Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Venturing to another land

Bismillahirrahmanirahim (In the name of Allah the Most Gracious Most Merciful)

Assalamu'alaikum (May peace be unto you)

Begin with all praise is due to Allah s.w.t, we seek his help and we ask for His foregiveness. And we seek refuge from Allah s.w.t from the evil of ourselves and for the evil consequence of our evil actions. Whomsoever Allah s.w.t guides, there is none to misguide, and whomsoever Allah s.w.t leaves to fall astray, there is none to guide. And I testify that there is no diety that is worthy of worship accept Allah s.w.t and Muhammad s.a.w is His last and final messenger. After that, the best speech is the book of Allah s.w.t and the best guidance is Muhammad s.a.w. And the worst of all the affairs are the matters that are newly introduced in the religion. Every matter that is newly introduced is an innovation, all of the innovation is misguidance, all of the misguidance is going astray, and all the going astray is in the fire.

Amma ba'adu.

It has been some time since I have actually write in this blog. Most of the recent blogs posted was taken from the internet and I thought it would be relevent to include some articles from time to time as an extra reading material. I pray to Allah may He showers his hidayah and taufik upon all of us, ameen. Because if He (Azza Wa Jal) were to leave us to go astray there is none, none at all to guide us, wa nau'dzubilLah.

Alhamdulillah, I have made a long journey from my homeland to travel to a far away country which I have set foot on, from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Sana'a, Yemen. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alamin. This is probably the first time I have depart with my beloved family for a long time insyaAllah and I ask Allah to protect them. Alot has taken place in this year alone, alot of changes, alot of progress, alot of steps that is yet for me to venture. All praises and thanks are due to Allah and I pray to Allah to guide me in every step that I take, Ameen.

It is certainly different here compared to Malaysia. Different in what sense? I would say being a 'minority' for a start. Back in Malaysia, we usually know our way around, places to go when we would want to spent our time with ourselves, who to call and hang out with when we need some company, which is the best 'ramli burger' stall to go during supper time, where and when to get the best 'nasi campur', etc. Here surrounded by Arabs, and arabic as the primary language, living within that society with the culture, it is obviously different. The next thing would be the weather, unlike in Malaysia it gets red-hot at times and rain come down pouring at another time. As for Sana'a, situated at a very high altitude above sea level it gets really cold during winter (although it doesn't snow here). Some people have said, it freezes to the bone! Well I have yet to experience the winter season here, and I was informed winter is just around the corner where it usually begins sometime around Ramadhan (Ramadhan al Mubarak to all brothers and sisters!). I arrived here on the 8th of March 2009, at that time it was around the end of winter season. Yet the coolness at that time is like making wudhu' during Fajr back in Malaysia, but its just much colder here! SubhanAllah.

Basically there are pros and cons in both places, there are likes and dislikes for both places. But do one travel just for the scenery? To learn the language? Or to just tell everyone that we know that we have been overseas to study, so I am better than you in terms of experience and whatsoever? What is it?

'Umar ibn al-Khattab r.a heard that Rasulullah s.a.w said, "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrated for wordly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what emigrated for." This hadith is from sahih al Bukhari in the Book of Revelation. The point that I am trying to point out here is the importance of niat/niyah a.k.a intention in the english language. In Islam the intention is highly important. Every deed and action must come with the right intention. Then comes 'Ikhlas' or in other words sincerity, both intention and sincerity(for Allah s.w.t) must go together. That is why in the very first pillar of Islam is

I do not intend to make this blog as just a mere 'about me', but rather to share and to learn. In brief, I have re-discovered 'Islam' not so long ago ny the Will of Allah, Alhamdulillah. What do I mean by 're-discovered'? It is basically because of the weak understanding I had about 'religion' and 'Islam' itself. Today, the more I learn, the more that I don't know, and the more that I need to learn.

"I spent thirty years learning manners, and I spent twenty years learning knowledge."
-Abdullah bin al-Mubarak

Indeed, with 'Ilm (i.e knowledge) the more humble one should become. 'Ilm(knowledge) should go hand in hand with Akhlak(i.e good manners). If with knowledge brings about arrogance, its best to seek refugee in Allah and ask Him (Azza Wa Jal) for His (Azza Wa Jal) guidance. All of us knows about Rasulullah s.a.w, how he (s.a.w) is known for his good manners, his persistency, his steadfastness, his strength and will power, his kindness to his ummah, and so much more. What have we indeed grasp from all of those if we have indeed claimed that we love our rasulullah s.a.w? If we are indeed steadfast on the path of rasulullah s.a.w? If we love those who follows sternly in the path of rasulullah s.a.w and which his (s.a.w) companions (r.a) are upon? Islam carries a concept called al Wala' wa al Bara' which is translated alliance and severance for the sake of Allah s.w.t. How far have we strive to gain understanding about his concept in Islam as a muslim? How much do we know about aliance and severance for the sake of Allah s.w.t? Guide us O'Allah!

The Prophet said, "None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself." Narrated by Anas r.a. What have we wished for our brothers recently? today? yesterday? last week? last month? last year? Have we given the respect of how we would want to be respected? Describing a situation for instance, you may have gained something today. You may have known something that your friends are unaware about. Then you happen to see that your friend is making that mistake. So you approach and tell him that 'Hey! What your doing is wrong, this is how it is done, and so forth'. What makes you so sure by addressing the person that way, he learns from his mistakes or will he just not do the mistake only when your not around. I hope you get what I'm trying to say here.

This is just a reminder for you and myself. May Allah Azza Wa Jal (Mighty and Majestic is He) protect us and guide to the righteous path, Ameen (May it be so).
May Allah Azza Wa Jal increase us in knowledge and guide us to the straight path that He(Allah Azza Wa Jal) loves, Ameen(May it be so).

May Allah Azza Wa Jal forgive me for the shortcomings from what I have wrote.

Glory be to Allah Azza Wa Jal, I testify that there is no diety that is worthy of worship accept Allah s.w.t and Muhammad s.a.w (peace and blessings be upon him) is the last and final messenger, I beg for His (Allah Azza Wa Jal) forgiveness in all the shortcomings that I have made.

Fi Amanillah, (May Allah protect you)
Wassalamu'alaikum. (and may peace be upon you)