Story of Hanzalah

KISAH HANZALAH

“Mengapa dengan kamu?”Abu Bakar bertanya.

“Hanzalah sudah jadi munafiq. Hanzalah sudah jadi munafiq. Hanzalah sudah jadi munafiq!” kata Hanzalah, penuh kesal.

Terkejut Abu Bakar mendengarnya.

“Mengapa kamu berkata begitu?” Abu Bakar meminta penjelasan.

“Semasa aku duduk di dalam majlis Nabi sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam dan mendengar tentang Syurga serta Neraka, iman aku meningkat kepada keadaan yang baik. Tetapi tatkala aku bekerja dan kembali kepada keluargaku, imanku terjejas dan menurun. Hanzalah sudah jadi munafiq!” cerita Hanzalah.

Keterangan itu menggusarkan Abu Bakar. Beliau juga merasainya.

Mereka berdua pergi bertemu dengan Nabi sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam dan menceritakan kisah kebimbangan Hanzalah yang amat signifikan itu. Lalu Baginda sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam bersabda:

“Demi Dia yang jiwaku berada di tangan-Nya, jika kamu sentiasa berada di tahap yang sama seperti ketika mana kamu bersama denganku dan semasa mengingati Allah, nescaya Malaikat akan berjabat tangan denganmu ketika kamu berhenti rehat atau berjalan! Akan tetapi, wahai Hanzalah, ada masa untuk ini dan ada masa untuk itu (Baginda mengulang menyebutnya tiga kali)”[Hadith riwayat Muslim]

Dalam bahasa yang lebih mudah, jika keadaan dirimu sentiasa baik seperti di dalam majlis ilmu dan ketika di luar majlis ilmu, nescaya Malaikat itu akan tabik spring dengan kamu! Hebatlah jika begitu. Namun ia menyalahi tabiat manusia. Iman itu pasang dan surut. Agama Islam, tidak pernah menafikan hal yang amat fitrah ini. Lalu Baginda sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam menegaskan kenyataan berikut:

“ada masa untuk ini dan ada masa untuk itu…”

Masa bekerja, perlu bekerja. Masa mengaji, perlu mengaji. Masa sibuk, sibukkan diri. Masa berehat, perlu berehat.

Site Visit to Potential Geothermal Sites in Sungkai Perak

Today, I spent my day all day outside of the office. I, with some other people from various departments went for a site visit to Sungkai and Slim River, Perak. Yahooo hehe...being away for outstation trips once in a while is really a blessing from Allah, Alhamdulillah. Not only do we get to skip away from the hustle and bustle of unfinished business in the office, but we also have the opportunity to learn something new from the visits.

The trip today was to two hotspring spots located in Sungkai, and Slim River, both in Perak. The trip took about 2 hours from TNB HQ. The participants comprised those from TNBR, Planning Division, GAD and a few from Jabatan Mineral dan Geosciences (JMG) a governmental department under the Ministry of Resources and Environment. The trips was arranged by TNBR as the company is responsible in carrying out this siting project. As present, TNB is embarking on rigorous development of renewable energy (RE) resources for electricity generation purposes. By 2012, RE Act and Action Plan will be rolled out by Minister of Energy, Green Energy and Water. This new act is introduced to blast up RE development in Malaysia. Currently, RE is being developed under SREP program, and monitored by TNB. SREP (Small Renewable Energy Program ) was implemented upon implementation of 5th Fuel Policy by government in 2001 which declared RE as the 5th fuel for generation fuel mix. Up to date, a total of ~88 MW of REPPA has been signed and issued. Out of this figure, only ~40 MW has been commissioned ( 5 plants) and most of the plants are biomass and biogas type. The rest of capacity is either under construction or still under planning stage. Some of plants have been terminated due to various reasons. In 9th Malaysia Plan (2006-2010), government set a target to have total RE installed capacity of 300 MW by 2010. This figure however has failed to be achieved due to poor mechanism to either promote and implement RE. You see, you can just say it by comparing the figure in SREP with the targeted figure! However, we have to have high confidence in government`s long term goal to have RE successfully implemented and developed in Malaysia.

Quoting Peter Chin`s speech :

"t the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC)–COP 15 Copenhagen, Malaysia had announced its commitment to reduce the carbon footprint by 40% in terms of emission intensity of GDP by 2020 compared to the 2005’s levels. I forsee one of the efforts here is making green building the fore front of the agenda. Green buildings use a wide range of creative and effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, hence, the use of new technologies, materials and other new creations which in turn provide new avenues for green businesses."

To cut down CO2 emission, we have no other options, but the clich`e one, which is to adopt clean technology which comes either from nuclear technology or RE. I believe strongly that with proper implementation and monitor from government as well as TNB, RE has a bright future in Peninsular Malaysia, InshaAllah.

