The Reader

Take time to ponder..

In the age of nano technology,we don't even have the time to think-what more to ponder.Things are moving too fast.Even Ramdhan is coming to end soon...one event and another takes place in our everyday life and we just move with time. IMHO, just moving along with the current flow is not enough,worse still we may go astray following our nafs.

A few days ago, my good friend Gukita sent me a list of Ayat from Juzu' Amma for me to read and to ponder.To ponder means to think and reflect.Below is an example:

89:27	O soul that art at rest!	يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ
89:28	Return to your Lord, well-pleased (with him), well-pleasing (Him),	ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَّرْضِيَّةً
89:29	So enter among My servants,	فَادْخُلِي فِي عِبَادِي
89:30	And enter into My garden.	وَادْخُلِي جَنَّتِي

 

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The ayat 27 refers to nafsu al-Mutmainah.I know it is not easy to achieve such a  state of tranquility, but with a month of fasting in this Ramadhan,I hope our hearts are moving in the direction if the hearts got the tarbiah from fasting and other ibadah we did this month.If we did not do anything,don't expect any change to our hearts.

Here is the list given:
100.Al-adiat 6-8
095.At-Tin 4-6
093.Al-Dhuha 1-5
092.Al-Lail 5-10,19-21
091.As-Syams 7-10
089.Al-Fajr 27-30
088.Al-Ghasyiah 17-20
086.At-Thariq 4-7,13-17

May I suggest for all of us to take some time to read these ayats and reflect upon them before the arrival of Shawal 1426.After the reflection,take some time to write what you have understood and plan to  improve ourselves before the ARRIVAL of the next Ramadhan.Otherwise,we shall remain at square one every year of our lives.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA-MAAF ZAHIR BATIN TO ALL.

NOTE:This blog will take a rest from 1-6 Nov.,2005

Ops Sikap

Our annual tradition of balik kampung during Hari Raya festival has began.On the second day of Ops Sikap yesterday,12 persons had died in the road accidents.How much more will die during this exodus of balik kampung and balik kerja?

Considering the behaviour of Malaysian drivers on the road,I am very pessimistic about the outcome but I still hope and pray that my fellow Malaysian drivers will drive their cars safely.I was on the road last night and I am scared just by looking at the numbers of cars.In Selangor alone,there were more than 200 accidents yesterday! That is why I decided to take public transport to balik kampung this year.

By the way, if you are driving,PLEASE be more careful on the roads.

To all readers/visitors to my blog,may I wish you:

EID MUBARAK and Selamat Hari Raya Eidul Fitri.

Blogging Note:This blog will take a rest beginning 1st Nov.,2005 for about a week.To my  friends,I can be contacted via my email : mohdadib[at]gmail.com or my DiGi mobile phone.

Personal Computer is really personal

It is about two weeks that my notebook computer(i.e iBook) is in the workshop.After more than a week,I received a shocking note from the 'surgeon' who opearted my computer that the logic board has been knocked out.It is just like heart failure for human beings.What is more shocking is the cost to replace it  is RM2200! With this sum of money, I can buy more than half 12" iBook!

So, I decided to  get a new one- iBook G4 14" that will cost me RM5366. This is a lot of money but the good news is that one company which I am on the board is willing to sponsor RM4500(lucky me).The bad news came yesterday that iBook will only be available after Eidul Fitri.All in all,I had to endure at least three weeks of sharing pc with others.IMHO,our notebook/laptop computer is very personal to us.We have our own settings,bookmark,special softwares/plugins,databases etc.

Not to mention I cannot sync my iPod and my Treo:-((

These few days had been difficult for me in using other's pc because I am  so used to my old iBook.When it comes to notebook,it is personal between the machine and the man.

Hijab

Last Saturday,I attended a kuliah subuh and the teacher talked about hijab.Let me share with you what I learnt and understood.If my undertanding is not right,please correct me.By writing down what I learnt will improve my understanding.

