At Peace

The last moment

2010-07-31T21:39:00.002+01:00

My life is actually quite busy when i am not working, contrary to my expectation. It is relaxing, but busy. Busy as I need to reorganise my routine with the arrival of our daughter, Amatullah Husna. Busy as I need to sort out many things (procrastination is never good!) including locum job, letters and certificates, registration with MMC, returning expert program (for 2 tax free cars) and etc. That does not include shipping, packing up stuff to bring home and shopping.

I recently as well read few blogs, written buy young cancer patients who are at their terminal stage, meaning there is not much options to offer anymore. How they organise themselves to deal with the remainder of their lives. How can they make the biggest impact to the people around them so that their present lives would be remembered and contribute to their benefit in the hereafter.

To compare these two is like heaven and earth. No way you can compare somebody who is actively dying, and somebody who is leaving one place for good, although we are all passively dying. But just imagine if this is our last few weeks on earth. What will we do?

If I could make a comparison, now I am busy preparing for my MMC registration, my tax free cars and looking for a house in Malaysia - ie busy preparing for my next phase of my life. Have i make sure that I am 'registered' as a Muslim, have I checked that my aqidah/belief is the correct one? Allah promises us that He will prepare for us a house in the middle of paradise if we have good manners.

Instead of preparing to go home just after I have finished working (read retired), I should have started a long a long time ago. My GPT scheme was completed 2 years ago, but still i have books to be signed. It doesn't seems that I can can complete it. So I have to make up for it my going to the hospitals asking for signatures. In the hereafter, if I would not be able to make up all the things that I procrastinated in this world apart from paying them with my good deeds. So I have to make sure that I ask for forgiveness with those whom I might have wronged. I might not be able to find them anymore once I move on to a new place. Imagine the work I have to do if I don't deal with this issue there and then? It will be an awful job to find somebody, especially somebody you try to avoid becuase you knew you have wronged them in one way or another. I have to make sure that I pay back whatever money that I owe - so I beg for those who read this article, to clarify matters with me if there are things that is still outstanding in your views!!

In one of the blog that i read, what strikes me is that one of them has started to actively give talks to other people. Instead of thinking what do I want to do to myself in the last moments that I have, he was thinking 'how can I help other people so they can make full use of their life'. And that is what we are supposed to do. So for me, it is wrong to say that we should not think of death as our lives would not be productive. Thinking about death makes us want to live this current life to the fullest.

As somebody who believe in afterlife, it does not make sense when we spend a lot of time for this world (me included) while knowing it is the hereafter we are going to live forever. By making sure others benefit from our living, in return we will get reward for guiding others, Insya-Allah.

To the next phase of my life...
@Peace

envy

2010-07-27T21:38:00.000+01:00

I went to a course recently and I met somebody who I knew from my students years. I knew that she was one of the best, if not the best to say the least - at that time. And even after 5 years, she did not fail me at all. She rose higher than my expectation. Even others who were participating in the same course noticed her 'talent'. Every instructor who taught us will complement her. The good thing is, she remained humble (externally), just like 5 years ago. Internally, I am sure she would feel proud of herself. Would anybody not feel proud with all the praises? Even I would like people to say something like that to me.

And that's it. I actually felt envy (in a mild way). Envy to have the praises. Why people were not noticing me? Was I not as good as her? ( obviously not!! :)) Masya-Allah. I usually don't care whether people look at me or not, but i guess the nature of the course is to please the instructor. Your intention became just exactly that - to please the instructor.

Imagine what can happen in our day to day lives if our aim is limited to becoming a consultant quickly, or get awarded for our excellent presentation or skills, or praised for our jobs? What will happen if that aim is not being satisfied and somebody actually stand in between? Would our reactions be that we want this no matter what, we want this thing even at the expense of that person? Or we continue praising our competitor so that we will look good (at least externally) to his eyes and hoping that he will praise us and help us in the future?

Islam taught us not to be envy, except for something good. And that something good are limited to 2 things - somebody who was given the quran and he recites it day and night (or in another wording, someone who was given knowledge and teach to others), and somebody who was given wealth and he spends it in the cause of truth (Bukhari). We envy these two groups in the hope that we can be like him.

Competition is not considered blamesworthy in Islam, especially when it can increase productivity and actually praiseworthy when it was done for righteuosness. It becomes bad when the thinking behind it was a win-lose situation - it is either you or me. And the intention, it has to be for the sake of Allah. To be specific for the course that i attended, it should be that I attended the course so I can pass the course as best as I can. This I will use to save lives of other people, as Allah has said that saving one live equal to saving the whole humanity (quran). NOT for the praise of the instructors. The more people excell the course, Insya-Allah the more lives will be saved.

O Allah, purify our intention and protect us from evil eye.

@Peace

Mastering Adverse Outcome

2010-07-24T21:37:00.000+01:00

Approximately 10% of medical encounter resulted in adverse outcome. If this is applied to aviation industry, it means 50 plane will crash at Dublin airport on daily basis!

How do they maintain the high standard of care?

So, how did the aviation industry tackle the scenario? Pilot used to be employed from army, hence the smart uniform and discipline that they still right now - although there is no relationship anymore with defence forces. As we know in army, they rely very much on not questioning the order of the superior. However, the aviation industry challenged this type of culture by normalising respectful assertive communication across the profession. What this means is that co-pilot are free to communicate his worries to the captain assertively, and this has become the norm in the industry. This is very far from what we have been practiign in medicine.

To break the norm is always proven difficult. How can you say to your consultant that you think what he did was not appropriate? In the MPS workshop recently, the presenter adviced on a formula, the square root of n. That is apparently the formula to change the culture/habit of a place. Lets say there are 100 angry people in the workplace. Base on this theory, it only requires10 people to start making changes (ie to be nice), then others will follow suit. I tried to googled it, but could not find any further information on this (eg: study/origin etc).

Confronting an adverse effect from our intervention is a daunting experience. It does not necessarily mean that we are at fault, but it will certainly throw a lot of guilty feeling deep inside. Did I not do enough to prevent this from happening? Could I foresee this coming? Different people then will take different steps. Some will of course apologise but unfortunately some will blame others. We all have gone through the feeling when something like that happened to us, I am pretty sure of that. The culture of blame and shame should have long gone. That will hinder a proper investigation to be carried out. Once we know what was wrong, then we can proceed to explain it to the patient involved and perhaps prevent it from happening to other people. remember the story of how an intern mistakenly gave KCl instead of normal saline solution, and the heart stop beating? The outcome from this was that there should be no KCl next to saline to reduce this probability. KCl is not available to everybody except for certain few, and rigorous label checking at every point of treatment.

In the workshop that I attended, one thing that caught my attention was the discussion on how the doctor was coping when we are involved in adverse events. As usual, there was a video session with a doctor who has little clue on how to communicate properly. Of course our task was to learn on what not to do. But it was interesting to observe how we (who are supposed to observe professional integrity) quickly jump into accusation and our pre-made conculsion on how bad the doctor is. Are we that quick as well in passing comments in real life about our own colleague?

Throughout the workshop, the take home message was that patients who were involved in the adverse event should be informed of what was happening, and we as a doctor should feel sorry of what was happening to them (sympathy). This obviously has provoked a lengthy discussion. There was an argument that by saying sorry, we are admitting liability and that will not look good in the court of law. If we are worried about this, then the advice is to sympathise with the outcome (say: I am sorry that this is happening to you/saya bersimpati atas apa yang berlaku pada pakcik) instead of indicating that we are sorry that it was our mistakes that it happened. Document what we say properly so that the next person will know whether was it a sorry for mistake and just for sympathy. This is also the position of MPS and HSE - that the patients should understand fully on what is happening, and they should not be kept in the dark.

It is not the same as when we have car accident. Lawyers and our insurance company will ceratinly advice us not to admit that we are at fault. Apart from exchanging details, let them sorted out who are at fault over the accident. This defensive culture has creeped up into the medical community. many studies have shown that by being open and transparrent with the patient, the litigation rates are supprisingly on the way down (Kraman & Hamm 1999, Liebman 2005, Quinn 2008).

One thing I believe we should be practicing even on individual level is to help our fellow doctors/nurses in dealing with death of our pateints. One of the doctors in the course told a story of hers, how traumatic it was for her (as a junior doctor) to encouter death of a patient for the first time. One time there was a person who unfortunately involved in a fire. He got nearly 100% burn all over his body. He did not feel the pain as it was a 3rd degree burn, but everybody knew that he is not going to survive. He said at that time that he will be out in 2 months to work againn, and he was still lucid. 3 days later, he died. After the incident happen, all the nurses who were involve din dealing with the patient waere called up into a room and were de-briefed of what was hapepnign etc. The doctors? They were told that they were many cards waiting to be seen (in A&E). the very least we can do is to approach our fellow doctor and say to him, is there anything you want to tell me? Are you ok? How are you coping?

One technique that we learnt on how to deal with adverse events was to apply A.S.S.I.S.T technique.

A Acknowledge (that there has been a problem)
S Sorry (that this is happening)
S Story (in patients own word, what was happening?)
I Inquire (what answer the patients look for? Request permission to provide further info)
S Solution (request permission to propose some lan and to agrre on them)
T Travel (to have follow up)

It has been great to take some time off to attend these lectures. I wish I could attend the next in the series 'mastering professional interaction', but I don't think it will be avaialble in Malaysia or before i leave Ireland.

@Peace.

Mastering your risk

2010-07-17T21:35:00.001+01:00

Statistically speaking:
- if you make a mistake, it is unlikely that you'll be sued. (as only 3% of actual negligence end up in court)
- if you are sued, it is unlikely that you have made a mistake.(as 2/3 of cases has no basis whatsoever)

I attended a workshop by MPS a week ago on how to reduce my risk of getting sued. Apparently, just by turning up for the class, statistically it has reduced my risk already. Isn't it good to know that?

Nowadays, practicing medicine is not the same as 10 years ago. We order more investigations while repeating the same mantra in our mind 'what if i did not do enough?' - and that drives more unnecessary investigations. It is all about how to save yourself, just in case we miss anything.

Throughout the workshop, there was a constant take-home message - litigation is a result of poor interpersonal relationship, either with the patients or even with our own healthcare workers. It is nothing to do with our competencies. Apparently, studies have shown that there is no clinical correlation between competency and how many times you are being sued.

Analogy of a mechanic

Imagine that your car broke down a day before you have something important to attend to. You have to give a speech in a major conference. It was a raining day (like in Ireland) and you are soaking wet. Your car started to play on you, you heard some noise coming from the engine. What could it be? Not knowing anything about cars, you conveniently arrived at a car garrage down the hill. It was filthy place, with oily stuff everywhere. After tiredly waiting for 10 minuets, you were attended by a receptionist who rudely asked what do i want at 4.30pm (while watching at her watch)? After explaning about my car, she looked at me up and down with disguise (probably because it is time to close the shop) and said they are busy tosay. It will be a while. After half an hour, a mechanic came out of nowhere and said he has fixed my car. €40 altogether and off i could go. I guess i could feel relieved by that, and happily drove my car home. The next day on the way to the conference, the engine started making noise again, and this time it worse than before. What would I think at that time? I've been ripped off by the idiot who knows nothing about car!!

Then another similar scenario whereby I arrive at the garrage and greeted by one nice lady who asked me how could she help? She offered me coffee and emphatised with me how awful it must be for my car to act up just a day before my big speech. She said unfortunately I have to wait as it is quite busy that day. half an hour later, a person called john turned up and explained to me what went wrong with my car. He said he has fixed it and it will cost me €40. He said as well that the same thing might happen again, and if it happens, I might need to change one part of the engine altogether. So I drove my car home happily and when my car started to make a louder noise the next day, how do I feel? Ooo, that mechanic was brilliant - he even predict that this might happen!! and I promote his garage to my close friends.

Looking at the scenario objectively, we cannot say the second person is a better mechanic than the first one, although the second person is definitely nicer. And that is how we are viewed and judged by the patients. Within that minutes of first time meeting a patient, he/she has already made a mental assessment of our 'performance' - with something as trivial as the way we shake hands, or whether we smile or not etc.

Being a patient

Being with my wife while she was admitted a few times towards the end of her pregnancy really made me realise how awful we treat our patients. I have to say overall, the care that we received was excellent. However, one time, we were worried whether the baby was kicking enough or not. After doing CTG etc, the nurse make a weird look while looking at the CTG. It went on and on for almost 1/2 hour. Everything crossed our mind, what did that mean? Was there something wrong? Even a doctor with some little knowledge of O&G could feel insecure, imagine a patient with no knowledge at all, being kept waiting for 1/2 hour (only!!) without knowing what was happening? Scary!! I must have done similar things to my patients many times. Result of scans, blood test etc, how soon did we convey to our patients that everything was ok?

I myself was onetime admitted to A&E for vertigo. Being taken care off by the nurses and doctors at that time actually felt really good. Somehow I felt I was in safe hand. They look after me well, communicate things clearly. No wonder why people would sometimes 'like' to be in the hospital.

Interpersonal skills

I used to like reading books on self-help, especially when I was as young as 13 years old. I remember picking up a small book belonged to my father - 'Know yourself through your handwriting' and read it with great interest. The interest is now not as powerful as before.

Some people might feel that these are superficial things only, and what really matters is what is inside. It is true to certain extent, especially when politician and actors have these skills at their disposal. However, if the skills help us in understanding our patients and people around us, why not? At least, we will be less likely to be sued.

I also think that most of our ulama should improve their interpersonal skills. When you read their fatwa, you don't feel that empathy that they suppose to show. I appreciate that they only want to please Allah alone, but they can please Allah while empathise with human beings. Did not we learnt from the prophet when a man asked the prophet whether he can commit fornication? instead of brushing him off which he can easily do, the prophet reasoned with him - that he would not want fornication to happen to his mother or his sister. Remember the man who passed urine in the mosque? or the people of Taif when they threw stones at the prophet? The prophet did not ask the companion or the angels to interfere but instead he said that these people did not know. He approach the issue in a different way.

What I have learnt

I have learnt that I am not supposed to discuss patient in public places anymore, and that includes facebook. We know this already but we cannot help but to follow the urges, especially when we don't like the patients.

I am not supposed to make ill comments about my other healthcare collegues, including other doctors, nurses and medical assistants. There are proper channels to follow, and from Islamic standpoint, that is called backbitting. However, I have responsibility to follow up on cases in which I think there is a grave medical error performed by my fellow collegue.

Everybody has expectation, and that include every patients that we consult. When the expectations are not met, dissappointment ensues. So, it is a must to know the expectation in order to satisfy the needs.

When we grow up the ladder of responsibility (from intern to consultant), most of us would write less and less - and we see this everyday. Probably we think that by doing less work with our hands, we will do more with our brain. That is just wrong. Up-to-date documentation is the main thing that will stand in the court of law. If we don't have our own piece to be on our side, what chance do we have? This is not the Day of Judgment when eveyrthing will recorded by angels with our own hands and feet becomes our witness. The judge and the jury are human beings who can be persuaded depending on available evidence.

Hope that will help to remind me in the future, Insya-Allah.
@Peace

Reasons to go home

2010-07-05T04:16:00.000+01:00

KLCC, Malaysia

When i told others of our plan to go home for good (Insya-Allah), I'll be greeted in any of these few ways:
- "That is so nice. Where is your country? Are you looking forward to that?" etc. Obviously this response usually comes from non-malaysian, who does not really know what is the situation back in malaysia.
- "Why would you want to go back to Malaysia? Didn't you hear all the crazy things that happens to doctors in Malaysia?"

I guess, i don't have any particular tendency or urge to dwell too much on the debate which one is better. I just get on with it, and once i made my decision, let us hope for the best, Insya-Allah. Money is not the ultimate objective for me to stay in ireland. Of course to certain extent, it would help to have an extra income. But there are other reasons. There are people who want to stay here for their children educations, others want to finish their training up to the consultant level and others probably for political reasons.

For whatever reasons that we have, let us make sure that the time we spend in one place would not go wasted from the world viewpoint and moreover the hereafter. The correct intentions are so vital that everyone of us should examine every so often, even for those already in Malaysia.

Intention

If i begin with good intention of the reason for coming home, what would it be? Can i force myself to have these intentions? A man came to the prophet and asked, "A man fights for war booty, another fights for fame and a third fights for showing off, which of them fight in Allah's cause?" The prophet replied, "He who fights that Allah's word (ie Islam) should be superior, fights in Allah's cause. (Sahih Bukhari & Muslim).

We learnt from this simple hadith that any intention to elevate islam to its proper level is the way to go. It could be in many different ways. Money could come into picture, but with the correct intention so that we can help other people in need.

Value system

Different communities has different value system. I agree that we might not be 'culturally' advance compare to people of Western world, but I feel at ease talking to our own people and especially with people of the same belief system. It might be that people who stays abroad wants to propogate the teaching of Islam, but for me, I have been here for 10 years, what did I do for Islam? In my opinion, Insya-Allah I might do better in Malaysia.

It would be nice to discuss about religion in open space. I remember reading a blog of my friend. She ts an anesthetist who put people to sleep. She asked a patient to say shahadah before doing so, and the patient died later. This story might be really simple to you, but it sticks with me until now. I would not have the oppurtunity to say those things, and I really want to say it to people:
- Makcik, kita cuba sedaya upaya untuk berubat, tapi jangan lupa selalu doa okay. Allah sentiasa menerima doa hambanya. kalau bukan dgn cara yg kita nak, mungkin dia elakkan kita drp bala yg lebih besar.
- Jangan lupa ajak/tolong dia sembahyang walaupun dalam keadaan macam ni pakcik. Boleh tolong ambik wudhu. Sebelum dia tidur, ajar dia mengucap selalu yer pakcik.
- Dialysis ni umumnya tak membatalkan puasa pakcik. Pakcik boleh cuba puasa kalau pakcik larat. kalau pakcik nak tanya apa apa lagi, boleh saya tolong - kalau saya tahu.
- Tak perlulah marah marah, kita sama sama buat kerja doktor ni. Kalau saya salah, boleh tunjukkan cara mana yang lebih elok. kalau marah marah, itu cuma buat saya sakit hati dan tak akan belajar apa apa bende baru pun.

And so many more....

Family

Looking back at my life history, I actually spent more time outside my home than inside. I left home when I was 13. and till now still am away.

My mother died when I was working in Ireland. i have already missed the whole good deeds that i can do to my mother. Remember the hadith of being dutiful to a mother 3x more than a father. This means that I have to be dutiful to my father a lot more now. Ibn 'Abbas said, "If any Muslim obeys Allah regarding his parents, Allah will open two gates of the Garden for him. If there is only one parent, then one gate will be opened. If one of them is angry, then Allah will not be pleased with him until that parent is pleased with him." He was asked, "Even if they wrong him?" "Even if they wrong him" he replied. (Al-adab al-Mufrad). Ibn Abbas said that he did not know of any action better for bringing a person near to Allah than dutifulness to his mother.

What about the rest of our family members, old or new. I felt that it is part of my duty to 'practically' expand the already expanded family.I don't want to be known as an uncle whom they see only once a year. I want to be involve with them, teaching them something about this life that I have learnt. My kid will need to know who are her parents' family and friends. It is part of the sunnah to continue this tie of friendship with the friends of our parents.

O my brothers and sisters, Prophet has cursed the person whom while having their father and mother but still could not enter jannah, because they did not serve their parents well. And may Allah prevent us from the curse.

Things to change

But they are so many things that are not right yet in malaysia. Look at the salary or working condition for example. And how uneven the distribution of doctors. While in UM, we hear about extracorpuscular shockwave therapy for angina, something which i have to do a bit of reading as i haven't heard about it before - in other place we have doctors performing all sorts of procedure without proper supervision as there just not enough doctors there. Look at the attitude of people/doctors. the back bitting was so severe. That does not include the rape, baby dumping syndrome, the heat, balck magic etc.

Let us not forget, these things does not happen in Malaysia only. It happens here in Ireland as well. we hear almost every day people are bitching each other. In peripheral hospitals, the A&E system was so defective that other doctors make fun of them. Alcohol is everywhere and so difficult to go to restaurant where there is no alcohol on board. Islamic schools are scarce in number, and our teens are exposed to the danger of free sex, drugs and alcohol.

Most of us who is living abroad would like to go home one day. we can make a choice, whether we can be part of the team to build the health system to the level of our satisfaction, or we can join only when almost everything is in place. Of course there will never be a perfection in health system. While there are still plenty to do, I think i better get involve soon.

It is a bit like Naruto after few years training outside the village with Jiraiya. When the training finished, it is time to pass the knowledge to others. Not that I am saying I have sage power, but i do believe that I have the responsibility over other people in the village/country.

Other wordly things

Imagine shopping complex that close at 10pm, not at 6pm, with rows of shops and new gadgets in Low Yat, instead of Currys + PC World + Dixon. in which they are all from the same parent company. Warung that open till midnight, especially when you are tired after coming home from work and too lazy to cook, instead of delivery from Spice n Rice or Chiken Hut.

I have enough of Castles and Churches around Europe when I travel. I am longing to go Sabah & Sarawak with my family, or having a camping experience again like the good old days.

I want to attend formal religious education in the masjid, instead of listening to VCD of Dr Asri, or searching Youtube of Islamic lectures, or learning from books - which is not complete.

May Allah show us the proper way to a prosper hereafter, with whatever way we choose to live in this world. Ameen.

It is time to go home.
@Peace.

Amatullah Husna: Welcome to this world

2010-06-13T04:15:00.000+01:00

While preparing for the birth of our daughter, I take some time out to research on what are the regulations regarding the newborns.

Azan & Iqamah to baby's ear

Despite the widespread practice, some scholars actually regard the evidence to be weak. There are 3 hadiths in this area, one of them considered as weak by Al-Albani, the other 2 considered as fabricated.

The one that was considered weak only mentioned calling of the azan in the ear, without mentioning iqamah or which side of the ear it was called into. Islamonline.net took this stand.

Tahneek

It has been authentically related from the practice of sahabah with the prophet:

Abu Musa, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates: "A son was born to me, and I took him to the Prophet who named him Ibrahim, did Tahneek for him with a date, invoked Allah to bless him, then he returned him back to me.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Another hadith explained how the prophet did this. He took some dates, chewed on them, mixing them with his saliva, opened the baby mouth, and rubbed the chewed dates inside the baby's mouth. He also supplicated and invoked blessing for him. (Bukhari & Muslim)

As you can see, this should be done as soon as we have the oppurtunity. Probably best not to wait for the time of aqiqah. However, because it is recommended to get the 'alim to do tahnik, then some people delay it to the time when the person becomes available.

