Self Reflection

Assalamualaikum w.r.t.b.

The Blessing of Repentence or The Blessing of Richness?

A resident in Damascus, Ubaidah bin Muhajir was a well-respected and extremely rich businessman, who one day decided to make a business trip to Azerbaijan. After a long day of travel, Ubaidah came across a pasture and a river that ran alongside it. He decided to make camp there and was resting when he heard the sound of someone praising Allah S.W.T.

Going to the source of the sound, Ubaidah came across a man who, attired in a garment made of straw and was resting in a ditch. After having extended greetings of peace to the man, Ubaidah inquired: "Who are you, O slave of Allah?"

"A Muslim," answered the man.

"How difficult your circumstances seem to be," said Ubaidah.

"I lead a life that is replete with blessings," said the main.

"How can you say that when you are wearing nothing but a covering made of straw!" exclaimed Ubaidah.

"And why shouldn't I praise Allah for creating me, for giving me good form, for causing me to be born healthy, and for covering that part of my body which I dislike mentioning? Who goes to sleep having greater blessings than these, all of which I enjoy?"

"May Allah have mercy on you," said Ubaidah. "Will you not come to my camp, for I have made camp beside the river?"

"Why?" the man asked.

"So that I can feed you and give you real clothing, making it unnecessary for you to wear straw."

"I have no need for any of that," said the man.

Ubaidah later said, "I then left him and returned to my campsite. I later fell into contemplation, and the more I thought about my situation, the more I despised my life and even myself. Here I was, the richest man in Damascus having nearly as much wealth as I had, and yet, I was on a journey to make even more money. It was at that point that I said: O Allah, I indeed repent to You for the evilness of my situation."

Ubaidah thereafter turned away from the pursuit of acquiring wealth, and instead dedicated his life to repentance and worship.

---

Because of what Allah has given us (which is a massive quantity such that we can never repay it) to be thankful to Him, at all times, is the least we can do. To remember Him in everything that we do, for whatever it is that we do, we're relying on Him, on His nikmat.

Here you are reading, and here I am writing, we're using the body on which He has cased our souls into. For you are reading with your eyes, comprehending it with your brain, and hopefully, InsyaAllah, feel it with your heart.

It's not that hard, is it? To stop for a while and say: "Alhamdulillah Ya Rabb, Thank You for giving all these nikmat that You have given to me all these while."

Just Alhamdulillah is also good enough :)

Mengenal apa itu kebaikan dan dosa

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Dari Nawwas bin Sam’an radhiallahuanhu , dari Rasulullah sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam baginda bersabda : “Kebaikan adalah akhlak yang baik, dan dosa adalah apa yang terasa mengganggu jiwamu dan engkau tidak suka jika diketahui manusia. “
(Riwayat Muslim)

Dan dari Wabishah bin Ma’bad radhiallahuanhu dia berkata : Saya mendatangi Rasulullah saw, lalu baginda bersabda : Engkau datang untuk menanyakan kebaikan?, saya menjawab : Ya. Baginda bersabda : Mintalah pendapat dari hatimu, kebaikan adalah apa yang jiwa dan hati tenang kerananya, dan dosa adalah apa yang terasa mengganggu jiwa dan menimbulkan keragu-raguan dalam dada, meskipun orang-orang memberi fatwa kepadamu dan mereka membenarkannya.
Ref: (Hadits hasan kami riwayatkan dari dua musnad Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal dan Ad Darimi dengan sanad yang hasan)

Mari ketani tingkatkan amal dan iman :)

La Taqrabuzzina.

Ummu Tariq

Reaching out

Salam :)

Maybe you're thinking... eh, masih jua update even though last time cakap: busy lah, revision lah, buat assignment lah, etc. Eksen saja dorang ani cakap cematu...

The answer is: I just can't keep away from this page. :P Banar! So do you, kan? If not, kenapa masih di sini, inda ja? :P Nadawah!! Main-main saja.. thank you anyway for reading. Even though selalunya.... nvm!

Anyway, iatah, I read this (the following) and I just knew it at that instant when I first read it that I need to share it with you lot out there. Happy reading!

---

Every Friday afternoon, after the Jumma prayers, the Imam and his eleven year old son would go out into their town and hand out "PATH TO PARADISE" and other Islamic literature.

This particular and fortunate Friday afternoon, as the time came for the Imam and his son to go to the streets with their booklets, it was very cold outside, as well as pouring rain.

The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said, 'OK, dad, I'm ready!'

His dad asked, 'Ready for what?'

'Dad, it's time we go out and distribute these Islamic books.'

Dad responds, 'Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring rain.'

The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking, 'But Dad, aren't people still going to hell, even though it's raining?'

Dad answers, 'Son, I am not going out in this weather.'

