How you live your life

Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom - said to be a good book on lessons in life. To the author, it is like a final thesis he worked on with his professor, Morrie, who is dying from an illness. Mitch visits his dying professor every Tuesday to talk about life and death.

The main idea is there lah...about how people in this world is chasing after things that are meaningless - like more money, bigger houses, nicer cars.. Being brainwashed by the media on these false necessities ( I sooooo agree with this!! macam boleh write a whole new topic just on this. but that, next time..), Ignoring or putting aside things that should be of more importance in life, plus what matters to people when they are dying. What is important to Morrie is the sincerity and love of the people around him. Of course that is in the perspective of a non-Muslim. A famous quote from the book is 'when you learn how to die, you'll learn how to live'.

But as a Muslim, it's like.. way more than that. It's not just about how you want to die. It's about what you want AFTER death. but of course a person doesn't think about what they want AFTER death, unless he has Iman. As we may be able to see, a person with no Iman, lives this life with not much regards to others or even to his own conscience, but a person with iman, and depending on his level of iman, lives his life with conscience and awareness. And this conscience and awareness encompasses everything he does in life, as how Islam is. Islam is a WAY of life.

So in my humble opinion, a better quote for us would be 'Your iman will show you how to live your life.'

Da mood..

Today, nobody's home (which is equals to only the girls and me at home). Zaujii hubba (my beloved hubby) and hadi went to JB for golf, Rus went out to the mosque with some friends.

The girls and I stayed home, until we were hungry and were forced to leave our cave, in search of food. Don't know where to go for nice ambience and good food.. ended up driving aaaaallll the way to the airport for late lunch at Swensens. But it's ok lah.. I love driving.

Met my former schoolmate at the airport. I'm surprised she recognises me! She hasn't changed a bit! Linda.. exchanged numbers and promised to keep in touch. I should.

So after the very late hege2 lunch kat airport with my girls.. we went back home.. then sampai rumah, grabbed the book 'tuesdays with morrie' and brought the girls to the playground at the nearby park, to let the girls play then I can read the book. But not as peaceful as I had planned and imagined it to be - cause baru 20 mins.. Eema nak naik pegi toilet.. She 'tak tahan' and so she like started to run back all the way to our block, and I had to run after her with the house keys. leaving hanaa and nadhrah at the playground.. and so u see, I jogged this evening..

anyway.. when eema was done, we went back down, only to meet hanaa and nadhrah halfway.. because now nadhrah needs to go.. so eema plays at the nearby playground while I send nadhrah back up.. then after that, we all went down again, and they continued playing for another 20 mins and by that time it's maghrib.. after that, dah berpeluh2.. balik.. mandikan the kids.. then I mandi.. then I was like lepak.. and still moody that I cried when Z.H. came back and didn't sit to chat with me.. well, not like he does that normally lah, but anyway.. he just consoled me a bit and went back to reading his newspaper and told the children not to disturb me.. Hmm.... Thanks darling.

I'm fine now. Alhamdulillah.

Do you realise THAT?

>Do you realise that..
>
>On Thursday 4th May next month, at two minutes and three seconds after
>1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be
>
>01:02:03 04.05.06>
>This will never happen again in our life time.
>

Got the above email. well... O K.. like wow! nice number.. but actually kan, if I put date first, which I should, since for the time, it starts with the hours, then minutes then seconds, it's only right the date should start with year, then month then day.. if that's the case, the real thing happened 5 years ago.. on 3rd Feb, 2001 at 4.05am + 6 secs. then, we would have gotten the desired number pattern, in the right sequence...

There are a lot of other stuff in our life time that will also never happen again.. like being 18 years old.. or 19 years old.. We're getting older.. and the time that passed, will never come back.. the time you wasted will NEVER come back. How do you know when u're wasting time and when u're not?

I remember I heard a sermon once kat Masjid Al Khair.. on the surah Al-Asr. It was by an ustaz invited from Malaysia and I don't remember the name! I must make it a point to record the names of ustaz, whose sermons I hear.. ceh!.. nama artiste2 boleh ingat.. nama ustaz.. nama sahabat2 Nabi, and ulama' tak ingat..teruk!..

Anyway, that aside and to be improved, back to the sermon... It was about this short surah with such deep meaning and impact.The transliteration reads:

By (the token of) Time. Verily man is in loss; Except those who believes, and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth and recommend one another to patience

I believe "Those who believe" - is KEY. When we believe, then we act. And with believe, most of every little act we do, can be considered as ibadah, especially when done for the sake of Allah SWT. E.g even eating and sleeping.. When we think, like 'I better sleep early or rest early, so that I can wake up for Subuh - which is ultimately for Allah".. then that act of sleeping.. becomes an ibadah.

