Tafsir Surah Al-Mulk (2)

Theme: Creation of Death, Life, The Heavens and Stars

[And] who created seven heavens in layers. You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful any inconsistency. So return [your] vision [to the sky]; do you see any breaks?

Then return [your] vision twice again. [Your] vision will return to you humbled while it is fatigued.

Notes:

1) Allah is telling the amazingness of His creation (in this ayat, the heavens (sky)). He asked us to find any break or inconsistency in the sky. (in the coming surah we will learn that the perfect sky will break and open in the day of judgement). If one tries to find any imperfection of the sky, he will certainly be despaired.

2) Allah has created nature to serve us in dunya, while Allah created us to serve Him.

And We have certainly beautified the nearest heaven with stars and have made [from] them what is thrown at the devils and have prepared for them the punishment of the Blaze.

Notes:

1) 'We' here does not signifies plurality, but to signify the royalness of Allah. Just like when the king or queen says 'We'.

2) Allah has created stars for 3 purposes:

- Decorations of the nearest heavens [67:5]

- For navigations. "And landmarks. And by the stars they are [also] guided." [16:16]

- Burning the devils [67:5]

The devils used to go to the nearest heaven to eavesdrop the conversation between Allah and the angels about the future and fate of human. The devils will steal this information and whisper it to magicians and fortunetellers. Allah will send burning stars to burn them.

3) the word "dunya" (world) has two meanings: - near - worthless. This world is called dunya because that is what it is - nearest to us before we are headed to the hereafter, and worthless because life 'here' is nothing compared to life 'there'. Verily this worldly life is just adornment and amusements which will end [57:20]

Theme: The description of Hell and Its Dwellers

And for those who disbelieved in their Lord is the punishment of Hell, and wretched is the destination.

Notes:

1) Kafir comes from the root "ka fa ra" which literally means to cover. A kafir knows the truth but covers/conceals it.

2) The differences between "rabb" and "ilaah":

- Rabb: to educate, the master, lord. to create something out of nothing and provides His creation. In other context, rabbulusrah = father. because a man start a family 'out of nothing' and provide his family.

- Ilaah: worthy of worship. Allah is al-ilaah, means the ONE who is worthy of worship

In this world, Allah provides his creations ample sources for living, regardless if they are Muslims or not. Allah is warning the disbelievers of His punishment in the hereafter.

When they are thrown into it, they hear from it a [dreadful] inhaling while it boils up

It almost bursts with rage. Every time a company is thrown into it, its keepers ask them, "Did there not come to you a warner?"

Notes:

1) Allah is describing the behavior of the hellfire towards the disbelievers in these 2 ayats. "syaheeq" means to inhale, the opposite of "zafeer" (to exhale).

The hellfire is described to have feelings, like human. When the hellfire sees the disbelievers from far, it exhales (zafeer) with fury and disgust. "When the Hellfire sees them from a distant place, they will hear its fury and roaring" [25:12]. And when the disbelievers are thrown ("ulqu" means to be pushed) into the hellfire, the hellfire will inhale (syaheeq) the disbelievers, as in sucking them inside while the hellfire boils up (tafuur). And everytime a person is thrown in, the keepers will ask them "Did not there not come to you a warner?"

They will say," Yes, a warner had come to us, but we denied and said, ' Allah has not sent down anything. You are not but in great error.' "

And they will say, "If only we had been listening or reasoning, we would not be among the companions of the Blaze."

And they will admit their sin, so [it is] alienation for the companions of the Blaze.

Notes:

1) And they (the disbelievers) will admit that they did received a warner but denied it. They will repent but it is all too late, Allah will not accept their repentance.

They will even ask Allah to bring them to life again and promised to be a better person. "Our Lord, remove us from it, and if we were to return [to evil], we would indeed be wrongdoers." [23:106]. But on that day, everything will be too late, and Allah knows best that they will not do the things they promised. "He will say, "Remain despised therein and do not speak to Me." [23:108]

Question: How about the people who lives in a very remote place where they never heard about Islam. Are they counted as disbelievers?

Answer by Syeikh Reda Bedeir: We are accountable of things that are we have control with only (things that we can choose). If no warner has come to these people, then they are not accountable for it. Wallahualam.