Despondently, the boy asks, 'Dad, can I go? Please...'

His father hesitated for a moment then said, 'Son, you can go. Here are the booklets. Be careful son.'

'Thanks, Dad!'

And with that, he was off and out into the rain. This eleven year old boy walked the streets of the town going door to door and handing everybody he met in the street a pamphlet or a booklet.

After two hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking, bone-chilled wet and down to his VERY LAST BOOKLET. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a booklet to, but the streets were totally deserted.

Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell, but nobody answered..

He rang it again and again, but still no one answered. He waited but still no answer.

Finally, he turned to leave, but something stopped him.

Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch!

He rang again and this time the door slowly opened.

Standing in the doorway was a very sad-looking elderly lady. She softly asked, 'What can I do for you, son?'

With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy said, 'Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you that ALLAH REALLY LOVES AND CARES FOR YOU and I came to give you my very last booklet which will tell you all about God, the real purpose of creation, and how to achieve His pleasure.'

With that, he handed her his last booklet and turned to leave.

She called to him as he departed. 'Thank you, son! And God Bless You!'

Next week on Friday afternoon after Jumma prayers, the Imam was giving some lectures. As he concludes the lectures, he asked, 'Does anybody have questions or want to say anything?'

Slowly, in the back row among the ladies, an elderly lady's voice was heard over the speaker.

'No one in this gathering knows me. I've never been here before. You see, before last Friday I was not a Muslim, and thought I could be. My husband died few years ago, leaving me totally alone in this world.. Last Friday, being a particularly cold and rainy day, I was contemplating suicide as i had no hope left.

So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home.. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on that chair, so lonely and broken-hearted I was about to leap off, when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought, I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.

I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more insistent, and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly....

I thought to myself again, 'Who on earth could this be? Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me.' I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder.

When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes, for there on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life. His SMILE, oh, I could never describe it to you! The words that came from his mouth caused my heart that had long been dead TO LEAP TO LIFE as he exclaimed with a cherub-like voice, 'Ma'am, I just came to tell you that ALLAH REALLY LOVES AND CARES FOR YOU!'

Then he gave me this booklet, Path To Paradise that I now hold in my hand.

As the little angel disappeared back out into the cold and rain, I closed my door and read slowly every word of this book. Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them any more.

You see? I am now a Happy Vicegerent of the One True God. Since the address of your congregation was stamped on the back of this booklet, I have come here to personally say THANK YOU to God's little angel who came just in the nick of time and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in hell.'

There was not a dry eye in the mosque. The shouts of TAKBIR... ALLAH AKBAR.. rented the air.

The Imam (Dad) descended from the pulpit to the front row where the little angel was seated.

He took his son in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably.

Probably no jama'at has had a more glorious moment, and probably this universe has never seen a father that was more filled with love and honor for his son... Except for one. This very one...

---

Beneficial? I do hope so! :)

Okeh, jaga diri, jaga iman. Salam!

p.s.: To those having exams, selamat berjuang! Jangan lupa selawat and tawakkal to Allah.

7 JUTA SEDUNIA!

Assalamualaikum!

Sebenarnya nada plan kan update this blog until habis our own assessment. Assessment being: exams, essays and any kind of writing that has a deadline to it, etc... you get the picture, right?Sigh, anyway... iatah, sekalinya (sorry ah, becerita tah ku sekajap nah) :P

Sekalinya... aku ani boring wah. Aku check lah blog ani mana tau ada new update magically appear *winks*... sekalinya nada. So, sedih tah ko ni? No! Andang jua aku expect nada pasal kami sibuk. Sekalinya kan... I was about to click the 'X' button, kan tutup the window... tapi aku masih mau jua scroll ke bawah. So aku scroll lah kan. Sekalinya... *look at the 'keen readers' "

Guilty tia aku pasal inda update. Hence this.

Bath inda snow lagi. B-O-ring! Sama... cuba tah Yen Sushi ani dapat delivery. Or Jamuna or Eastern Eye! We need real food guys! Awu... kami selama ani keep on munching on Pringles and Thorntons chocolates, and... um, apalagi.... Um.. apa apa lah! Pokoknya, we need REAL, SOLID, MOUTH-WATERING-FINGER-LICKING-GOOD type of food. Well, dapat pulang ke kadainya... TAPI, kami malas jalan. Pasal sajuk. And kami takut tegelincir. As Ka Reefah implied, karang mikin surut bukit Thornbank atu, pasal kmi tegelincir di sana balik2. *blush*. Bulih, patut nya kesiankan kami lah Ka Reefah, BUKAN BUKIT! :D

Anyway, yeah. Even though the icy condition made us slip and slide and (dare I say it?) fall... We still want the snow! Please, snow, please... listen to our pleading voices. Let you come down and whiten the streets. Let you fall so we can be away from our books. (evil laughs!) So come down already, in any manner you choose! Snow dusts kah, flecks kah, or even better, thick drops! Like, um... (sorry for being technical, but I've always wanted to see this!) a sphere of 2cm in diameter? Is it too much to ask? Huh? Huh?