Aqiqah

It refers to animals slaughtered as a sacrifice for a newborn child. 2 sheeps for a boy and one sheep for a girl (Abu Dawud - sahih by al-Albani). Whether it is obligatory or only recommended, scholars differs. Both have their valid arguments, but al-Jibaly in his book consider it to be waajib.

Few authentic hadith suggested that aqiqah can be performed on 7th day, 14th day or 21st day. Prophet himself performed aqiqah on himself after he was appointed as prophet (Recorded by at-Tahawi, sahih by al-Albani)

There is no specific hadith recommending what to do with the meat. Some scholars made analogy with udhiyah (eid sacrifice) - dividing into 3 parts, eating one part, feeding the 2nd and giving the rest as charity.

Feast is optional, falls under the category of encouragement of feeding others. The basic idea of aqiqah is sacrifice, not the feast itself. So, buying meat over the counter to do a feast is not part of aqiqah.

Shaving the head

Shaving the head of a newborn is done usually together with performing aqiqah (slaughtering), based on a hadith that mentioned both shaving & aqiqah in one sentence. The head should be shaved completely, and charity is to be given equal to its weight in silver (Recorded by AHmad - hasan by al-Albani).

1 gram of silver roughly equivalent to €15 (as of 31/5/2010)

Naming the newborn

It is the responsibility of the parents to name the newborn with a good name. What are good names? Islamically, the prophet said that the best and most beloved names to Allah are Abdullah & Abdul Rahman (Muslim)

Although it is recommended to name the child using prophetic name (including Muhammad), but we have to beware that there are fabricated hadith in this matter, such as the following:

Anyone who was granted three sons and did not name any of them Muhammad has indeed acted ignorantly (Recorded by Al-Tabarani - verified to be fabricated by al-Albani).

There are names which specifically should be avoided as mentioned in authentic hadith. The names like Aflah (successful), Nafi (useful), Rabah (winner), Yasar (facilitation), Barakah (blessing), Najih (successful), Ya'la (high). Ulama agree that the names mentioned are merely disliked but not fully prohibited, as the Prophet has a servant named Rabah, and he did not change it (Bukhari). The dislike might be due to the names constitute self praise or glorification. That is why certain people avoid this by naming their kids with the names of flowers (which has no self praise) like Orked, Naurah, Zainab etc. Wallahua'lam.

Circumcision

This has become a big issue since the ban of female genital mutilation, which without doubt happen in certain muslim countries. In the severest category, female genital mutilation involves removal of clitoris and labia minora, and stitching together labia majora, only leaving a small opening for urine and menstruation. The opening of the stitches often is a part of wedding night ritual. The mildest version of female circumcision is clitoridectomy, which is removal of all or part of the clitoris. Clitoridectomy was actually promoted in US & UK in 19th and 20th century as 'a cure for lesbian practices, masturbation, hysteria, epilepsy or nervousness.'

In Islam, to say that female circumcision has no basis at all is clearly not right. The prophet mentioned: When the two locations of circumcision meet, ghusl become obligatory (Muslim) and few other similar sahih hadith. This indicates that female circumcision was a known and acceptable practice during prophetic time.

However, prophet also added: When you trim, do it slightly and not excessively. This would bring beauty to the woman's face and please her husband (Recorded by al-Tabarani, sahih by al-Albani).

Without a doubt that circumcision in man is obligatory and is part of the fitrah. The prophet even commanded Kulayb al-Juhani to get circumcised when he embraced Islam (Abu Dawud - hasan by al-Albani).

Although it is not a common practice in the west, scientific studies to the highest order including a few randomized control trials showed that circumcision reduced the risk of HIV transmission and coital injuries (which might explain the reduce risk of HIV transmission) in male.

The CDC held a two-day consultation in 2007 to obtain input on potential role of male circumcision in preventing transmission of HIV, and they agree that there are sufficient evidence that people should be informed of this option.

Nifaas

Through my reading, most of the scholars regard the starting of nifaas when a woman has a show (blood) with contraction. Usually this happens near enough to the time of delivery. The maximum number of days for nifaas can be 40 days (most scholars) based on some hadith, but Imam Shafie considered nifaas can be up to 60 days. Ibn Taymiyyah considered there is no limit to nifaas. In medical term, nifaas is called lochia (as far as i know). There is no definite period, but usually it lasts between 2 to 6 weeks (42 days).

My wife raised some valid question (for me). Generally the post partum bleeding is equivalent to blood coming from the separation of placenta and uterus, the same as blood in menstruation - it is the shedding of tissue from the uterus. That is why, if a person still have bleeding because of episiotomy post delivery/ C-section, and not because of placenta bleeding, that she needs to pray and fast. When the mother has a 'show', the current medical understanding say that this blood is coming from the injury to the cervix, not from the placenta. If this is so, then does it mean that the obligation to pray is not lifted? I wish that there will be O&G specialist with the help of the scholars to update these questions, using the light from sunnah and our understanding of labour.

So, do tahneek, perform Aqiqah, shave the head and bless our kids with good names. May a good start increase the chance of a good end.

@Peace.

Amatullah Husna

Islamic Medicine: Is it only honeys and bees?

2010-06-10T04:10:00.001+01:00

To say that something is part of Islam, we have to have evidence for that. For example, car. If we say Islamic car, what does it mean? For me, it means a car with Islamic features on it. What is Islamic features? It means, the car was bought using legal means (not with riba), able to protect the people inside (safety, preservation of life - part of Islam) & function as what it should be, as well as used for things that are right Islamically (work, pray etc).

So, if I say Islamic medicine, what does it mean? The options would be:
- is it the old medicine of 10th- 15th century medicine during which Islam was at its peak of power?
- Is it natural medicine utilizing mostly hearbs, diet and lifestyle adjustment?
- Is it a medicine limited to the health related teachings found in the Quran and sunnah, for example, honey, Habbatussauda, dates, zamzam water etc?
- Could we include the current breed of medicine (of gene therapy and pharmacological intervention) as islamic medicine?

There are things mentioned directly in Quran and sunnah of the prophet as regard to ingredient that can cure ie: honey, dates etc. However, there are things that are indirectly mentioned in the sunnah. In sahih Bukhari, prophet said that Allah has made available a treatment of every illness except old age. So, indirectly any thing that can cure a disease could potentially be included as part of Islamic medicine - provided that it really can cure. So, does atorvastatin part of Islamic medicine? Is dialysis treatment part of islamic medicine? The answer (for me) is a resounding YES.

Other than modern medicine

I was against the use of complimentary medicine once upon a time. For me at that time, medicine is modern medicine, or nothing at all. You can see how shallow can that be. China has their own part of medicine (acupuncture, herbal) for thousands of years, which would not stand the test of time if it is not working. In the era of Islamic empire, muslim physicians was using remedy from all over the world to cure diseases. Aishah r.a was taking a lot of advices from Arabian tribes on how to cure the prophet during his last days of this life. Where is aspirin at that time? It is not that most of the modern medicine come from the natural ingredient? Evidence based medicine is used to sideline all this important measures. Although I fully support the use of evidence based medicine especially when the treatment is proven, there are thing that is just not possible to do randomized control trial. There has never been RCT on appendicectomy vs placebo. The RCT for haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis failed. There are times when we have to use our own logic when the evidence is not fully there.

Saying that, let us not go overboard. There are people who take advantages of the vulnerability of patients by offering them 'cure' when there is no evidence to their claim. They unfortunately often hide behind the curtain of so-called islamic medicine. Knowing that the people will not question anything about their religion (which for me is just wrong), they (the pratitioner) misguide people on their treatment often with a huge sum of money. I remember hearing about colour vibration therapy one day. I spent hours reading about it (concept), reading about the founder and reading about what it does. The degree is questionable through online university, and the concept does not agree with the current level of understanding. This is to say the least.

Al-Razi (Razes) (who describes the difference between measles and smallpox so vividly that little since has been added) define medicine as 'the art concerned in preserving healthy bodies, in combating disease, and in restoring health to the sick'. ie there is a prevention part and there is a treatment part of medicine.

Aim of medicine

As doctors, we deal with disease through a multidiciplinary approach, involving other specialties like pharmacist, dietitian, physiotherapy, social worker, priest/imam etc. Our aim is not only a physical cure, but a generealized sense of goodness in the patients' life - the quality of life. Patient with a stent after an MI, if he does not look after his diet/smoking, or he is not interested in taking the prescribed medication, or even protecting his family from similar disease that happens to him (by not smoking, good dietary advice etc), then little can be gain as a community. And what more can we ask as our ultimate aim (as muslims) if it is not for goodness in this world and hereafter?

If i am giving advice regarding how to treat an illness, then i believe we should do this through these steps:
- knowing that having illness is an oppurtunity for us to pause and reflect on our life. Probably we are moving too fast that we miss few things that are important in our life - our family, friends and our faith.
- having illness is an oppurtunity for us to expiate our sins
- making plenty of du'a & solat
- remembering death as a possible consequance of the illness, and prepare for it (update the will, increase charity etc)
- seeking help and advice on how to cure it. It might be just a simple change of diet, and stop from doing something harmful. Or we might need something further like medication or operation.
- when seeking for advice for treatment, i will start with a qualified physician. This is because modern medicine has been shown to offer the highest possible way of physical cure. I trust modern medicine as it has undergone vigorous trials to show that it works.

Islamic medicine can be applied not only to the honeys and bees (etc), but also to anything that cure (and proven that it cures), as long as it is islamically permissable.

DISCLAIMER

I am a qualified doctor (MB), so anybody who reads this might want to include that potential bias, although I strive to define Islamic medicine based on available evidence

@Peace

The story of Judgment Day

2010-05-29T23:47:00.000+01:00

My first 'encounter' with the stories about the Day of Judgment came from my mother (May Allah forgive her) when I was 5 or 6 years old. The impact of the story indeed had left me (at that time) shaken and really afraid. Over the years, I have been learning about the Day of Judgment. However, the extent of the destruction and the sequence of events were really hard to remember and even harder to appreciate. Until I read this book about the Judgment Day by Muhammad Al-Jibaly. Allow me to summarise the events for my easy reference in the future. He is really into sahih and hassan hadith, so I won't quote the whole hadith to make the article short.

1. The Last Hour (Al-Saa'ah) - part 1
2. Resurrection (Al-Ba'th) - part 1
3. Assembly (Al-Hashr) - part 1
4. Judgment (Al-Hisaab) - part 2
5. Scales (Al-Mizaan) - part 3
5. Bridge Over Hell (Al-Siraat) - part 3
6. Paradise/Hell (Jannah/Jahannam) - part 4

1. The Last Hour

The last day begins with total destruction of the world. The Horn will be blown for the first time. Surah Taaha (105-107): They ask you about the mountains. Say: My Lord will blow them away with a blast, leaving it a flat plane, so that you will see in it no dents or rises.

After the universe has been destroyed, Allah replace it with a new plain, where there is no landmark on it. Surah Ibrahim (48): (Judgment will be) on the Day when the earth will be replaced by a different earth, and the heavens as well, and they will come out before Allah, the One, the Prevailing.

2. Resurrection

The second horn will be blown after 40 long periods (Bukhari). Then Allah will send down rain causing people's body to grow (Muslim).The people's re-creation will start from their tail-bone.

The soil eats away all parts of a human being - except for the tail bone. From this bone he was first created and from it he will be refashioned. (Bukhari)

Allah said in the that it is easy for him to resurrect the creations again, as he created them from nothing before, and this is surely easier or him.

3. Assembly

After the resurrection, everybody will be assembled in preparation for the Final Judgment. None will be exempted from the Judgment. Surah Al-Kahf, ayat 47: And the Day when We will cause the mountain to disappear, and you will see the earth void and bare, and We will assemble them, leaving out none of them.

At first, the dead will be resurrected in the clothes that they died in (Ibn Hibban-sahih), but will later be removed so that everybody during the assembly will be naked, uncircumcised and barefoot. Aishah r.a was wondering how is it that men and women will not be ashamed of seeing each other being naked? Prophet replied that the they are too afraid of what is coming that they don't even bother to look at each other (Bukhari). The first to be clothed on that day will Ibrahim a.s (Bukhari)

The sun will be brought very close to people that they will be soaked in their sweat according to their deed. Some will have the sweat up to their heels and for others up to their mouth (Muslim). As to why the sun is still standing after the destruction of the universe, then it is within Allah's power to do whatever He likes. He can easily create another sun to be nearer. Wallahu a'lam.

The Assembly will be extremely long by world's standard. It will be as long as 50 thousand years (Ibn Abbas commentary on Surah al-Ma'arij, ayat 4). However, for the believers, Prophet explained that it will be seeming like the duration from when the sun declines for setting until t finally sets (Ibn Hibaan-sahih).

a) Believer during Assembly

The Day of Resurrection brings great terror to the hearts of most courageous. However, Allah promises that the believers will be secure from this great terror (Surah Al-Anbiyaa', ayat 101-103). There are some believers who will be under the shade of Allah's throne, covered from the heat of the sun. These include (Bukhari):

A just leader,
A young man who grew up worshiping Allah,
A man whose heart is attached to the places of sujud,
2 men who love each other for Allah's sake - they meet and separate upon this love,
A man who is invited to sin by a woman of influence and beauty but he responds that he fears Allah
A man who gives charity so secretly that his left hand would not know what his right hand spends,
A man who mentions Allah in private and his eyes overflow with tears.

In addition, whoever defers a financially-burdened person (in settling a debt) or absolves him, Allah will also shelter him under is (Throne's) shade (Muslim).

Believers who fight for Allah and died, his wound will be seeping with fluid that looks like blood but with a smell of musk (Bukhari).

b) Sinful during Assembly

The arrogant particularly will be assembled in the size of ants, but in human form. They will be overwhelmed by the Fire of fires, and will be made to drink from the filthy fluids of people of Hell (Ahmad -authentic). Oppressors will be engulfed in darkness (Muslim).

Those who did not pay zakah, they will be fashioned on Resurrection day as plates of fire, which will be heated in the Hellfire and then used to burn his side, forehead and back. This will continue for 50 thousand years until Judgment is concluded among the people and he is shown whether his destination is Jannah or Hellfire (Muslim).

Those who betray other people, on Resurrection day, there will be a banner for each one of them saying: This is the betrayal of so-and-so, son of so-and-so (Muslim).Those who take bribe will come on Resurrection day with the bribes upon his neck, whether it was camel, cow or bleating goat (Bukhari).

c) Non-believer during Assembly

While the believers enjoy their glad tidings, the non-believers will lose all hope. Surah Ar-Rum, ayat 12: On the Day when the Last Hour arrives, the criminals will lose all hope. Some of the non-believers will be raised blind as if to mock them of their blindness to Allah;s message in this world (Surah Taahaa, ayat 124-126). Some others will be dumb and deaf (Surah Al-Israa', ayat 97).

They will be assembled upon and walk on their face (Surah al-Furqan, ayat 34). Their faces will be darkened (Surah Az-Zumar, ayat 60) and they are bound in shackles, clothed in garment of black pitch and fire veiling their faces (Surah Ibrahim, ayat 49-50).

They know what will be their final abode hence they wish to return to their first life in order to re-live it correctly. Allah says that even if they were brought back, they would return to the very thing that was forbidden to them ((Surah al-An'am, ayat 27-28).

When they know that there is no return, they will try to put the blame on their friends and leaders who lead them astray, but none can offer them their help (Surah al-Baqarah, ayat 166-167).

4. The Judgment

Allah did not created us pointlessly. Have we ever wonder, why there are people who kill, rape, destroy other people's life, but many of them go unpunished in this world? Allah will surely punish them, if not in this world, it will be in the hereafter.

Every human being will surely taste death; but only on Resurrection Day will you be given your (full) compensation. (Surah Ali Imran, ayat 185)
Major Intercession

After the people are gathered, the judgment will not start until Prophet Muhammad strongly pleads Allah to do so. This is called the Major Intercession. The people first will go to Adam, then Nuh, then Ibrahim, Musa and Isa a.s to intercede for them, but to no avail. Until they finally ask Muhammad saw.

Prophet Muhammad will make sujud underneath Allah's throne and praise Allah with magnificent praises that nobody was inspired with the glorification before him (the prophet). Then the Judgment will begin.
Allah's coming

The judgment will start in the most awe-inspiring manner. The angels will advance lined up in numbers and they will surround the creation and fill the heaven and the earth. Eight enormous angels will be bearing Allah's throne (Surah Al-Haaqah, ayat 13-18). Allah will come forward, separated from the creation by layers of cloud (Surah al-Baqarah, ayat 210).
Bringing Hell to view

The day will be even more terrifying when hell is brought to view. It will be pulled with 70 thousand ropes and each rope held by 70 thousand angels (Muslim). It is like a wild beast which requires a great number of strong angels to keep it under control.
Presenting the creation before The Lord

We will be presented to Him lined in rows, while at the same time, each person will stand as a lonely individual. Nobody can slip away from judgment. Each person will be accompanied by 2 guards from the angels: a driver who will lead him to the plane of Judgment, and a witness who recorded his deeds (Surah Qaaf, ayat 20-21).

The evil deeds will materialize into actual burden that people carry on their backs (Surah al-An'am, ayat 31). Nobody wants to bear another's burden, even a close relative (Surah Faatir, ayat 18).

This is the day when no parent will be of any help to his child, nor will a child be any help to his parents (Surah Luqman, ayat 33). No will be no ties of kinship exist among them that day, and some will even flee from his parents and wife and children, as they have their own affairs be of sufficient concern to them (Surah 'Abasa, ayat 33-42).
Allah will speak to all

Allah will speak to all of us without a translator (Surah Al-Ma'aarij, ayat 10-14). There are people of wrongdoings that Allah will not speak kindly to them, nor will He look upon them with mercy. These include:

Those who trade their covenant to Allah and their pledges for a worthless gain (Surah Ali Imran, ayat 77)

A man who drags his garments,
A person who markets his merchandise with untruthful oaths,
A person who boasts about his favours toward others (Muslim).

An adulterous old man,
A lying king,
An arrogant, though poor, head of family (Muslim).
First Matter of Judgment

The first thing that will be settled among the people during Resurrection Day is blood. (Bukhari)

The first thing for which a person will account during Resurrection Day is his prayer. If it was good, he will be successful; and if it was bad, he will be a loser. (Tirmizi - authentic)

We will also be asked about (the famous) 5 things:
- How he consumed his lifetime
- How he wore out his body
- How he earned his wealth
- How he spent his wealth
- What he did in implementing what he knew
(Tirmizi - authentic)

There will be people who will come to Judgment day with loads of good deeds. However, because of the harm that they inflicted to others, Allah will give from their good deeds to those that they hurt, and will then give them from the sins of the others (Bukhari). This is what prophet called a truly bankrupt person!

There will also be some believers who come with some sins. However Allah will forgive their sins and completely remove them from record. He will do this privately so that no other people will know about them. (Bukhari)
The first to be indicted

In a long hadith, prophet described the first people who will be found guilty on Resurrection day. These are:
- A man who was martyred
- A man who learned the Knowledge and recited the Quran
- A man whom Allah gave an easy life and granted all sorts of riches.
These 3 people actually did good in what was given to them. However, they did it so that people wouldl say that they were brave, or that they were reciters or that they were generous - because of the wrong intenion, they will be dragged over their faces until they are thrown into the Fire.
(Muslim)
Satan's Conclusive Speech

Surah Ibrahim, ayat 22:
And Satan will say when the matter has been concluded, "Indeed, Allah had promised you with the promise of truth, whereas I promised you but betrayed you. But I had no authority over you except that I invited you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me; but blame yourselves. I cannot be called to your aid. Indeed, I deny that you previously joined me." Indeed for the wrongdoers is a painful punishment.
People Without Messenger

There is an authentic hadith describing 4 types of individuals brought forward before Allah - a child (who died before puberty), a mad man, a person that no messenger came in his time and a very old man (who became senile). They were ordered by Allah to enter the hellfire. Some of them will go forth and rush to enter the fire (because of obedience to Allah). Thus they will enter jannah, (Aboo Ya'laa - authentic)

This hadith should teach us not to quickly pinpoint any disbelievers in this life and say that he definitely will end up in Hell. First, we do not know what would be their faith at the time of death, and secondly we usually cannot be suure that they have received the message of Islam in its true form. Only to Allah to determine these things with his ultimate knowledge.
The Witnesses

Allah and the angels will become the witness of what we have done in this world. Surah al Infitaar, ayat 10-12: Surely, there are (angels) appointed over you to watch you. They are honorable recorders. They know all that you do.

Our limbs will testify against us as well. A servant will argue with his Lord that he wants to see no injustice and refuse to accept any other witness apart from his own. Allah agrees and the servant's mouth will be sealed, and his limbs will be commanded to speak. (Muslim)

In another ayat, Allah says that the servant's own tongue, hands and feet will bear witness against them (Surah An-Nur, ayat 24-25). Their hearing and their sights and their skins will also testify against them (Surah Fussilat, ayat 19-21).

The earth also will be a witness to what happened on it (Surah al-Zalzalah, ayat 1-8). There is no escape, and Allah belongs the best judgment.

5. The Scales

It is the most accurate scale for weighing people's deed, even the smallest good deeds (Surah al-anbiyaa', ayat 47). The scales are so huge that that they can even accommodate the heavens and the earth if they were to be weighed in them (al-Haakim, authentic).

Allah says that as for him whose scales are heavy (with good deeds), he will be in a pleasant life; and vice versa (Surah al-Qari'ah, ayat 4-11).

The heaviest thing in the scales is the true and pure belief in Allah and His Messenger. The prophet related in a hadith that there will be a man on Resurrection day and Allah will unfold for him 99 records of bad deeds that each record is so huge that it extends to the limits of eyesight. He has only one good deed recorded, and that will be his testimony of 'Laa Ilaha Illallah'. This testimony will be weighed against the bad deeds and will overweigh them all. (al-Tirmizi - authentic)

The heaviest things in servant's scale as well are good manners (Abu Dawud - authentic).

There are 2 statements that are light on the tongue, heavy on the Scales, and beloved by the Most Merciful: Subhaan Allahi wa-bihamdih, Subaan Allah il-'Azeem (Exalted is Allah, and praise be to him; Exalted is Allah the Great). (Bukhari)

There are also people who do many (good) deeds but weight nothing on the Scales. These are the people who disbelieved in Allah. They are the greatest losers. (Surah al-Kahf, ayat 103-106)
The Records

Each person will receive his book of records in his hands. For the righteous, they will receive their book in their right hand, and as for the wrongdoers, they will receive their book in their left hands and from behind their back. (Surah al-Haqqah, ayat 19-37)
The Prophet's Pond

During the 50 thousand years of Assembly and Judgment, with the sun shining on us, the people will be hot and thirsty. A cool and sweet drink will be most welcome. Sure enough, such a drink will be offered - only to true believers. There will be a pond that the Prophet Muhammad will be in-charge. Scholars said that this pond draw its water from river Al-Kawthar in Jannah. Its water is whiter than milk, sweeter than musk and whoever drinks from it will never be thirsty thereafter (Bukhari).
6. The Bridge over Hell

Nearing the end of Judgment, there will people who already has been to Hell after their judgment. This will be for the followers of false gods and religions (Bukhari).

