Kempen Akhlak Mulia =)

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim...=)

Salam to all Akhowat2 of Auckland... =)

Erm, i guess the poster says it all...huhu...

however for more information, click the poster or visit the Flowers of Islam website...

Jazakillahu khairan =)

what has become of us?

This world is full of darkness and light

Good days and bad days

Full of good deeds and bad deeds

yet we seem to sin more than we do good

Lying becomes hobby

Speading rumours amongst our brothers and sisters becomes a must

The fool is the one who follows his lust

Praying salah becomes dust

Saying salaam amongst muslims becomes like an old book full of rust

Being fully covered becomes religious

All you hear is people talk about their sexual desires

Women today are clothed yet naked

There is a tight wire on my neck I can't breathe

Can you imagine how blazing the hell fire is

by mujihada on Thu, 26/04/2007

Being judgemental

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim...

i recalled my days in high school and how i always took some time sneaking off to the back of the laboratory during biology class to look at the displays of preserved animals. there were rats, turtles, snakes, and a number of insects. waht fascinated me the most was the RAT. it was sustained in a cylindrical jar, submerged in a yellowish viscous liquid. the ventral part of its body was dissected and pushed apart exposing the insides. "i wouldnt want to touch a rat," i used to say to myself everytime i walked past the display. "dirty, nasty rodents,"

but i remembered vividly how the insides of the rat are much similar to the insides of a human. the stomach, oesophagus, intestines, they are all there (well, there are some minor differences but the major organs are there) so what distinguishes humans from rats? we are both creations of Allah, we breathe, we eat, we both have sensory organs that connects us to the exterior world... the major difference would be that Allah gave humans brains which are more complex and refined than the rats.

rats were made by Him in such a manner that we would take them as disgusting, nasty and dirty animals. on the other hand, Allah chose to recognise humans as His creation with elaborated minds who could decide and think for themselves, could perceive their surroundings through sensory means, to judge from experience, to make use of the brains to store information and memories. Allah is Most Reasonable and Fair, definitely and He has His reasons for these differences.

humans these days are rather funny. most of them chose to smear 'dirt' on themselves by committing sins, eating food from non-halal sources, practising riba and ignoring solat. don't they realise the value Allah had thrusted upon them? we chose to degrade ourselves by doing things that are against Allah's will, tainting and contaminating ourselves with countless sins. now, how are we different from rats? come to think of it, we may be worse off than rats. Okay, this may sound harsh, but that is not the case. note that my message here is that it is us who chose to make ourselves 'dirty', but Allah will never look at us that way. As sinful as we can get, Allah will always be there to accept us as we are, if we are willing to make amends.

Allah is Most Forgiving. Humans are imperfect, we make mistakes. but we must always keep ourselves in check, pull ourselves back on the right track, fix ourselves. Allah is always there to listen and accept our taubat.

"O men! Call to mind the grace of Allah unto you! is there a creator, other than Allah, to give you sustenance from heaven or earth? There is no god but He: how then are ye deluded away from the Truth? " (35:3)

"Dirty, nasty, rodents"? Astaghfirullah...

Strangers=Winners

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim...

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Islam initiated as something strange, and it would revert to its (old position) of being strange, so good tidings for the stranger.

indeed, the fortunate ones are those who are steadfast in their faith towards Allah Taala. in the currently challenging world, it is undeniable that it is difficult for Muslims to find a place in the society. maksiat is rife, violence unstoppable, crimes bloomed...and the list goes on. apparently, there are people these days who are willing to put aside Islam as their religion in order to feel accepted in the society. just look at our youths. in wanting to be 'accepted' in the society, they dare to defy the teachings of Islam and follow what is 'acceptable' in the community. a common issue is the hijab. just because of some stereotyped perceptions that women who wear hijab are being oppressed, some Muslim girls are already feeling depressed. can you imagine? in order to prove to the whole world that they are the 'new independent Muslims', they boldly put off their hijab. where are your pride, sisters? don't get me wrong, dear sisters. it is out of love that i am telling this. i am in no position to judge you on what i see. Allah indeed is the best Judge and let us pray that we are under His protection at all times.

