The Reader

School holidays

Now,most children are at homes most of the time with their parents.In my case, only my youngest child is still schooling.I think,it is a good time to spend more time with my child so that I could guide and assist him in getting himself ready before the new year comes when he has to prepare and sit for his SPM examination and also facing the challenges of growing up as a young man .

Growing up is not easy,especially nowadays.I believe our children need us all the time but many a time we were not there when the need arises.Many of us are too busy doing other things and leaving our kids to look for answers some where else.When I was at his age, I stayed at full boarding school and only came in contact with my parent during school holidays.I was fortunate that my late father took time to talk and discuss with me when I had questions that needed answers for me to get on with my life. IMHO, shool holidays time is not just for family vacations but also for more meaningful interactions with our children.

This morning, I told my son to list down his weaknesses in his shool work so that we can work things out.

Let us try harder to become better parents.The question that bugs me is am I a competent father?

I have three sons.Each one of them is my personal projects.Before they leave me to start their own lives, I consider my duty to ensure that each one of them has iman,ilmu and akhlak.If not, then I have failed in my duties.It is a tall order, but I have to do my job.

Free smell

On the way to the departure lounge at KLIA, I was attracted by multi-coloured display at Famous Amos as shown below.So, I stopped by and admired the shop front.The sales girl asked me what type of amos did I want to buy,but she was greatly dissappointed when I replied that I just stopped by for a free smell;-)

Fear of Allah

All of us muslims and muslimahs have fear of Allah swt but the degrees of fear varies from person to person according to his/her iman and knowledge. And the one who fears most is the one who has the most knowledge. Let's admit that we don't fear  Allah swt as we should be.Fear is part of the taqwa.According to Ibn Katheer,taqwa is fear of Allah and be conscious of Allah swt all the time.

Allah said, "So fear them not, but fear Me, if you are believers." [3:175], "And fear none but Me." [2:40], "So fear not men but fear Me." [5:44]

There is plenty of ayats in the Qur'an telling us about the punishments if we go against the Commands of Allah swt, and yet quite a number us keep on breaking the rules even though we know that we shall be accountable to our every deed(We can disobey the Commands of Allah but we can't run away from the Wills of Allah).Just look into our hearts whether the feeling of fear exists when we read the ayats of punishments if we go against the Commands of Allah.

One of the ways to increase our fear of Allah swt is to continously seeking knowledge and beg for Allah's Guidance.I must admit that I spent so much time studying scientific and empirical knowledge but very little time and efforts to study the revealed knowledge from The Qur'an and The Sunnah.

In seeking knowledge, we must follow certain etiquette-the adab.Adab is a prerequite to getting the blessed knowledge.Below is an excerpt from the a book entitled The Etiquette of Seeking Knowledge by Shaykh Bakr Aboo Zayd:

Imam Ahmad said:
"The foundation of knowledge is the fear of Allah,the Most High".
So adhere to fearing Allah openly and secretly,for the best of all people are those who are fearful of Allah,and no one[truly] fears Him except a knowledgable person,therefore  the best of all the people is the scholar. let it not slip your mind that the scholar cannot be considered a scholar unless he acts[upon his knowledge],and no scholar implements his knowledge unless it earns him the fear of Allah.

From my personal observations, the lack of fear of Allah has contributed to so many evils and injustice in our daily lives.

By admitting that we lack the knowledge,then we must proceed without delay to seek it with the proper etiquette.InsyaAllah,we shall be guided and arrived at The Station of AlKhawf.

Further reading on Alkhawf.

Details of the book referred:
Title:The Etiquette of Seeking Knowledge
ISBN:1-898649-41-3
Publisher:Al-Hidaayah Publishing & Distribution
website://www.al-hidaayah.co.uk

Light trick

My plane was delayed for almost five hours,so I have ample time to roam around KLIA airport terminal and took a few photos. The one above is really special and it also amused me.Technically I donot know how could one photo shows the image outside the building (the top half) and the bottom half  shows the relected image on the inside of the building.By right,it should shows either one-objects outside the building or the relected image of the interior.On the bottom left ,you can see me taking the photo.

Can someone explain this phenomena?