One of the main obstacles to submit to Allah swt is the hijab.Hijab is a veil that prevents us from seeing the Truths.The amount of Truths we see depends on the 'thickness of our hijab'-the thicker the hijab,the less we see the Truths.Hijab consists of  the illnesses of our hearts and those imposed by Allah swt.

2:7

God hath set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing, and on their eyes is a veil; great is the penalty they (incur).

خَتَمَ اللّهُ عَلَى قُلُوبِهمْ وَعَلَى سَمْعِهِمْ وَعَلَى أَبْصَارِهِمْ غِشَاوَةٌ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عظِيمٌ

To reduce the thickness of our hijab,we need to do all forms of ibadah so that our hearts are constantly being polished so that we could receive the Nur of Allah swt.As long as hijab exists,the eyes of the heart could not see the Truths.The lesser eyes of the heart could see only with the help of knowledge and mind,but the greater eyes of the heart could only see when Allah has lifted the veil.Let's work hard through our ibadah to remove the many layers of hijab and du'a to  Allah for His consent.

36:9

And We have put a bar in front of them and a bar behind them, and further, We have covered them up; so that they cannot see.

وَجَعَلْنَا مِن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا فَأَغْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لاَ يُبْصِرُون

One of the ways to reduce the hijab is to beg forgiveness from Allah for all our sins.Please refer to this ayat below:

66:8

O ye who believe! Turn to God with sincere repentance: In the hope that your Lord will remove from you your ills and admit you to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow,- the Day that God will not permit to be humiliated the Prophet and those who believe with him. Their Light will run forward before them and by their right hands, while they say, "Our Lord! Perfect our Light for us, and grant us Forgiveness: for Thou hast power over all things."

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا عَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ يَوْمَ لَا يُخْزِي اللَّهُ النَّبِيَّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَى بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَانِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا إِنَّكَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

As the curtain of Ramadhan al-Mubarak is closing down in the next few days,we should seek Allah forgiveness in this special month so that we could  return to our fitrah on the first Shawal,insyaAllah.

Wallahu'alam.

Last week of Ramadhan 1426

Today is 23rd Ramadhan and we are now in the last week of this Ramadhan.I hope those who had planned their ibadah activities for this Ramadhan will review what they have done as compared to what they had planned.Most of us will have shortfall in many categories,but don't be sad.There were so many obstacles that prevented us from doing what we are supposed to be doing in this Ramadhan al-Mubarak.Unfortunately, most of those hurdles came from within ourselves.InsyaAllah,we have going to have another seven days(or eight days) to go,and let's strive to do the best we can.

Personally, my body is getting weaker and the  temptations of worldly desires are getting stronger.I hope we all try to get stronger spiritually and be  more engaged in the festival of ibadah than getting ourselves to be seduced by the shopping festivals.The Eidul Fitr is the climax of our celebration in our ubudiyyah to Allah with takbir and tahmid.

Let's ponder on this ayat:

59:21

Had We sent down this Qur'an on a mountain, verily, thou wouldst have seen it humble itself and cleave asunder for fear of God.  Such are the similitudes which We propound to men, that they may reflect.

لَوْ أَنزَلْنَا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ عَلَى جَبَلٍ لَّرَأَيْتَهُ خَاشِعًا مُّتَصَدِّعًا مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ وَتِلْكَ الْأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

 

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Just study the simile given by Allah swt in the above ayat.What made the human heart harder than the rock in the mountain?What prevent us to obey the commands of Allah?
IMHO,it is the hijab(veil) that is so thick that got embedded with our qalb that had prevented the Nur of Allah to reach our heart.Everyone of us has a hijab,only the thickness varies from person to person.

Let's pray to Allah so that our ibadah especially in this Holy Month of Ramadhan will remove a few layers of veil that shrouded our hearts,insyaAllah.

Money alone is NOT enough...

True enough of the saying: a mother can look after nine children but not the other way around!