And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss.(24:31)

In a hadith narrated by Abu Huraira, Rasulullah mentioned that true Muslims in the Last Days will be regarded as strange due to their adherence to Al-Quran and Sunnah (the Salafi Society of North America, 2001). They are indeed, he added, are the fortunate ones. It is important for us to be strong and firm in carrying out our duty as a Muslim. It is also imperative to relate everyting that we do back to al-Quran and Sunah. what we see today is a mix of Islam and other culture. There is nothing special about the people who practised Islam anymore. Everything has blended in the waves of development and colonisation. Sad, really sad. Maybe most people thought Islam had liberated, but no. our conditions are exacerbating! Nobody is willing to uphold the once, sublime deen anymore.

At-Tabaraanee reported from the Hadith of Abu Hurairah, that the Prophet (pbuh) said: Those who clings to my Sunnah at the times of corruption of my ummah will receive the reward of a martyr (the Salafi Society of North America, 2001).

How exactly do we bridge this gap? First things first. We need to rectify ourselves first. I am saying this to others as well as myself. Have you executed your responsibility as a Muslim? Do people see the Islam in you when they look at you? What about your characters and personalities? Do they reflect what is being emphasised in the al-Quran and Sunnah? Do you practise ukhuwah? Is al-Quran your best friend? Do you refer to it for guidance and finds solace in it? Do you cover your aurat fully? Do you take precautions when socialising with the opposite sex? Are you listening to the right music for entertainment? What do you do when you come across obscene acts in movies? Believe me i can go on and on. Seriously, you and i have a long way to go. InsyaAllah, He will assist us in our effort to repair ourselves and indeed He loves His servants who repents.

O ye who believe! Enter into Islam whole-heartedly; and follow not the footsteps of the evil one; for he is to you an avowed enemy.(2:208)

This is a post i dedicate especially for myself and i hope with this i could contribute towards liberating Islam as a holistic religion. with this, i promise that i would try my best to uphold my religion with Izzah(pride). i will try, i will try. And so, let us all pray for Allah's forgiveness and may He accept our repentances (taubah) and may we be the true winners at the end of the line. InsyaAllah...

Ma kana min khair famin ind Allah

wama kana min sharrin famin ind nafsi

(What is good is from Allah, and what is not is my own weakness)

Wallahu A'lam....

Australia : a journey of tarbiyyah

bismillahirrahmanirrahim..

haven't been writing for quite a while because i was away in aussie for 8 days=) so...my naqibah asked me to write a report and here it is..there's a lot to tell actually. maybe i won't be telling everything but just the simple details of the journey.

10th july
we departed from auckland to sydney in a 2-hour flight. upon reaching sydney, we went to newcastle to meet our friends. it was a 2-hour drive from sydney airport to newie. we met at the university of newcastle and from there we board a bus towards riverwoods lodge. there was actually a winter gathering going on, organised by FAMSY-NUIMS the islamic society in newcastle university.

winter gathering in newie =)

kayaking at riverwoods lodge

11th july-12th july

sandboarding

the winter gathering ended on 12th of july and we headed back to university of newcastle. ad-duha (me, alia, aida, fiza, and kak tiqa) planned to have a night stay in newcastle before going back to sydney the day after. the next day, 12th july our newie friends brought us sandboarding (yup, surfing on sand =) it was a hilarious experience because i never seemed to get through all teh way down the slope...haha..unlike aida and aliaa. but it was fun, but aida and aliaa got some abrasions, because they attempted to surf while standing =p it was tiring when going up the slope, and also 'sandy' because we have sand all over. haha.. next, we took some pics at the beach nearby. the waves were tremendous, Subhanallah..

the beach

and then we left and went to the university of newcastle. newie uni was actually where i'd like to go when i was in taylors college, because it is situated in a reserved area. so you could imagine seeing greens everywhere when in uni site. it was just lovely and i have to say, the air was fresh and clean =) next stop: city centre in newcastle. the city was not as lively as in auckland. the buildings are quite old and faded, but they have nice beaches =) we walked along the beach for a while, snapping pictures here and there. the breeze was soft, and cold too..

it was already in the evening, and we had to catch a train to sydney at 6. we left our newie friends with a heavy heart and we were hoping to see each other again soon..huhu..we reached sydney at 9.30 pm and took a bus heading to kak tiqa's friend's house in macquarie. it was a uni residence.