Aha. So, you see? Where all these readings has got me to?

Actually, that wasn't really the point of this entry. I know I said I'm writing this pasal kesian to the readers, which means, nothing specific to write about, but ada sebenarnya kan ku cakapkan wah... Sekajap ah... let me recall. Snow ni punya pasal... balum turun... ish!

Um, ah!! Nah, aku ingat sudah.... Atu kami ada new phrase. Its:

"7 JUTA SEDUNIA" :)

Scene: Suka barang.
Line: Waaaahhh, lawa jua.... aku suka. Berabis!! 7 JUTA SEDUNIA lawanya!

Scene: Sasak.
Line: Eh, Eastern Eye ani, cuba tah ada delivery! Boring 7 JUTA SEDUNIA!

Geddit? Haha. We use them all the time... Or sometimes, pakai 7 JUTA saja, or SEDUNIA saja. But for maximum impact, combine both lah. Baru power... 7 JUTA SEDUNIA! HAHA. See what I mean?

Anyway, yeah. Pokoknya aku kan becerita pasal our new phrase ani lah ah. Tapi ada tia the snow factor masuk and the delivery dilemma that we're having.

Happy using our phrase!

The Reality of Our Existence

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahhi wabarakatuh

Apa khabar everyone? I hope semua sihat, Alhamdulillah. We're all busy, kan? Pasal kan exam... inda papa, insyaAllah, soon it will be over. Sabar saja tia dulu. And we're really sorry for making you come and visit this page (if ada orang visit lah ah!:P) but nada jua update... Oh well, another sabar factor to add on! :D

So, with nothing specific in mind to write about here, I thought I'd share something useful, insyaAllah. Beneficial lah at least, yes?

"The diversions of this world are often so enticing that those who are enjoying them do not see life for what it really is. That is why it is so rare, and actually nice when it happens, to see a ruler or king (or a person, in our case) who perceives the reality of life.

Al-Asma'o reported that the ruler Ar-Rashid once ordered for many delicacies to be prepared for him. He wanted to have a nice party for himself, so he had a hall decorated for him, and he invited the famous poet Abul-'Atahiyyah.

When the party had begun, Ar-Rashid looked at Abul-'Atahiyyah and said, "Describe the pleasures of the world that we are enjoying." It was often the case that kings and rulers requested poets to compose impromptu verses for them. Abul-'Atahiyyah began thus:

Live in comfort as long as you please,

Under the shades of high and wonderful castles.

"Wonderful, wonderful. Please continue," said Ar-Rashid.

Abul-'Atahiyyah continued:

All that you desired is brought to you

Quickly, both in the morning and in the evening.

"Wonderful, wonderful," chimed in Ar-Rashid. "Please continue."

He resumed thus:

Then when the souls are parting,

Through the breast with a croaking sound,

It is then that one comes to know:

I have lived nothing but a life of deception.

Ar-Rashid began to weep profusely, and some of those who are present looked reproachfully at Abul-'Atahiyyah and said, "The Leader of the Believers has invited you here to make him happy, yet all that you have succeeded in doing is making him sad."

"Leave him alone," said Ar-Rashid with a sigh. "He simply noticed that we were in a state of blindness, and disliked adding to it even more blindness." "

.

.

.

More of something like this next time? InsyaAllah.

Salam :)

Ref: Muhammad Abduh Mughawiri

The BIG 31st.

Salam kepada pembaca setia 6 Thornbanks, harap diampunkan kerana telah lama menghilang entah kemana, di kala ini kami sedang menikmati suasana akhir tahun bak bulan yang menanti akan masanya untuk menyinarkan dirinya. Oh! Sungguh indah sekali ciptaan yang Maha kuasa, seharusnya kita semua bersyukur kehadrat Ilahi dengan lahirnya ciptaan malam, yang dimasukkan kedalam siang, untuk memberi kerehatan kepada manusia dan Dialah juga yang memasukkan siang kepada malam. Kita bertafakkur sejenak, adakah kita benar benar sedar akan semuanya ini? Pernahkan kita terfikir bahawa Allah menciptakan kesemuanya ini untuk kesenangan kita semata2 untuk beribadah kepadaNya? Subanallah.



So...........! um, the big 31st huh?



So what have we done so far this year? Let's recall, shall we?




We start off with our very own housemate's surprise B'day party! Dearest Amal turned big 21!