Note:I can't sleep tonight,so I decided to have this jet-lag posting;-)

Back home

First and foremost,let me thank Allah swt for His Rahmah and mercy given to me and my family for a safe and fruitful oversea trip in the last ten days.May I also thank all of you who had du'a for my safety.

InsyaAllah, I will continue updating my blog this Friday 25th Nov.,2005.

My apologies if I have not responded to your comments or your emails or your calls/sms in the last ten days.

Fasting everyday..

First,let me thank Allah swt that had given us the opportunity to fast during the recent month of Ramadhan al-Mubarak.May Allah accept our fast as our ubudiyyah to Him and reward us with al-Jannah,insyaAllah.I hope and pray that I may meet the next Ramadhan.

It is my hope and my du'a that my qalbu had undergone the Ramadhan tarbiah so that I could continue my everyday "fasting" NOT to disobey the commands of Allah.This second level of "fasting" is more difficult than to refrain from eating and drinking etc during the month of Ramadhan.The fights against our nafs are bigger than The Battle of Uhud as mentioned in one hadith.By the way,the third level of fasting is in preventing the heart from worshipping any other than the Essence of Allah.

After going through one month of training in our obedience to Allah in fasting,we should continue with our good deeds as we practised in the last Ramadhan until the next Ramadhan and then we begin again another round of training to become better muslims/muslimahs.All of us wanted to become better muslims/muslimahs, but many of us had not put up adequate efforts to achieve our goals.as Ramadhan fades away,we tend to go back to our old ways..Just ask ourselves after so many Ramadhans,how much have we improved ourselves?

Note: This blog will most likely not be updated for the next two weeks(13-23 Nov,2005) as I will be overseas.However,I will update this blog if I could get access to Internet whenever/wherever I can.

Motor-cycles

I really envied my uncle when he rode this vespa in  early 70's.I was still studying at the time and I can't afford to buy but once a while my uncle let me took a ride on this cool machine.

When I started working,my parents didnot allowed me to buy a motor-cycle,so I have to borrow my mother's old car-Datsun 1200.
Talking about older brands like Norton and Triumph,there were really great!I used to sit and watch my teachers riding their motor-cycles and dreamt one day that I may be able to ride on one.Until todate,I never got the chance to own a motor-cycle, but I used to borrow my late cousin Virago and tried to ride.Somehow, I got scared...

By the way,the photo above is taken from a show of Melaka house at KLIA about a week ago.

Losing ATM card

Yesterday, I had a good laugh at myself.In my earnest to get my ATM card that was swallowed by RHB kiosk, I went on a wild goose chase.Three days before Eidul Fitri, I used my BCB ATM card to withdraw some cash at a Petronas station near my home.The RHB kiosk went kaput and swallowed my card.Two days later,I went to check whether I could get my card back from the Petronas station.I was told that I could not get back my card because the company that handled cash delivery will send my card to BCB HQ.

After a week later,I contacted BCB HQ and someone there told me they don't handle this card business.If they receive it, it will be sent to my BCB branch.I checked with my BCB branch that they have not received anything from their HQ.

Frustrated, I went to RHB HQ and an officer told me that the bank has outsourced this service and most likely I will get my ATM in one or two months time.According to her ,it is possible that my ATM may not be returned to me and will be destroyed!That shocked me beyond belief.I told her on the face that if that happens, her bank is very irresponsible.I even educated her by saying that a service can be outsourced but the responsibility and accountability still rests with her bank.After hearing a piece of my mind,she conceeded that she will check with the security company and will call me.Until now(more than 24 hrs,I still have not hearh from her).

To the big banks,I am just a number...

The only way for me to get an ATM is to report the loss and apply for a new one.

Back home

Alhamdulilah,all praises and glories to Allah swt.My family and me are safely back in Kuala Lumpur-arrived home almost at 1am last night.We had great time with our familily members,relatives and friends.I hope you also had great time celebrating the Eid.

This morning I received this reminder from my ustaz:

"Sesiapa yang berpuasa sebulan dibulan Ramadhan,kemudian 6 hari dibulan syawal sama saperti ia berpuasa sepanjang tahun"-Maksud Hadith

The photo above shows my kampung people coming out from the surau after solat Eidulfitri.

Salam Eidul Fitri 1426

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Dari :Mohd Adib dan keluarga