...Allah guides whom he wills to a straight path. (24:46)

I have read the news about the conversion, or rather reversion of an ex-member of Geert Wilders's right-wing anti-Islam Freedom Party. He was a member of a fierce enemy of Islam. And yet, today, he announced his reversion into Islam. As irony as it is, I remember that sometimes in the past, there was a guy who, just like him, announced his reversion into Islam publicly. He was a fierce enemy of Islam too. He had his own reasons of course. He believed that Islam was the reason why his people become separated. The place he lived was no longer the same. And he thought that forcing people to leave Islam would make everything return back to normal. So, he tortured the muslims. He asked the people of his clan to abandon Islam. He was very eager to do anything to unite his people back. Up to the point that he was willing to kill. Oh, back then, killing was not as easy as it seems nowadays. He would certainly be punished by his community for blood is the only price of bloodshed. And verily, Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path. When he was on his way to kill the Messenger (PBUH), he was told that his own sister had already embraced Islam too. And I guess, by now, all of us have pretty much know who am I talking about. He is our very own second caliph, Umar al-Khattab ra.

The history has proven that numerous people have embraced Islam even after being a fierce enemy of muslims. The likes of Umar r.a, Khalid al-Walid ra and Ikrimah, the son of Abu Jahal are some of them. Khalid r.a was one of the notable figures of the musyrikin who went out for the Battle of Uhud. He led the musyrikin to ambush the muslims while some of them were busy celebrating their 'victory'. This sudden attack caused the death of many muslims in the battle. Consequently, the muslim army was forced to retreat back to Madinah. Other than Khalid, Ikrimah r.a was also a notable figure of Mecca. He was the son of Abu Jahal, a notorious enemy of Messenger (PBUH). And he only embraced Islam after the conquest of Mecca.

I, personally, admire Ikrimah r.a. He was a very fierce fighter before he embraced Islam. He cut the hand of one of the two youths who targeted Abu Jahal during the Battle of Uhud. During the Battle of the Ditch, with  a great bravery, he managed to cross the ditch eventhough he was chased out again by the arrows shot by the muslims. During the conquest of Mecca, he also attempted to fight the army of Khalid al Walid with some thirty people of Mecca. He was defeated but he managed to escaped. When he was about to leave Mecca once and for all, he was asked to embrace islam through the captain of the boat he about to board. While he was hesitating -since he has been running for Islam his whole life- his wife came to him telling that the Prophet (PBUH) has already promised him protection. And in his journey back to Mecca, he embraced Islam.
In the words of Martin Lings in his book, Muhammad: His Life Based on The Earliest Source
"Then, Ikrimah spoke of the money he had spent and the battles he had fought to bar men from following the truth, and he said that he would henceforth spend the double of it and fight with double effort in the way of God; and he kept his promise."
And he died a very wonderful death in the battle against Byzantine. And I wont be telling that story here. You can find it yourselves if you want.

Now, how can we relate ourselves to these people?
In the not too distant past, we might be the ones who live  for the sake of our own nafs. We lived as the slaves of the norm. We followed whatever norm dictated by the people around us. At the age of 7, we entered elementary school. And thus begin our journey of academic life. We entered high school and sat for PMR and SPM. Then we continued with our tertiary education, seeking for the degree that seems to be important for our survival in the future. We stayed up until 3 or 4 in the morning, burning the midnight oil so that we can be listed in DL. And what did we tell people when they asked us to join the congregational prayers at the mosque? What excuses did we give to ourselves for missing the fajr prayer? Or did we even bother to give excuses? And how did we push our friends off when they start to talk about usrah and stuffs?
In the not too distant past too, while we lived in the boarding school, we might live the life of the tyrants. We oppressed the seemingly weaklings among us. We asked our juniors to wash our clothes, clean our dorms and buy our food. We beat them up just because they entered our class through the back door. Or even worse, we scolded them because they did not say salam to us when they met us. Oh, just how irony was it.
In the not too distant past, we might just the bad guys who do all sort of bad things. We might be missing our prayers and we were not even concern of it. And verily, Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path.
Now, here we are, guided by Allah to the only deen in His sight. Dont we want to be the likes of Umar, Khalid and Ikrimah too?

"Manusia itu seperti logam, terpilihnya mereka waktu jahiliyah, terpilih juga mereka semasa Islam, sekiranya mereka faham" Err, I did try to find the english translation, but I just cant find it. Lol.

Post-exam ranting

Capitalism at its best. Being charged for overdraft; no transaction took place. Well, though I sort of can rationalize the fee after finishing my banking class today, I still feel that charging me that much is still irrational. Sigh. Post exam pms.

99 mangsa

Kebetulankah apabila si fulan yang mebunuh seratus orang itu matinya hanya sejengkal lebih dekat dengan tempat dituju berbanding dengan tempat yang ditinggalkannya itu?

Saya kira kebanyakan antara kita telah biasa dengan kisah seorang lelaki yang telah membunuh sembilan puluh sembilan orang mangsanya. Dan kemudiannya, dia mencari seorang pendeta, dan bertanya adakah dia akan diampunkan sekiranya dia bertaubat. Tidak dapat menerima perkataan tidak, dia membunuh pendita tersebut. Dan kemudinnya dia mencari pula seorang alim dan bertanya soalan yang sama. Dia disuruh meninggalkan tempat itu dan mencari tempat yang mana penduduknya menyembah Allah. Dan itulah yang dilakukannya. Namun, di pertengahan jalan, nyawanya ditarik oleh Allah swt. Turunlah dua malaikat yang berebut untuk membawa lelaki tersebut samada ke syurga mahupun neraka. Lantas Allah menurunkan malaikat untuk menjadi pengadil antara kedua malaikat tersebut. Keputusan dibuat berdasarkan jarak lelaki tersebut daripada tempat kematiannnya daripada tempat yang ingin dituju serta tempat yang ditinggalkannya. Keputusannya memihak kepada malaikat yang membawa kerahmatan, dan lelaki tersebut dijemput oleh malaikat kerahmatan. 