Then, this is my further breakdown on the issue.. we could apply it to something not so direct.. but in the cause of Allah SWT.. e.g. Learning programming.. because I want to do up a program that will attract the children, whom we will then slowly shape and influence to be God-concious, and finally be a Good Muslim, for Allah SWT.. then that act of learning programming is an ibadah.. Doing business can become ibadah.. because you want to be rich, to support the Muslims in the Muslim needs..

Seems so easy to get rewarded, but instead, people waste their time away, by watching Singapore Idol (..as one example only lah..).. - I don't know.. maybe for some people it's finally for Allah's sake, Wallahu'alam.. Of course then you also have to consider the better of the 2 options etc.. Bukanlah tak leh tengok terus.. but kalau da macam religiously kena watch every week.. then it's not only that program.. in a week got many programs that people follow up religiously.. add that all up together..how much time is wasted?

When I think of it, I picture a room where men are sitting on piles of GOLD.. the one who's doing good,.. is like picking up the gold around him. While the one who's wasting time, is just sitting there on the pile of gold, staring blankly at a black box. Sad, isn't it?

Do you realise THAT?

Telepathy? & World and Illusion

Some people think that telepathy works. Well I don't know if it really works with some people Wallahu'alam. But it's definitely NOT working with me. I cannot read people's mind. Sometimes I think I can read what people are thinking from body reactions and small conversations - but I still definitely cannot read like what's expected of me exactly.

What is so difficult about talking - communicating? That is soooooooooo much better then silent expectations and assumptions. Please people.. communicate. Bukan lah asking for idle talk..but yang perlu aper. Kalau idle talk tu lain ah.. Allah says in Al-Hadid 57:20

"Know that the life of this world is only play, and idle talk, and pageantry, and boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children; as the likeness of vegetation after rain, whereof the growth is pleasing to the husbandman, but afterward it drieth up and thou seest it turning yellow then it becometh straw. And in the Hereafter there is grievous punishment, and (also) forgiveness from Allah and His good pleasure, whereas the life of the world is but matter of illusion."

Reading that last part of the translation, 'world as an illusion' teringat pulak an article by scientist in the West, WHO NOW WONDERS if this world is just an illusion - and we're talking about a scientist here.. not just some philosopher. Some wonder if there is some intelligent designer, who designed this world, because this world is too intricate to have been created by chance. But one scientist ruled that out saying 'that computer system would have to be unimaginably huge'...Subhanallah!

And if we want to talk about idle talk and world as an illusion ni.. memang so many examples to quote. Like the '.. Idol' is idle... A lot of advertisements selling stuff that people don't need. a LOT of things lah!.. think of it, the basic necessity of human. And where and what are all these stuffs we do, and life we live leading to? As Allah SWT has also questioned us..

"Then, WHERE are you going?" (At-Takwir 81:26)

think..

Knowledge that really matters.

Does it REALLY matter that we don't know Trigonometry and Shakespeare? How many of you adults, use Trigonometry in your work or life now? Did knowing Shakespeare help you communicate with your boss? Really, some stuff need not be thought in school, it can be learned and will be learnt well at work, when required. Just like those people taking IT degree. We learn some programming language, as a course requirement - and that language we do not use at all at work. Then we learn on the job, a totally new programming language and become experts at them, and forget most of what we learnt during the course.

Now what, pada saya lah kan..., are more relevant subjects kan....., that children should learn or be exposed to, in schools kan... (suddenly teringat admirable ustaz haniff), are :
Arabic language and the common language of communication in the society.
Quran & Hadith (This is so necessary and it covers almost all aspect of human life on this earth, including accomplishing obligations to God, family, parents, spouse, children, society. Science, geography, physics gets thrown in too, naturally. It teaches us how to be better workers and human in general.)
Maths up to primary level - and Maths need not be complicated just to test how far you can confuse the children.

Other subjects should be optional, depending on the children's interests.. then they go into their respective preference such as.. Science - Biology/Physics etc,they can go deeper into Maths if that's where their interest is. Literature is sooooo unnecessary. And so is Musical lessons.

Yeah.. that's how it would be if I am the Minister in Education. No more stress for the children and they learn to be caring, normal human beings. You will almost not see any teenage mutants on the streets. People will be more civilised, more cultured and much more educated.

Reallieey. It's proven - see historical facts. Imam Bukhari, is among the most intelligent person in that era, or even Einstein - the person who just so happens to be a genious because he ACCIDENTALLY came across an idea. They didn't learn the subjects we learn now in school.

And if you ask me, what I learnt in secular school before.. I almost cannot remember anymore, and it doesn't matter, does it?

Hai.. dunia.. dunia..

Wallahu'alam.