Notes from Al-Maghrib: The Eternal Journey, Tafsir of Juz Tabarak (Surah Al-Mulk)

Theme: Glorification of Allah

Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent

Notes:

1) Does Allah have hands (yad)? - When Allah says He has a hand, then He has a hand..who are we to say otherwise? But is His hand is like ours? Absolutely not. "There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing." [42:11]. We are not to image or portray Allah because He is beyond our knowledge and imagination. Only the true believers are able to see Allah in jannah, and that is the ultimate reward of those who believe..

2) The first word: Ta ba ra ka. yu baarik means to exalt, to bless, to increase/make something grow/to fix something/make something consistent. Like when we say 'baraakallahufik' which means may Allah increase the good in you. In this ayat, it is stressing that only Allah who can bless anything.

3) People tend to put words of Quran in places like cars and houses saying that the words of Quran can give 'baraka' to the people in it. Truth is, only when the Quran is being read, understood and act upon that the 'baraka' may set in, it's not the ink itself.

4) The best way to describe an ayat from Quran is from 1- Quran from another ayat, 2- Hadis, 3- Sahabah, 4- Poetry. Surah Az-Zuhruf:85 additionally describes what this ayat is about. "And blessed is He to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them and with whom is knowledge of the Hour and to whom you will be returned." [43:85].

Theme: Creation of Death, Life, The Heavens, And The Stars

[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving -

Notes:

1) Notice in the ayat Allah mentioned death first, then life. Why? It is because before we are alive, we WERE dead, as in non-existent at first.

2) Al-Maut (death) is also a creation of Allah, hence it will die one day.

3) Al-Hayaat (life): Life is the life of the heart, not the body. We should calculate life when we are staring to know Allah, realizing the purpose of this life, and being a true Muslim. Try to think of it. How old or how young are we now?

4) Ya ayyuhallazi naamanu (O People who believes). Allah says this more times than Allah says Ya ayyuhannaas (O People) in the Quran. When Allah says Ya ayyuhallazi naamanu, after this Allah will give command; either He will say 'do this' or 'don't do that'. So after this, we need to pay attention whenever we read Ya ayyuhallazi naamanu and the following ayat, because we are the believers who Allah is calling upon, insyaAllah..

5) Sometimes Allah puts a barrier between a person and the heart. The heart is the king of the body. Heart here is not the one pumping the blood, but it IS somewhere in the chest. That's why when we are feeling something, we feel it from the chest. "So have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts."[22:46]

6) As it is stated explicitly in the ayat. LIFE IS A TEST. Different people carry different forms of test given by Allah. Some people are given wealth, children and ranks, and some people had wealth, family members or loved ones taken from them. When Allah gives something, that doesn't mean that He pleases, when He denies, that doesn't mean that he displeases. Indeed, everything in life is a test.

"And this worldly life is not but diversion and amusement. And indeed, the home of the Hereafter - that is the [eternal] life, if only they knew." [29:64]

"And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient," [2:155].

6) Allah says in the ayat that "..which of you is best in deeds". Allah doesn't say, "..which of you is the most in deeds". Quality of the deed is more important than the quantity. There are 2 characteristics of a deed with quality:

1- intention, do only to please Allah. "Say, "I am only a man like you, to whom has been revealed that your god is one God. So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone."" [18:110]

2- the deed is with accordance of Rasulullah's way of doing it (Sunnah). "There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often." [33:21]

Modesty and Shame by Nouman Ali Khan

Assalamualaikum wrt.,

I feel like sharing a very good article from Bro Nouman Ali Khan. This pertinent reminder can also be enjoyed from this beautiful video lecture:

Source: http://www.igotitcovered.org/2010/04/06/modesty-and-shame-nouman-ali-khan-on-quran-weekly/

Transcript:

وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَن يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ
“And those who, when they have committed Fahisha (shameless acts) or wronged themselves with evil, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins; – and none can forgive sins but Allah – and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know.” [Aal-Imran, 3:135]

Assalamu alaikum Qur’an Weekly – yet another reminder for you folks and myself, in regards to the wretched evil of shamelessness.