Then the siraat (bridge) will be extended over the two ends of Hell. Prophet Muhammad will be the first messenger to cross it. In Hell, there will be hooks that snatch people according to their deeds. Some will travel like a blink of an eye, others like birds and so on (including crawling). Some will pass secure and unharmed, others will be scratched and others will be rounded up in Hellfire. (Muslim)

Hypocrites will try to cross the Bridge as well but the hooks will snatch them to the Hellfire (Muslim). The last among those on siraat will only pass it by being dragged along (Bukhari).
Various Intercessions

We have seen the Prophet's Major Intercession in starting the Judgment Day. The Prophets also will be given ability to intercede with Allah on behalf of their followers (Bukhari). Prophet Muhammad particularly has spared a du'a for his followers in order to intercede for them on Judgment Day (Bukhari).

The believers also will be given opportunity to intercede on behalf of other believers who will have entered Hell for their sins. The believers say: Our Lord, they used to fast with us, pray with us, and go to hajj will us. So they will be told: Take whomever you could recognize of them. Thus they will take out a large number of people. (Bukhari)

Quranic reciters will have the Quran intercede on their behalf. The 2 surahs, Al-Baqarah and Ali Imran will come on the Day of Resurrection like two cloud or two flock of birds, arguing on behalf of their reciters. (Muslim)

Finally, Allah will then say: The angels have interceded, the prophets have interceded and the believers have interceded. Only the Most Merciful of the merciful is left. So He will take a handful of people from the Fire, thus removing from it people who never did any good. The people of Jannah will later call them 'The Ones Freed by the Most Merciful'. (Bukhari)
Final bridge

After crossing the siraat, the believers will be very close to the gates of Jannah. However, they will not be able to enter it as yet. First, they will have to settle any small resentment or dislike that they may have toward other believers. Only then (once purified and rectified) they will be permitted to enter Jannah. (Bukhari)

Wallahu a'lam
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have done to the best of my ability to summarize what i have read. For the time being, I will not yet continue on writing about paradise and hell. I have benefited a lot by reading this book and I sincerely hope that this article can add up to the heaviness of my good deeds. Do not praise the created things, praise the Creator, Lord of this world and the Hereafter.

Alhamdulillahi rabb il-'aalameen.

ZZZzzzZ

2010-05-07T22:48:00.001+01:00

I like to sleep. That is no secret to my family, my wife, my nurses, my team or my classmates. Some consider it a privilege, but when you nearly die because you are too easily sleeping (while driving), you'd be thinking twice before saying such thing.

sleeping

Nevertheless, interestingly i found this quranic ayat and a hadith from the prophet about 'sleeping'. I know people would say that sleeping does not solve the problems. I found when i woke up from sleep, it is as if a whole new life for me. I am not as stressed, and certainly can think more clearly. Who knows, Allah would help the person like the hadith of the missing animal?

Narrated Al-Harith bin Suwaid: Ibn Mas'ud narrated from Rasulullah that he said:

Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave than a man who encamps at a place where his life is jeopardized, but he has his riding animal carrying his food and water. He then rests his head and sleeps for a short while and wakes to find his riding animal gone. (He starts looking for it) and suffers from severe heat and thirst or what Allah wished (him to suffer from). He then says, "I will go back to my place." He returns and sleeps again, and then (getting up), he raises his head to find his riding animal standing beside him. (Bukhari)

(Remember) when He covered you with slumber as a security from Him, and He caused rain to descend on you from the sky, to clean you thereby and to remove from you the Rijz (whispering, evil suggestions) of Satan, and to strengthen your hearts, and make your feet firm thereby. (Surah Al-Anfal: 11)

This ayat from surah Al-Anfal described the believers during the battle of badar. The feeling of slumber and descending rain from the sky were described as something that give a sense of security.

Happy sleeping.
@Peace

Additional tasks of muslim doctors

2010-05-06T21:57:00.007+01:00

Being a doctor is not just about treating patient physically. Physical component is only one part of oneself. With the involvement of social worker, dietitian, physiotherapy and OT, the care of the patient is becoming more hollistic. We learn in our basic history taking that we should include social history including the smoking/alcohol and ome circumstances, so we should at least be able to offer advice of social aspect of the problem.

I wonder sometimes, if we are allowed to ask patients on their sexual orientation, alcohol consumption and even their drug history, why can't we ask whether they would have difficulty praying five time a day, or discuss with the patient about fasting while they are sick if it is in Ramadhan? It might be that those 'usual' questions' are directly related to certain diseases (HIV, hepatitis, infective endocarditis), and solat is not. But what about whether they have 2 storey house or not, or whether who prepare their food at home? That is certainly not directly related to the current medical condition. We ask those questions to have an idea of how safe can we discharge the patient home after treating them. If we are allowed to interfere with their safety after discharges, we surely are allowed to make sure of their (muslims) safety after their death! That fits in with the idea of having muslim chaplain in hospitals. If we find that the patient might have 'spiritual' problem, then we mayn call the chaplain to help.

Of course i am talking about malaysia, not while i am in ireland. They are many atheist or agnostic that might be offended by questions on religion.

Islamic Perspective in Medicine

I bought an interesting book compiled by Dr Shahid Athar, an Endocrinologist in Indiana, USA. He compiled a number of articles presented in Islamic medical conference over th years. One article discussed about the additional responsibilities of muslim doctors, compare to their non-muslim counterpart.

1. The Public Responsibility

It is not right for muslim doctors only to be in their circle of hospital walls, patients and collleague. They should also be active in the community, showing good examples to the rest of community and using their expertise to help others in non-medical way. Doctors generally are viewed with respect and has great weight and influence over the community, hence he should use this for the greater good.

2. Faith & Healing

By accepting the fact that Allah is the healer and that doctor is only an agent, both patients and doctors fight their battle of treatment with less agony and tension. The ability of a doctor to make good decision ultimately reflects the mercy of the Creator. This is not to say that doctors can quickly blame God for mistakes that they make, but everybody will come to term with what happen more easily by accepting there are power beyond our ability, who has full knowledge and ultimate wisdom of what is happening.

3. Reprehensible, Prohibited and Permissible act

As muslims, we are bound not only of the law of the land, but also the shariah's law. Most of the times, these law would compliment each other - that it is doctor's responsibilities to treat patient to the best of their ability etc. However, at times, we are confronted by situations whereby the law of the land/medical ethics might permit such actions, but not from shariah view point. For example, mercy killing when there might still hope, or transsexual operation, certain cosmetic surgeries and of course abortion. We muslims are bound by shariah's law, and we should stick to it to the best of our ability.

Talking about abortion, the book mentioned some statistics. We know that with medical advances, the infant mortality rate is decreasing. For example, infant mortality in US in 1970 was 43,205. This has decrease to 22,010 in 1978. See, we are making progress - or so we might think. The statistic 'forgot' to include some 1,150,776 infant mortality for the first 9 months of their life in 1978, which was considered as abortion as compared to infant mortality. This is 600% increase from 1970 figure of 193,491. How about the increasing rate of suicide in Ireland? There must something that we are missing in the medical communities that we cannot improve personal happiness and wellbeing, which should be the goal.

Modern medicine recognizes electrical brain activity as a sign of life and would not dispose of any person as long as this is present. However, it is willing to dispose a huge numbers of unborn babies even though they have electrical brain activity.

@Peace.

Let me warn you about Evil Eye

2010-03-12T21:56:00.003Z

New concept

As far as i know, i don't have any substitute word of evil eye in Malay language. Hence, this concept of Evil Eye is new to me, and perhaps is new to many of my Malaysian friends as well. Although, internationally, this concept has been mentioned since the Socrates era. Every religion recognize the effect of evil eye, including the three Abrahamic religions.

Rasulullah said: The influence of an evil eye is a fact.. (Muslim)

Meaning

To put it simply, evil eye is a little more that just envy (dengki) and a little less than sihr (black magic). Jealousy plays an important part behind evil eye. Ibn Qayyim explained evil eye in his own word: It begins when the person likes something, then his evil soul dwells on the matter, and by continually looking at the person who has the thing of which he feels jealous, he directs his venom towards him. A person may put the evil eye on himself, or he may put the evil eye on someone else without intending to, because it is is a part of his nature. This is the worst type of human being. Our companions and other fuqahaa’ said: if someone is known for this, he should be detained by the imaam (leader), who should spend on him and provide for him until he dies. This idea is absolutely correct…
(Zaad al-Ma’aad, 4/167)

Although it is correct that the evil eye comes from people who feel jealous (hasad), it may also come from a person who is not jealous but merely likes something that other people have. That is why Rasulullah said: Whoever among you sees something in himself or in his possessions or in his brother that he likes, let him pray for blessing for it, because the evil eye is real. (Al-Hakim - sahih by Al-Albani)

Application in real life

When we like what our brothers have, then we should say:

"If any one of you insists in praising his brother, let him say: I think so-and-so is such-and-such, and Allah knows the exact truth, or I do not confirm anyone's good conduct before Allah, but I think him to be such-and-such. (Muslim)

... as we have learnt, even without any evil intention, we can inflict damage through evil eye.

And when we hear that we are being praised, we should say:

Adi b Arta't said: When one of the companion of the Prophet was praised, he prayed to Allah: Do notmake me responsible for what they say and forgive me for what they do not know. (Adab Al-Mufrad)

Dua

It is comparatively easy for us to practice the above supplication when we hear that we are being praised. However, not everybody will say what they have in their mind. How can we deflect something when we don't even know we are the target? We need a full protection, something that are permanently there to shield us from evil eye.

Rasulullah taught us the surat al-Falaq (113) and surah An-Naas (114) as a mean of protection from the general evil of the satan and human. Rasulullah also taught us a supplications to ward evil eye: A’oodhu bi kalimaat Allaah al-taammaati min sharri maa khalaq. (I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allaah from the evil of that which He has created) - Hadith Muslim

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to seek refuge with Allaah for al-Hasan and al-Husayn. He said: ‘Your father [i.e., Ibraaheem] used to seek refuge with Allaah for Ismaa’eel and Ishaaq with these words: A’oodhu bi kalimaat Allaah al-taammah min kulli shaytaanin wa haammah wa min kulli ‘aynin laammah (I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allaah, from every devil and every poisonous reptile, and from every bad eye).’” - Hadith Bukhari

Ruqyah from evil eye

In the following 2 hadith, Prophet prescribed an interesting treatment for a person who is struck by the evil eye. We also learn that evil eye stroke can be caused by mere admiration, even when there is no envy involved.

Aishah reported: A person who strikes another with the evil eye used to be ordered (by the Prophet) to perform wudu' (and save his used water). The person he struck would then pour the used water over himself. (Abu Dawud, authentic by Albani)

Sahl bin Hanif reported that he was once travelling with the Prophet. During one of their stops, Sahl took a bath. Amr bin Rabiah saw him and, on observing the whiteness of his skin, exclaimed, "By Allah, I never saw before this day a skin like this - smooth like a virgin's!" Immediately, Sahl was struck with a seizure and fell sick. When the Prophet learned about this, he asked his companions, "Do you suspect anyone?" They said, "Amr bin Rabiah." So the Prophet summoned Amir and addressed him angrily: Why would any of you want to kill his brother (with an evil look)? Shouldn't you have invoked Allah's blessings (when you liked what you saw)? Wash yourself for his sake. So Amir washed his face, hands, elbows, knees, the sides of his feet and his inner thigh. The water dripping from his limbs during the washing collected in a bucket. A man then took the bucket, stood behind Sahl, and poured the water over his head and back. Sahl immediately stood up and was cured. (Recorded by Malik, Ahmad. Authentic by Albani)

May Allah protect us.

@Peace.

Silly questions

2009-10-26T21:55:00.002Z

As I am only a student of knowledge, I advice people to be critical of what has been written. Mistakes are unavoidable as we are human beings but I try my best not to mislead people. My writing is consistent with my view at the time of writing. People might change things, like Imam Shafie with his old and new rulings, and that is why we as reader need to question the validity of the writings, of the hadith used for example, or the sanity of the person who wrote the article. We cannot afford to be careless nowadays.

I noticed the quietness (inactiveness) of Malaysian (Malay especially) in asking question would probably stem from our culture. It is not a bad thing to be nice and thoughtful (in case the lecturer was in rush, or the question might be too difficult to answer), but it is not the way Islam taught us. Sometimes we wonder how could people believe in certain things which are obvious to us that they are wrong? Take Kahar, the Malay Prophet for example. Or Ayah Pin, Kerajaan Langit. The lack of questioning put us into belief that everything we heard about Islam must be right. Of course, the matter will be made worse if the teacher himself avoid answering the question by making up excuses like 'Siapa yang banyak bertanya lemahlah imanya.' or shouting 'Mangkuk' if the student persists in asking question. The story of Bani Israel in Surah Al-Baqarah was often quoted to show that too much question can be disastrous. While not denying the fact that there are questions that best left unanswered, other examples shown by the sahabat during Prophet time dictates the opposite.

Imagine asking Aishah, the mother of believers whether is it allowed for spouses to look at each other's private part. Aata r.a did this and he did not shy away from asking what we consider a sensitive question. Umm Sulaym was reported to have asked Rasulullah whether women need to take ghusl if they have wet dream, and she began her question by saying: 'Surely, Allah is not shy from the truth.'
Forwarding E-mails

Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Jika datang kepada kamu seorang fasik membawa sesuatu berita, maka selidikilah (untuk menentukan) kebenarannya, supaya kamu tidak menimpakan sesuatu kaum dengan perkara yang tidak diingini dengan sebab kejahilan kamu (mengenainya) sehingga menjadikan kamu menyesali apa yang kamu telah lakukan. (Al-Hujarat:6)

Rasullullah bersabda: Memadailah seseorang itu dibebani dosa jika ia menceritakan setiap apa yang dia dengar. (Sahih Muslim)

My own experience taught me not to take things for granted of questioning the validity of e-mail that we received. I was (and hopefully still am) a stern opponent of forwarding e-mails that promote slander and fitnah. It is amazing how easy to find whether something is true or not, just by searching in google. Until one day, Allah probably wanted to show me how people can still make mistake despite their belief in certain things (as Allah only belongs the perfection). I received a forwarded email after 9/11 about the converting the flight number into wingding font. Sound familiar? I quickly did that and obviously I was stunned by the result. Shocked at the result and the 'co-incidence', I straight away forwarded the email to my classmate. How blessed I was to have such friends when one of them pointed out to me that the flight number was wrong in the first place and that email was just insensitive to the calamity that happens. May Allah continue to make him the divider between good and evil. I realized that I am not invincible from doing something which we are against. We blame the politician for the corruption as if we will never be corrupted. We backbite the unmarried couple who date without offering any help or solution. Did we not hear the verse of Quran cautioning those who think they are mukmin without having to stand trials like the one before them?

I am thankful to Allah for being here in Ireland, being exposed especially to other Muslims coming from all over the world. Those experiences have changed the way I think and behave. 10 years ago, one thing that came to my mind was a question, why do Muslims do things differently? One thing led to another, and to another, and to another. No doubt these questions will continue to revolutionize the way I am now. May Allah show us guidance.

I am encouraging myself especially, to continue questioning and not to take things at their face value - following the examples of the companions of the prophet. Asking question does not mean that we are rude, if it was done in the manner dictated by Rasulullah. We are responsible for ourselves, others can only try to persuade us.

@Peace

O My Son!!

2009-10-25T21:54:00.002Z

When discussing what are our priorities in teaching our children, we cannot detach ourselves from the advices of Luqman to his son. Luqman gave few but worthy advices, and Allah has recorded all these in the Quran. If we are confused as to so many things to teach our children, then stick with his advices, Insya-Allah, they will be enough.

Why need the early start?

Why not? Don't we want our children to be included in the 7 groups that will be shaded in the day of judgement when there is no other shade apart from Shade of Allah (2nd group: Youth who are raised worshipping Allah)? Furthermore, look at the youth during early Islamic period.

- Alee accepted Islam when he was 10, Abdullah Ibn Umar & Abu Ubaydah was 13, Zaid Harithah was 15, and most of other companions were less than 30 years old.
- Sultan Muhammad II Al-Fatih, the conqueror of Constantinapole was 21 upon becoming the ruler of Uthmaniyah and was 24 when he conquered Constantinapole.
- Salahuddin al-Ayyubi aged 14 when he joined the army of Syrian ruler, Nuruddin, becoming commander-in-chief of Syrain army at 29 and capturing Jerusalem at 49.

And let us not forget, in the day of judgment, among the thing that will be asked is how we use our youth.

Surah Luqman 13-19

13. And (remember) when Luqman said to his son when he was advising him: O my son! Join not in worship others with Allah. Verily, joining others in worship with Allah is great Zulm (wrong) indeed.
As of everything in Islam, Aqidah is the uppermost important topic to teach and master. This has been reminded again and again, and it is clear from this verse, it is the same with our children.

14. And we have enjoined on man (to be dutiful and good) to his parents. His mother bore him in weakness and hardship upon weakness and hardsip, and his weaning is in 2 years - give thanks to Me and to your parents. Unto Me is the final destination.
15. But if they strive with you to make you join in worship with Me others that of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not; but behave with them in the world kindly, and follow the path of him who turns to Me in repentance and in obedience. Then to Me will be your return, and I shall tell you what you used to do.
It is our duty to look after our parents, especially when they are old. Different to the situation where I am currently in, when sending money to the parents is considered excessive. Putting them in the nursing home is considered natural progression of life. Parents' duty of looking after us is considered our right as compare to their tender and unconditioned love. Forgive us O Allah and forgive our parents.

16. O My son! If it be (anything) equal to the weight of a grain of mustard seed, and though it be in a rock, or in the heavens or in the earth, Allah will bring it forth. Verily, Allah is Subtle (in bringing out that grain), Well-Aware (of its place).
If ask you to hide something very small, where would you place it? I could hide it under the pillow (soo typical, isn't it?) or in a security box. Or I can hide it in a place where I myself would not know, by going to the open field, close my eyes and throwing it to the sky and let it fall anywhere it was meant to. Yet, still Allah knowledge encompass all that happen. Nothing we can hide from Him.Concept of realising that Allah is All Watching, All Knower of what we do.And Allah will judge our deeds in the Hereafter

17. O my son! Perform As-Salah, enjoin Al-Ma'ruf (goodness) and forbid Al-Munkar (evil), and bear with patience whatever befalls you. Verily, these are some of the important commandments.
Next is to teach our children on how to pray. Also included is for them to learn enjoing good and forbiding evil. My nephew would remind his father to go to Masjid when he hears the Azan (enjoining good), and his sister would not allow me to speak while I eat (forbiding evil). And when they grow up, the part of forbiding evil will become harder and harder to do if they try still, they will face stern opposition. That is when they need to have super patience. That Allah likes those who have patience, those who can keep their anger and not be reactive. My cousin, whenever his brother purposely tries to irritate him to make him angry, he would just walk away without any confrontation. And he was only 7 (I think) at that time. I asked him why didn't he answered back? He said - If he did that, then there will be a fight and physically, he won't win. So it's better for him to just walk away. Masya Allah, so small yet so mature. May Allah grant you a house in the outskirt of paradise as he has promised that for those who avoid worthless confrontation although he is right.

18. And turn not your face away from men with pride, nor walk in insolence through the earth. Verily, Allah likes not any arrogant boaster.
When the children are successful at doing Salat, and giving advise to other people, it is important for them not be arrogant of their knowledge. Knowing that we are human being, and we will do mistakes in future. And those people whom we used to forbid evil, they might change and become better than us.

19. And be moderate in your walking, and lower your voice. Verily, the harshest of all voices is the braying of the asses.
Teach our children to talk with humility. That it is better to keep quiet when there is nothing good to talk about. Rasullulah asked for one of his Sahabah, Thabit bin Qais who he has not seen for a long time. So other companions looked for Thabit and found him crying in his house. When asked, Thabit replied that it was an evil affair, for he used to raise his voice above the voice of the prophet and so all his good deeds had been annulled and he considered himself as one of the people of the Fire. The companions returned to the Prophet telling him the story. Rasulullah then, in reply said: Go back to him and say to him: You are not from the people of the Hell-Fire, but from the people of Paradise. (Bukhari). Thabit took the verse literally and felt it was directed to him. Subhanallah, how different is the Imaan of the companions compare to us...

@Peace

Martyrs who cannot go to paradise

2009-10-23T21:53:00.002+01:00

My aunts bought their cars by cash, RM40,000!!. I was surprised, why would they 'waste' their money on car? Why not buy the cars by using monthly installment, it's not that there isn't any Islamic way of doing things. BUT, is it really 'waste of money'?

I was told recently of a way on how to get easy money. You buy a house, then re-mortgage. So let say you buy a 200,000 house in 2000. Then in 2005, you re-mortgage the house with value of 300,000 to your wife. Meaning that your wife need to find a new bank for funding, but the husband will get 300,000 in cash. After paying the original debt, then he is left with 50,000+. And same thing over and over again. You will get money, but your debt will increase. So at the end, if you are at your limit, then take an insurance that will cover your loan, so that when you die, nobody will need to pay the loan from your behalf. And for those who want to do this in an Islamic way, there is Islamic finance and Islamic takaful.

The Burden

It is sooo easy for us to be in debt, especially when we have credit card. Most of the money we earn is used to pay our debt. Want to buy 2000 euro TV? No problem, we can use credit card and pay the card next month. The debt WILL accumulate if we don't put a stop on it. That is how 'Ah Long' in Malaysia can make money, because people are desperate to borrow money. Like Salih Yacob song I heard when I was 15, 'Gali Lubang Tutup Lubang, Pinjam Wang Bayar Hutang'.

Of course, it doesn't end there. Do we realize that we might contribute to other people being in debt? We want thousands of ringgit for the dowry/hantaran. Not only it delays the marriage itself, some people have to borrow money to reach the amount needed. We still remember the money other people owe us 10 years ago although it was only RM50. Isn't it easy if we just forget the money and pardon the person? At least, we are not delayed if we are destined for paradise, Insya-Allah.

Whoever dies free from three things – arrogance, cheating and debt – will enter Paradise.”
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (1572); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.
Dead with debts

Islam highlights the important of paying debt in that, if we die with millions of money and we have debt - not a single cent can be distributed until ALL the debts have been paid!

