Hadith 1

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.....

It is narrated on the authority of Amirul Mu'minin, Abu Hafs 'Umar bin al-Khattab, radiyallahu 'anhu, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, say:

"Actions are (judged) by motives (niyyah), so each man will have what he intended. Thus, he whose migration (hijrah) was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some worldly thing he might gain, or for a wife he might marry, his migration is to that for which he migrated." (Bukhari & Muslim)

Every deed is initiated by intention (niat). Sometimes, what we do may not reflect waht our intentions are. But the Only One who Knows is of course Allah. The AlMighty Judge. For example, two persons going to perform Hajj may look like they are executing one of the Five Pillars of Islam. However, one of them may have other intentions, like he may want to shop for souvenirs more than he wanted to perform ibadah towards Allah. And in contrast, the other person wished to perform Hajj with the intention of elevating his Iman. And according to the hadith above, they both will be granted what they wished for.

During the time of Hijrah, there was this man who wanted to migrate to Madinah because he wished to marry a woman. Whereas the others who were embarking the exodus, they had the intention of liberating Islam from oppression in Makkah. Well, Rasulullah said, the man and the rest of the pack will get what they wished for and they will be repaid by Allah according to their respective intentions.

However, speaking of purity of intentions, the most divine and highly deed emanates from a heart full of aspiration towards strengthening the iman towards Allah Taala. the deed is not necessarily ibadah, it could be anything that we do everyday. eat, sleep, drink, walk...as long as they were being credited towards Allah, because of ALlah. what was being executed from right purposes, will retain a good status. however, if the deed emanated from a bad intention, thus the deed is indeed bad. although it may appear good.

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

Dan janganlah kamu menjadi seperti orang-orang yang telah melupakan (perintah-perintah) Allah, lalu Allah menjadikan mereka melupakan (amal-amal yang baik untuk menyelamatkan) diri mereka. Mereka itulah orang-orang yang fasik - derhaka.(59:19)

Imam Nawawi classified our deeds into 3 parts.

1. the deed was being performed on the grounds of fearing Allah. This kind of deed is called the Deed of Servants (Ibadah Hamba)

2. the deed was being performed on the grounds of attaining rewards and Jannah from Allah. this kind of deed is called the Deed of Merchants (Ibadah Saudagar)

3. the deed was being performed on the grounds of executing his obligations as a fearful servant of Allah, to justify his gratitude towards Allah and always feel cautious if his deed was not being accepted by Allah because of his carelessness or oblivioussness. This deed is called the Deed of the Liberated (Ibadah yang Merdeka).

The categories of deeds above are all rightful intentions.

Thus when Aishah Radiallahuanha asked Rasulullah, why was he so insistent in performing ibadah every night, without fail until his feet were sore and bruised, although he was guaranteed Jannah in the end. Now, we can understand why Rasulullah answered "I just wanted to prove my gratitude towards ALlah,"

................................................................................................................................................................

The conclusion here is, know your intentions. know your priorities. get them right. if you plant the right seed, the flower will come out right, healthy and beautiful. nothing can go wrong because you started right. you will end up at the rightful path, InsyaALlah.

Wallahu a'lam..

ar-Rijal and an-Nisa

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim...

This is an interesting preach by Khalid Yassin regarding the obligations of us ar-Rijal and an-Nisa...=)

i particularly like the part when he said that Muslim women are the Flowers of Islam...hehe..makes me smile..=)

Himmah 'Aaliah 2

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim....

This post is from a friend's blog. A friend from UNSW, Australia (First Year Medical student). This should be a continuation of the previous post about himmah 'aaliyah. the himmah that was portrayed by the brothers in UNSW puts ME to shame. this is the himmah that we want among our brothers and sisters in Islam. (Jazakallah khair eyh for allowing me to plagiarise lol).

http://damediccrow.blogspot.com/

"Assalammualaikum wbt

This week... is a holiday for the faculty of medicine @ unsw... but I cant really go anywhere this whole week... why? bcoz there's....