This is something that the Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wasallam feared the most for his followers, and particularly – I just want to be very realistic with you – I’ll share some advice from the Qur’an in regards to this ayah from Aal Imran with you. But before I do:

Look, we’re living in a time where you are constantly exposed to shamelessness. And you’re exposed to it so much, you’re desensitized to it. So when you see something lewd and vulgar – the first time when you do have your shame in tact, you get disturbed. But if you see it over and over and over again – you don’t even know what the big deal is. Why are people making such a big deal about it? And so you become desensitized, and then you start questioning, “Why does Allah make such a big deal of it? Why is it that it’s such an evil?”

Understand that when you see something corrupt, like something shameless, something lewd – something your eyes should not be exposed to… or you hear something your ears should not be exposed to… and you don’t find a problem with it anymore – it’s an indication that you’ve got aserious problem in your heart. Because your heart is not disturbed by sin anymore. Your heart is not disturbed by evil anymore.

That’s a problem. That’s a very deep, spiritual problem. And if you have that problem, then the rest of your iman, the rest of your faith – you will not be able to concentrate in your prayer, you’re not going to be able to cry when you ask Allah. Those things will disappear from your life. Because you have allowed for shamelessness to take over – to take over your life.

And today, you’re watching this and you have accounts on facebook, you have friends on facebook who have absolutely lewd and shameless pictures. I opened my account on facebook to try to get in touch with some of my cousins from abroad, and then people just want to be my friend – I don’t even check the account anymore. Because I’m scared, if I say “Yes, I want to be your friend” what picture I’m going to see. I’m terrified of that.

Why? Simply because we’ve opened the door, and we don’t feel like there’s a problem – not even a little bit. So this: whether it’s stuff you’re watching on the internet, stuff you see on TV, the kinds of things you say, the kinds of words you use (words can also be shameless), the kinds of language you use that’s shameless – these sorts of things, we’ve become desensitized to, and the more we become desensitized to it, the more spiritually we become bankrupt.

Now Allah says, in this ayah – He says:

وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً
“And as for those who whenever they do an act of shamelessness” –

They look at something, they go somewhere, they do something, they’re with someone that theyshouldn’t have been with, they do something they shouldn’t have done – any form of shamelessness. “Fahishatan” implies any of it – the slightest bit of it, and the worst of it, any of it.

ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ
“They immediately remembered Allah.”

They immediately remembered Allah.

Imagine you’re doing something shameless, your mother walks in on you. Your sister walks in on you. Your brother walks in on you. Your father walks in on you. Your friends see you do something. How humiliated would you be? How embarrassed would you be? How sorry would you feel? You would feel like scum. You would absolutely feel like scum. But now Allah is saying, “You want to save yourself from becoming shameless?” If you do fall into that act, and it’s inevitable that you will – it’s fine that it’s going to happen, but if it does happen, your remedy for protecting you from next time “thakaroo Allah” – immediately, they remembered Allah. Not even “thumma thakaroo Allah” or “fa thakaroo Allah” – immediately they remembered Allah. Immediately.

فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ
“And immediately they asked Allah to forgive their sins.

وَمَن يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ
“Who’s going to forgive your sins if not Allah, anyway?”

See, when you do something shameless, you feel really bad about yourself. When you feel bad about yourself, shaytaan comes and says, “How are you going to talk to Allah now? What face are you going to show Him? First you do this, and now you think you’re going to pray to Allah? You hypocrite.” And so you say “Yeah, I shouldn’t talk to Allah, I’m scum.” And you become distanced from Allah. And shaytaan succeeds.

When you do something evil, especially an act of shamelessness, something that’s humiliating – you go and ask Allah azza wa jall to forgive, immediately.

And Allah puts a condition. You know, you could become addicted to that. “Yeah, I mess up, I watch this really terrible stuff, and then I ask Allah to forgive me. Ah, I’m pretty sure I’m going to do this next week again….” Allah says:

وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ
“They didn’t insist upon what they did.”

In other words, when you apologize to Allah, when you’ve begged Allah that you should ward yourself off from this shamelessness, then you knew in your mind – you’ve made a commitment in your mind, in your heart, that you’re not going to come back to it. If you do come back to it – we’re human beings, it might happen. But in your heart, there’s not even the slightest bit of a doubt that you’re abandoning this forever. You’re abandoning it forever. You can’t give up.