Rasulullah refused to pray for a muslim because he owed some money - not because he was not a muslim, but to show how important to repay our debts. The debts with Allah can be dealt directly with Allah, but debt with human being - we can only pay them with our good deeds in the hereafter.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) refrained from offering the funeral prayer for one who had died owing two dinars, until Abu Qataadah (may Allaah be pleased with him) promised to pay it off for him. When he saw him the following day and said, I have paid it off, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Now his skin has become cool for him.” Musnad Ahmad (3/629); classed as hasan by al-Nawawi in al-Khalaasah (2/931) and by Ibn Muflih in al-Adaab al-Shar’iyyah (1/104).

Martyred but cannot enter paradise

We all know that being martyred is the hope of many muslims. But do we know that there is one thing that will prevent them from entering paradise, even if they resurrected and martyred plenty of times?

We were sitting with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) when he raised his head towards the sky, then he put his palm on his forehead and said: “Subhaan-Allaah! What a strict issue has been revealed to me!” We remained silent and were afraid. The following morning I asked him, “O Messenger of Allaah, what is this strict issue that has been revealed?” He said, “By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if a man were killed in battle for the sake of Allaah, then brought back to life, then killed and brought back to life again, then killed, and he owed a debt, he would not enter Paradise until his debt was paid off.” Classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Nasaa’i, 4367.

How heavy the burden of debt is!
How easy we are sucked into it!

When we have to borrow...

When we have to be in debt, then let us try to make it as small as possible. Let us try to have the sincere intention of paying back the debt, not hoping to die first and let others (or insurance company) be responsible for the debt. And don't forget, this ruling is only for halal debt. We haven't even touched yet the debt with interest....

The one who takes people’s wealth intending to pay it back, Allaah will pay it back for him, and the one who takes it intending to destroy it, Allaah will destroy him.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2387).

Now, is it really waste of money to pay cash?

@Peace

You are the best person I have ever known!

2009-10-20T21:52:00.002+01:00

Previously, I wrote something about backbiting. That we should not backbite. Backbite is the same as eating the flesh of our brothers and sisters. It is even more important to protect the person who was backbitten, knowing that if we cover our brothers' fault, then may Allah cover our fault in this world and hereafter. If we are unable to do anything to protect our brothers, then leaving the conversation is much better.

What if somebody say something good about you?

First of all, there is nothing wrong in praising other people for their kindness, as long as we are not exaggerating. Rasulullah showed the example by praising good deeds of certain sahabah to show others how praiseworthy their acts were. However, praising somebody too much is not advisable from Islamic point of view. We all have been praised in one way or another. We hope most of them are genuine, or so we think. That is the danger of being praised too much. Our mind may be blinded by the praises we receive that sometimes they cloud or interfere with our judgment.

Rasulullah equated too much praising to destroying oneself or cutting someone's throat. A man said, "O Rasulullah, there is no one better than him other than Rasulullah in such-and-such." The Prophet said to him, "Woe to you! You have cut your companion's throat. You have cut your companion's throat" - several times, then he said, "If any one of you insists in praising his brother, let him say: I think so-and-so is such-and-such, and Allah knows the exact truth, or I do not confirm anyone's good conduct before Allah, but I think him to be such-and-such. (Muslim)

We also learn from this hadith the importance of remembering Allah in eveything that we do, including praising other people.

If your are praised...

Some of the pious predecessors said: If a man is praised to his face, let him say, "O Allah, forgive me for what they do not know, do not hold me responsible for what they say, and make me better than what they think. (Fath al-Bari)

And remember the hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah(Sunan Al-Tirmizi- hasan hadith), when he was asked to narrate a hadith that he understood fully. Abu Hurairah mentioned the hadith of 3 men - a man who learnt Quran by heart, a man who was killed for the sake of Allah and a man who had a lot of wealth. They were asked by Allah in the hereafter what they have done with the knowledge or wealth that they have. They all thought that they have done well, but they were wrong. They were sent to the Hellfire because they all want to be praised. The one who knows the Quran wanted to be known that he is knowledgeable, the one who spent the wealth for charity wanted to be known as charitable and the one who died for Allah sake wanted to be known as courageous. They were looking for praises from human being, and they got that, but not from Allah.

All praises belong to Allah.

@Peace.

Ke manakah perginya adab?

2009-10-06T21:50:00.002+01:00

Dalam kita mengketengahkan ilmu-ilmu Islam, kita menumpukan pada aqidah pada mulanya. Memastikan bahawa aqidah seorang muslim adalah pada landasannya yg sebenar. Ada yang mengatakan Allah bersemayam di atas Arash, bukannya berada di mana-mana. Dalam keadaan lain pula, ada yang mudah mengatakan yang lain kafir, kerana seolahnya kita boleh membaca fikiran, apa yang sebenarnya dimaksudkan mereka. Dalam pada kita bergaduh dan bertengkar sesame Islam, kita lupa pada cabang utama lain dalam Islam, iaitu akhlak. Dalam surah Ta-Ha, ayat 43-44:

Pergilah kamu berdua kepada Firaun, sesungguhnya ia telah melampaui batas dalam kekufurannya. Kemudian hendaklah kamu berkata kepadanya, dengan kata-kata yang lemah lembut (layyina), semoga ia beringat atau takut.

Kalaulah Musa disuruh Allah utk berkata-kata secara elok dgn Firaun, apatah lagi kita utk berkata-kata buruk sesama muslim!!

Begitulah juga dalam cabangan Islam yang lain spt Ibadat, Sirah, Muamalat - dalam kita memperjuangkan kepercayaan kita, jgnlah lupa pada cabang yang akhir, iaitu Akhlak.
Tentu sekali akhlak yang baik atau jahat adalah subjektif, bergantung kepada empunya diri. Namun Islam menyediakan cara untuk melihat akhlak manakah yg dikira bersesuaian dengan Islam.

Berburuk sangka

Dalam surah al-Hujurat, ayat 12:

Wahai orang-orang yang beriman, jauhilah kebanyakan daripada sangkaan, sesungguhnya sebahagian daripada sangkaan itu adalah dosa.

Mungkinlah ada antara buruk sangka kita yang betul, namun untuk menjaga keseluruhannya, maka eloklah kita kurangkan buruk sangka. Islam melarang org yang berburuk sangka, dan juga org yang berbuat sesuatu yang boleh mengundang buruk sangka. Dalam satu hadis yang agak panjang, diriwayatkan oleh Safiyyah, ringkasnya;

Bahawa suatu malam safiyyah (isteri Rasulullah) melawat Rasulullah di masjid. Dia pulang dgn diiringi oleh Rasulullah. Dlm perjalanan, 2 org Ansar tlh melintasi mereka, dan menyedari Rasulullah berjalan dgn seorang wanita, mereka cepat-cepat mengatur langkah. Rasulullah menyedari hal tersebut, lantas memanggil mereka sambil memberitahu bahawa yang bersamanya adalah Safiyyah, isteri baginda. 2 org Ansar tersebut mengatakan yang mereka tidak berburuk sangka. Rasulullah mengatakan yang baginda risau Syaitan akan mencampakkan sesuatu ke dalam hati mereka berdua. (Sahih Muslim Book 26: 5405)

Kerana Rasulullah menyedari akan kemungkinan fitnah yang mungkin timbul, maka baginda dgn cepatnya menutup pintu ke arah perkara tersebut. Oleh itu, memarahi org lain kerana berburuk sangka tanpa melihat kepada diri sendiri adalah tidak lengkap sama sekali.

Dalam melihat dan memandang rendah terhadap orang lain, kita mestilah beringat bahawa kesudahan kita telah ditentukan. Dalam Hadis 40 karangan Imam Nawawi, hadis no.4, Rasulullah bersabda:

“… ada seseorang di antara kalian yang mengerjakan amalan ahli syurga sehingga tidak ada jarak antara dirinya dan syurga kecuali sehasta saja. kemudian ia didahului oleh ketetapan Allah lalu ia melakukan perbuatan ahli neraka dan ia masuk neraka. Ada diantara kalian yang mengerjakan amalan ahli neraka sehingga tidak ada lagi jarak antara dirinya dan neraka kecuali sehasta saja. kemudian ia didahului oleh ketetapan Allah lalu ia melakukan perbuatan ahli surga dan ia masuk surga.” Sahih Bukhari 3208.

Semoga Allah mengampuni kita. Semoga kita sama-sama memperbaiki akhlak, di samping menyempurnakan aqidah, ibadat dan muamalat kita. Ibn Taymiyyah menyebut:

Yang menjadi ukuran ialah kesempuranaan pada akhirnya, bukan kekurangan pada permulaannya.

@Peace.

Writing an islamic will

2009-10-01T21:49:00.003+01:00

Obligation

It is not rightful for a Muslim who has something to bequeath to sleep two consecutive nights without having his will written for him. (Bukhari)

The obligatory nature of writing a will only came to my attention during Global Peace & Unity Event 2008. It was further emphasized to me while preparing for hajj, I guess because there were lot of people died during the journey.

Why do we need a will?

Probably it was not that important when I was back in Malaysia, as whoever died in Malaysia as a muslim, automatically the wealth will be distributed according to the Islamic law of inheritance - or so I believe. It becomes more important while living in Ireland, as if you don't have any will when you die, the distribution of wealth will never be according to Islam.

It is clear that having a will (according to Islamic law) is a must when we are in a non-mislim country, but why must we have a will in an Islamic country?

Well, although we would like to think that the distribution of our wealth will be according to Islam, it does not happen all the time. In fact, based on my experience after my mother's death, nothing is there to secure an Islamic distribution, expecially when you are distributing the wealth manually. Alhamdulillah, my father took charge of the distribution and I am pleased with my family's willingness to expedite the process. Unless you are using somebody who know and have experience with Islamic law of inheritance, the process can be long and tiring - and easily mistakes can be done.

Moreover, the will acts as our last instruction to the living, on how to live the life. Imagine if we are going for a journey, we will live some provision for our family and we would want to say few things which we think will be important for the kids, especially when we know it is going to be a long time before we meet them again. If we are doing that for a relatively short journey in this life, why would not we want to leave pages and pages of advice when we know we are not coming back?

We have 1/3 of our wealth to be distributed to our like. We can take a passive role that the wealth will be distributed among the heir and hopefully they will spend it lawfully. Or we can take an active role by specifying which charity organization or specific person we want to give- to make sure that our deeds and charity will continue to benefit us even though we are not in this world anymore.

Knowing people will differ concerning whether to make talqin or not upon your death, or whether to organize a specific day remembering your death or not after your death, or whether to build a nice 'batu nesan' for you - easy way out. Put it in your will whatever you want, as long as it is not against the teaching, then the relatives will have to follow. Afraid to give dakwah to non-muslim that you know or giving advise to your relatives and friends - put it in your will your wishes. You will have no worries of them being offended as you are dead now. If Allah wills, they may change and you will have your part in it. But make sure that you don't do the opposite when people will just remember the bad thing you said to them till the day you meet them again.

While writing the will as well, we will be up-to-date on our wealth and debts. This will help in the calculation of our zakat every year. Writing a will as well will remind us of death that is due upon us at any time.

Legally binding

If you want to make it a legal document, then you will need to ask the knowledgeable - the lawyer. There are many books written about writing an Islamic will. In Malaysia, Amanah Raya Berhad (www.arb.com.my) can prepare a will for you for a small fee, if you don't much time to write one on your own. In the UK, 1stehical.com has provided some guidance on how to write a proper will online.

Whichever way you are thinking, start preparing as we never know when will it be our last word in this worldly life.

Be smart (by remembering death), write your will.

@Peace.

It is not all about us...

2009-09-30T01:27:00.002+01:00

Once upon a time, Jane berkata, "Aku ingat aku darah AB, rupanya darah A jer. Ingatkan aku special..."

Any picture with ourselves in there, what is the first thing we see? Ooo, I am too fat. I have double chin. Or the colour of my dress is not good enough. Or some others would actually think how smart or handsome they look in that shirt. Whatever angle we look at it, we arrive at the same conclusion.

The event, the people/family around us, the country, the religion become second and less significant to our own selfish selves. Is that how we choose to live our lives? Is it all about us?

First sin ever commited

And (remember) when We said to the angels: "Prostrate yourselves before Adam." And they prostrated except Iblis, he refused and was proud and was one of the disbelievers. (Al-Baqarah:34)

Pride in fact is the first sin ever committed by the any creation of Allah. Iblis thought that Adam was inferior to him- how can a creature who was created from clay is better that Iblis who was created from smokeless fire? Are we too proud of our Malay supremacy that we failed to acknowledge other inhabitants of the 'Malay' land - are we created from fire of some sort? Not even close!

Four things are among my followers from the traditions of jahiliyyah which will not leave: pride of lineage, slandering kinship, use of astrology for rain, and wailing. (Muslim)

Definition of pride

We are proud to have good family or a good car that we can trust. We do good things and feel good about it. Are those not allowed? Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty. Rasulullah has explained to us that pride is to reject the truth and look down upon other people. It is ok to be proud of Islam, but to know what we are doing is wrong and still rejecting it - then that is pride. And to have nice car and nice cloth is a reflection of the bounty that Allah gave us, nothing is wrong with that. But to have a nice house or do some good deeds PLUS looking down upon other people - that is the pride that we need to avoid.

He who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of pride164 shall not enter Paradise. A person (amongst his hearers) said: Verily a person loves that his dress should be fine, and his shoes should be fine. He (the Holy Prophet) remarked: Verily, Allah is Graceful and He loves Grace. Pride is rejecting the truth (out of self-conceit) and contempt for the people. (Muslim)

Pride in jobs

In doing consult, we definitely will see other people making mistakes. Prescribing NSAIDs in somebody with kidney disease or being asked what to do if creatinine rises from 200 to 220. Physicians condescend fellow doctors in Orthopaedics or surgeons blame physician for not knowing how to examine abdomen. We ask because we don't know. Isn't the Prophet told us to ask people who are knowledgable? People trying to follow the sunnah of the prophet (even without knowing) and we are actually (indirectly) driving people away from it? Yes, there are some silliness in the questions sometimes, but it is our duty to explain and guide the treatment in a nice way so there will be knowledge shared between the specialties.

Ireland is going through a tough time with its economy. Tax increase or salary cut is unavoidable. It is difficult for many people. Those who has plenty of loans to re-pay would probably be worried. Hence, they would be really against any measure by the government to reduce their pay. Of course there are other areas that can be cut, but nevertheless at the end, it is either the country or our loans. Probably we think that if there is no country, there will be no loan to repay!

It is either you or me

Unfortunately we live in the world where salary, title and position play major roles in our daily life. we are surrounded by politicians who want to have a win-lose situation. It is either my party or yours. It is unavoidable sometimes as in reality, there will be losers. But we should ask ourselves, is there any chance of a win-win situation? If somebody has to lose, are we willing to take the sacrifice? How far do we go to help others?

Islam teaches us that we need to protect first of all our religion, than life, mind, offspring and property. It teaches us what is (supposed to be) our priority. If there is one post and we are not chosen to fill in the job, then we step back and think. Is the other guy good for our religion or the life or the mind etc,( which is the greater good)? If it is, then help him.

Somebody asked me about what is the quality of good leader? Among others, somehow I keep coming up with this one answer - a good leader is a good follower as well. I guess i came up with that answer as my experience suggested to me that whoever lose in a competition, then the person would be the sternest competitor against the winner. The loser would gang up with few other guys to cause trouble throughout the other person 'reign'- backbiting, slandering etc. Don't we know that as a follower, we are to follow him as long as it is not against the teaching of Islam? Even if we have opinion of our own, (and the 2 opinions are not against Islam) and after discussion, the leader choose another option, than we are bound to follow him. No talking behind the back - "I have told you I said so before..." That certainly does not help. Leave the pride and start building the bridge.

On a journey, the leader of the group is their servant. (Ibn Majah, Bayhaqi)

Khalid Al-Walid, when he was relieved from being the leader of the army by Umar Al-Khatab and replaced by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, he said, "If Abu Bakr is dead and Umar is the Caliph, then we hear and obey." (Waqidi). Did he go against the caliph or did he not help the new commander to win more battles? Let's not forget that Abu Ubaidah is one of the 10 companions promised paradise, and Umar al-Khattab wanted him to be the next Caliph after him if he didn't die during a plague. Allahu a'lam.

The Greater Good

(Allah is) He who perfected everything that He created. (As-Sajdah:7)

We wonder how come we sometimes were afflicted with lost and death; or we ourselves cause harm to other people. Back to the analogy of a picture where we are part of the picture. Everybody who look at the picture would see their ownselves - fat, handsome, should wear a different shoes etc. Each would think either good (locally good) or bad (locally evil) of themselves. However, as a whole, the picture showed a great memory of family getting together (globally good).

War is no doubt a major disaster that result in killing of numerous people and destruction of properties. Yet, Allah permits them to happen because they fulfill part of His wisdom and overall plan (such as controlling the population, punishing evil nations, trying the believers) that we may not know. Therefore Allah offsets the 'evil' of wars by their important advantages. (Believing in Qadar by Muhammad al-Jibaly 2004). And to Allah belongs the greatest plan. (We don't go to war using those excuses, we are not God!)

It IS about us

I am not saying it is not about us, it IS about us. We are the one who will be rewarded or punished for our good deeds or sins. The final destination is ours to choose. But to achieve the ultimate target, there will be sacrifices that we have to make. Sacrifices that we don't like or will not bring worldly pleasure.

It is about us, but it is not all about us.

@Peace.

A letter that a Mujahid wrote to his wife

2009-09-24T01:26:00.001+01:00

Dedicated to my Princess,

You never complained when you knew we would have nothing.
You were content on having what little you needed.

Where others would have left or moaned you never once let out a sigh.
You understood what was written was what we would eat.

I never once complained about what was put in front of me
as I knew it was your hands that brought it to me.

When I had nothing I had you.
We smiled as we saw the destruction around us
knowing that these people were not true.

You never felt sympathy towards the enemy.
You put your trust in your Rubb
and in turn you followed me.
Never did I have to wonder about you
as my secrets, my honour and my Deen were safe with you.

We both know what hardships you faced just by being with me,
but not a word did you speak.
You were strong and in turn you made me strong.

Like a vanguard for this Ummah you concealed yourself.
Where others would rush to please their desires,
you were the essence of Taqwa.

Life was easy with you it came so naturally.
You were the extension of me and
would never need to finish my words as who knew me better than you?
You knew your place, which was by my side.

It’s the little things that make the person
and you would have easily have kept me going for a lifetime.

The way you would look at me with fire in your eyes
showed me that I was the only one for you.
You stole my heart and hid it away.
I loved your jealousy.
I loved to tease you with the thought of others
just so I could know how dear I was to you.

What chance did shaytan have
when you would ensure that fajr was the easiest of the salahs.
I loved that you would forsake me in an instant to fast a voluntary fast.
I loved that the Haq was dearer to you than my life and those of our jewels

Watching you makes me laugh
as I wonder if my heart will ever want another
as I watch you feed my child,
as you lift her out of the bath,
as you wipe her little nose and the face she pulls.

You will never find a diamond in the hands of the poor
in the same way our diamond deserves to be carried in your hands.
We could have it all my love
but who sells Paradise for an hour of passing pleasure?
Not us.
I chose you Umm ***** as I know our fruits are safe with you.
Never would I have to worry about where the loyalties of my babies are.

They will love what we love they will love Allah Most Glorified Most High,
they will Love the Prophets and the best of Companions,
They will love those who they have never met but will long to meet.
They will love those better then us.
They will live to honour one statement.
La illaha illallah Muhammadur RasoolAllah
Others will fall under the weight of it but not them.
Their hearts will beat it, their words testify to it and their hands carry it.

Dont think I left you.
Dont think that in this world anything is dearer to me
then the minute that I walk home
knowing what waits for me behind closed doors.

I went to find a better place for us. I went to fulfil the best of deals.
I saw it written that if you give your life then eternity will be ours.

I saw it written somewhere that this was all a test
and I have no doubt that one who promises us
and whose word is truth must love me very much
as he gave me you and you were the hardest thing to give up.

They say the mind cannot comprehend what awaits us,
that sadness will be forgotten,
and they say that the eye has yet to see
and the ear has yet to hear the beauties that await us
in our new home.

They say rivers of honey my love
they say rivers of milk they say rivers of wine.
They say pearls and Gold thrones ,
they say musk and cool breezes.

Is it not fitting that I go to see this land afar to take you and our children?
I fear that the gates of opportunity will close behind me my love.
I fear others will hear what I hear and rush there and I will have nothing to offer you.

I know you will send our sons to look for their father.
Tell them that they will find me in every battle,
in every fight where the black flag is flown.

Tell them that the pain will be a pinch and then they will see what I see.
Tell them Green Birds wish to meet them.
Tell the Angels will call them by the best of names
and most of all that Allah The One The Eternal will be pleased with them.

I told you once that only 2 things will have me. You and death.

My life was with you but now I must marry again.
I must marry what was promised to me the moment I was born.
I must marry my fate and in turn I must marry death.

After death will come reckoning and if I stand with the best of creation
I will with the permission of Allah Lord of the Heavens and the Earth beg for you.

None was worthy to stand next to me in this life
so why is it I should desire another in the next?

..........................

.................................................................................................

I was shown this song in youtube.
It's long, but every word is worth a reading.

Which part did you like best?

@Peace

Cheap Harry Potter books in Tesco

2009-09-23T20:11:00.000+01:00

My wife bought a tudung recently from malaysia. She sent the tudung through a very fast postal service, without actually claim the full charges - out of pity that my wife might not receive it before raya. She didn't want to accept any compensation for that. And she sounds like a really nice muslim.

I wonder whether a salesperson can live with all these charities. Logically speaking, if you sell something less than its price, you will incur loss. Then I realised that Allah's promise that giving charity WILL NEVER decease your provision.

The example in this world is like Tesco was selling Harry Potter's books less than their buying price. Would they be at lost? Definitely not, as even though they are in loss for that particular book, customers will buy other things which will cover the loss, hence the net effect would be more income for Tesco.

Perhaps she (the seller) will receive help from Allah from ways that she never consider, Insya-Allah.

The new era

The way the tudung seller writes in her email was very much my wife's friend who just embraced Islam few years ago. Very soothing and calm, like nothing will ever disturb their focus on doing good deeds. Every so often there will be words that remember Allah like Insya-Allah, Alhamdulillah and May Allah forgives. Meeting them totally change even the way we speak. That is the effect of one person. Can we imagine if the whole kampung is like them? Subhanallah.

The so-called new Muslims (even though they converted many years ago) have been driving the force of dakwah in the west. With Allah's ultimate knowledge, He knows well what is going to happen. Only 100 years ago, Islam would be largely confined to Middle East, Africa and Asia. Probably some migration of Turks to Germany and Eastern European countries but certainly not in the Western Europe. The fall of Uthmaniyah would render Islam weak, or so we thought. How can we move forward when there is no unified body of Muslim to govern us?