Okay, so there comes an idea to develop geothermal energy as in conjunction of government`s aspiration to see RE development booms. due to the fact that, in Peninsular Malaysia, a few locations have been identified as possessing high potential for geothermal energy being harnessed. TNBR has been carrying out this site identification. They have identified several locations and the place that tops the list is around hotspring area located in Kg Hulu Slim, Slim River, Perak. The hotspring there is not developed for commercial reason, at least up till now. The area is opened for public as anyone could stop by and have a look. But mind you, the temperature is ~90-100 C. So don`t ever dare to dip your hands in.

Charity and its Nobility

Alhamdulillah I did manage to follow a lecture series at Masjid Jamek, Petaling Jaya, located just 10 minutes away from my house by walking. It has been a while since my last visit to 'Kuliah Maghrib' held at the mosque.

The topic that was delivered by the ustaz was ' Charity ' and its noble wisdom.

He first clarified that charity is divided into two categories: waajib (obligatory), which is called Zakat and sunnat (voluntary) which we call charity. He also mentioned there is difference between 'sadaqah' and 'sadaqatul jariah'. He gave examples of giving charity to a person to do hajj and giving charity (sponsoring) to a student majoring in Islamic studies. The former is normal 'sadaqah' while the latter is called 'sadaqatul jariah'. It implies that 'sadaqatul jariah' is the charity given which has chain effects of rewards. The charity giver will get the rewards first by sponsoring a student, later when the student teaches his/student, the charity giver will get his share as well. And later if the student of the former student has and teaches another student, the former charity giver will still be able to taste the rewards from his charity without diminishing the rewards of the first student. In simpler word, so long as the results of charity continues, the charity giver will still be blessed with rewards from Allah. What a beautiful deed to have!

Narrated from a hadeeth narrator that Prophet sallalahu`alayhiwasallam said " When we fork out money for charity (be it waajib or voluntary), the act will be saying to us these five things as below (remember only four and not in order )=) :

1. " Before the money goes out from your pocket, (RM1)..the value is small, but after the money goes into charity bowl, the value becomes much bigger"

2. " Previously, you took care of me (before giving out for charity reason), now after you set me into charity bowl , I`ll take care of you"

3. " Before you took me out from pocket, I was impermanent, just like other things; however after you move myself into charity bowl, I become permanent"

4. " Before you took me out from your pocket, I was once your enemy; after you did put me into charity bowl, I become your good friend"

Ustaz also mentioned that when we give charity, say to a poor person, actually what we are doing is that we are giving out his money, not ours. In every possessions that we have, there is a portion belongs to these poor people, as Allah has prescribed. Even though in reality, we are the owner of our possession; in the eyes of ALlah and the true reality, we are just the guardian of the items. Allah is the sole and ultimate landlord. We are just bestowed upon the ticket of guardian. Thus, giving the money to these people actually means giving his money back.

Malacca, World Cup 2010 and Bossless State

Hoyehh...Alhamdulillah the day today went as normal at the office despite late night stay for an hour starting from 4am watching final match of World Cup 2010. However, I couldn`t resist myself from yawning more than 5 times at the office. Not really sure whether it was due to late night stay or it was just psychology..(your mind keeps saying you should feel sleepy, and the body reacts to it). But luckily i didn`t fall asleep or accidentally shut my eyes throughout the day..alhamdulillah.

Well..I wasn`t a fan of footbal before..i think I did follow only a couple of matches before..and they were big ones. Other than that..nope.Honestly i think watching football matches is just a waste of time..time killer..all you do is just(especially girls) watch the ball being kicked out by 11+11 people for 90minutes (+extra time)in vast field and waiting for the handsome strikers trembling the goal`s net.Buttt.. for this world cup..I can`t help but to watch quarter final games up till the final one. It maybe be because of peer pressure as my housemates are big fan of the game. They even paste the table match onto the wall and filled every score in! For sure it wasn`t because they are after a contest, but out of their passion towards this game. And that passion does actually have an effect on me. Not really peer pressure, but they indeed have opened my eyes a bit for this sports. And i did follow this little plan except 2.30am matches during quarter final stage.

Okay..Malacca..well last weekend was filled with entertaining my family and having fun with them at Malacca. They had a trip here in KL to send off my sister for her second year, second semester class. We went to Malacca on Saturday. We had a ride up to the peak of Menara Taming Sari, then a mini climb up to ruin of St Paul`s church (in which it was mistakenly assumed as A Famosa!!) Shame on me for not being able to distinguish between a church and the gate of a Kota hehe..But anyway..my sisters and brother did learn something from the historical place.