Click poster to find out more

I dont really know how I got involved in this, I was like sleeping in the UNSW musolla after Asar prayer... then Huzaifah came to me and asked me if I'm free... and suddenly I'm at the meeting... and Sabir (the president of ISOC - Islamic Society on Campus) told me; "get all the Malaysians that I see 8 out of 10 hours I'm at uni everyday to get involved.." and he put me on the food commitee..

Well, time passed by... we have meetings every week.. the one thing that we really have shortage is ironically manpower... ironic because... there's a lot of muslims on campus... there's like 500 from Saudi's and Malaysian I think easily surpasses 200++, not to mention from Pakistan, India, and other muslims countries...

Yeah, people's been busy with uni life and all...

But, there was this one meeting where one of the brother has test the hour after that, but he still went to the meeting... and participate well... even though he has test the next hour... MasyaAllah... even for me I've been making a lot of excuses to myself to avoid doing some jobs or stuffs... I'm really far left behind them in terms of jihad... and I thought I have it...

Trying to organize an event this big where trying to spread da'wah to especially to the non-muslims is very very hard... its really sad yet inspiring seeing the brothers and sisters really struggling hard to get this done... they have to skip classes, go all around uni to meet people, call up people, photocopying, pasting posters... and many more... at times I wonder... how can they still have the spirit to do this? If I were them... I'd probably given up...

It was because of this that I felt... its wrong for me to leave them alone... as a muslims whom Allah has opened my eyes to witness them.. how could I pretended nothing happened?

Anyway, they sacrificed a lot of their time to do this... in fact 3 of the commitee members are doing medicine 3rd and 4th year!! There's law student, petroleum, business, econs... you name it man.. almost all faculty has a representatives...so if I say I'm too busy that I cannot help them?? yeah right... Alhamdulillah, most of the time Allah swt get rid of all the excuses and helped carry my lazy self from the bed to help them...

Ali, one of the brothers said to me "the best thing of getting involve in IAW, is you get to meet new friends..."

Well said brother...

All the brothers in the IAW commitee, if I weren't here, I would not even know them!! (even though one of the brothers is actually a 4th year med student). MasyaAllah, all of them are very good muslims, they are not afraid, nor care-free or even lazy to propagate Islam.

"Let's go to a CBS (Campus Bible Studies) meeting, and tell them to learn about Islam and come to IAW" , "yeah, I'll do it!" a brother said without any hesitation. if it was Me... going into a christian club and saying come to islamic event... ???

"let's put out a poster stating Jesus was (actually is..) a Muslim!" <-- and we really did print out this posters... if it were me, i wouldn't even dare... These are some of the normal conversation you hear from them... showing how they are really serious to spread Islam... and how far behind I am... someone told me... "islam akan naik kembali dari Nusantara..." hmmm..... Anyway... I'm really really grateful that Allah swt fated for me to be involved in this... this is just another blessings from Him, for me to learn more about Islam from the international brothers... there's a lot I can learn from them~!! and hopefully someday I'll be able to become someone as inspiring as them...

Today.. the last day of preparation, we went postering and chalking almost the whole uni so that on monday the people will only see UNSW... and today I was again impressed by the spirits of the brothers and sisters... totally totally impressed... I was at many time saying... "cmon man that's enough..." but they're like keep on going... I still have a lot to learn~ Anyway, it was really tiring for all of us... but what came to my mind is... it would definitely be easier if there were a lot of people helping... like I said earlier... we're really short on manpower... but Alhamdulillah, we've done our target after working from 10.00am to 4.00pm.. some of them even stayed longer since there's more work to do...

Hopefully next year, we'll have more people helping out with the next IAW... and hopefully by then me myself will not be saying "owh I'm busy with assignments/projects/exams/other programs etc..." Bcoz there's brothers out there that's doing someting very good and is very near to us and really really hoping to get some help from us... I overheard a brother's conversation..