Look at the good Islamic books written in English, who are the writers? Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips spent few years in Malaysia (Sabah) but only was attracted to Islam in 1972. He is now a well established lecturer in Arabic language and Islamic studies in UAE (www.bilalphilips.com). Muhammad Al-Jibaly's books are my wife's favourite- especially the Marriage series. I like his Eeman series. All his books were written in an easy to understand, that even my wife who would have short attention span reading complicated religious book could finish his book in one sitting. Jamaal Zarabozo became a Muslim when he was only 16 years of age. His book on commentary of 40 hadith by Al-Nawawi was considered one of the best book on study of hadith in English. Ustaz Hasrizal was using his book to teach us 40 hadith back in Galway many years ago. (www.jamaalzarabozo.com)

Allah knows best. Who would have expected that only after the fall of Uthmaniyah that Islam managed to spread among the people who in the past would really against Islam? Islam has been the fastest growing religion in America, and certainly not by sword. Who would imagine that mosques in Spain are increasing in number nowadays after every single Muslim in Spain was expelled 500 years ago? Why do people want Islam so much? What is there with Islam?

If the current so-called Muslim countries still are lagging behind in their practices and appreciation of Islam, then who knows, we might witness that these countries become the follower (of Islam) instead of the leader. Whatever it is, Allah has the best plan.

@Peace.

Tuhan tak sama dengan Ultraman

2009-09-22T20:09:00.000+01:00

Pendedahan awal aku mengenai agama yang aku ingat adalah pengalaman bersama mak semasa berumur 5-6 tahun mungkin. Ketika itu, mak mengumpulkan kami bertiga- aku, kakyong dan miyyah. Dia menceritakan tentang hari akhirat, ada syurga dan neraka. Aku masih boleh merasakan perasaan takutku ketika itu, tertanya tanya kenapa perlu ada kesudahan jahat dan kesudahan baik. kenapa tidak semuanya baik?

Walaupun aku tahu bagaimana nak sembahyang, satu hari ayah memanggilku dan menyuruh aku melakukan gerakan dalam solat semata mata utk membetulkan apa apa yg silap. Pernah satu hari, aku berniat solat isyak 4 rakaat, namun aku cuma solat 3 rakaat. Aku teringat ayah pernah memberitahuku bahawa Nabi pernah terlupa 1 rakaat, lalu apabila teringat, baginda menyambung satu lagi rakaat. Lalu aku solat 1 rakaat lagi. Kak yong menyedari aku cuma solat 1 rakaat tanpa mengetahui aku telah solat 3 rakaat sebelumnya, lalu memarahiku kerana solat laju - mustahil solat isyak boleh selaju demikian!

Anak saudaraku yg kini berusia 4/5 tahun mula bertanya mengenai Tuhan. Bandingan Tuhan dengan Ultraman, kenapa Tuhan perlukan malaikat dan sebagainya.

Bilanya bermula?

Isteriku sering kala bertanya, bila perlunya kita mengajar kanak kanak tentang agama? Bila perlu pakai tudung, bila perlu solat, bila kena tutup aurat?

Aku fikir tidak ada salah/betul. Yang penting merupakan hasil akhirnya. Apabila seseorang itu baligh, maka dosa pahala menjadi tanggungjawabnya sendiri. Tujuan ibu bapa dan saudara mara adalah untuk menyediakan kanak kanak untuk menempuh alam yang akan memberi kesan padanya selama-lamanya (akhirat).

Sama ada ibu bapa ingin memakaikan tudung awal ataupun 'last minute' pada hari balighnya seseorang, mungkin bergantung pada banyak faktor. Kita tidak mahu bayi yg baru lahir dipakaikan tudung kononnya utk menutup aurat, padahal bayi tersebut cuma tahu menangis, belum tahu apa-apa. Mungkin juga kita tidak berani mengambil risiko menyuruh anak kita menutup aurat sebaik sahaja dia akil baligh, ditakuti mereka tidak biasa dgn perubahan mendadak. Jadi, yang lebih penting bukanlah bila, tapi kenapa seseorang itu menutup aurat, dan pentingnya konsisten pada menutup aurat atau apa jua kebaikan.

A menutup aurat pada umur 4 tahun berbanding B ketika berumur 11 tahun, manakah yg lebih baik? Jika yang menutup aurat tetiba membuka aurat ketika berumur 20 tahun dan sebaliknya berlaku pada seorang lagi, nah, kali ini mana yang lebih baik? Dan sekiranya yang membuka aurat kembali menutup aurat, dan B kembali membuka aurat di penghujung kehidupan, manakah pula yang lebih baik?

Then as for him whose balance (of good deeds) will be heavy, He will live a pleasant life (in Paradise).But as for him whose balance (of good deeds) will be light, He will have his home in Hawiyah (pit, i.e. Hell). (Al-Qariah:6-9)

Akidah

Kekadang kita tersilap dalam mengutamakan mana yang patut didahulukan. Antara sembahyang fardu dan sembahyang sunat, sunat tentu sembahyang fardu yg utama. Antara mematuhi suami dan puasa sunat, maka mematuhi suami lebih utama kerana ia wajib. Begitulah juga dengan proses mendidik. Mengajar anak berbuat baik, solat di awal waktu, menutup aurat - semua itu sangat baik dan dituntut; namun perlulah juga kita dahulukan dengan pengenalan kepada akidah.

Tanpa akidah yang tepat, maka semua amalan kita tidak akan diterima sebagai amal baik. Orang kafir juga boleh belajar sembahyang, puasa, zakat dan haji - tetapi adakah semua itu akan dikira jika mereka masih lagi bertuhankan yang lain selain Allah? tentu sekali tidak. Rasulullah mengambil masa 10 tahun di Mekah utk mengukuhkan akidah, ayat ayat Al-Quran Makiyyah menceritakan tentang keesaan Allah dan balasan di akhirat, menunjukkan betapa pentingnya akidah dalam hidup Muslim.

Dalam mengetengahkan kepada kanak-kanak, sudah tentunya perbincangan kompleks perlu dielakkan terlebih dahulu. Akidah tidaklah kompleks. Jika akidah Islam itu sukar, maka sudah tentu mereka yang cuma beberapa hari bertemu rasulullah untuk belajar mengenai Islam tidak dapat mengIslamkan seluruh kabilah mereka kemudiannya- jika akidah Islam itu sukar.

Mu’awiyah as-Sahmi reported: “I had some sheep which I kept between Uhud and Juwaniyyah with a slave-girl to look after them. One day, I went out to check on my sheep and discovered that a wolf had devoured one of them. Since I am just a human, (I became angry) and struck the girl. Later on, I came to the Prophet and reported to him the incident. He terrified me with the gravity of my action. I said, ‘Messenger of Allah!’ Shall I free her (as an expiation of my sin.) He said ‘Call her over.’ When I did, he asked her, ‘Where is Allah?’ She said, ‘Above the heavens.’ Then he asked her, ‘Who am I?’ She said, ‘The Messenger of Allah.' Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah ordered me, ‘Free her. She is a believer’”

Soalan yang mudah dengan jawapan yang tidak berbelit belit. Siapa yang menciptakan kita? (Allah) Cantiknya pokok ni, siapa yang ciptakan pokok ni? (Allah) Kenapa kita perlu sayang mak ayah? (Allah yang suruh dan sebab lain...). Kenapa kita perlu solat? (Sebab Allah yang suruh)

Beriman kepada malaikat, kitab, nabi, hari akhirat & qada' & qadar

Banyak yg kita perlu ajar dan tanamkan dalam hidup kanak kanak. Namun terlebih dahulu kita perlu tahu tentangnya. Bagaimana mungkin kalau anak anak bertanya, kenapa Allah perlukan malaikat apabila kita sendiri tidak pasti? Kenapa ada kesusahan dalam dunia ni? Kenapa al-Quran berwarna warni? dan sebagainya. Banyak buku buku ditulis untuk menolong kita memahaminya dan juga buku utk menerangkan pada anak anak supaya mereka faham serba sedikit.

Qada' dan qadar antara perkara yang banyak antara kita sukar untuk memahaminya. Jika Allah dah tahu apa akan jadi, kenapa kita perlu buat lagi? Kenapa perlu buat baik kalau ditakdirkan kita masuk neraka? Sehinggalah kepada soalan yang mempersoalkan keadilan Allah... kenapa Allah nak humbankan manusia dalam neraka sedangkan Dia yang menetapkan seseorang itu duduknya dalam nereka semasa diciptakan - adilkah begitu?

Terdapat prinsip seperti Keadilan Allah dan Kebijaksanaan Allah dalam membincangkan qada' & qadar. Allah tahu apa yang akan berlaku tidak bermaksud Allah memaksa seseorang itu berbuat jahat. Manusia mempunyai free will untuk berbuat baik ataupun jahat. Cumanya Allah tahu kesudahan seseorang itu sebab Allah Maha Mengetahui. Tiada guna Allah menciptakan syurga dan neraka jika kita terpaksa ataupun terdapat inner force yang memaksa kita berbuat jahat atau baik. Itu bukan ujian namanya. Bolehkah Allah menciptakan semua manusia beriman kepada-Nya? Tentu sekali boleh, namun Allah dengan Kebijaksanaan yang ada pada-Nya tidak berbuat begitu. Kenapa ada manusia yang miskin dan yang kaya? Ada yang berjaya kerana menipu dan yang gagal walaupun lama berusaha. Yang masuk neraka walaupun mereka ada akhlak yang baik (tapi akidah yang salah)? Banyaknya persoalan yang mungkin kita sendiri perlu mencari jawapan.

Rasulullah menasihatkan Ibn Abbas yang ketika itu sangat muda: O young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice] : Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you (have need to) ask, ask of Allah; and if you seek help, seek help from Allah. Know that even if the Nation (or the whole community) were to gather together to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded for you, and that if they gather together to harm you with something, they would not be able to harm you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried." (Al-Tirmidhi, sahih)

Solat

Ramadhan baru berlalu. Ada yang berlumba lumba membandingkan anak siapa yang dapat berpuasa penuh, malah ada antara kita yang saling berbanding dan bertanya kerap kali - sudahkan anda berpuasa enam? (Supaya bolehlah diberitahu bahawa mereka dah habis berpuasa sunat Shawal).

Elemen persaingan menjadikan kanak-kanak malah org dewasa mudah berbuat baik. Rasulullah sendiri tidak memarahi mereka yang inginkan persaingan dalam ibadat, sebagaimana yang kita baca mengenai para sahabat berlumba lumba menderma utk fisabilillah. Namun, ada beza antara berlumba-lumba melakukan ibadat dan menunjuk nunjuk melakukan ibadat.

Kita telah maklum bahawa solat adalah perkara ibadat pertama yang akan ditanya di hari akhirat. Maka oleh itu selepas akidah, maka solat merupakan perkara paling utama perlu didahulukan berbanding yang lain. Tentunya ini tidak bermakna apabila anak yang berumur 3 tahun (yang tentunya belum tahu solat) mula memukul adiknya, kita tidak boleh melarang kerana dia belum solat. Tentu sekali tidak. Namun kita boleh mulakan dengan solat jemaah di rumah supaya anak anak menjadi biasa dengan pergerakan solat. Apabila mereka sedikit besar (dan boleh dikawal), dibawa mereka ke masjid untuk membiasakan mereka.

From Amr b. Shu'aib, from his father, from his grandfather, who said : Rasulullah s.a.w said :"Prescribe prayers to your children when they are seven years of age, and punish them (if they do not say them) when they are ten years old of age, and separate their beds (at that age)". ( Abu Dawud )

Ada yang berhujah jika anak anak disuruh bersolat selepas umur mereka 7 tahun, oleh kerana solat adalah yang paling penting, maka perkara lain mestilah diajar selepas 7 tahun , seperti menutup aurat dan sebagainya. Mungkin ada benarnya, namun apabila Rasulullah berkata 7 tahun sebagai umur utk mula melatih solat, itu tidak bermakna kita tidak boleh melatih mereka dengan lebih awal. Apabila mereka dilatih dgn lebih awal utk bersolat, maka ada kemungkinan mereka diajar utk menutup aurat sebelum 7 tahun.

Aurat

Ada antara kita yang merasa rendah diri apabila memakai pakaian Islam dan menutup aurat. Ini bukan sahaja berlaku di kalangan kanak kanak, malah di kalangan orang dewasa. Kita merasakan kita hodoh dan tidak cantik. Islam menggalakkan kita menjaga kebersihan, maka tidak ada sebab utk berbau busuk apabila mengenakan pakaian Islam. Hodoh atau cantik adalah pada pandangan manusia. Semestinya kita faham bahawa yang lebih penting adalah pada pandangan Allah. Namun, seringkali kita terbabas dalam mengenakan niat kita. Begitulah manusia, dan Allah Maha Pengampun.

Oleh sebab itu, niat memainkan peranan penting. Kalau kita menutup aurat kerana suruhan sekolah atau mak ayah, maka mudah sekali untuk kita mengubah niat apabila sebab itu sudah tiada, namun jika kita menutup aurat untuk memenuhi tuntutan hamba kepada Pencipta, sekurang kurangnya Allah tidak mati.

Iman tidak diwarisi

Mungkin betullah nyanyian Raihan bahawa iman itu tidak boleh diwarisi. Ketika sekolah menengah dahulu, aku sentiasa mengaitkan kelakuan anak anak dengan perangai ibu bapa. Kalau anak tak solat, maka mungkin kerana ibu bapa tidak mengajarkan mereka solat. Kalau anak suka memukul, mungkin kerana bapanya suka memukul ibunya. Aku juga kekadang 'memperlekehkan' mereka yang suka memberi nasihat atau motivasi, namun hidup mereka sendiri tidak terurus dengan anak sendiri terjerumus dengan dosa dan sebagainya. Walaupun seringkali perkara tersebut benar, namun Islam mengajar kita agar tidak memperlekehkan seseorang kerana dosa atau kelemahannya, apatah lagi apabila mereka mencuba sentiasa untuk membaiki diri.

Kini ternyata ada ibu bapa yang baik dan cemerlang, namun anak mereka tidak menjadi (untuk masa sekarang). Namun kita tidak tahu, berkat doa ibu bapa, anak mereka mungkin berubah pada masa depan. Mungkin anak itu menjadi ujian dan cabaran untuk ibu bapa yang beriman. Perkara ini bukanlah sesuatu yang baru. Para nabi dan rasul juga diuji dengan keluarga terdekat mereka tidak beriman dengan ajaran yang diketengahkan. Anak Nabi Nuh gagal beriman dengan Allah sehingga ditenggelamkan dalam banjir (Surah Hud:45-46). Ayah Nabi Ibrahim seorang pembuat berhala. Bapa saudara Nabi Muhammad sendiri gagal beriman hingga ke akhir hayat. Adakah boleh kita memperlekehkan para nabi gagal memberi petunjuk kepada keluarga yang terdekat? Jika kita tidak boleh berkata demikian, apatah lagi dengan orang kebiasaan yang lain. Nabi cumalah menyampaikan ajaran Islam, Allah yang memberi petunjuk.

Allah is the Forgiving (Al-'Afuww) and Ever Forgiving (Al-Ghafur)
@Peace

Dulu, kini dan selamanya...

2009-09-08T20:09:00.000+01:00

Aku terfikir pasal perkara ni bila membaca salah satu artikel Ustaz Hasrizal bertajuk. Dalamnya terdapat perbincangan tentang manusia dahulu dan sekarang. Bagaimana peristiwa dahulu mencorakkan kehidupan seseorang.

Teringat aku ketika Dr Asri berdebat dengan Astora Jabat. Astora mempertahankan Kassim Ahmad yg dituduh anti-hadis. Katanya Kassim Ahmad telah menyedari kesalahannya dan cuba kembali ke pangkal jalan. Alhamdulillah. Namun ada antara kita yg masih menuduhnya anti-hadis.

Mereka yang meminati politik, perkembangan kebelakangan ini menunjukkan ada yang melompat parti. Daripada parti X ke parti Y. Dengan sendirinya pandangan terhadap sesorang itu berubah apabila berlakunya perpindahan parti.

Kalau kita besarkan lagi skopnya, maka kita akan lihat ramai manusia yg memilih Islam sebagai jalan hidup, apabila memeluk Islam, mereka berubah dan menjadi Muslim yang sejati, Insya-Allah. Lihat saja kelibat Abu Ameenah Bilal Philip ataupun Muhammad al-Jibaly ataupun Jamaluddin Zarabozo - kesemuanya merupakan pendakwah yang berjaya, yang dekat pada hatiku.

Jadi, apa kaitannya?

Apa yang membuatkan aku tersentak adalah apabila aku memilih untuk mengatakan si polan adalah salah berdasarkan sesuatu yang lampau. Kita sedar berdasarkan pengalaman bahawa orang tersebut mungkin telahpun berubah, malah mungkin lebih baik daripada kita. Jadi, apakah adil apabila seseorang memberi kita nasihat, maka kita katakan padanya, "Engkau pun dulu bukannya baik sangat. Ada hati nak ajar orang." Apakah kita berlaku adil apabila kita mencukil keperibadian seseorang yg lampau sekadar untuk memalukannya?

Kita semua pastinya melakukan kesalahan. Ada yang besar dan ada yang amat memalukan sekiranya diketahui ramai. Islam tidak membenarkan kita melaung-laungkan kesalahan kita yang lampau. Kekadang kita mahu berkata, "Aku dulu tidak sembahyang, tapi aku dah bertaubat." Tapi Islam tidak membenarkan keburukan itu ditayangkan sekiranya orang ramai tidak mengetahuinya. Agaknya untuk mengelakkan perasaan ujub bahawa aku kini dah jadi baik, padahal masih banyak yang perlu seseorang itu lakukan. Semoga Allah terus menyembunyikan kesalahan kita di dunia dan mengampunkan kita di akhirat.

Indeed, Allah will bring the believer near Him and cover him with a veil. He will then ask him, "Do you recognize such-and-such sin? He will reply, "Yes, O my Lord." Thus, Allah will make him admit to all his sins, and he will feel that he is surely doomed. But then Allah will say, "I have covered them for you in the first life, and I forgive them for you this Day." He will then be given the records of his good deeds. But as for the disbelievers and hypocrites, they will be called in front of all people: "These are the ones who lied about their Lord. Unquestionably, Allah's curse is upon the wrongdoers. (Bukhari)

Kita tidak nampak semuanya

- Apabila tuduhan sebuah parti politik tersebar fahaman Syiah dan tiada apa yg dilakukan utk menghalangnya, bagaimana kita tahu tiada apa yg dilakukan langsung?

- Apabila kita mengatakan bahawa pusat zakat gagal memainkan peranan kerana zakat lebihan kita masih banyak, setakat mana kita tahu bahawa mereka bukan dalam proses berusaha membetulkannya?

- Apabila kita mengatakan ulama tidak memberi nasihat kepada pemimpin negara, apakah kita 100% pasti? Perlukah mereka mewar-warkan apabila memberi nasihat?

- Apabila kita mengatakan seseorang itu malas kerana gagal hadir untuk sesuatu aktiviti berdasarkan kelakuannya yang lampau, adakah kita tahu bahawa mungkin dia gagal hadir hanya setelah berusaha bersungguh sungguh?

- Apabila kita melihat seseorang berterusan melakukan maksiat, adakah itu bermaksud seseorang itu tidak cuba bertaubat pada malamnya, namun kerana keadaannya yang tertentu, dia gagal menolak hasutan Syaitan?

- Apabila seseorang penceramah agama kahwin lain, kita tak habis-habis mengata pasal keadaan dia yang lampau. Mungkinkah dia cuba berubah dan menjadi insan yang lebih baik?

- Apabila KITA sendiri yang cuba berubah, tapi sentiasa diingatkan mengenai kesalahan kita yang lampau, seolahnya kita tidak pernah berubah. Bagaimanakah kita menghadapinya?

Ini cumalah contoh contoh yang dapat difikirkan. Kalau mengambil kira faktor masa depan, maka lagilah kita tidak mengetahui. Kita memang disuruh amar makruf nahi mungkar terhadap apa yg berlaku pada masa sekarang, namun Islam tidak pernah menyuruh kita menyelongkar kesalahan lepas mahupun menghukum seseorang utk kemungkinan seseorang melakukan kesalahan di masa depan.

Kubur lain-lain

Apabila kita memandang rendah terhadap manusia lain, bermaksud kita memandang tinggi pada diri kita sendiri. Kalau kita Islam dan dia kafir, mungkinlah ada ruang utk kita mengatakan bahawa kita lebih tinggi (dari segi agama), namun tidak bermakna kita mengejek agama lain malah kita tidak tahu apa kesudahan mereka...

Narrated Muadh bin Jabal, Allah Messenger said, "Whoever insults his brother due to a sin (which he has committed), will not die until he commits it himself. (Al-Tirmidhi reported as Hasan, while its chain is broken (Munqati))

@Peace

"Allow me to commit zina" - a lesson on Aqidah

2009-09-06T20:08:00.000+01:00

What if somebody ask you this very question?

If he is a Muslim, how dare he ask that question! Some will jump into a quick conclusion. We at some stage will be asked about our religion, or simple thing like does drinking alcohol invalidate fasting in Ramadhan etc. I would easily brush off these type of questions, considering the questioner should know better, but do they? Why did they ask? Certainly not because to show how bad their religous knowledge is...

Then, I stumble upon a beautiful hadith when Prophet was asked this (silly) question.

Abu Umamah reported that a young man came to Messenger of Allah and said,

"O Messenger of Allah, give me permission to commit zina." The people shouted and the Prophet said, "Stop it!" The Messenger of Allah said, "Let him calm down. Calm here." He came and sat in front of Allah Messenger who said to him, "Would you like it for your mother?" He said, "No." He said, "Likewise, people do not like it for their daughters. Would you like it for your daughter?" He replied, "No." (And Rasulullah asked the same question but to sisters and aunts in which the person answered no for each questions). Then Allah's Messenger put his hand on his chest and said, "O Allah, forgive his sins, purify his heart and make him chaste." (Al-Tabarani, Al-Mu'jam Al-Kabeer).

Rasulullah reasoned with the questioner. Rasulullah knew that if the person is really bad, he would not ask. He would just do it The fact that he asked before he committed zina showed how he is interested in religion, but lack of its knowldege. Why would we then go against his teaching? We slander those who doesn't know his religion (while trying to learn). We laughed at those questions, thinking what type of person would he be? O Allah, forgive us and make us chaste.

Zina is not the worst case scenario

I am certainly not promoting sins and maksiat. Traditionally we have been viewing zina and pigs as something we really hate. Hence people (muslim from malaysia) who drinks alcohol still would not dare to eat pigs. There is no doubt that zina is considered one of major sins in Islam, hence the severe punishment upon committing zina. But there are other sins which Allah says are greater than zina itself. If Allah wills, He may pardon the believers who commit zina and admit him into paradise.