13 july

unilodge in canberra

we spent the night in macquarie and the next day we planned to head to canberra, by coach. but before that we went to visit macquarie university. it was very uni-like,on a large site and something like the university of auckland. then we board the 3-hour coach towards canberra. fast forward...we reached canberra 3 hours later, kak tiqa's friend came to meet us at the station (kak lina) and she took us to the Unilodge where another of kak tiqa's friend is residing (kak sapura) we ate lunch and ate the cake baked by kak sapura...haha, sedap2.. =)

Australian National Universtity (ANU)

that night we planned to go to Canberra Islamic Centre, where there were brothers and sisters from Melbourne having their winter gathering. It was a large building, and there were lots of Islamic books in its library. i was quite envious, because there isn't any Islamic Centre in Auckland..yet..huhu..So, after saying our goodbyes to the Melbourne sisters, we went back to Unilodge. It was a long bus ride home and that night was very cold, and windy. I recalled feeling really exhausted and sleepy. Haura, nina and farah (our James Cook University friends) spent the night at Unilodge. Ad-Duha spent the night at kak lina's house. from unilodge, we had to take a 5-minute bus. everyone didn't say anything much in the bus, all we had in mind was to reach our destination and get some rrest.

14-15 july

cockington gardens

we woke up early in the morning to catch the 7 am bus going back to unilodge. after everyone was all ready, we head to the cockington green gardens. it was a garden with miniatures of famous buildings around the world, like Borobudur Temple, Mosques in Jordan and Turkey. There were also miniatures of English houses. i bought a postcard and a fridge magnet. =D it was definitely an interesting place to visit. =)

old parliament house

later on, we took a bus to the Parliament House. there were the old parliament house and the current one. the bus dropped us at the old parliament house. So from there we had to walk to the current parliament house which was not far away. here is where the Senates and the States Representatives assemble for meetings. before entering we had to have our bags screened and stuff like that. in the building we went in to see the Great Hall, the and Parliament Halls. there were two, one for Senate Assembly and the other for the State Reps Assembly. we posed and took some pictures.

After that, we took a bus to the Australian War Memorial. it was built in remembrance of the Australian soldiers who served in wars, the most significant is the Anzac Hall, where respect was paid for the soldiers engaged.

we left and head for the National Museum of Australia. there wasn't much time actually, because it was already 5 pm and we had to catch a coach back to sydney at 6 pm. so we went in there and briefly passing the exhibitions, took some photos and catch a bus back to unilodge, before going to the station to catch our 6 pm coach. we said our goodbyes to kak lina and kak sapura. they helped us a lot during our stay in canberra. we hoped to see them again InsyaAllah..
we reached sydney at 9.30 pm at the station. kak murni was there to take us back to macquarie, where we initially stayed while we were in sydney. fatigued.. exhausted.. zzz

16 july

the next morning we were planning to go to Auburn to visit the Gallipolli Mosque. Auburn is said to be where most Muslims in Aussie reside. but we planned to go to Paddy's Market in Sydney first, before going to Auburn. Paddy's Market is like a heaven for shopping souvenirs. there were lots of cheap stuff there, like key chains, t-shirts, fridge magnets, decorations, lots!! and they were very very cheap. i bought quite a lot of stuff, for everyone back home. i got myself this really cute bag, it's black and there's a kangaroo on it =) later, we took a train to Auburn. the Gallipolli Mosque was really big and beautiful. there were unique carvings of khat on the walls...breathtaking, Subhanallah..Kak tiqa was saying it looked bit like the Sultan Salehuddin al-Ayyubi Mosque. we prayed there and after that we dined at a thai restaurant. =) right after that we went back home, macquarie and settled for the day

17 july

featherdale wildlife park

that morning we went to featherdale wildlife park where there are many kangaroos and koalas =) it was quite a large park and there were many other animals besides kangaroo and koala, like crocodiles, lizards, birds, goats, sheeps..we posed with the koalas and kangaroos..they're such cuties =)

opera house

university of sydney

after that we went to the renowned Opera House. i was wondering how the inside looked like but we had no time actually, because we had to catch a ferry back to macquarie to get our luggage bags and head straight to the airport. Our flights were scheduled next morning, and we were planning to have the night in airport.
At the airport we had usrah from 12 till morning at around 5.15am, before we check-in our bags.

we reached Auckland at 3 pm, safe and sound, and glad to be home again =)