And maybe you’ve tried before, and you’ve failed. You gave it up, then you went back to it. You gave it up, then you went back to it. You gave it up, and you went back to it. So you start saying to yourself, “Yeah, I’ve done this enough times. Probably I’ll be back to it.” No – you’ve already failed. No matter how many times you’ve failed, you cannot have that attitude. That attitude alone means you are notsorry before Allah. You’re not sorry before Allah.

So those are just some things about the way we have to pray for getting out of the cycle of shamelessness.

Just a little bit of additional advice – practical advice, practically what can you do in addition to the prayer? One of the things you can do is: Don’t be alone. Just don’t be alone. Be with good company. If you have free time, when do you usually you end up in shameless activity? When you’re by yourself. So don’t be by yourself. If you have a laptop or a computer in your room and that leads you to problems – don’t keep it in your room. Or keep the door open. And if you’re going to be with company that leads you into shameless behavior, if you know you’re going to go somewhere where you’re going to see things that are inappropriate – try to change that scene. Try to get out of that scene.

Spend – especially if you’re in college, you have like four, five hour gaps in between classes and you’re doing whatever, in that time – why don’t you just go to the masjid, sit there and study? It’s asafe place, you can’t really mess up there, all that much. Hopefully they don’t have WiFi, right?

But the idea is: save yourself from putting yourself in situations where you know you fall into that stuff. There are certain places in your house or in your environment, in your world – when you’re in those places, you end up doing bad things, right? It just happens every time you’re in that room, or in that place, you end up doing bad things. Then you should be smart enough to know that and get away from that place. Don’t be there by yourself. Don’t be there alone.

This is something you have to teach yourself to do, because I tell you: if you’re not able to ward yourself off from shamelessness… and this is a problem for married people and non-married people, but I’m specifically talking to those of you who are not married. When you do get married, you will have messed up married lives. You’ll have messed up married lives. You will have no respect for your spouse. Because you have no respect for shame. Marriage is an act that shows respect for shame. But you’ve already lost all of that respect because of your addiction to… whatever. Right – you’ve lost all that respect.

So you will have ruined – you will have ruined your family life – you’re not going to be able to be a good husband, or a good wife, or a good parent for that matter. So you’ve ruined your entire life over this addiction. Get out of it while you can.

May Allah azza wa jall make us able to get rid of our addictions. May Allah allow us to have the gift of good company that keeps us from these shameless activities. I’m not even saying do religious activities. You can just find a healthy alternative. Play sports. Play some basketball, ping pong, whatever it is. But just don’t go into that specific thing. Save yourself from that – before you do good, at least do no harm. At least do that much.

May Allah azza wa jall protect all of us, especially our youth. I pray, sincerely, for all of you, and the protection of your own iman, and the iman of your family.

Barak Allahu lee wa lakum, wa assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

2 sen pertama di Malaysia..

Assalamualaikum wrt...

Alhamdulillah..selamat jejak kaki di tanah airku tercinta..dah seminggu lebih jugakla duduk kat rumah ni...tak buat apa sangat pun..menghabiskan beras rumah je..=p sindrom orang lepas grad baru balik ni..huhu

Rimas jugak idle macamni..kalau di US memang tak senang duduk diam..mesti nak ke sana kemari..ada je la aktiviti yang boleh dibuat...oh oh..I think I'm addicted to stress! =p kat mesia ni susah sikit nak bergerak..nak drive jauh mak ayah tak bagi..duit pun kena mintak dari dompet mak ayah, xde pendapatan sendiri macam dulu...alhamdulillah 'ala kulli haal...di mana anda dicampakkan, itulah yang terbaik Allah telah takdirkan untuk anda kan...oh well, bila lagi nak lepak2 dengan mak ayah macam ni..nanti dah sambung study, dah kerja, kahwin, ada anak, tercari2 pulak waktu untuk idle...

