E.N.V.Y

salam. was visting pages of my my friends in facebook and a rush of envy suddenly appeared. what a wonderful vacation they have, wish i have that etc2. sounds typical, doesnt it? just stop. never let syaitan influences our thoughts. then how a muslim should view this? let Quran tells us how.

وَلاَ تَتَمَنَّوْاْ مَا فَضَّلَ اللَّهُ بِهِ بَعْضَكُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ...

"and wish not for the things in which Allah has made some of you to excel others.." (4:32)

different people just provided with different things. some with this. some with that. but that doesnt matter. the matter is really whether we are grateful to Him or not. and how do use things that He gives for His cause? and will all those things make our scale heavier when we meet Him?

"and the weighing on that Day will be the true (weighing). so, as for those whose scale (of good deeds) will be heavy, they will be the successful (by entering Paradise). and as for those whose scale will be light, they are those who will lose themselves for their wrongful behaviours with Our Ayat. and surely, We gave you authority on the earth and appointed for you therein livelihoods. Little thanks you give" (7: 8-10)

beautiful trip to brisbane I

salam. i'd arrived at brisbane yesterday and would spend about 4 days here before my flight to malaysia on 27th. yup, it's exactly on the 1st aidiladha. that would definitely be my choice when the ticket is 400aud cheaper. today we were on a road trip to gold coast. a factory outlet at harbourtown is our 1st destination. thinking of how easy it is to buy things for ourselves but not for those who are really in need makes me kind of dissapointed. our nafs to spend money on ourselves is much greater than to help our brothers and sisters who are still uncertain of their next meal. isnt His rewards are so great to those who do sedekah?

مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَلَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِي كُلِّ سُنبُلَةٍ مِّاْئَةُ حَبَّةٍ وَاللَّهُ يُضَـعِفُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَاللَّهُ وَسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ

The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah, is that of a grain (of corn); it grows seven ears, and each ear has a hundred grains. Allah gives manifold increase to whom He wills. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All-Knower (2:261)

our next stop is the pelican beach. a spectacular view indeed. subhanallah. to know The Creator we should look at His creations. we were having our late lunch while exploring the topic of ukhuwah islamiyyah.

إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُواْ بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ وَاتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

The believers are but a brotherhood. So make reconciliation between your brothers, and have Taqwa of Allah that you may receive mercy (49:10)

Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in rows as if they were a solid structure (61:4)

And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah's favor on you, for you were enemies of one another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His grace, you became brethren, and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayat clear to you, that you may be guided. (3:103)

ukhuwah is one of muslims' strengths. a lonely prey is definitely easier to be caught by a predator compared to when it's in a group. we wont be a true muslim if we only focus on our own ibadah while ignoring of those around us. He also emphasized the significance of spreading the truth to others:

Verily, man is in loss.Except those who believe and do righteous deeds, and recommend one another to the truth, and recommend one another to patience. (103: 2-3)

Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good (Islam), enjoining Al-Ma`ruf (all that Islam orders) and forbidding Al-Munkar (all that Islam has forbidden). And it is they who are the successful (3:104)

ukhuwah can be either our greatest weapon or weakest point. never let our desire or syaitan weaken the bonds between muslims as they'll certainly try to influence us through every possible way. among various ways to spice up our ukhuwah is to advice one another. one might say he cant advice others regarding something until he is prepared to practice it. then how long should he wait for himself to prepare? what if death meets him first? the past is something that we can never change and the future is still uncertain. then make full use of the present. then one might argue what's the use of practicing something when he's being forced and not sincere? sincerity is very difficult to achieve. it is like looking for a black ant on a black stone in the middle of the night. but the strategy is to put some sweetened condensed milk (as suggested by others;p ) to attract the ant. the milk symbolizes our effort and insyaAllah, may He makes it easier for us to achieve sincerity once we have taken the 1st step. we should never expect to feel it when we have not tried anything.

O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do. Most hateful it is with Allah that you say that which you do not do. (61: 2-3)

then, let's walk the talk and talk the walk. insyaAllah, He is always looking at our efforts =)

everything is in His hand

salam. i'd just finished my final exam. final exam for mbbs year 1. i almost cant believe it. alhamdulillah i'm still alive up to this point. i wouldnt say this exam was a good one. i'd tried my best and put all my efforts in the 2-weeks study leave. and during the 1st paper, i just totally tawakal to Him and i guess everything would be fine. not until few hours after the paper. by then, every questions kept coming back to me. especially those that i didnt answer correctly. i was disappointed and would say i lost my hope for a while. i was asking myself, 'i had totally tawakal to Him but then why my exam was really bad. perhaps your effort is really directly proportional to your result. ' astaghfirullah.

for my 2nd paper, i gave my best efforts. i gave it all out. spending every second with books and disrupted sleeping pattern. and somehow, the sense of tawakal and dependency to Him wasnt really there. i felt confidence when i enter the exam hall not because of Him but my efforts. astaghfirullah. the 2nd paper was quite okay though. upon finishing the exam, i just didnt feel that it's right. why did i work so hard? is it really because of islam or result? no matter how rich we are, how excellent our result is, we're all have one thing in common. we're created and born to be His servants. if we spend our whole life to achieve other things except our purpose of being here on this earth that had been determined by Our creator, then what is the significance? it's indeed a great failure.

from my eyes, the concept of tawakal is really not about fully submit yourself to Him and expect the outcome would be the one that you like the most. it's about fully submission to Him and put all your efforts and believes that what He had set is the best for us though we might not like it. and we shoud even tawakal before we make any efforts. just like the birds which go out in the morning with nothing but returning back to the nest with foods for their children. so everything is in His hand.insyaAllah =)

وَرِضْوَنٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ

...But the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of Allah. That is the supreme success. (9:72)