No, she didn't have Bertie as her present. But a book recipe instead! Big thanks to the very suave looking Indian gentleman, the big boss himself! But he looked very similar to this man *trying to search for his picture...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
Oh, just save it for later!
Toodles!
Will continue, InsyaAllah.
Jgn beulah, yes?

Sincerely yours,
AiMaWaMal.

Yawm al-Qiyamat

The Signs are listed in roughly chronological order, although the order is not necessarily precise, especially for those in the future.

This is a brief summary of the signs; there are many books, articles, cassettes etc. which discuss these in greater detail. May Allah enable us to recognise and heed the Signs, and strengthen us in the times of tribulation.

"Are they waiting for anything except the Hour, to come to them suddenly? But its Signs have already come!" (Al-Qur’an, Surah Muhammad)


Past

1. Splitting of the Moon.

2. Death of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

3. A form of death which will kill thousands of Muslims. (Understood to refer to the plague of Amwas during the
caliphate of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab.)

4. A major fighting in Madinah (understood to refer to the battle of al-Harrah during the caliphate of Yazid, 63 AH).

5. The Muslim conquest of Jerusalem.

6. The Muslim conquest of Constantinople.

7. Two large groups of Muslims will fight in war.

8. A war between the Muslims and a reddish people with small eyes, wearing sandals made of hair (understood to refer to
the Mongol Tatar invasion of the Islamic lands.)

9. A peace agreement between the Muslims and non-Muslims from the yellow race (Chinese, Mongols, etc.)

10. Thirty impostors (dajjal) will appear, each thinking he is a prophet.


Present?

11. Naked, destitute, barefoot shepherds will compete in building tall buildings.

12. The slave-woman will give birth to her master or mistress.

13. A trial (fitnah) which will enter every Arab household.

14. Knowledge will be taken away (by the death of people of knowledge), and ignorance will prevail.

15. Wine (intoxicants, alcohol) will be drunk in great quantities.

16. Illegal sexual intercourse will become widespread.

17. Earthquakes will increase.

18. Time will pass more quickly.

19. Tribulations (fitan) will prevail.

20. Bloodshed will increase.

21. A man will pass by the grave of another and wish he was in the latter’s place.

22. Trustworthiness will be lost, i.e. when authority is given to those who do not deserve it.

23. People will gather for prayer, but will be unable to find an imam to lead them.


Future

24. The number of men will decrease, whilst the number of women will increase, until for every man there are 50 women.

25. The Euphrates will reveal a treasure of gold, and many will die fighting over it, each one hoping to be the one who gains
the treasure.

26. The Romans (Europeans) will come to a place called A’maq or Wabiq, and an army of the best people will go forth from Madinah to face them.

27. The Muslim conquest of Rome.

28. The Mahdi (guided one) will appear, and be the Imam of the Muslims.

29. Jesus Christ will descend in Damascus, and pray behind the Mahdi.

30. Jesus will break the cross and kill the swine, i.e. destroy the false christianity.

31. The Antichrist (al-masih al-dajjal, the false christ) will appear, with all his tools of deception, and be an immense trial. He will be followed by 70,000 Jews from Isfahan (present-day Iran).

32. The appearance of Ya’juj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog), and the associated tribulations.

33. The emergence of the Beast from the Earth, carrying the Staff of Moses and the Seal of Solomon, who will speak to the people, telling them they did not believe with certainty in the Divine Signs.

34. A major war between the Muslims (including Jews and Christians who truly believe in Jesus after his return) led by the Imam Mahdi, and the Jews plus other non-Muslims led by the Antichrist.

35. Jesus will kill the Antichrist at the gate of Ludd (Lod in present-day Israel, site of an airport and a major Israeli military base).

36. A time of great peace and serenity during and after the remaining lifetime of Jesus.

37. Wealth will come so abundant that it will become difficult to find someone to accept charity.

38. Arabia will become a land of gardens and rivers.

39. Society will then decay.

40. The buttocks of the women of the tribe of Daws will again sway in circumambulation (tawaf) around the idol Dhul-Khulsah.

41. A great fire in the Hijaz, seen by the inhabitants of Busra.

42. Three major armies will sink into the earth: one in the east, one in the west, one in Arabia.

43. An Abyssinian leader with thin shins will destroy the Ka’bah.

44. The huge cloud of smoke.

45. The sun will rise from the west (its place of setting).

46. A gentle wind which will take the souls of the believers.

47. There is no-one left on the earth saying, "Allah, Allah" or "There is no god except Allah."

48. Eventually the Day of Judgment is established upon the worst of the people, who copulate like donkeys in public.

49. The blowing in the Trumpet by the Angel Israfil, upon which everyone will faint except as Allah wills.

50. The second blowing in the Trumpet, upon which everyone will be resurrected.

______________________________________________________________

The question here is..
Are we all ready for this?
Neither am i.