Anyways, menjengah2 jugak website dan artikel menarik untuk dibaca pepagi buta ni..mengisi masa terluang. menarik juga artikel terbaru Ust. Hasrizal di blognya Saifulislam.com Yang Remeh Bukan Temeh: Mulus Berbahasa.

Teringat pulak haritu haritu masa dalam kapal terbang perjalanan dari US ke Malaysia selama 14 jam, tiba2 terlintas di fikiran: kadang2 orang Malaysia ni terlalu tumpu pada detail2 dan ritual yang kurang penting dan mendatangkan pembaziran. kenapa saya cakap macamtu? ni hasil pengamatan saya selama 18 tahun hidup di Malaysia dan 4 tahun hidup di negara orang.. – di Malaysia, kalau majlis rasmi sambut VIP nak kena ada paluan kompang, bunga manggar, ucapan bergilir yang berjinggut orang mendengarnya. sambut VIP kalah raja! kalau sambutan raya pulak kena ada kuih raya berbalang2, kuihnya pulak aduhai bukan main detail nak buat. tu belum cerita majlis kahwinnya lagi. dan banyak lagilah...

Ni semua gara2 tengok panduan keselamatan flight MAS yang panjang berjela2 macam movie masa dalam kapal terbang haritu, padahal boleh diringkaskan point to point, lagi orang senang faham dan tak lost their attention. 30 minit sebelum sampai mendarat pula, penumpang disajikan dengan panduan berada di KLIA, again, panjang macam movie, dan banyak pula lagu2 yang promote malaysia yang serba cantik dan indah belaka..lagu pun panjang berjela! =p

Tahun lepas saya ada buat short intern di sebuah university di Malaysia waktu cuti summer. ramai prof yang pesan jangan buat master or phd di malaysia, banyak sangat politiknya satu hal. satu hal lagi sebab lambat! diorang sendiri cakap budaya kerja kat malaysia ni lembab sikit. (sangat kot =p) ! banyak sangat cuti, kenduri kahwin, prosuder2 yang melecehkan. master setahun setengah boleh jadi 3-4 tahun!

rasanya kawan2 pun boleh bagi contoh lain yang lebih konkrit dan kritikal kan..

So, I came to the conclusion that, budaya orang kita memang halus dan indah sangat, tapi kadang2 terlalu tumpu pada benda2 yang remeh dan leceh. pandangan saya, kalau orang2 kita keep it short and simple pada tempat yang sepatutnya, banyak benda boleh kita save – masa, wang, tenaga, produktiviti dan sebagainya...

Lagi, saya rasa orang kita perlu tumpu pada akar umbi sesuatu perkara, instead of busy nak mencantikkan bunga2 luaran.. cantik luar tapi akar cacat buat apa kan. haaa deep meaning ni..=p

mungkin ramai juga yang marah dengan statement saya ni..saya ni bukanlah dah lupa akar umbi, anti negara sendiri lepas belajar di luar negeri. dokaih! malahan kalau ada kawan2 yang dok kutuk mesia dan rasa oversea la bagus segala aspek, sayalah orang pertama yang tukang beta =p. sekali sekala kritik perlu juga..

ok lepas ni kena fikir apa saya boleh buat untuk baiki ini???

wallahualam..2 sen pertama saya di Malaysia...

Things that I will miss the most about USA - part 2

Assalamualaikum wrt...

OK let's continue..=)

I WILL MISS...

the people..

I will definitely miss my American friends - even though not many =P..And I will definitely miss seeing American around...well, except during Friday night, and weekend night, and whenever they are not sober..=P..don't blame me.

MISG people - it's nice working with you guys..with the ups and downs we're in together..the beautiful ukhuwah will always be cherished..

to all Vandy people, I will definitely miss all 140-something of them...the Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors...and oh, also including all the graduated super-seniors who knew me well or just so-so....and especially to my the SENIORS Class of 2010..we made it guys! We survived 4 years in USA =)..THANK YOU ALL! you guys taught me about life a lot! I mean A LOT!

Vanderbilt people...the largest Malaysian community in the USA =P

And to every single one who know me or I know them....mak cik Front Desk, Pak2 and Mak2 Guard waktu I kerja Reeve, Abang Obies, Pak Cik Ramadan, Mak Cik Rand,..I will definitely miss you guys too..haha

I WILL MISS...

