperti yang telah berlaku kepada orang-orang yang terdahulu daripada kamu? Mereka telah ditimpa kepapaan (kemusnahan hartabenda) dan serangan penyakit, serta digoncangkan (oleh ancaman bahaya musuh), sehingga berkatalah Rasul dan orang-orang yang beriman yang ada bersamanya: Bilakah (datangnya) pertolongan Allah?" Ketahuilah sesungguhnya pertolongan Allah itu dekat (asalkan kamu bersabar dan berpegang teguh kepada ugama Allah).
(Surah Al Baqarah, 2:214)

Dan andaian saya dari kefahaman yang cetek mungkin begini,
syurga = pengorbanan harta, benda, jiwa dan raga.

And I mull over the sacrifices (if any) that I have made.

*****

Although FB Not My Cup of Tea

I dont do FB (although I do have an account to check things out). Neither do I tweet. I leave that to the birds.

HOWEVER. There is a facebook account I found quite some time ago and keep going back to check up on a lot of things, the least being the gorgeous photos that are posted.


Semua gambar dipetik dari fb Ustaz Azhar Idrus (Original). There is a lot more amazing photos to be found there. I especially like the kampong scenes (there is more gratification in spelling kampung as kampong, me think). And the ones of the two beautiful kids Rasydan & Mukmin (and also of Pok Mang, of course).

Namun ceramah ustaz di Google videos (walaupun dah lama) maupun di youtube juga tidak kurang ke-amazing-an nye . Layan diri bila ada kelapangan (I think I'd rather say make the time, actually). They are worth thousand-folds more of the time spent.

Also, Ustaz Azhar akan berada di Masjid Al-Mardhiyah Fasa 5 Melawati Ahad ini (18/12) dari 3 - 5pm. Jemput datang kepada yang berkesempatan. Make time.

Selamat mencari bekalan untuk perjalanan pulang.

*****

Stuffs

I had some hours to spare (like I already have everything under control) so I went about on the internet and found this -

.. a gorgeous morris minor (to die for!) - it is a wallpaper ad actually.

.. some rad toilet papers

.. colorful spatulas I like, wildflower shaped utensils (how cool are these?), ninja cookie cutter (so cute for some tough little boys) and a mat from old newspapers (let's recycle) from here.

I also found out what hard work and commitment are all about in developing and sustaining your own business -

.. like collecting sea water in pails and then ultimately put it out in the sun to turn it into table salt (!)

.. and to hand pour candle wax to create original and distinctive candles.

Now let me own up that making sea salt has never been on my list. I have thought about making candles but do not have a clue to get supplies. I have thought also about many other ventures but nothing seem to stick. You've got ideas?

*****

The Wedding - A Wrap

So how have you been? Me, I've been busy doing .. err .. nothing special, I suppose - update blog pun tidak - but the usual stuff.

We have finally gotten the photos from the wedding photographer. Teringatkan bos yang bercerita gambar2 lama habis rosak dan tidak ada salinan lain, saya nekad untuk simpan gambar2 keluarga dengan lebih cermat. Like making back up copies and printed copies. Siapa tahu 5 years from now what media drivers we'll have dan boleh baca lagi ke gambar2 yang di simpan dalam CD / thumb / hdisks?

Anyway. The photos.

The bunga rampai was finely cut by neighbours (Allah saja yang dapat membalas budi). Lepas hiris tu letakkan dalam kain batik, campurkan kelopak bunga (if you want colorful rampai. Otherwise letak melur saja lagi wangi dan cantik. Kata orang. Lain kali we will try it with the melur) dan air mawar. Campur & balik2kan. Bungkus dengan kain batik tu dan masukkan dalam peti ais so it will not wilt. Esok pagi baru letak dalam bekas in the bedroom / on the pelamin / around the house. Wangi.

We originally wanted purple only for the scallops on the khemah. Seminggu sebelum kenduri a friend's son got married and they had this pretty yellow and rose colored scallops which was beautiful. We then added pink to the scllops too (dasar!)

Friends commented we had many khemah. The only reason we had them that many is because naive as we are in this kenduri thing, we followed the caterer's advice to a t (dah tak tahu tak nak tanya orang yang tahu pulak tu).

Saya suka pengapit yang sedondon ini dengan payung yang nampak macam raindrops falling on them. Pengantin pun comeii (this is one of my fave photos actually). And as mentioned before, I love the pelamin that Fatin / Boy put up for us.

(ps - I know the photos are a bit small in the collage. You may click on the photos to have a somewhat larger view)

The men in the baju Melayu are our neighbours who had worked hard to make the kenduri as it is (semoga Allah membalas budi masing-masing). We know no thank you's will ever be enough.

Kawan lama. We last met like maybe 20 or more years ago. They got the invitation through FB (ada jugak guna FB tu rupa nye..) and called to ask, betul ke aku boleh datang? I thought, a thousand million times yes! (Seronok nye dapat response macam ni. Apalah sangat kenduri kami). Ramai kawan lama yang datang tapi sayang, takde gambar pulak. Masa wedding tu apa pun dah tak ingat yang sebenar nye.

Ayah Cu berbaju batik masa kenduri (saya amat terharu dengan cara ayah cu berdoa). I am in fact, his number one fan (even though he is mum's favorite!) Semoga dilindungi & dirahmati Allah dunia & akhirat. Ameen.

Terima kasih kepada anak2 ni yang sudi melapangkan masa & meriahkan majlis. And for all their help. Semoga diberi Allah taufiq & hidayah sepanjang perjalanan hidup.

I like this photo with the hills at the back. Terima kasih kepada siapa yang came up with the idea to take the family photos here.

And thank you too to everybody who had cared enough. Hanya maaf juga yang dapat dipinta jikalau ada salah-silap, terlanjur kata, yang terlepas pandang dan seandainya.

So that is a wrap on the wedding (I swear!).

*****