Yes We Can!

Assalamu'alaikum...
Don't get me wrong...
I'm not promoting America...or Obama...

Life's back to normal...
Spain has won the world cup...
The 1-0 scoreline did reflect the quality of the game...
It's a boring game...
(I'm an Argentina supporter)

But that's not the talking point in this entry.
"Yes We Can!" slogan can be seen during matches involving U.S.A.
It did reflect the nature of the U.S.A. soccer team;
they never gave up until the final whistle.
It's the quality that Germany and Turkey showed in Euro 2008.

Many people in this world (including me) are willing to wake up 2.30 am in the morning for the sake of watching a football match...
Be it the World Cup or Champions League...

But sadly, there aren't many who are willing to wake up on time for Fajr prayer or qiyamullail...

There are some who do not pray at all...

It's the ugly truth...
Face it...

Back to the U.S.A. slogan...
If we're able and willing to wake up early in the morning to watch football matches, why don't we start waking up early in order to pray Fajr or do qiyamullail?

As usual, the devil is involved in this matter...
But let's not blame him alone, we're stronger than that...
Let's prove it...
Yes We Can!

When All Else Fails...

Assalamu'alaikum...

When all else fails
When all hopes are gone
When there's no light at the end of tunnel

NO!

There's no such thing!
There's always another way.
There's always hope.
There's always light at the end of the tunnel.

He never fails us.
We just have to live according to His sets of rules
and BELIEVE...

InsyaAllah He'll show us the way...

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going

Who is "the tough"?
The one who goes to gym everyday?

Yes. No. Maybe.

"The tough" are the ones who don't give up on hope
The ones who keep on trying
The ones who always ask for His guidance and assistance.

He will never let us down
Guidance and assistance can appear out of nowhere
from the sources that we never expected

We just have to live with His rules.
After all, everything in this world is His,
including us.
and...again, BELIEVE...

He promised in Al-Qur'an that He will always answer His servants prayers.
Sometimes we just too preoccupied blaming our fate and destiny until we miss the benefit or hikmah behind everything, behind every life's problem.

Life's a test, after all.

Alien VS Predator...

No...No...No...
This isn't about "Alien VS Predator" movie...
You can politely leave through the door at the far corner.

Assalamu'alaikum...
It's been a while since someone say something in this web log (famously known as "blog")

I'd like to share the web definition of "Alien" and "Predator" (obtained from Google)

Alien: stranger (anyone who does not belong in the environment in which they are found)

In current situation, I think it is fair to say that someone who practises Islam in every aspects of his/her life can be considered as alien.

Alien???

Yes. Alien.

Abu Hurayrah (R.A.) reported:
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Islam began as something strange and will revert to being strange as it began, so give glad tidings to the strangers.”
narrated by Muslim (145)

Alien in this context is not the "Alien" that is portrayed as evil U.F.O. that will invade the earth, but "alien" in this context refers to the practice that is rarely practised nowadays.

Now, let's move to the second word, "Predator"

Predator: any animal that lives by preying on other animals

In this current situation, I think it is fair to say that someone who takes advantage on others' misfortune/weakness/disadvantage can be considered as predator.

For example, a male nurse who rapes a mentally-ill patient, bussinessman who cheats others only to make more money and the list goes on and on.

Being opportunistic isn't wrong...
But there's a fine line between opportunistic and predatory...

So, the question remains...
Alien VS Predator
Which side are you on?

The Earthquake...

099.001 إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ الأرْضُ زِلْزَالَهَا
099.001 When the earth is shaken to her (utmost) convulsion,

099.002 وَأَخْرَجَتِ الأرْضُ أَثْقَالَهَا
099.002 And the earth throws up her burdens (from within),

099.003 وَقَالَ الإنْسَانُ مَا لَهَا
099.003 And man cries (distressed): 'What is the matter with her?'-

099.004 يَوْمَئِذٍ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا
099.004 On that Day will she declare her tidings:

099.005 بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ أَوْحَى لَهَا
099.005 For that thy Lord will have given her inspiration.

099.006 يَوْمَئِذٍ يَصْدُرُ النَّاسُ أَشْتَاتًا لِيُرَوْا أَعْمَالَهُمْ
099.006 On that Day will men proceed in companies sorted out, to be shown the deeds that they (had done).

099.007 فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ
099.007 Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it!

099.008 وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ
099.008 And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it.

Al-Qur'an, 099.001-008 (Az-Zalzala [The Earthquake])

"In Your Face!" statements....

