Ramadhan 1431 Hijrah

Today is 20th of Ramadhan 1431H. Feel like it has just shown up itself yesterday! What a time flying by! Ramadhan is a blessed month in which it is given the title of the leader of islamic months due to its barakah and tremendous uniqueness it holds. Ramadhan is called "leader of islamic months" because during this month, any act of worship will be multiplied by Allah in its rewards. During this month, the gates of Jannah will be widely opened while the gates of hell will be shut. Shaytans will be chained. Hence, during Ramadhan there is no shaytanic evil would bother us, rather it is within our soul the evil whispers would come from, if any. It is the time for our own reflection of soul. Since there is no shaytan around to bog us, where else the urge to do sins/unlawful acts if it not from our own soul? Astaghfirullah..Doing my own reflection, i feel very guilty and sinful in front of Allah..you know what i mean..

Well, our level of emaan, if we can put it into a graph, will be fluctuating. It`s like a sine/cosine wave. Our emaan can goes high up until we fear nothing but Allah, for real..and it can plunge down so much so that we feel nothing when frequenting sins..nauzdhubillah. I pasted a story of Sahabah before in previous entry about Hanzalah and his thought of being a munaafik due to his fluctuating level of emaan. But, upon listening to answer from Rasulullah, what a relief to all of us..our emaan is indeed subject to that sinusoidal behavior. If it is a constant graph (y=a), then we are no longer a human, since only malaikat (angels) adopt the behavior. However, i suppose during Ramadhan when distractions suppose to be much less, our level of emaan should rise up and hit the peak much more than during other islamic months. With our increasing in ibadah (quranic recitation, taraweeh, early fajr prayer,..and more), we should reach to the point where we feel we are getting closer to Allah, and this should be translated into hitting the peak point regularly. Think about this..(am telling myself too).

There is a hadeeth, when Rasulullah s.a.w said that " Jibrael came to me and said to me that whoever is alive during the Ramadhan, but is not granted forgiveness of sins from Allah when the Ramadhan is over, he/she will enter into hellfire when the day of akheerah comes. Rasulullah said ameen for the du`a"..mashaAllah..what a heartbreaking hadeeth. It shows that during Ramadhan, the door for forgiveness of our sins from Allah is widely opened for us. We have just to strive, and search for it by increasing our deeds, with pure heart and intention. I did cry upon remembering this hadeeth. What if we belong to the worse category? What if after Ramadhan our sins are not washed away? What a waste subhanallah..

Well..it`s last 10th day of Ramadhan today..and i don`t want to miss the chance to grab/ask forgiveness from Allah. I fear that i might not have the chance to see next Ramadhan..

Visit to Darul Attiq

Wahh..been a while since my last entry. I want to talk about my visit with fellow HELWA PKPI ladies to Pusat Tarbiyyah Darul Attiq situated in Kuala Kubu Bharu, Ulu Selangor last Saturday. I previously thought that Darul Attiq is another orphan house in Malaysia. However, upon reaching the place, the welcoming label says everything. It says : Pusat Tarbiyyah Islamiyyah Darul Attiq. Okay, meaning that, it`s not merely taking care of orphan kids only, but it also has tarbiyyah program, in which the kids are given trainings and teachings of islamic values. I think it is similar to 'sekolah pondok' as one might become more familiar with that name. Our arrival was welcomed by one of teachers there, Pn Fatimah. Pn Fatimah said she used to frequent Balai Islam when her husband was still healthy. Her husband now is suffering from parkinson. May allah grant him shifa` inshaALlah and bless their marriage. Pn Fatimah is a nice lady, mashaAllah with gentle and humble characteristic. We were brought to female hostel. There are approximately 25 ladies there, aged between 14-28 years old. A few of them have just enrolled last month. The hostel comprises ladies not only whose parents are dead, but also 'rosak akhlak' type, as what Pn Fatimah told me. Their parents sent them there with the hope that they would be 'fixed' through instilling islamic teachings and values inside them, and they believe darul attiq can do it for them.

Eman Rush

Alhamdulillah...last weekend was awesome! I went to another AlKauthar course and this time around, it was about salah. The title of the course is " Prayer 101: Coolness of Eyes". And it was Sheikh Tawfique`s turn. I am so glad to have him again teaching AlKauthar course. The first time that I met him was during the first course held by AlKauthar here in Malaysia and he was the instructor.

Attending AlKauthar course is really one of greatest things that I have done in my life. It brings back the memory of attending AlMaghrib classes, way back in the US during my undergrad study. And of course, attending AlMaghrib classes is another great thing that i have done in my life. Okay, for intro, AlMaghrib and AlKauthar Institutes are large student body organizations which offer weekend course on various topics of Islamic studies.Among topics that are being offered are Tawheed 101, Salah 101, Fiqh of Marriage, Usoolul Fiqh, Hadeeth and many more. The courses are on par with tertiary level education. AlMaghrib was founded in Canada by Sheikh Muhammad Al Shariff while AlKauthar was founded by Sheikh Tawfique Chowdhury in Australia. They were once a student of University of Madinah. These organizations are fastly flowering since they have brought the courses surpassing various continents. Alkauthar Inst has spread its wing to South Africa, India and UK and now Malaysia. AlMaghrib have reached Canada, US and UK only, so far. There has been marvelous efforts by a few god-conscious people to bring AlMaghrib to Malaysia. InshaAllah i hope their dream and my dream too will come into reality. May Allah rewards these Sheikh and their teams for the tremendous efforts in propagating da`wah and knowledge to people all around the world. I really envy their passion, relentless efforts and commitment in spreading the true path. Only exceptional people can have that.

Okay back to my story, so long as I have been attending the courses be Alkauthar or AlMaghrib, I have never coming back home from the courses without having a good night sleep and excitement feeling of the next day`s session. And I have never coming back without surging eman rush. Sometimes I could feel it rushing through my blood...=)).exaggerating? Hmmm maybe but to give you correct picture how the great feeling knocked my heart, soul and mind. Alhamdulillah. Even though throughout life, the eman level keeps fluctuating, as what normally happens to a normal person, including me, Alkauthar/AlMaghrib courses have indeed brought up the level to its peak. Alhamdulillah. I just wish the level stays there..but that is so impossible. Unless we are an angel, we are subject to experiencing emaan level fluctuating in our hearts. The best person is the one who knows how to control this level by doing things that would bring him or her closer to Allah.