Only one or two may have the time and offer the efforts to take care of their mother when their mother is old and sick, but the rest are too busy to come and visit- what more to take care of their mother's daily needs.The majority may  only contribute money.They assumed that money can replace the efforts and time needed to look after an aging mother.NO,money is NOT enough.Love and care is more important.

This is a reminder to me and to those who have aging mothers.

Time's list:100 Best Novels

Here is the link to the list of Time's choice of best English novels since 1923. After going through the list,I have not even read 10% of the books listed.May be my criteria and your criteria of books to read are different from the critics at Time.Whatever it is, it is good to see the listed books-may be we can consider putting some of them in our 2006 list of books to read.

As a regular visitor to bookshops(once a week),I see a lot of books being put on display.Sometimes,I find it difficult to get the books that I am willing to buy and to read.
By the way, what have you been reading in 2005? Can you recommend a book or a list of books worth reading?

From my experience,I tend to read novels more than books on subjects of my vocational interests.Subconsciously,we prefer easier reading to more serious reading that we have to think a lot.Realising that recently, I started buying and reading management books since two years ago. Now,I realised what I have been missing in new knowledge of project management.I thought I have discovered the knowledge in project management, but after a discourse with my guru,I only discovered the philosphy and the path to knowledge in project management.To get to the knowledge, I have to walk the path...

Almost drowned by smoke!

  Drown by smoke 
  Originally uploaded by mohdadib.

Last two weeks,two persons in my neighbourhood were infected by dengue fever;one of them is my son. A few days ago,a team from of one man and a lady came to my neighbourhood to kill the aedes mosquitoes using fogging method as shown in the photos.

It was about 8am when I heard some noise at my gates that someone wanted to  tell me something.By the time I came downstairs to see what is going on, I saw thick white smoke filled the frontage of my house.By the time I opened the door, I saw nothing but thick white smoke.I closed my door and ran upstairs-otherwise the fogging will not only kill the mosquitoes but may affect my breathing or lungs.

Personally,I appreciate the efforts taken by the authority, but we the house-owners must be forewarned in due time to avoid any health hazards to those who may have some health related problems.

Here is the photo of the man in action.

Nuzul Quran

17:82 We send down (stage by stage) in the Qur'an that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe: to the unjust it causes nothing but loss after loss. وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَاء وَرَحْمَةٌ يَزِيدُ الظَّالِمِينَ إَلاَّ خَسَارًا
2:185 Ramadhan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an, as a guide to mankind, also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (Between right and wrong). So every one of you who is present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting, but if any one is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period (Should be made up) by days later. God intends every facility for you; He does not want to put to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful. شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِيَ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَانِ فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ الشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ يُرِيدُ اللّهُ بِكُمُ الْيُسْرَ وَلاَ يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَ وَلِتُكْمِلُواْ الْعِدَّةَ وَلِتُكَبِّرُواْ اللّهَ عَلَى هَدَاكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ

Let's all muslims/muslimahs be grateful and offer great praises to Allah swt for being present in this month-the blessed month of Ramadhan.The rewards for good deeds is manifolds and let's donot miss this special offer while it lasts,especially the last ten days of Ramadhan.

This afternoon during the solat Jumaat,the Imam reminded us to read as much Quran as we can.This reminds of the lecture by Ustaz Husin at my masjid last week that the 'pahala' for reading reading Quran is 10,the pahala for listening is 20 and the pahala for understanding and living the Quran is 30.

Takziah to Pak Lah

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 20 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister's wife Datin Seri Endon Mahmood passed away at 7.55 am Thursday at the Prime Minister's official residence Seri Perdana Putrajaya, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told Bernama.

May I offer my condolence(takziah) to our Prime Minister Pak Lah who lost his beloved wife this morning.Innalilahirajiun.AlFatihah for Allahyarhamah Datin Seri Endon.

From Allah we all came ,and to Him all of us shall return. All of us donot know when and where and how we are going to die, but all must die.Let's all be categorised in the group of the wise-the one who remembers death will come and he/she is prepared for it.