In a long sahih hadith, Abu Dzarr related that one night he follow Rasulullah in a dark night. Then he saw Rasulullah was talking to somebody else whom he cannot see. Then Rasulullah related that it was Jibril who come to tell him. Jibril said: Give glad-tidings to your Ummah that whoever dies and does not associate anything with Allaah will enter Paradise in which Rasulullah asked Jibril: ‘O Jibraeel, even if that person steals and even if he commits Zina?’ He: said: ‘yes.’

Allah's Mercy and Forgiveness have no boundary. Do not despair Allah forgiveness if you have commited zina. But, for those who are trying to justify their sins by quoting this hadith, let me remind you that Allah punishment is the most severe of all. Do not be tempted to commit sins just because we know we'll go to paradise. We haven't reached our end of life, so to say we will die in believing Allah is too premature. Allah forbids, but who knows because of all the sins that we commit, inch by inch our connection with religion is lost. We start to question the God himself and finally become non-believers. Nauzubillah.

The Unfogivable Sin

Surely Allah will not forgive the association of partners (shirk) with him, but He forgives (sins) less than that of whomever He wishes (Quran 4:48)

Shirk is the worst sin of all. We probably say... O we are safe. We believe in Allah and Prophet Muhammad. What else could go wrong? If we have been striving hard not to go near zina, or riba, or haraam provison, then we should pay much closer attention to things that can tip us into this unforgivable sins.

Worthless deeds

We pray and fast and went for hajj, and yet some of us do still go to bomoh to ask for supernatural help when we are in trouble. We love our parents, brothers and friends, but yet we follow their orders more that we follow Allah even when it is forbidden.

All the reminders that I've written will be worthless if this single act of worship is not being followed or guarded as well as it should.

Take for example the following hadith:

The solat of whoever approaches a fortuneteller and asks him about anything will not be accepted for 40 days and nights. (Muslim)

The scholars commented on this hadith, saying that this hadith applies to those who went to fortuneteller, even though they don't believe in what he said. If they believe in what he said, then they have disbelieved.

Whosoever approaches a fortuneteller and believes what he says, has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad. (Ahmad)

And you can imagine when scholars generalize this issue (using qiyas) into something fortuneteller-like cases - ie horoscope, quizzes that tell us about future, Palm-reading etc. A mere trial (mencuba-cuba) even tough for fun can have grave consequences.

Charms and omens

The power to cause good or evil belongs only to Allah. Therefore, any belief that created things can cause good have no basis in Islam. Amulet (as protection from evil), black cat (as the sign of evil), shamrock (as good luck sign) and the stars are all created things and cannot exert the power of their Creator.

We sometimes did these things unintentionally. In medical profession, even though searching for cure is preferable in Islam, it doesn't mean that we put our trust SOLELY on the treating physician while forgetting the effect of God in curing disease.

When we see our patients, and instead of saying Insya-Allah, we say 'touch wood' or 'fingers crossed'. It might just be a habit from us, but the origin of these belief are against the teaching of Islam - therefore warrants us to leave the habit.

Touch Wood: The origin is unknown, though some writers have pointed to pre-Christian rituals involving the spirits of sacred trees such as the oak, ash, holly or hawthorn. There is, I’m told, an old Irish belief that you should knock on wood to let the little people know that you are thanking them for a bit of good luck. There’s also a belief that the knocking sound prevents the Devil from hearing your unwise comments. Others have sought a meaning in which the wood symbolises the timber of the cross, but this may be a Christianisation of an older ritual. It wasn’t always wood that was lucky: in older days, iron was also thought to have magical properties, and to touch iron was an equivalent preventative against ill-fortune.

Friday the 13th

I was born on Friday the 13th. If I die someday, would people say I died because I was born on Friday the 13th. The notion of letting numbers to rule our life is not compatible with scientific mind. We created numbers to help us, then we say that one particular number is bad for us. Why created that particular number in the first place?

The origin goes back to the evening of Jesus's last supper as told in Bible. At the Last Supper, there were 13 people. One of the 13 was Judas, the man who supposedly betrayed Jesus. Friday the 13th is supposed to be particularly unlucky for 2 reasons. First, Friday is the day Jesus was supposed to ahve been crucified. And according to medieval belief, Friday is the day when witches held their meetings.

The flight commander of the Apollo moonshot in 1970, which came near to disaster, explained on his return that he should have known that something was going to happen. When asked why, he replied that the flight took place on Friday the 13th, blast off was at 1300 hours and flight number was Apollo 13! (The Fundamentals of Tauheed - Dr Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips 2006)

Little change but big effect

Not to pray to other gods probably is straight forward enough for us Muslims, but purifying our Aqidah is not that easy. That does not include riya' - the minor shirk, which is the act of the heart, and very difficult to control. But we should try to guard our Aqidah from these 'little' things. These 'little things' are actually big for the correct Aqidah, without which all our our deeds will be worthless.

Do we let the moon dictate our actions? Or the sound of owl as a sign of death? Or let any created things to supersede the Creator Himself?

@Peace.

Continuous Good Deeds

2009-09-05T20:07:00.000+01:00

The second half

The first half of Ramadhan has gone. We are in the second half. In football, the manager would change tactic, swap players in order to increase the chance of scoring goal. So far, what have we achieved in Ramadhan? What is our goal for the rest of Ramadhan? Do we continue as what we were doing in the first half?

Even in tarawikh, people start making du'a in qunut in the second half to mark the intense phase we are heading. In the next few days, it will be more intense when the search of Lailatul Qadr begins. And at the end, we celebrate with Eid after a month of searching, practising and refraining all sorts of things. Can we continue the act of optional prayers after Isha'. Are we able to close the night with Witr prayer prior to sleep in non-Ramadhan month? Those who manage to cut down their time on the internet and tv, will they be able to continue?

Islam does not burden its followers if they are not able to. Who would want to be hungry the whole day without eating or drinking? That is probably why non-muslim has difficulty understanding why do we need to fast. It just shows that we as muslims are capable of going the whole day without food and drink. We are strong. People might say it is good for health etc even though scientifically it has not been proven (as far as I know), and of course we realise that Allah knows what is best for us. But most importantly we are fasting for Allah, to show that whatever He wants us to do (proven from Quran and Hadith), we will do it. That is what muslim means - submission.

Every deed of the child of Adam is for him except fasting. It is for Me and I shall reward it. The breath of the mouth of a fasting person is more pleasing to Allah than the perfume of musk. (Bukhari)

sincerity...

Not fasting

With our deeds being multiplied in Ramadhan, for some who has to face a phase of not fasting, either because of sickness, travelling, pregnancy or having menses - some of them become afraid and anxious that they might miss the oppurtunity of ibadat in Ramadhan. Subhanallah. If we are in their place, will we feel the same? Or would we rejoice the chance of not fasting (and praying). They are afraid when they hear the hadith:

Truly is lost whoever hears my name and does not invoke blessings on me; truly is lost whoever catches Ramadan and he misses the chance to get his sins forgiven; truly is lost whoever catches his parents in their lives until they become old, and yet he misses to attain Paradise (through honoring and taking care of them. (Al-Tirmidhi)

They are afraid that their deeds are not enough and they need the extra days that they couldn't fast to make up for it. However, Allah is All-Knowing. First of all, it is allowed not to fast for people who fit the criteria. There is no sin. And if they are sabr, then definitely there will be reward for them. We all know that merely wishing to do good deeds will be rewarded already, even without actually doing the deeds.

It is a natural fact that all daughters of Adam will have menses. Having menses during Ramadhan is not a sign of God hating you. Having menses at any time, even during the hajj still does not mean anything. This is very contrary to the belief that if you have your menses while doing hajj, your hajj is not complete and people were intimidated because of what God has given them (menses). It goes the same with any other affliction that happens. How do we know whether it is bala' or a test for muslim? We don't know BUT we know how to face it - which is with sabar and perseverence and that will definitely be rewarded. Even Aishah r.a got her menses while doing hajj - does that mean Allah hates her? Of course not!

Aisha said, "We set out with the sole intention of performing Hajj and when we reached Sarif, (a place six miles from Mecca) I got my menses. Allah's Apostle came to me while I was weeping. He said 'What is the matter with you? Have you got your menses?' I replied, 'Yes.' He said, 'This is a thing which Allah has ordained for the daughters of Adam. So do what all the pilgrims do with the exception of the Taw-af (Circumambulation) round the Ka'ba." 'Aisha added, "Allah's Apostle sacrificed cows on behalf of his wives. (Bukhari)

Good News

The good news for those who cannot fast for valid reason (eg: sickness), Allah will continue to record for them the good deeds that he was forced to stop. Isn't that interesting? All the terawih and quran that we read, the good manners that we display - all will continue to become ours even during the time we could not do them. Some scholar include menses as well.

A traveler's or sick person's deeds are recorded in accordance with what he used to do when he was resident or well. (Bukhari)

When a servant who is upon a good worship practice becomes sick, the angel who is appointed to record his deeds is told, "Record for him the equivalent of his deeds when he was free (from illness) - until I free him (from it) or bring him to Me (by death). (Ahmad - sahih)

Other ways

Even if one is in the opinion that the hadith did not include menstruation women, there are other deeds that they can do. They may cook for the family who are fasting, and the same reward will be written for her.

Whoever feeds a fasting person will have a reward like that of the fasting person, without any reduction in his reward. (Al-Tirmidhi- sahih)

Some scholars give verdict (fatwa) that menstruated women cannot do solat, fasting and tawaf. However for other ibadah like entering mosque, reading the quran and touching the quran, they differ. Those who say that women can read and touch the quran quoted that there is no strong evidence of prohibition and quoted a letter to the Hercules (who was kafir) which contains ayat from Quran, and the above hadith by Aishah that she was not allowed to do tawaf (and solat), but yes for everything else. These are the opinions of Ibn Abbas, Saudi Ulama', Albani, Sayyid Saabiq (fiqh sunnah).

Even if we do not accept this fatwa, the menstruating women are still allowed to say zikr and make dua. And don't forget, small little deeds like cooking, smiling, looking after family will be multiplied in Ramadhan. Allah knows best.

@Peace.

Love and hate for the sake of Allah

2009-09-04T20:05:00.000+01:00

We were frequently asked, for what reason we like someone. Is it because he is handsome, or clever or he helps you a lot or because he is a good friend?

Those are valid reasons, but what are the ultimate reason? What happen if you like someone because he is kind and clever, and marry him. Then when you grow older, he become snappy and ugly and demented, would you still love him then? or you'll find some other reason to love him - now he is you husband. Is that all we've got?

Allah says:

If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred; the wealth that ye have gained; the commerce in which ye fear a decline: or the dwellings in which ye delight - are dearer to you than Allah, or His Messenger, or the striving in His cause;- then wait until Allah brings about His decision: and Allah guides not the rebellious.(al-taubah: 24)

Family, in full.

Ultimate Love

Indeed the firmest handhold from Iman is that you love for Allah and hate for Allah (Hadith Ahmad - Hasan)

If we are consistent from the beginning that we love someone truly for Allah, that is the ultimate love. But what does it mean? It means that we put Allah's right first before everybody else. It means we love somebody not only for their worldly characteristics, but also for their loving of Allah. We love whom Allah loves and we hate whom Allah hates. If we marry someone, then we love them because Allah orders us to love our spouse. That is, for me, a valid reason to love. If (nauzubillah) somebody get divorced and re-marry, obviously the person has to love his new spouse, not the old one.

... He created for you mates among yourselves,that you may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts)... (Quran 30:21)

Friends become foes

We probably have lots of friends. Our facebook friends might reach the top limit (5000). We probably also like certain leaders in our country, and follow what they say to the letter. In the hereafter, if this is not done because of Allah, let's hope we will not blame each other for our own wrongdoings.

And (remember) the day when the wrongdoer will bite his hands, he will say: Oh! Would that I had taken a path with the Messenger (Muhhamad). Ah! Woe to me! Would that I had never taken so-and-so as a friend! He indeed led me astray from the Reminder (the Quran) after it had come to me. And Syaitan is ever a deserter to main in the hour of need. (Al-Furqan:27-29)

Friends that Day will be foes one to another except the pious who fear Allah (Al-Zukhruf:67)

Ways to strengthen one's love for Allah's sake

There was one particular housemate back in student years whom I strive to be like him. He opened up the pathway for me to search for true knowledge. His ideas of unity (and not being racist) still stick firmly in my heart and in my head. I struggle though to have the consistency and sincerity (hope he's sincere, Insya-Allah).

Along the years, we all have friends in which we deeply remember and cherish. Some we are still in contact with, some we are not. I used to have this opinion that in order for us to tell someone that what they do is not right, first we have to know the person. This is important for him not to feel isolated and as if we are against him instead of his sins. When we give advice to a friend instead of 'some insignicant others', we become aware of their feelings and afraid to do too much damage - BUT because of our love for him for the sake of Allah, we do it anyway. However, this probably is not practical and will take too long to work out.

So, for the friends that we currently have, these are the ways to strengthen our love's for Allah's sake.

1. Informing the one whom you love that you love him for Allah's sake

We probably are shy to say this, but just remember, if we can fluently say this to somebody whom we are not supposed to say (yet), then how come we are afraid to say when Allah and His Prophet ordered us so (to the correct person)?

Rasulullah said: If one of you loves his brother for Allah's sake, then let him tell him since it causes familiarity to endure and firmly established love. (Bukhari)

And his brother should reply: May the one for whose sake you have loved me, love you (Abu Dawud - sahih)

Anad ibn Malik said: A man passed by the prophet who was in the company of some people, so a man from those with him said: Indeed I love that person for Allah's sake. So the Prophet said: Have you infromed him? He said: No.Rasulullah said: Go to him and inform him. So he went to him and informed him, so he replied: May the One for whose sake you have loved me, love you. Then he returned nad the Prophet asked him and he told him what he had said. So the Prophet said: You will be with the one whom you have loved and there will be for you the reward that you hoped for.

2. Spreading the greetings of salam

You will not enter Paradise until you believe (have Iman), and you will not believe (have Iman) until you love one another. Shall I not guide you to something which you carry out you will love one another. Spread Al-Salam amongst yourselves. (Muslim)

3. Giving gifts

Give gifts and you will love one another. (Bukhari)

4. Visiting

Visit now and again - your love will increase (Reported by Al-Bazaar - sahih by Albani)

5. Moderation in love & hatred

Love the one whom you love in the moderation, perhaps one day he will be one whom you hate, and hate the one whom you hate in moderation perhaps one day he will be one whom you love. (Al-Tirmidhi-sahih)

6. Love his brother as he loves a good for himself

None of you will truly believe untiol he loves for his brother (the good) that he loves for himself. (Bukhari)

Virtues of loving for the sake of Allah

What is the benefit if we do what Allah say? A silly question. We'll rephrase it. What is the additional benefit (apart from ..... err.. ?paradise) of loving for Allah's sake?

1. Allah will love those who love for Allah sake.

This is a recurrent theme. We have learnt before that if we help others, Allah will help us. If we cover somebody's secret, Allah will cover ours. And if we love someone for Allag, then Allah will love us.

Rasulullah said: Allah the Most High said: My love is due for those who love one another for My sake... (Ahmad - sahih)

2. We'll be under the shade of Allah throne on the Day of Resurrection

The 5 groups that will be under the shade in Day of Resurrection, and one of them is those who meet and depart for the sake of Allah. In another hadith, Rasulullah said:

Allah will say on the day of Resurrection: Where are those who had mutual love for my Glory's sake. Today I will shade them in my shade on the Day where there is no shade except My shade... (Muslim)

3. Envied by the prophets and martyrs

Indeed from the servants of Allah there are some who are not prophets, yet they will be envied by the prophets and martyrs. It was said, " Who are they, that we may love them?" Rasulullah said, "They are people who have mutual love through light from Allah, not due to kinship or ancestry, their faces will be enlightened, upon pillars of light, they will not fear when people fear, nor grieve when the people grieve. Then rasulullah recited: No doubt! Verily, on the friends (awliyaa') of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Surah Yunus, ayat 62)

To be martyred is difficult, to be envied by martyred must be really difficult then. Reflect back, do we love our parents, wives, children, borthers and sisters - is it because they are related to us or for Allah? The Malay supremacy, our ancestories and relatives would have little value to Allah, if we love them not for Allah's sake. Allah's sake means, if it is wrong (islamically) then we say it is wrong.

4. Tasting the sweetness and perfection of Iman

Whoever would like to taste the sweetness of Iman then let him love a person, not loving him except for Allah's sake. (Ahmad- hasan)

He who loves for Allah and hates for Allah; and gives for Allah and withholds for Allah - has perfected Iman. (Abu Dawud - sahih)

5. And yes, Paradise

My err about paradise previously is shattered by this promise of paradise by Rasulullah, only if you love one another for the sake of Allah.

You will not enter Paradise until you believe (have Iman), and you will not believe (have Iman) until you love one another. Shall I not guide you to something which you carry out you will love one another. Spread Al-Salam amongst yourselves. (Muslim)

Difficult, but worth it

We know it is difficult. We know the benefit is huge. And we know we are not going to achieve it just with one try. But it will be worth the try, if we succeed! Insya-Allah.

@Peace.

Patience at all times

2009-09-03T20:04:00.000+01:00

This topic is very dear to my heart. My wife told me that i am 'too patient' to the point of being procrastinate. Whenever she asked me:

"Abang... tolong masak nasi." I will say, "Sabarrr." 2 hours later, the rice was still not cooked.
"Abang... buat paper tu." I will say, "Sabarrr." Months later, paper was still in progress.

Definitely that is not sabar as sabar should bring good. That was total laziness. So what is sabar?

Definition

SABAR linguistacally means to restrain or to bind. Allah relates patience with the affliction in the Quran.

"Be sure We shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods, lives, and the fruits of your toil. But give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere. Those who say, when afflicted with calamity, 'To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return.' They are those on whom descend blessings from their Lord, and mercy. They are the ones who receive guidance." (2:155-157)

When we don't get what we want, we need to be sabar.
When we lose something we love, we pray for the goodness out of it and we need to be sabar.
When we get angry and know it is going to get worse, we switch mode to sabar, and we calm down.

Not ony we should be patient when calamity befall us, but also we should be patient in doing good deeds. At times we feel that we could not understand why Allah prescribes Solat of fasting or apparent injustice in distributing inheritance. If we check and they are truly from Allah and His prophet, then our role to obey. We know Allah is Most Knowledgable and He is Most Wise, so there is no mistake from His part. Only our finite mind could not comprahend the reason behind it.

To what extent we should be patient?

The question then become, to what extent would we be sabar? Do we just leave other people take advantage over us because we did not say anything back? Borrowing what Ustaz Hasrizal used to say, sabar is like a pause button. You think before you decide what you want to do. We are entitled to be angry when we are wronged, or sad when we lose someone - but because of sabar, we don't go to the extreme of wailing when somebody dies and shouting and swearing when we are wronged. We stop, and think - what would Islam ask me to do now. If we need to report to the superior because we are being buliied, go ahead. It has nothing to do with sabar.

The patience shown purely for Allah should not be the source of distress. It should not be then, when we are mad, we say "Sabar, sabar (sambil mengurut dada)" but actually it becomes a restriction to us. Sabar should gives us pleasure as we are following what Allah's want. That is why it is so hard to do.

Seek help in steadfastness and prayer. But that is a very hard thing, except for the humble (Al-Baqarah 2:45).

Why do we need to be sabar?

As with other good manners prescribed to us, patience is one of the ultimate virtue in Islam. Why? Because Allah said, sabar is very comprehensive that there is nothing else better than that.

Whoever practices Sabr, Allaah Subhanahu wa Ta'alaa gives him Sabr. And no one can be given anything better or more far-reaching (comprehensive) than Sabr. (Bukhari)

Sometimes we need to be reminded to be patience. I remember when i was involved in my 3rd car accident (and hopefully the last). I came home shaken. My wife was at home. Knowing I just had an accident, she did not say much. However, she put on mp3 so we could listened together a ceramah by Dr Asri. It was about Allah promise that every tiredness, sickness, sadness and even a prick of a thorn - Allah will make it a reason for our sins o be forgiven. I still cherished that moment of calmness and tranquility.

The Prophet said: No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that. (Bukhari)

here's how it looks like after accident - June 2007

Sabar is at the beginning

We certainly would have experience people whom we were trying to console, either because the fail exams or their parents died or anything at all. Our sincere intentions were received with sarcasm. Not uncommon we were told that we are not the one who got the affliction, and nobody will never understand how bad they felt. Certainly at times of sadness, our emotions sometimes cloud our judgment. Only then we realise that we should not have done that. Prophet said, the patience should displayed from the very beginning

Allah's Messenger passed by a woman crying next to a grave. He told her: Have taqwa of Allah and be patient. Not recognizing him, she responded: Leave me alone, you have not been struck by an affliction like mine! She was told that he was Allah's Messenger. Extremely distressed and agitated at her blunder, she hastened to him and said: O Allah's Messenger, I did not recognise you. The Messenger replied: Indeed, patience should be displayed at the beginning of the affliction. (Bukhari)

Strange Muslim

What would happen if we could combine two characteristic of good muslims- sabr and shukur? The goodness will be ours all the time. When we get sick, we remember Allah that this could be expiation of sins and be patient. When we are healthy, we give thanks to Allah (Shukr). Nothing actually can deter us from remembering God.

The matter of a Mu’min is very strange; anything that happens to him is good for him, and this applies only to a Mu’min. If something good happens to him and he is grateful to Allah, it is good for him, and if something bad happens to him and he is patient, then it is good for him as well". (Bukhari)

Let us be strange Muslims!
@Peace.

We will never be at lost

2009-09-02T20:04:00.000+01:00

In my last exam, i couldn't sleep well that night. I was really truly afraid - of not passing the exam. I have just lost my mum, of whom i know has been making lots of du'a for me. All this while, Allah has made it smooth for me- probably because of my mother's du'a. That would be the first time i am taking exam without my mother.

And I passed. Alhamdulillah. Probably my mother's prayer was with me, IS still with me.

I like it when one of the scholar compare asking things from Allah (making du'a) and asking things from human being. We as human, the more people ask from us, the more we feel uneasy and uncomfortable. It is very different with our Lord. He loves when we ask something. He ordered us to pray to him. He will get angry if don't make du'a to him.

Verily, the person who does not ask Allah, Allah gets angry at him. (al-Tirmidhi - sahih)

When we make du'a, we acknowledge the presence of our Lord, we acknowledge that all the matters of the world are not within our power. Probably that's why when we make sincere du'a, we feel at ease, we feel at peace. We have made a direct request to the CEO of a company, so it does not matter what His subordinates want as they don't have the ultimate power.