And when I arrived at the office today..another little happy news approached me. My big boss and Immediate bosses were not in, at least during the morning,since in the afternoon the big boss showed himself up..but anyway still..the euphoria feeling of being off the control was exuberant hehe. Eventhough i don`t have ny conflict with bosses, somehow( i think noboy can deny it) the state being free to do anything in the office is something not to be overlooked..hehe..but mind you! I am a good employee..i did not waste my time at the office..there`s always something to work on, there`s always tasks waiting for you to finish up..no job means you`re not thinking of work..because if you do..then you`ll find something to work on..sometimes you overlook the deadlines, or other trivial tasks that your boss once (maybe months ago) asked you to do..but since no follow up from him due to non urgent level of the tasks, that doesn`t mean you don`t have to do it..if you do disagree with the lame tasks, there`s always improvements in it..and the thinking mode of improving it is also a great tasks to have. Well..hmm my point is, when your boss is not in, that only delivers message that no urgent tasks for now..that`s it..it`s not sending you message :"You can hang around with people all day long"..not true at all

Motivasi Pagi By Ustaz Hasrizal Jamil

Alhamdulillah.. I received one good news. Ustaz Hasrizal Jamil, one of my favourites Shuyookh is now going on air @ IKIM throughout July inshaAllah. He will fill in `Motivasi Pagi` slot every morning from 7:30-745.Previously, Ustaz Pahrol Mohd Juoi was in Ustaz Hasrizal`s place.

I like the presentation and delivery methods of Ustaz Hasrizal very much. He is a man I would say full of knowledge, wisdom, and experiences. All these 3 elements combined, makes him a great Sheikh. I think, a sheikh not only has to be well versed in raw Islamic matters, but he also has to be well equipped with such other field of knowledge as history, psychology and anthropology.Ustaz Hasrizal is quite good at these fields of knowledge. Thanks to his vast experienced accumulated during his long settlement in Dublin as the Imam of Belfast Islamic Centre, Dublin. Through his socializing with each strata of people there, he has valuable experiences one of his age could have.

I would like to share his notes from the motivasi pagi slot. (taken from his blog)

- Quoted Steven Covey from his book "The Seven Habits", he says that people would not be effective while being so dependent on others

- The greatness of us would prevail if they have the dependence on others removed.

- Being dependent here means that our actions rely so much on the environment and our surrounding. Almost always we hear that people say "Oh..i can`t be a good wife because my husband is terrible"..or " How would I hold myself from cursing the driver when he was being rude" ..or "My mood is bad today because the weather is bad"...all these statements portray that the person does indeed depend on others upon taking actions. This is not a right view.

-We must free ourselves from these surrounding elements. In other words, we must be independent. Whatever comes in our way, we can still uphold our principles. That`s the right view. If our principle is not to curse people, then it should prevail in any circumstance, no matter what happens.

- If we have achieved the state of being able to have great control of our principles and actions, then we are entitled to become Master of our own destiny,upon Allah`s permission and will.

Latest Favourite Song by Maher Zain

Nuclear TNB-KEPCO Joint Workshop

A joint workshop on nuclear was held last week for 2 days starting from 28th June until 29th June. The workshop marks the closing of MoU between TNB and KEPCO on Pre-Feasibility study on Nuclear Power Plant for Peninsular Malaysia. Since June 2009, TNB and KEPCO have been working closely after an MoU was signed between the two big utilities. The Pre-FS study was conducted to study the viability of having nuclear plant in Malaysia. It is the very first step in preparing Peninsular Malaysia towards having its first unit of NPP erected in 2021, as of latest disclosure.

I was one of secretariats for the even. However, i feel bad for not putting as much assistance and contributions as i could throughout the event. Nuclear Energy Unit was the backbone for the event;however, others from MNA, AELB did help a lot in making this a successful event. During the event, i was assigned as rapporteur alongside with Arziril and Aizuddin. The task of a rapporteur is to write questions asked by participants during the Q&A session. I did enjoy doing the task, despite at few times i couldn`t get and understand what the Korean delegations said whey they were answering the questions posed by audience. I think Korean people really have to improve their English speaking skills in order to work better with their clients in the future. However i can`t dismiss the fact that they are very friendly, helpful and determined . I somehow envy the workaholic culture that their race upholds. Most of them i would say have both `skema` look and personality, but hey, they have proven to us that their race and country are far better than us in terms of economy as well as soccer!

Okay, a little updates on nuclear plant is Malaysia. Peter Chin has made announcement that we`re going to have our first NPP installed in Peninsular in 2021. Thus we`re going on a fast track basis, just like what UAE is having. Thus, a lot of things need to take place in order to have this dream comes true. Well, it`s not dream anymore, it is almost a reality now since we have less than 15 years from now, as opposed to previously proposed date for COD of the first unit. NPP is an intensive project in which a long lead time is needed, usually between 13-15 years. The reason lies in various stages that need to go through. Siting alone takes much of the time. At the very beginning, a desktop study is done to determine suitability of sites. It is then followed by preliminary site investigation, and after a few top sites have been selected, a detailed site investigation is performed on those sites before the final site is chosen. These process alone takes a few years. The main goal for siting is to ensure that the site meets requirements to protect the public and the environment from radiation.

I was disappointed though to see the number of people attending the event. The turnout was not as expected. I think there were like only 60-70 people including local counterparts altogether. Despite the attendance, the event was a successful one. But 1 thing i don`t like about attending workshop or seminar is that the food is served 6 times a day!..how can i miss the yummy food ..plus it`s free!!