"If we can't even get this done, forget about Palestine man..." <-- he's actually referring about the Friday's prayers problem at UNSW, but I just think its also relevant here, if I cant even help this brother who's so close to me, why am I even dreaming of helping Palestine?


And we wonder how come Palestine is still not free... bcoz no one will really helped them unless they're there in Palestine (generally speaking... no offense), some do.. yeah


So that's its for preparation, Alhamdulillah for all the stuffs that Allah's enabled us to do... and hopefully it will be a very successfull week, hopefully people will come to our events, hopefully we get to see some people converting to Islam.. InsyaAllah...

I myself been really lazy with the preparations, hopefully Allah will forgive me for that... and hopefully I gained a lot from this"

Hopefully this post could have some input to our himmah insyaAllah....

Wallahu a'alam

Himmah 'Aaliyah

BIsmillahirrahmnirrahim....

Those who do wish for the (things of) the Hereafter, and strive therefore with all due striving, and have Faith,- they are the ones whose striving is acceptable (to Allah) (17:19)

Dan sesiapa yang menghendaki akhirat dan berusaha mengerjakan amal-amal yang baik untuk akhirat dengan usaha yang layak baginya, sedang ia beriman, maka mereka yang demikian keadaannya, diberi pahala akan amal usahanya. (17:19)

remember the times when you wanted something so badly, how you worked your heart out to get it? remember how oblivious you are to the world when the only thing you think about is that 'something'? i recalled a few weeks before sitting for my SPM, i was so into studying, revising, not forgetting praying, qiam, reciting the Quran, etc. i remembered how determined i was to win that story telling competition at my school when i was in standard three. (spent nights and days talking to myself in front of the mirror, haha...but i lost..huhu). these were the times when we are at our best, the moments when we portray resiliency, passion, determination and endurance. Himmah A'aliyah. Means high-spirited and driven.

However it is essential that we are driven for the right causes. In our case, the utmost important cause is to inculcate that himmah in our iman towards Allah Taala. nevertheless, to have himmah in worldly affairs is not entirely wrong. it is just that the worldly himmah is not as 'divine' and not as 'highly'.

What is the life of this world but play and amusement? But best is the home in the hereafter, for those who are righteous. Will ye not then understand? (6:32)

Dan tidak (dinamakan) kehidupan dunia melainkan permainan yang sia-sia dan hiburan yang melalaikan: dan demi sesungguhnya negeri akhirat itu lebih baik bagi orang-orang yang bertaqwa. Oleh itu, tidakkah kamu mahu berfikir? (6:32)

Abu Qassim al-Junaid once told:

"the beginning to every matter is himmah. so, bear that himmah,"

To err is human. to maintain that himmah is not all easy. often we have many matters at hand and we tend to forget our main purpose of life. therefore to renew that himmah is crucial. say if you failed in something, you wouldn't want to stay in that sorry state for long, would you? you would want to 'recharge' and pull yourself back on track.

A few ways to renew your himmah is doa, ibadah, get busy with things to bring you closer to Allah, and zikrulmaut. for myself, it takes a bit of effort to gain that enthusiasm in obtaining that himmah aaliyah. at times i find myself thinking and pondering irrelavant matters. childish and immature, that's how i think of myself. many times, my friends would tell me how i think too much and i don't give myself much 'space to breathe'. (this is totally out of topic, but apa salahnya luahkan perasaan skali skala kan..haha)

whereas some of the factors that weaken our himmah is wahan (love of the world and dislike of death), futur, waste of time, laziness, and being acquainted with people of low himmah.

Narrated Thawban:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The people will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others to share their dish. Someone asked: Will that be because of our small numbers at that time? He replied: No, you will be numerous at that time: but you will be scum and rubbish like that carried down by a torrent, and Allah will take fear of you from the breasts of your enemy and last enervation into your hearts. Someone asked: What is wahn (enervation). Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him): He replied: Love of the world and dislike of death.

may our efforts in increasing our himmah be accepted by Him and may we be the true winners in the end.