Assalamu'alaikum...

Here are some of the statements that may hit us straight in the face...


1. You won't realise you're doing something wrong when you're doing it.

2. Sometimes you realise what you're doing is wrong but you pretend that it isn't.

3. After you did something wrong, you tend to regret your action...only to repeat it afterwards.

4. We insist women to cover their aurah while we're not covering our aurah properly.

5. We tell women to cover up and at the same time we do not lower our gaze.

6. Some women who wear hijab backbites women who doesn't.

7. "Don't judge a book by it's cover". But the thing is books with hard cover are more expensive than those with paperback.

8. We tend to tell people to do something that we don't do ourselves.

9. We are selfish.

10. We don't mention physical attractiveness in our Ideal Man/Woman criteria, but deep down inside, it's one of the first ten criteria.

* All these statements may or may not be true to everyone. It depends. Don't be too emotional with this post.

Be Thankful...

Assalamu'alaikum...

A guy went to one of the highest waterfall in Kuantan...
While swimming in the bottomless pool, his tired legs suddenly can't cope anymore...
He's sinking in the bottomless pool...
Drowning helplessly...
Until his friend noticed it and pushed him back up as he gasped for air...

He's alive...
After all the sins he's done, he's still alive...
Alive to reflect upon all those wasted years...

Be thankful for everything that you have now...
While you still have it...

Growing Up and Being a Grown Up...

Assalamu'alaikum...Peace be upon y'all...

Being grown up, isn't half as fun as growing up
These are the best days of our lives
The only thing that matters is just following your heart
and eventually you'll finally get it right...

That's what The Ataris sang in their song In This Diary, taken of the album So long Astoria (2003)

Growing up could be fun...
I mean, for kids who live in peace, harmony...
Not for kids who are haunted by terror etc...

For me, and most of us, probably, growing up is a wonderful time of my life...
I got to do what i love to do...
Play, play, play, play, play, play, and play...
Well, though I did have to study, I was carefree...
In fact I still am...
Maybe I'm not much of a grown up yet...
22 on the outside, teenager on the inside...

When I went for my Industrial Training in Sungai Buloh Hospital,
I came to realize that working is extremely exhausting...
I didn't have to do much back then...
Just sit and watch most of the time...
But still, I'm exhausted...Tired of repeating the same thing over and over again...

We're living in repetition.
Content in the same old shtick again.
Now the routine's turning to contention,
Like a production line going a over and a over and a over, roller coaster

Choreographed and lack of passion
Prototypes of what we were
Went full circle 'til I'm nauseous
Taken for granted now
I waste it, faked it, ate it, now i hate it

These are the lines from Redundant by Green Day

After the industrial training, I came to realize how tough it is for my mom and dad to go to work...
I mean, it's not for 1 day or 1 week, or 1 year, but it's for 10, 20, or 30 years of your life!
There's not much time for holidays...
Just pure work, and work, and work...

I hope that if I ever going to stuck forever at a job, please let it be the thing that I enjoy doing...

Apart from job, there are other responsibilities of an adult...
It's your turn to take care of parents after all of their BIG sacrifices for you...
Sometimes I wonder, mom and dad can raise 10 children,
but out of those 10 children, it's not guaranteed that 1 of them can take care of their parents...

Na'uzubillah...

Then, when you get married, your responsibilities become BIGGER...
Financially, time-wise, and many others...
You can't just continue behaving like you're still single...
You know, wake up at 3.45 am to watch Man United beat Chelsea in the Champions' League Final etc...
You have to think of your other half....and soon, your juniors!
Haha...Responsibilities....

You know, I think marriage isn't that easy...
Apart from the financial aspect, you're stuck with your partner for the rest of your life!
It's not like a year or two...
If you live long, maybe it's gonna be up to 30-40 years...
Who knows?
Good luck with that!
I'm not trying to scare you...
Marriage is a good thing...if you marry for all the right reasons...
such as to get the Ridha of Allah...
If you get married for all those right reasons, insyaAllah everything will turn out fine...

What you can do right now is...
Live your life to the fullest!
I'm not saying you should do drugs, drink alcohol, be a playboy etc...
Just make use of your youth time wisely...

Life is only as good as the memories we make...
(So Long Astoria by The Ataris.)

We live in this temporary life only to prepare ourselves for the next life which is endless,
so make the most of it...
Don't let you regret your fate in the next life...
Your life, your choice!