Featheringhill Hall a.k.a. FGH, The Engineering School

This is where the Kampung Melayu of USA is..hehe..and no, I'm not exaggerating..all 140-something Malaysians in Vanderbilt study Engineering as undergraduates. I don't know what the Mat Salehs think, seeing us in that number.. a diverse environment? competition? threatened? and I definitely have no clue why JPA and MARA keep sending large number of students to Vandy each year even though Vandy is no cheap. I mean NO CHEAP - it's a private school. oh well, in anyway, I will certainly miss this building..and also other academic buildings I've studied in (I hope I don't sound nerdy =P)

I remembered having to sneak out from a 7pm-9pm exam, to pray Maghrib at a corner of the stair. Hoping no Mat Saleh will walk by me.

And I also remembered praying jemaah with a friend at a safe corner at FGH, and turned out it wasn't safe. We heard footsteps approaching us, and stopped and then walked away..haha.

I remembered got stuck in FGH because of the tornado, 2am in the morning...

and other countless memories..

Order of Engineer Ceremony..signing the ethics oath..almost an Engineer

I WILL MISS...

Working as a Front Desk Reeve =P

Besides the income, I profited a lot from this job. A good resume booster when you boost the words, all the soft skills gained and oh, I've also got used to wake up 12am or 4am in the morning and go to work. That gotta be useful one day right? =P. There's not much work for the job really, I just have to sit at the front desk and help people who needs to be helped.

While working in one of the Reeve Desk. 4pm-8pm shift

Countless good and bad memories. The bad ones are of course when I have to deal with drunk people, or rude people, or people with no patience. Oh well, people will always be people..There will be one or two security guards around during late hours, so I'm practically not alone. If I'm lucky, I'll manage to engage into beneficial conversation with the guard - interfaith issues, any issues. If I'm not lucky enough, I will have to engage into unwanted situations with the guard - unwanted long conversation when I have to study for exam, or guard who snores so loudly that I have to listen to songs so not to be awkward =P ..good memory..of course when paychecks arrive..=)))

to be continued...insyaAllah!

Things that I will miss the most about USA - part 1

Assalamualaikum wrt..

I think it's about time to write this kinda post..since I'm less than 1 month away from graduation and less than 2 months away from leaving USA... and Allah knows better whether or not I will have another chance to come back to USA..sobs2.. =(

So..I took inventory of the things that I'll miss about USA..(not particularly or chronologically in order..). One day, maybe 5-10 years from now insyaAllah, I want to be able to read this post and said to myself, "those were the days...=)" and maybe cry...haha.

=======================================================

I WILL MISS..

Going on road trips with my friends..

I have to admit that I will miss this the most. Be it a road trip to AlMaghrib seminars, AlBayyinah classes, MISG programs, or just a chillin'-out trip with my peeps...the feeling and experience of going out there in a journey, with friends that I love, is certainly unforgettable. Most if not all of our road trips, we drove ourselves... 8-10 hours of drive is normal average for a road trip..I've been in longer ones: 14-15 hours..gosh =P..We usually take turns driving, and along the road we shared stories - intellectual and even non-intellectual ones haha..

Road trip to Canada for RIS (Reviving the Islamic Spirit) Convention..the bestest masyaAllah! =) the most iman-skyrocketing experience, longest roadtrip, farthest destination..wish had more moments like that!

Road trip from Atlanta -->Birmingham --> New Orleans --> Panama City. The last destination was totally an ad-hoc because New Orleans was devastated by Katrina Hurricane. So we planned for Plan B that night, and headed to Panama city the next morning. Oh and yeah.. I remembered we ate only Maggi's and junk food for a week or so, for financial reason. Ended up everyone had stomach ache..oh poor poor us =P

Road trip to Ohio State University for Tamrin OSU - one of the most unforgettable road trip ever. One of the dangerous I might say..one of the car (the car that I was in, and no I wasn't the one who's driving nasib baik..) spun like gasing in the middle of the highway, because of ice..I literally said my syahadah that time..laailaahailallah..near-death experience..what an experience!