Allah promises us He will answer our prayers

As Muslims, Allah said He will answer our prayers. Only that, in what way. Prophet told us:

There is no Muslim on the face of the earth that asks Allah for anything except Allah gives it to him, or averts from him similar evil, as long as he does not ask for something evil or breaking the ties of kinship. (al-Tirmidhi-sahih)

So we might want to think again when we start complaining that our dua are not being answered. Who knows when we made du'a to go oversea, but we ended up in Malaysia - probably Allah knew that we'll find peace in Malaysia (?wife) or Allah knew if we went oversea, we might lost our faith...

As Allah said (my old time favourite piece):

Jihad is ordained for you though you dislike it. And it may be that you dislike a thing even though it is for your good, or that you like a thing even though it is for your evil. And Allah knows, whereas you do not know. (Al-Baqarah:216)

Learn the way of making proper du'a

Do we pray to God in our sujud or after finishing our solat?
- the du'a is also likely to be asnwered if we make them in between tashahhud and salam.

Do we enjoy Friday after work as we approach weekend?
- there is one moment between asar and maghrib on Friday that our prayer will be answered.

Tired on a 13-hour journey back to Malaysia, or busy watching movies in the plane?
- du'a of a traveller is more likely to be answered

Swearing when we don't get what we want, because we think our boss is being not fair?
- beware of our words, in case they are considered as dua as there is no veil between those who has been wronged and their dua being answered.

There are many tips authentically related to us on how we should make dua. Of all the tips, the main one is to have sincerity. No wonder why our dua at times of distress were more likely to be answered as we were really desperate and there is no one else we could turn to. We know any dua we make will be good for us, either way - so make plenty of dua. ALlah will never become tired of them.

But beware of haram provision

However, one thing that will prevent our du'a from being answered is when our provision is from haram source, like riba'. We will see in the next hadith, the person was in 3 conditions in which usually his dua will be answered - traveller, disheveled and holding his hand high - and still his dua will not be answered:

Then the Prophet mentioned a traveller on a long journey, who is disheveled and dusty, and who stretches forth his hands to the sky, saying, "O my lord, O my lord!" - while his food is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, his clothing is unlawful and he is nourished unlawfully; how can he be answered? (Muslim)

We will never be at lost

One of the good thing about making du'a is that we will never be at lost. We make du'a thousand times a day; directed at everybody we see. We don't even need to raise our hands and it can be as short as 'O Allah, increase this guy's provision.' or 'Make me happy today'. We will never be at lost as Allah promised that our prayers are either answered (as the are or differently for our benefit) or evil be averted from us. Plus an extra point, if we make du'a to our brothers and sisters in their absence, the angels will say 'to you the same'.

There is no Muslim worshipper who prays for his brother in his absence except that an angel says, "And to you be the same!" (Muslim)

So my friends, start making du'a (with sincerity) not confined to around solat only. May Allah accepts our du'a. Insya-Allah.

@Peace

Establishing a good home

2009-09-01T20:02:00.000+01:00

We are in the process of designing our own house, Alhamdulillah. The opportunity should be used wisely, Insya-Allah, especially in striving for a well designed house. Because I am a Muslim, I want to make sure that my new house suits the requirement of a good Islamic home. But what is it? My wife suggested that we have a courtyard in the house with orange tree like in Muslim's house in Andalusia, Spain - but obviously our climate would not fit the growth of the tree plus i am lazy to clean up the courtyard, so i have to scrap the idea.

I was busy looking for the 'physical islamic design' until I found this book on how to establish an Islamic home. The physical design is important, but certainly not as important as having a good Islamic family. No point of having a place for prayer, or even a mosque in the house for argument sake, when nobody actually prays there!

A home is a place of rest

What is the function of a house?

And Allah has made for you from your house a place of rest. (Al-Nahl: 80)
Safety for a man in times of tribulations is to stay in his home. (Al-Tabari)

At the very least, the house should fulfill these 2 functions (resting and security), apart from our ultimate goal in life which is to worship Allah.

Physical characteristic of an ideal Islamic home

1. A spacious house

Happiness has 4 elements: a good wife, a spacious house, a good neighbour and a good riding beast. (Ibn Hibaan).

2. A good neighbourhood

Even though we might be busy working and have no time for socialising with our neighbours, still our kids and family will be exposed to their kindness and sincerity. We'll need them especially when we are away to look after the house. Prophet asked us to make dua for a good neighbour:

O Allah, I seek refuge with You from a bad neighbour in my permanent home , for the neighbour in the desert (i.e on a journey while travelling) moves on. (Bukhari)

3. Near to a mosque

Even though there is no specific hadith, common sense prevails as to, if our house is closer to the masjid, then we are more likely to hear the azan and attend the jamaah prayer and be part of the mosque community.

4. A proper place for prayer

This is in accordance to the advise of the prophet that we should not make our home like the graveyard(i.e we are not allowed to pray on graveyard, so we should pray in the house as well as in the mosque). For those living in Ireland, we know how difficult it is to have a decent space to pray even with your wife. It does not need to be a room, an empty space would do.

5. Library

Islamic and general knowledge are important to be established among family members. No doubt that acquiring knowledge is compulsory. Having a library (or a space for books) will be helpful to trigger the interest of reading for the visitors and family members. However, make sure we fill the racks with good books, not with some gossip magazines. There should also be books for children and some of which we can give as gifts.

6. Enough room for separation

This include separate rooms for the daughters and sons (or visitors) as prophet advised us to separate the sleeping arrangement between boys and girls when they reach certain age. This point also means that we should have a spacious enough room to accommodate different gender of family members so that they won't need to sit next to each other.

7. Not having hanging pictures

Scholars have differrent opinions on the permissibility of pictures. What is not allowed is to have statutes or animate picture especially hanged on the wall. This is to close any door that can lead to syirik oridolatory. Picture from camera was allowed by certain scholars but still with the reservation not to hang it up high.

8. Toilet not facing kiblat

Although some scholars said that you can face the kiblat while in the toilet, some others say no. Therefore to be in the safe side, while we have the oppurtunity, why not we make sure our toilets are not facing the kiblat.

9. Building the house not from riba source

This should be the first rule. It would be nicer if we can avoid debt altogether, but paying hundreds of thousands in cash, not everybody can do that.

Filling the home with tranquility

Like I said, what is more important is to fill our new home with happiness and tranquility, starting with ourselves and the family. Specifically we should feel our homes with prayers (not to be like the graveyard), and helping out with the housework like Rasulullah did.

Furthermore, we have to strive hard to make sure that all the activities in the house is within the permissibility of our religion. TV and Internet (if we choose to have one) should be in the general area and the activities are monitored. Should we organise a meeting or gathering, then it should be done within the boundaries of Islam.

Smoking is haram, hence there should not be ash-tray in the house to promote the behaviour.

One thing that is difficult to achive, hence the relatively long discussion in the book is to have male driver and female servants. We heard stories over and over again even at the time of Rasulullah the occurrence of fitnah and zina among the house occupants. The discussion is rather long and i don't intend to dwell to much on it. However, the basic principle is the same. Different gender (male & female) cannot be left alone in the house, as the third will be syaitan. Does not really matter whether they are really good people or not. They are plenty of suggestion, some will suit us, some will not. After we have exhausted all the options and we still could not find solution, probably it would then be permissible (with great caution). Wallahu a'lam.

Conclusion

If you have other ideas, please give suggestions. I am nearly sure (while writing this article) that we are going to have difficulty to achieve these objectives. Some will even be defensive to the ideas that we have to go extra length to build a house. For me, this is my effort to bring the rahmat of Allah into the house i am going to live in. We will fail definitely to achieve perfection as we are human being, but that is what this life is constantly about. Make mistakes and ask for forgiveness from Allah.

Please visit my house, when it is finished, Insya-Allah. You will increase your provisions by visiting your brothers and prolong your life and hopefuly we will be included into the groups who will receive the shade of Allah's throne when there is no shade in the Day of Resurrection.

@Peace.

Sincerity is not enough

2009-08-31T20:02:00.000+01:00

I told Kamal Fariz once, that I believe there were 2 choices for muslims to make:

1. To devote oneself to the religion that he has to isolate himself from the rest
2. To live a fair life, work, have family etc, but then we are not up to the standard of the first choice.

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Religion is from God. We have tried so hard to please God that we are prepared to do many things (to the point of silliness), without ever knowing whether God approve our act or not. We say that we want to isolate ourselves, or only eating grass, or be a vegetarian, or injuring ourselves during festivals, or fasting the whole year etc - which one of these acts actually does God like?

We are in dire need of guidance from God. Without His say, we will do everything that our mind could think to please him. Would helping other people enough? Or not sleeping during the night, going outside and think about the creation and The Creator- is that enough?

Evidence based Religion

In Islam, we are guided by the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. There is only 1 version of Quran. The sayings of Prophet Muhammad were analysed by the Scholars to make sure that it originates from the Prophet himself. Not only we check the text that it doesn't go against the Quran, we also check the reliability of the transmitter- whether they are liars or trustworthy, whether they have good memory or has Alzheimers. The hadith have been scrutinised by the scholar to make we know which one is definitely coming from Prophet ((Sahih, hasan), which one is probable (Daif (weak)) and which one is fabricated. It is a bit like medicine - there are Grade A,B,C evidence from the trials. The evidence in Islam is complete while in medicine the trials will never end. Plus we rarely check the reliability of the person who did the trial, while in Islam, if the transmitter ever known to be a liar, the so-called hadith will be rejected.

Which one is better, God's way or human's way of worshipping God? Would God then leave human being in searching of the ways to worship him, or (because He is Most Wise) will he send guidance to guide the mankind? Hence the Prophet. If you think that there is a Supreme Being, but did not believe in organized religion, then God might not be as clever then. Why would he create us to worship Him if he didn't show us some sort of ways to worship him? Exalted God from all the defects. Probably 'organized religion' might not actually be as bad as the what we see being portrayed.

Ikhlas is not enough

In Islam, ikhlas (sincerity) is vitally important in order for our worship to be accepted by God. If we pray or fast or giving charity in order to be respected by human beings, then it will not be accepted by God. Similarly if we pray Maghrib 4 rakaat instead of 3 in order to please Allah sincerely (ikhlas), would that be accepted then? Definitely not. Because that is not in accordance of what God wants!! We want a nice amber colour car, but we got an expensive shining pink jeep - it just doesn't suit us. (Of course we can sell the jeep to get extra money and then buy the car we want, but God is not in need of the extra money!!)

So we come to the second requirement for our worship, that is our way of worshipping has to be according to what God wants - in Islam, this is according to what Quran and the Prophet said. Why is this important? This is to prevent people from inventing new ways of worshipping God and say God likes it because we are doing it sincerely for Him. As I said earlier, sincerity alone is not enough.

Application of these 2 concepts

Back to my original 'conclusion' to Kamal Fariz, that we Muslims have 2 choices to make. After knowing these 2 requirements, I have come to the conclusion that there is only 1 option. There has always been only 1 option. Number 2.

Prophet Muhammad is the perfect example of how our life should be. Of course there are parts where he used camel and we use cars, etc. What i meant was the religion of Islam is complete with him being the primary example. If he, being the last Prophet of God, still work, and marry, and had children, and smile, and cry, - who are we to say that we should not work and isolate ourselves, or not get married, or should not be happy? Do we think we know religion more than the prophet? Silly me to think that way 10 years ago!!

May Allah forgive us and keep us in the straight path.
@Peace.

Berdampingan dgn penjual minyak wangi

2009-08-29T19:57:00.000+01:00

Once upon a time

Semasa di Taiping, aku mau berkawan dengan semua. Tak kira rakan masjid, rakan bola mahupun rakan ‘terbang’. Sometimes I felt desperate to have some sort of link with them. Tak pastilah masa tengah gila nama ataupun kuasa. Siapa tahu. Or was it my intention to see through them, looking for the kindness. I believe at that time, that we should have the ability to differentiate between the person himself, and the act that they did. We hate the act that they did, but not the person.

I still hold the same value. I still think the difficulty differentiating the two makes us confused. We should be able to see the difference between the government and the BN party. If people hate the party, don’t throw tantrum on every government officer who is doing his job. If people hate PAS, please differentiate between what is pure kepartian, and what is Islam. Don’t put everything in the same boat.

Friends with everybody

However, I do have reservation about ‘friend with everybody’. Should we accept every friend request in facebook, or should we be selective of people we might know? I do encourage people to make friends, but be selective in whom we choose to be in our circle of close friends. When I was in Taiping, the world around me was small so I cannot afford not to know people. Now in the real world, we have so many people around us that it is impossible to be friends with everybody. The question has now become – which one should we choose to be our friend? (or we can just wait and see who come to greet us first)

Rasulullah said: A man is upon the religion of his khalil (close friend), so let each one of you be careful about the person he chooses to be his close friend (Ahmad – Hasan Hadith)

I used to oppose the idea that we should be friend with ‘good’ person only. Mainly because I hate to see a group of ‘good’ people on one side, and ‘not so good’ people on the other side. My thinking was, if there is no mix, then there will be no transfer of knowledge of what is right or wrong. I still hold that is true, hence I agree there should be some form of mixing between good and not-yet-good people. However, I realise one day that I have been thinking too hard on helping other people (kononnya) that I forgot I need help myself as well!

We need good companion as well

The example of a righteous companion and an evil one is that of a carrier of al-Musk (type of perfume) and a blower of bellows. As for the carrier of al-Musk, either he will give to you as a gift, or you will buy from him, or you will find a pleasant odour emanating from him. And as for the blower of bellows, either he will burn clothes or you will find a foul odour emanating from him. (Bukhari)

Have we checked whether we spent more times with the carrier-of-al-Musk-type, or the blower-of-bellows-type? If we firmly believe in the Day of Judgment, we should make it our effort and priority to be with the nicer smell ones. What for? Because if they are what they are (meaning they are true believers), then they might be able to help us in the day of resurrection!

When the believers are beyond the Fire, they will plead with Allah on behalf of their brothers who will then be in the Fire, saying, “Our Lord, they used to fast with us, pray with us, and go to hajj with us.” So they will be told, “Take out whomever you can recognize of them.” Thus they will take out a large number of people. (Bukhari)

Or better still, we will be the people who help our friends/companions from the Hellfire – but of course we don’t know this. We can only hope for.

To isolate ourselves?

Some will ask, if it is so difficult to find good companions, why not we just stay at home and do what we do best. Nobody else will care and we’ll be saved from all the temptation out there. Before we go to that extreme, listen to what Rasullulah said about people who try to mix with the community..

The believer who mixes with people and patiently endures their harm, is better than the one who does not mix with them and does not endure their harm. (Ibn Majah – Hasan hadith)

And then, if things still are difficult for us, then probably it is time for us to find a place where it is spiritually more compatible with us, or a place where the Iman will grow. It is just like the hadith of a serial killer who had killed 99 man and wondering whether God could forgive him. Eventually he was told by an ‘alim (knowledgeable person) that he should go to such and such land where people are devoted to Allah’s worship and do not go back to his land as it was an evil place.

Malaysia perhaps? Let us hope so, Insya-Allah.

@Peace.

Bertudung tapi berdosa

2009-08-29T19:56:00.000+01:00

This article is a recycled article of what i wrote back in 2007.

Isu tudung banyak diperkatakan orang. ‘Pejuang’ wanita mengatakan bergantung kepada individu untuk memakai atau tidak. Daripada Astora Jabat yang membincangkan aurat ringan dan berat yang mengelirukan sehinggalah kepada Dr Asri yang membetulkan kekeliruan tersebut, semua ingin mengatakan sesuatu.

Aku juga begitu.

Aku memilih bahawa bertudung itu wajib untuk wanita. Mungkin lebih elok lagi dikatakan menutup aurat itu wajib untuk orang Islam. Memakai tudung itu baik, namun lebih sempurna apabila tudung itu menutup dada, baju berlengan panjang dan tidak ketat.

Kekadang, ada yang bertudung tetapi perangainya tidak elok. Ramai yang tidak bertudung, namun lembut sopannya kekedang mengalahkan yang lain. Teringat aku seorang rakan dari Kuwait, apabila dia melihat CD cover seorang penyanyi wanita yang tidak bertudung, dia mengatakan nerakalah tempatnya.

Namun syurga dan neraka bukanlah manusia yang menentukannya. Mendedahkan aurat memanglah berdosa. Mereka yang timbangan dosanya lebih berat drp pahala, maka neraka tempat akhirnya.

Ada yang memakai tudung memandang keji dan serong kepada mereka yang tidak, seolahnya yang bertudung confirm masuk syurga. Dalam pada itu, mereka lupa mengumpat juga adalah satu dosa. Merasa diri kita cukup baik (ujub) juga adalah dosa. Dosa-dosa ini boleh memberatkan timbangan dan menghantar kita ke neraka.

O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, in deed some suspicions are sins. And spy not neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it. ANd fear God, verily, God is the one who accepts repentance, Most Merciful. (Al-Hujurat 49:12)

Janganlah lupa, selagi nyawa kita dikandung badan, kesudahan kita masih tidak kita ketahui.

“… ada seseorang di antara kalian yang mengerjakan amalan ahli syurga sehingga tidak ada jarak antara dirinya dan syurga kecuali sehasta saja. kemudian ia didahului oleh ketetapan Allah lalu ia melakukan perbuatan ahli neraka dan ia masuk neraka. Ada diantara kalian yang mengerjakan amalan ahli neraka sehingga tidak ada lagi jarak antara dirinya dan neraka kecuali sehasta saja. kemudian ia didahului oleh ketetapan Allah lalu ia melakukan perbuatan ahli syurga dan ia masuk syurga.”
Sahih Bukhari 3208.

Mereka yang berada di Malaysia mungkin tidak dapat merasai satu nikmat memakai pakaian Islam ini. Mungkin kerana memakai tudung bukanlah sesuatu yang asing. Aku juga cuma menyedari keadaan ini setelah mendirikan tangga.

Ke mana sahaja aku dan isteri mengembara, sama ada di Dublin, Prague, Vienna, Freiburg, Frankfurt, apatah lagi Turkey; kami akan didoakan selamat sejahtera org org Islam yang lain. Ini tidak lain kerana mereka tahu kami muslim kerana isteriku bertudung.

Isteriku menceritakan, wajah para wanita Islam akan menjadi berseri seri apabila mereka berselisih di jalan sambil mengucapkan salam. Setiap kali. Seolah-olah mereka terjumpa sesuatu yang sudah lama dicari. Aku juga merasainya. Menerima salam drp org yang langsung tidak dikenali di jalanan, salam daripada tuan kedai kebab mahupun konduktor keretapi membuatkan kita rasa lebih selamat dan selesa.

Berada dalam masyarakat barat yang mempunyai stigma terhadap Islam, memakai tudung umpama melaungkan kepada semua bahawa diri ini muslim. Kita lelaki tidak merasainya, kerana sukar utk kita dikenali keislaman kita berdasarkan pakaian. Kita cuma boleh mengagak yang org ini Indian, atau Pakistani, atau Asian atau Arab. Beraninya para wanita Islam dalam mempertahankan identiti diri, dalam pada membezakan diri mereka drp kelompok utama. Memang sukar. Wearing hijab is definitely not the easiest path they have chosen. Semoga Allah memberi kekuatan kepada wanita Islam, sesuai dgn pengorbanan mereka.

Inipun sukar utk lelaki menyimpan janggut walaupun itu sunnah untuk mereka. Kerana kita tidak mahu dilihat berlainan daripada yang lain. Jauh sungguh pengorbanan kita.

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Tambahan 2009:

Masih lagi berpendapat seperti di atas. Cumanya mungkin kita lebih senang melihat 'keburukan' tidak bertudung berbanding mengumpat krn mengumpat tu belakang-belakang, manakala tidak bertudung tu depan-depan. Namun, hakikatnya adalah sama - kalau berat timbangan dosa kita, ke neraka kita. Wallahu a'lam.

@Peace.

The first person to be indicted in resurrection day

2009-08-28T19:55:00.000+01:00

While looking for ideas and articles to include for Ramadhan reminder, I stumbled upon this in-your-face hadith. The intention is so difficult to control. Let's say that we buy a new Audi A4 2009 version. How difficult it is to control our intention not to feel proud of our 'achievement'. If we bought the car because we like Audi and we know that they make good cars, and we want to use the car to do something good like going to work and help other people, that that intention is ok. But how frequent would we have flashing thought of 'I am a Registrar now, so I need to have a better car. I can't be like SHO anymore.' or 'Hopefully somebody will comment something about my new car - it is sooo nice of a car!!'.

May Allah accept our deeds - receiving knowledge and hopefully giving them back.

Rasulullah said:

Indeed, the first people who will be found guilty on Resurrection Day are:

1. A man who was martyred. He will be bought forth, and Allah will remind him of His favours on him, which he will acknowledge. Allah will then ask him, "In what way, then , did you use them?" He will reply, "I fought for Your Cause until I was martyred." Allah will tell him, "You lie! You only fought so that it would be said that you were brave, which has been said." The command will then be issued and he will be dragged over his face until he is thrown into the fire.

2. A man who learned the Knowledge and thought it and recited the Quran. He will be bought forth, and Allah will remind him of His favours on him, which he will acknowledge. Allah will then ask him, "In what way, then , did you use them?" He will reply, "I learned the Knowledge and taught it and recited the Quran for Your sake."." Allah will tell him, "You lie! You only learned the Knowledge so that it would be said that you were a learned man, and you recited the Quran so that it would be said that you were a recitor, which has been said." The command will then be issued and he will be dragged over his face until he is thrown into the fire.

3. A man whom Allah gave an easy life and granted all sorts of riches. He will be bought forth, and Allah will remind him of His favours on him, which he will acknowledge. Allah will then ask him, "In what way, then , did you use them?" He will reply, "I left no way in which You love that money be spent but I spent it for Your sake ." Allah will tell him, "You lie! You only spent so that it would be said that you were generous, which has been said." The command will then be issued and he will be dragged over his face until he is thrown into the fire.

(Hadith Muslim)

Those people are muslims, yet they were the first to be found guilty on Resurrection Day. Let us reflect on ourselves... did we buy the car so that people will say- your car is really classy, I wish I could be like you. Did we but branded names for our clothes and shoes so we can join the 'branded' group. Did I write these Ramadhan reminder so people will say that I am knowledgeable?

Ya Muqallibal Qulub, thabbit qalbi 'ala deenak
O Controller of the hearts, make firm my heart in your religion.

@Peace.

(I don't have Audi A4.... yet).