Ya, saya kira kita dah biasa mendengar kisah ini. Ini sebenarnya adalah kisah yang diceritakan oleh Rasulullah saw dan diriwayatkan oleh imam Bukhari dan imam Muslim dan disahihkan oleh imam Nawawi dalam kitab Riyadus Saleehin. Jujurnya, sebelum saya membaca sendiri hadis ini, saya tidak menjangka yang ia adalah sebuah hadis. Namun, itulah hidayah yang dicampakkan oleh Allah kedalam hati saya ketika mana hati saya dijentik untuk membaca sendiri Riyadus Saleehin milik kawan saya. Bagi saya hadis ini amat menarik dan sangat relevan dengan kehidupan kita sebagai manusia yang banyak melakukan dosa. Ya, kita pendosa. Namun, kita ingin menjadi seperti lelaki ini, pendosa yang bertaubat dan taubatnya diterima Allah. 

Ada dua perkara yang ingin saya tanyakan di sini. 

1. Mengapa Allah menghantar 3 malaikat di mana satu daripadanya menjadi hakim di ntara mereka untuk menetukan kemanakah berakhirnya lelaki tersebut. Allah, dengan segala kekuasaanya, boleh menghantar malaikat rahmat sahaja untuk menjemput lelaki tersebut.

2. Kebetulankah apabila lelaki tersebut mati, mengikut satu riwayat, hanya sejengkal lebih dekat ke tempat yang baik berbanding tempat yang ditinggalkannya? Bagaimana sekiranya dia lambat sedikit? adakah pengakhirannya ialah di neraka?

Untuk menjawab soalan kedua, di dalam satu riwayat sahih, Allah telah memerintahkan kepada tanah tempat asalnya untuk menjauh dan tanah yang ditujunya untuk mendekat. Ya, saudara-saudara sekalian. Itulah jua jawapan untuk soalan yang pertama. Agar kita dapat mengambil ibrah daripadanya. Bukan kebetulan lelaki itu matinya lebih dekat dengan tempat yang ditujunya. Tetapi, Allah dengan kekuasannya, menjadikan keputusan itu memihak kepada lelaki tersebut. Agar kita tahu, yang segala keputusan bukanlah pada tangan kita. Lelaki tersebut mungkin matinya lebih dekat dengan tempat yang ditinggalkannya. Menjadikan perjalanannya sebuah kegagalan. Malah ketika matinya, malaikat seksaan sendiri mempersoalkan yang lelaki tersebut belum melakukan kebaikan pun. Akan tetapi, Allah memperlihatkan kita bahawa kita hanya perlu berbuat apa yang kita mampu dalam ruang lingkup kita yang terbatas. Dan selebihnya Allah yang akan tentukan. 

Maka, di sini juga saya ingin kongsikan dua recording yang membasahkan hati yang kering ini, dengan izin Allah. Semoga ianya bermanfaat untuk kita semua, dunia dan akhirat. 

Ouh, dan kita tak pernah tahu dimanakah had keupayaan kita untuk mencari redhaNya ^-^

So, here is the long awaited weekend. The weekend after a long week of exams, projects and quizzes. Sitting around doing nothing is exactly the thing in my mind right now. However, knowing that free time is exactly the enemy of us, muslims, I try to do something else that I deem beneficial. However, most of my free time tonight was spent scrolling down facebook, reading stuffs that people posted. It seems to be clearer to me than ever before that my newsfeed is actually flooded by beneficial links and statuses of my friends. Keep it up people. You guys are awesome!

I have a dream

I have a dream, or rather, a vision.
So big it is that it scares me.
Will I live long enough to turn it into reality?

How is it going to be reality when I am no longer around?

Came to my mind that I have to be immortal
Ah, somewhere around this world, there might be an elixir
One that will enable me to see my dream become true.
On and on I keep looking for it.
For I know that the time will never stop.
Happy I am for at last I found it.

Abu Hurairah reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "If anyone calls others to follow right guidance, his reward will be equivalent to those who follow him (in righteousness) without their reward being diminished in any respect, and if anyone invites others to follow error, the sin, will be equivalent to that of the people who follow him (in sinfulness) without their sins being diminished in any respect"
(Muslim)

Anger

When you have troubles coming to you from all over the places, you begin to reflect upon all the things that you have done. You start to think that you are actually in a very difficult position that no one ever had before, that the people around you cannot even relate too. You start to rationalize your anger despite the fact that you understand that others also have so much in their plate too. Dude, you feel that it is too much that you began to think to quit everything. That is when you know that shaytan is overpowering you through your anger, through your emotion and through your frustration. So, what should you do?

1. Reflect upon the hadeeth ralated to patient and anger. You would see that there are lots of hadeeths telling you not to be angry, that patients is at the first hit, that the men who are strong are not due to their strength but due to their ability to be patient when they are angry. But still, you are angry. Your emotion is getting over you.

2. Keep yourselves silent. Because the more you talk, the more unaware you become of all the words that you have and might say. You might be lying just because you don't want to lose. You might say words that are unable to be taken back. You might hurt others.  But you don't want to lose your argument and you don't want the others to feel that they are actually on the right side.

3. Take ablution. Oh wait. The restrooms are too far.

4. Lie down.  Oh wait. What others would feel? You are lying down in the middle of the room.

Cheating wont get us anywhere. Trust me