Road trip to Washington DC for Eid Celebration at Malaysia Embassy - This one...had its own story too..we were the only all-sisters in one car..so we were practically being ditched by everyone else..=P. I remembered there was 7-8 other cars probably..and everytime, we were the last one to arrive at the destination..either kena tinggal, or tertinggal and got lost...sian..=P

Road trip to Atlanta, GA for AlMaghrib seminar - one of the AlMaghrib seminars I've attended...can't remember what's the class topic for this one....

Road trip to Hartford, CT for ICNA (Islamic Central North America) convention - I wouldn't say it's a road trip though..but more to 'air' trip =P..we went there by flight coz it's a 16-hour journey by car that we won't be able to afford financially and physically.This was also one of the unforgettable journey..Naziha and I (just the two of us)..finally decided to go to the conference, quite last minute, during school weekend..it's all worth it though. The experience, and definitely the knowledge obtained from the conference.

And..these are the earlier ones I've went to....

Road trip, Washington DC to Muktamar MISG-IMSA - My 2nd Muktamar...I was the co-driver, for 14 hours straight..but I pity the driver the most..driving for 14 hours straight...During the last days of the trip, we stayed at locals' houses. There were 5 cars for sisters so we splitted to 2 or 3 houses. Me and few other sisters stayed at a Muslim Kazakhztan's house..the auntie fed us very well..I meant too well! =P

Road trip to Ha Ha Tonka State Park, Missouri for STC MISG (Summer Training Camp) - It's an outdoory activity held by MISG..I just been to one, coz I wasn't in the USA for summer each time..the thing I remembered the most about this one is...it was so hot in the day that we have to cancel most of the activities..other than that, it was a great experience..=)

It was such an experience..car broke down, car towed-away for bad parking spot, left car keys in locked car, pulled-over by police, took the wrong highway for 2 hours, near-death experience and list goes on and on..

So these are SOME, not all of the road trips that I have been to, from 2007-2010. How I wish I can put all of the pictures here to relive all the sweet memories ..especially the earlier ones I went with the super seniors - Kak Ena, Kak Raihan and others..oh well, people say a picture tells 1000 words, but I say what more important is the memory..=)

I realized that it will be not as easy to go on road trips when I'm back in Malaysia. Why eh? I guess money will be a problem, safety and parents' permission... Thus, I definitely gonna miss every single moment I went to a road trip here in US, with every single person I've went the road trip with and of course the experience and knowledge I've gained throughout the journey..

High Expectations..Good? Bad?

Assalamualaikum wrt wbt...

Is it good to set high expectations?

Well, it depends for who and how high...

It's important to set high expectations for yourself..it helps you to work harder, achieve higher and make fuller use of your time. You will automatically work towards meeting those expectations, thus you are becoming more motivated day by day. Setting expectations in life and meeting them will definitely help to increase self-confidence and self-esteem. With a little success, you know you are capable of achieving something and thus you wanna do more. Although, one has to be careful not to set too high expectations because it could lead to detrimental effect, especially to one's self-esteem that is when the expectations failed to be met..Setting inappropriate expectations for yourself are setting up for failure..So..my deduction for this issue is..general rule of thumb: set high expectations, but know where to draw the line...

One might then ask, How do we know where's the line?

The key is to challenge yourself without 'overextending' yourself. You know your capabilities, thus you can set up your own appropriate level of expectations...for example: if you usually got C's in school, don't overextend yourself to get all A's in next exam..set B's first, then when you manage to achieve it, set higher for A's.

I guess the next big question mark is..is it appropriate to set high expectations for other people?

I don't know the answer to this question so I asked 'Sheikh Google':

Your Expectations of Others

Just as your expectations about yourself can be harmful, so too can high expectations about others. If you constantly hold others to an unattainable level of high expectations, you will constantly feel like people are letting you down. This may lead you to believe that others don't care about you or that you don't deserve the attention of friends and family members. As you start to apply manageable expectations to yourself, it will also be beneficial to do so to others.

Gosh....

A friend then said to me,

"don't expect much azni, dengan org slain dri sndiri takleh ada expectation tinggi. kecewa and sedih tinggi nanti..."

From now on, I should expect more of myself, and least for other person..YEaHH!!