Wallahu a'alam...

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim....

This is what i have to say for myself:

I am contented and grateful with what i have now and i have no reason to look back at the past

I can't alter anything and i am not going to waste my time contemplating on things that are just
aren't true

Allah is enough for me and that is really what I need

Strong willed, determined, and patient

That's what Zinnirah is made of

Smile!! =D

Flawed and imperfection....a 'completion'...

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim...



ramadhan is finally coming to an end. let us all make use of the remaining days in ramadhan to increase our ibadah and prayers. with ramadhan coming to an end, the spirit of worshiping ALlah should not cessate. instead, it should be a boost to our souls so that we are more prepared and geared up. for what?

"Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere,

Who say, when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return"

(2:155, 156)

In this post, i wanted to be more personal. Well after reading other ikhwahs' and akhowats' blogs, i could see the personal side of them. especially in their relationship with Allah Taala. I assume that is what most people would like to read about. it gives you the aura of connectedness, doesn't it? the connection of faith and worship.

when i started writing this blog, there are two things that constantly intrude my mind :

1. the feeling of ujub (proud)
2. if i don't practice what i preach...(or write)

the feeling of ujub is a negative feeling which i think exist (could be very2x minimal or none at all) in everyone. this feeling comes from no other than the Syaitan. there are two ways which the syaitan will approach its targets (according to al-Muntalaq) . it's either persuading humans to do what Allah forbids (this is not unusual) or encourage humans to do good, but with the wrong intentions (not putting Allah as main intention). ujub is an instance of the latter part. this, i find really intricate. it is 'amazing' how syaitan is determined to stray us from the rightful path. the issue of the heart and intentions (niat) is very sensitive in Islam. it is imperative that we purify ourselves by reminding ourselves of our main purpose: none other than to please Allah Taala.

"And if (at any time) an incitement to discord is made to thee by the Evil One, seek refuge in Allah. He is the One Who hears and knows all things." (41:36)

"Dan jika syaitan mengganggumu dengan suatu godaan, maka mohonlah perlindungan kepada Allah. Sunggguh dia Maha Mendengar, Maha Mengetahui" (41:36)

the 'consequences' of writing matters pertaining religion is that you will be scrutinized, which is good because you can prevent yourself from doing things that Allah forbids. (this kind of attention is good, as long as your intention is to bring yourself closer to Allah) Even if the real situation is, you are not being under scrutiny, you yourself will feel like you are. at first, you are only being cautious of the perceptions of your fellow brothers and sisters in Islam, but later on, you will realise that the scrutinizing eyes of Allah Taala is the utmost importance above all. and besides that is the fact that if your actions speak differently from your speech, it could bring slanders unto the religion, plus the wrath of Allah Taala.

"Do ye enjoin right conduct on the people, and forget (To practise it) yourselves, and yet ye study the Scripture? Will ye not understand? "(2:44)

"Mengapa kamu menyuruh orang lain (mengerjakan kebajikan) sedangkan kamu melupakan dirimu sendiri, padahal kamu membaca al-Kitab? Tidakkah kamu mengerti?" (2:44)

Imam Hassan al-Banna:

"The art of preaching is different from the art of practising"

" Medan cakap tidak sama dengan medan amal"

i also wanted to say here that Allah created humans as imperfect. there are certain things that we overlooked, mistakes being done, things forgotten... as Muslims we should think good of others and not be quick to judge. What we can do is advise and remind each other in the most proper ways. I would really appreciate if someone pointed out what i did wrong (it may be hurtful) but it's a learning process. we learn from each other, that's for sure =)

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....

Strangers equal 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 .....(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. 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 everything that we do back to al-Quran and Sunnah. 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.

How exactly do we bridge this gap? First things first. We need to rectify ourselves. 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. InsyaAllah, He will assist us in our effort to make amends 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....