What i personally gain from this trip was it taught me a lot about being courageous in confronting everyday problems. There isn't a need to fear when we know that Allah is with us at all times to help us in our affairs. i could somehow feel that we were being given tarbiyyah by Allah throughout this journey. every problems and difficulties have their solutions, we just have to be strong and have faith in His Help. there were times when i felt physically and mentally challenged as well, but Alhamdulillah, He gave me strength to endure such situations, Allah is Most Giving =) the first-rated buildings and places i visited in Aussie opened my eyes to how humans could be multi-talented and shrewd in making and designing them...but the Creator of humans, He is much more talented and more brilliant in designing the human minds to be creative in progressing technology, now THAT IS GREAT =)

The best in-built tool

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim...

wow, it feels great not to be bugged by the thoughts of exams, lectures, and assignments. it is indeed a blessing to feel carefree, happy and calm at heart, Allah is Most Giving. at the same time, when being tried with this kind of test of contentment and happiness, we should always remember our Lord and fill our leisure time getting to know Him better. Often, we tend to err whenever our problems are resolved and it seemed Allah is the place to go, only whenever we are in difficulties.


A good example would be the dua. Dua is frequently viewed by us as a last resort to any problems that we encounter. Just ask ourselves what would we first do when encountering a problem? Find a friend, go shopping, cry till you sleep, write in diary, bla3x you would say. In the end, when none of these had any effects on you, then only you remember Allah, who is the Almighty, the All Knowing, the Only One who could change your life for the better. That's when we realised how we've been neglecting Him all this while, and we start feeling sorry for committing faults in the past. And this only happens whenever we are being tested with tough situations.

"And be ye not like those who forgot Allah. and He made them forget their own souls! Such are the rebellious transgressors! " (59:19)

"When some trouble toucheth man, he crieth unto his Lord, turning to Him in repentance: but when He bestoweth a favour upon him as from Himself, (man) doth forget what he cried and prayed for before, and he doth set up rivals unto Allah, thus misleading others from Allah.s Path. Say, "Enjoy thy blasphemy for a little while: verily thou art (one) of the Companions of the Fire!"" (39:8)

Allah had repeatedly said that He will test us with difficult situations. He did warn us and waht we usually do when we are going to be tested is to be prepared. there is no notification when the test is to prevail, nor the venue of the test. this means the test could be anytime soon, or even now! in conclusion, we have to brace ourselves at all times, and be prepared, mind and soul. Like He said:

"Then do ye remember Me; I will remember you. Be grateful to Me, and reject not Faith." (2:152)

Remember Allah when you are at ease, and Allah will assist you in your trying times. Indeed His aid is very near for those who believes. Dua, is the most powerful weapon for Muslims, not only during times when our soul is not at ease, but also in the times when we are at comfort. Nothing is too big or too small to ask. He Knows, what is in our hearts, pour them all out, cry if you must. There is no one that could understand what is nestled in your heart except Allah. We turn to Him because we believe that only He, I repeat, only He who could push away the gloom engulfing and suffocating us.

We have read the stories of the Prophet's Companions and how they stood up in the face of hardship. Dua is the main agenda which helped them overcome the hurdles coming their way. Salahaddin al-Ayyubi, Abu Bakar as-Siddiq, Umar al-Khattab, these are great warriors who always asked for assistance from Him in everything they do. Salahaddin al-Ayyubi could not have won the battle in Hittin and conquered Jerusalem if it wasn't because of help from Allah. Abu Bakar as-Siddiq could not have became a great Caliph if it wasn't because of guidance from Allah. Us? If He could make these great things happen for the noblemen i mentioned earlier, it is not possible that He could help us too....to answer our exam questions well, to pass an interview, to solve monetary affairs, and the list goes on.



in addition, we should pray for our lives both in this world and in the Hereafter. Be balanced. If we concentrate only on the former, that shows how not balanced we are as Muslims. Reach for Akhirat, and wisely, make use of your worldly life to secure you a place in Jannah. Dua, should be the first and the last resort of a Muslim who believes, with all his effort coming in between. Tawakkal as a company along the way. InsyaAllah, He will be at our side at all times.

"And He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. And if any one puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is ((Allah)) for him. For Allah will surely accomplish his purpose: verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion. " (65:3)

Thank You Allah.

All i wanted to say is
Jazakillahu Khairan Kathiran Ya Akhowat2...

Ana sayang semua...
Moga Allah permudahkan dan merahmati semuanya...
InsyaAllah...