Part 2: Ways to increase our earnings

2009-08-27T19:55:00.000+01:00

This writing is my summary of the book:
15 ways to increase your earnings by Abu Ammar Yasir Qadhi

Half of the book was dedicated to explaining what is true wealth and the danger related to it, in case our du'a are accepted (the way we want them to be) and we become overwhelmed with money - so that we do not forget what to do with our money. It is important to say that increase in earnings/rizq does not mean money purely.

The evidence presented here are explicit aayat and hadith which clearly mentioned on how to increase our provision. It is not something like - if you do good deed, and Allah will like you, so He may give you more money. It is more like - if you do this deed, then you will have your provision increased, and this is the evidence from quran and sunnah. It is so clear from the text that i don't need to elaborate.

Way 1: Taqwa of Allah

And whosoever fears Allah (taqwa) and keep his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, then He will suffice him. Verily Allah will accomplish His purpose. Indeed Allah has set a measure for all things. (Al-Talaq:2-3)

And if people of the towns had believed and had taqwa, certainly, We would have opened for them blessings from the heaven and the earth, but they rejected (the Messengers). So We called them to task (with punishment) for what they used to earn. (Al-A'raf:96)

Way 2: Seeking forgiveness nad repentance

I said (to them): Ask forgiveness from your Lord: Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving. He will (then) send rain to you in abundance, and give you increase in wealth and children, and bestow on your gardens, and bestow on your rivers. (Nuh:10-12)

Prophet said: Whoever persist in asking forgiveness, Allah will make for him, every grief, a way out, and for every difficult situation, an exit, and He will provide him sustenance from places that he did not expect. (Abu Dawud - sahih)

Way 3: Putting One's Trust in Allah (Tawakkal)

Prophet said: If you were to put your trust in Allah (tawakkul) the way that Allah deserves, then you would be provided for as birds are, they leave at the beginning of the day, famished, and they return at the end of the day full. (Al-Tirmidhi - Authentic).

Way 4: Constantly worshiping Allah

Hadith Qudsi: Allah says: O Son of Adam! Take time out to constantly worship me, I will fill your chest with richness, and remove your poverty. And if you do not do so, I will make your hands filled with occupation, and will not remove your poverty. (al-Tirmidho - Authentic)

A reminder to all of us - if we think that we could not allocate some time for prayer when we are at work (because we are so busy), could it be that we become so busy because we do not allocate some time for prayer?

Way 5: Thanking Allah

And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: If you are thankful, I will give you more, but if you are thankless, then verily My punishment is indeed severe. (Ibrahim: 7)

Way 6: Frequently performing Hajj & Umrah

Prophet said: Follow up between Hajj & Umrah (i.e continualy repeat the performance of Hajj & Umrah), because they both eliminate poverty and sins just like a furnace eliminates the dirty impurities of iron, gold and silver. And accepted Hajj has no reward less than paradise. (Al-Tirmidhi - authentic)

Fiqh of al-Aulawiyyat by Yusuf Qaradawi: multiple hajj or umrah are only preferable, not compulsory, hence there are other things that we should do nowadays with that money instead of going for multiple hajj & umrah. Of course, one could argue that he want to go for multiple hajj or umrah so that his provision will increase and he may donate more...

Way 7: Establishing the ties of kinship

Prophet said: Whoever wishes to have his rizq increased and his life-span be extended, thne let him establish the ties of kinship. (Bukhari)

Prophet said: Learn of you lineage, so that you can establish the ties of kinship, for establishing the ties of kinship increases the love amongst the families, and multiples wealth, and extends age. (Bukhari)

Way 8: Spending in the way of Allah

Say; Truly, my Lord enlarges the provision for whom He wills of His slaves, and restricts (it) for him, and whatever you spend of anything (in Allah's cause), He will replace it. And He is the Best of providers. (Saba:39)

Prophet said: Allah has said: O son of Adam! Spend, I will spend on you. (Muslim)

Rasulullah said: I swear upon 3 things and ask you to memorize my words: charity taken from a property never decreases it; a man who suffers injustice and is patient with it, Allah will grant him strength; a man who starts begging, Allah will cause him to be poor. (Al-Tirmidhi - authentic)

STOP

I will stop there as this note is getting longer. Allah knows best and Akhirat is our main aim.

@Peace

Part 1: Ways to increase our earnings

2009-08-26T19:54:00.000+01:00

Benefit of wealth

Money has always been so valuable. It is a common assumption that poor people who do not have money, live unhappy life. If we rate our life based on how many things we can buy, or how big our houses, or how branded our belongings are, then of course we asssume money should buy us all these. But happiness is not measured by having all those things.

It it not much benefit of getting RM50,000 per month, when we can't eat/drink sugary food, salty food, meat, or travel because we have diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack or kidney disease and we are constantly in and out of the hospital. Compare to 'average' people who don't have all the diseases and eat freely. Or even compare to 'poor' people who live in harmony with their surroundings, have money enough to live but no need to think about internet, tv licence, shares in the company etc.

It fits with this hadith:

There is no harm in richness, for he who has taqwa, but good health is better than being rich, for he who has taqwa. (Ibn Majah- authentic by Albani)

Of course, Islamically, with money you can gain a lot of benefit, if we use it wisely. Money should not be our purpose of life (in which as a muslim, it is to worship Allah). In the famous hadith when the poor people asked Rasulullah what can they do to supersede the charity done by the rich people. So Rasulullah prescribed the saying of Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah and Allahuakbar. However, the rich heard about this and started practicing the sayings. The poor people complained to Rasulullah again, and what did Rasulullah replied? That was the advantage of rich people- they have money to give in charity.

The fitnah of wealth

Your wealth and your children are only a trial. And Allah- with Him is a great reward. (Al-Taghabun:15)

Say: If your father, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight, are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving in His Cause, then wait until Allah execute His Decision. And Allah guided not the people who rebellious (disobedient to Allah). (al-Taubah:24)

And there are so many more aayat in the Quran and Hadith explaining over and over again the danger of wealth and why we have to be very cautious. We'll be asked about it certainly in the Day of Judgment. In fact, it is one of 5 questions we'll be asked:

On the Day of Resurrection, a human being's feet will not depart from his Lord until he is questioned about five things: How he consumed his lifetime, how he wore out his body, how he earned and spent his wealth and what he did in implementing what he knew. (Al-Tirmidhi - sahih by Albani)

Importance of Halal Sustenance

As in the previously mentioned hadith, not only what we do with our money is important, but how we earn them- we will be asked as well. Did we add an extra half an hour into our overtime form? Did we sleep when we are supposed to work (of course on-call is different thing altogether)? Did we use office application for personal use? Some of these things are unavoidable, but we can intentionally 'pay them back' by not claiming things we are supposed to.

How about riba'? We are so afraid to eat haram food, in case it becomes our flesh and blood. However, we forgot that riba' money that we earn, we feed our family, we use them to but things including food - certainly this should caught more of our attention than just haram food - most of it we'll secrete anyway.

Before we proceed into the actual ways of increasing our earnings, let us benefit from this last hadith, for those who are in constant feeling of inferiority due to other people's wealth:

Look at those who are below you (in status and wealth), and do not look at those who are above you, because then it is more likely that you will not trivialise the blessings of Allah upon you. (Bukhari)

Riba

2009-08-25T19:53:00.000+01:00

What is the scariest ayat in the Quran?

Imam Abu Hanifa said – it is the ayat when Allah declares war against those who are involved with riba’.
Imam Malik commented that there is no other sin that Allah declares war against it, except riba’ – hence it is the worst possible sin.

O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah and give up what remains from Riba, if you are believers. And if you not do it, and take a notice of war from Allah and His Messenger but if you repent, you shall have your capital sums. Deal not unjustly, and you shall not be dealt with unjustly. (Quran 2:278-279)

Have we checked all our possessions and assets- are those free from riba’?
Our house, car, bank, credit card, personal loan, insurance (travel, health, car), our job – are we sure we are not involved?

For those who are capable of avoiding riba’ altogether, may Allah make it easy for you. With the billion dollars Islamic banking/finance industry, we as Muslims should be at the frontline supporting. Of course we can use our only excuse to be involved with Riba’ – darurat (extreme necessity). But we should ask ourselves, how much of it is really of extreme necessity that we prepare to chance it – raging war with Allah and His Messenger?

It is true (to certain extent) that we need to pay more when we take Islamic finance compare to conventional loan. This particular point has put off many people from Islamic finance. I have to agree on this point, that it would be much better if we have to payback less with Islamic finance. However, the industry is still new as compared to conventional bank. We prepare to pay extra for Halal chicken, or allocate some time for praying instead of doing something we love (not that i suggest we don’t like praying) – why not going extra for Islamic finance? It might not be for short term benefit, but certainly beneficial in long run. Insya-Allah.

I have to acknowledge Ustaz Zaharuddin Abd Rahman for he has successfully triggerred awareness about riba/interest in my family as well as thousands other visitors to his website: www.zaharuddin.net. May Allah reward him for every effort and continue to reward him for his beneficial knowledge till the Day of Judgment.

May Allah make it easy for us to choose the right way. It is not easy.
@Peace.

Backbiting

2009-08-24T19:51:00.000+01:00

These collection of quran and hadith were presented by my wife for one of our learning sessions.They are very straight forward, explaining backbiting in a way that is easy to understand - hence don't need any explanation from me.

What is backbiting/Gheebah?

Prophet said: Do you know what backbiting is? The companions said: Allah and His Messenger know best. Thereupon he said: Backbiting means talking about your brother in a manner which he does not like. It was said to him: What is your opinion if the fault I mentioned about my brother was true? Rasulullah said: If what you said about him was true, then you have in fact backbitten him, and if that fault found is not to be true, then it is a slander. (Muslim)

Ibn Mas’ud narrated: We were sitting with the Prophet. Then a man got up and left. Whereupon another person spoke ill of him. The prophet told him: Pick your teeth. The man replied: Why? I haven’t eaten any meat. The prophet replied: You have eaten your brother’s flesh. (Al-Tabarani)

Backbiting is condemned!

And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor it and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is the one who accepts repentance. (Al-Hujurat: 12)

Woe to every slanderer and backbiter! (Al-Humazah: 1)

Prophet said: When I was taken up to heaven, I passed by people who had nails of copper and were scratching their faces and their chests. I said: Who are these people Jibril? Jibril replied: They are those who used to backbite and violated people’s honour. (Abu Dawud)

Prophet said: O my people, who believe with their tongue, but belief has not entered their heart, do not backbite another Muslim and do not search for their faults, for if anyone searches for their faults, Allah will search for his fault, and if Allah searches for the fault of anyone, He disgraces him in his house. (Abu Dawud)

Prophet said: Do you know who the bankrupt person is? The companions said: A bankrupt man amongst us is one who has neither Dirham with him or wealth. He said: A truly bankrupt person of my ummah would be he who would come on the Day of Resurrection with prayers and fasts and zakah but since he hurled abuse upon others; backbitten and unlawfully consumed the wealths of others; shed the blood of innocent people, hence his good deeds would be given to the account of those (who suffered at his hand). And if his good deeds fall short, then their sins would be given to his account and he would be thrown in the Hellfire. (Muslim)

What to do when someone else backbiting?

And when they hear vain talk, they turn away from it. (Al-Qasas: 55)

Prophet said: Whoever is present while a Muslim is being humiliated before him, and is able to assist him (and yet does not), Allah will humiliate him before (all of) creation. (Ahmad)

Whoever defends the honour of his brother in his absence, will be entitled to Allah’s protection from the fire. (Ahmad)

Prophet said:Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him either speak good or keep silent. (Agreed Upon)

What is the benefit protecting our brothers?

Prophet said: Whoever averts (an attack) as regards the honour of their brother or sister, Allah will avert the fire from their face on the day of resurrection. (Al-Tirmidhi)

Abu Musa Al Asha’ari narrated: Someone asked the Prophet: Whose Islam is the best? He replied: One who avoids harming a Muslim with his tongue and hands. (Bukhari)

Expiation of backbiting

Prophet said: Whoever has wronged his brother, should ask for his pardon as (in the Hereafter) there will be neither a Dinar nor a Dirham. (He should seek forgiveness in this life) before some of his good deeds are taken and paid to his brother, or if he has no good deed, some of the bad deeds of his brother are taken and added to his (in the Hereafter). (Bukhari)

Backbiting is the way to hellfire.
@Peace.

Zakat

2009-08-23T19:50:00.000+01:00

All Muslims know that we have 5 pillars of Islam.

1. Shahadah... everybody knows how to utter it and hopefully means it.
2. Salah... 5 times a day.
3. Zakat... yap, during Ramadhan.
4. Fasting... err, actually this one is during Ramadhan.
5. Hajj... to Mecca, but probably not enough money to go there yet.

Back to Zakat. It is not only during Ramadhan we pay Zakat, we should pay zakat EVERY YEAR.
Most of us would be afraid not to fast during Ramadhan, but how many would not pay zakat? Out of the 5 pillars, zakat is the least understood pillar. Out of 30 places al-zakat were mentioned in the quran, 27 of them were mentioned together with salat. Historically, Abu Bakr r.a fought those who refuse to pay zakat, even though they ‘presumably’ still utter shahadah.

Zakat is not a charity that we have the choice when to pay, whenever we have the time. Zakat is a right of the poor from the rich. When the time has come for one to pay zakat, it become compulsory for him to pay - to the extent that if he died before paying zakat, a portion from his wealth needs to be taken for zakat before distribution to the heir. That brings us into another important point – that zakat is one serious business. One should not feel comfortable with any zakat amount that has not been distributed.

When we calculate zakat, there will be time when we feel that probably we should deduct more for our necessity (in order to pay less zakat). It is a difficult thing to overcome. But remember, we prepare to pay thousands for hajj, and we want to make sure we have good hotels, good food etc; so why not we do the same with zakat. Let it be plentiful to be in the side of caution. Plus, zakat is the 3rd pillar of Islam, while Hajj is the last pillar.

If we are still in doubt, then listen to what Allah and His Messenger had promised us regarding charity; that giving charity WILL NEVER decrease your wealth. It has never been so clear in the quran and hadith.

And that which you give in gift, in order that it may increase from other people’s property, has no increase with Allah; but that which you give in Zakat seeking Allah’s Countenance then those, they shall have manifold increase. (Quran 30:39)

Rasulullah said: I swear upon 3 things and ask you to memorize my words: charity taken from a property never decreases it; a man who suffers injustice and is patient with it, Allah will grant him strength; a man who starts begging, Allah will cause him to be poor. (Hadith Al-Tirmidhi)

May Allah accept our deeds.

Pay our zakat, now!
@Peace.

Solat

2009-08-22T19:49:00.000+01:00

This is definitely a reminder to me, ahead of everybody else.

Before we go into perfecting our Salat, there is a minimum requirement that we need to fulfil. Do we? Seriously, do we fulfil the minimum criteria?

Pray 5 times a day.
Pray 5 times a day. No matter how busy you are.
Pray 5 times a day. Early.
Pray 5 times a day. In Jamaah.
Pray 5 times a day. With their naafilah prayers.

Scholars disagree as to whether those who does not pray, whether they can be considered muslim?
Even if we take the gentler stance, that we are still Muslims as long as we don’t deny the compulsory of Salat (that we didn’t pray because of our laziness and our weaknesses) – Salat (prayer) will still be the first thing to be asked by Allah in the Day of Judgment. If our salat do not fulfil the criteria, so will be our other deeds.

I still remember the guilty feeling of not praying Friday prayer in Galway mosque because there was a biochemistry practical at 2 on Friday. It was not that we did not pray - we prayed in the university prayer room – all 4 of us. And I still felt guilty. Compare to now, we easily give excuse that we have clinics or ward round that we can’t take 15 minutes to attend Friday prayer. When we don’t have prayer room, we complain. When we do have, we are too busy to use it at all.

The importance of prayer is reflected through the compulsory action itself – unless you don’t have full GCS, or sleeping, or for ladies during their period/nifas – you have to pray no matter in what condition you are in. You can pray while sitting, lying down, or only using your eyes; there is no excuse. You may combine the prayers and make tayamum, but you still have to pray. There is even a specific way of doing Salat in war!!

Solat is our time off to be with our Creator. We dress up for job interview; arrive early for our flight; so why not we prepare extra hard for our Solat. We should, anyway. This is a reminder for me. May Allah make it easy for me... for us. Then Allah will keep us away from evil deeds.

Verily, the prayer keeps one from great sins evil deeds. (Quran 29:45)

Please remind me when I am lazy, or get distracted with the worldly affair. And may Allah remind you as well. Insya-Allah.

@Peace.

Taubat

2009-08-21T19:48:00.000+01:00

I misplaced my wife’s laptop one day in a taxi, and of course it was not intentional. It was already 11pm that night. The entire PhD work was in there. If I failed to recover it, it means that my wife has to start from the beginning all the chapters that she has written, that does not include the reinventing the coding for her statistical data. And of course if won’t stop there, academically only. There would be the whole emotional and psychological repercussion.

I spent many hours that night looking for the taxi man. I don’t have the taxi number and it was dark, so i was not quite sure what type of van was it. One thing i knew, he lived in Lucan, and he sounds really nice, and i knew his surname – Boyle (it was similar to Susan Boyle, that was how i remember it). That was what i could hope for, that the taxi driver was really nice to return it back.
I went to the airport where i picked up the taxi. I actually felt ‘alive’. I was never that active for the many years i have been here in Ireland. I talked to every single taxi driver that drives a van, in case he knew the man i was looking for. I searched the internet for help. I got few numbers which i could call that might help me, but it was 12 midnight. Nobody works at 12 midnight. I called about 7 different taxi companies, in case they could tract their taxi drivers, whether one of them might be in the airport between 11-12 pm – even though most of them were really helpful, but it was not successful.

It was all unsure until my mother in-law called me from home when i was at the airport. She said that somebody came by to drop the laptop. I was relieved. No, I was really grateful, really happy. At the very least, I don’t have to burden myself with guilt if anything happen to my wife’s work. It felt like you were given second chance.

I am sure we have all at least experience that kind of moment, when you feel like that was it, you have no hope and it is the end of the line. We lost something, and we found it. The happiness was indescribable. It is a different kind of happiness. It is more satisfying than the feeling of accomplishment and when we buy something new. We were off the track and we are back.
If we are pleased to receive the things that we have lost, then behold that Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave.

Harith b. Suwaid said: I went to see 'Abdullah to inquire about his health as he was sick and he narrated to us a hadith of Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him). He heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His believing servant than a person who loses his riding beast carrying food and drink. He sleeps (being disappointed of its recovery) and then gets up and goes in search for that, until he is stricken with thirst. Then he comes back to the place where he had been before and goes to sleep completely exhausted placing his head upon his hands waiting for death. And when he gets up, lot there is before him his riding beast and his provisions of food and drink. Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than the recovery of this riding beast along with the provisions (of food and drink). (Muslim 37:6613).
I wrote this a reminder for myself that no matter how big my sins toward Allah are, the door of repentance is always open.

Say: O My Slaves who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Quran 39:53)

@Peace.

I don't need luck

2005-03-19T01:21:00.000Z

While i was hearing a lecture from Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips (most likely one of the people nowadays whom i adore the most) about 'The Foundation of Islamic Studies' - while studying ObGyn, there was something that he said about luck which reminds me to write sth about it:

LUCK ----- FORTUNE ----- GODDESS FORTUNA
LUCK ----- MUHAMMAD KHANJI ----- I DON'T NEED LUCK, I NEED DU'A

What do i mean by that? Well, i remember i have this conversation with mohammad khanji. Simply and commonly I said to him for his exam: Good Luck Mohammad!! And to my suprise he replied, I don't need luck, I need du'a. Since then, i never use the word 'LUCK' again to wish somebody. And to other people who had wished me luck, some of them i told the same: I don't need luck, I need du'a!

And only this time i manage to write something about it. Luck based on answers.com thesaurus means fortune. The origin of the word LUCK (etymology) came from Middle English Lucke, from Middle Dutch Luc, a shortform of gheluc. If somebody tells you that it came from the word Lucifer, well my quick research doesn't show any correlation, so as this site. It correlates the word Lucifer and satan as:

"Lucifer" did indeed mean "light-bearing" in its original Latin ("lux," light, plus "fer," bearing), and originally referred to the planet Venus, known as the morning star when it appears at sunrise. The connection between Lucifer the morning star and Satan goes back to the Biblical passage of Isaiah 14:12 ("How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning?"), which, although it was addressed to the king of Babylon, was later interpreted by religious scholars to be actually referring to Satan, the "fallen angel."

However, fortune came from Middle English, from Old French, and from Latin Fortuna, referring to the Goddess of Good Fortune. From this site it says:

The Roman goddess Fortuna was the same as an earlier Italian goddess who presided over the earth's abundance and controlled the destiny of all human beings. Her name, derived from Vortumna, "she who turns the year about" come to symbolize the capriciousness of life and luck, the vagaries of fate as the wheel of life turns around. Her festival was celebrated in October. Fortuna gives us a way to approach the ups and downs of life, a perspective that can offer us some equanimity as we proceed on our journey.

So, knowing all these, does it make any difference to us? Well, for me at least, I'd be better off without the wishes of luck, because as we know Allah knows what really happens to us, each and every single thing. As Rasullullah said, on the authority of Abdullah bin Abbas,

"..Be mindful of Allah, you will find Him before you. Get to know Allah in prosperity and He will know you in adversity. Know that what has passed you by was not going to befall you; and that what has befallen you was not going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship." Tirmithi, hasan (sound)

And I would agree with all my heart what muhammad has said to me. Luck shouldn't be wish for or be wished to others. It should not even be in the dictionary of a muslim. Instead, du'a is what we all muslims need.

Conclusion:
1. I DON'T NEED LUCK, I NEED YOUR DU'A!!!
2. the importance of using evidence based statement form reliable source to back up our statement (same goes with medicine and especially our religion)
3. the word mosque does not come from the word mosquito as far as etymology (study of origin of words) suggest. This belief was made popular by the writer (a muslim) of the book "Idiot's Guide of Understanding Islam". May Allah has mercy on all of us.

Simple facts on the bible

2005-03-18T15:31:00.000Z

Bible

Was the Bible sent down in English? - No. That would be most facetious to consider when we take into consideration that English is only a 940 year old language.

Does the Bible still exist in the original form in which it was revealed and in the original languages? - No.

Can any scholar of the Bible say with absolute certainty which of the verses of the Bible came to Abraham, or Moses, or David, or Solomon or Jesus? - No.

Do you accept that the English version of the Bible is the same thing that was held in hands of the Great and Noble prophets of Almighty God? - No.

Does the book that Christians call the "Bible" today represent the Great and Noble Bible of Moses, David and Jesus? - No.

Bible? Did it come from God? - Yes. Absolutely. No doubt.

Bible? - Anyone know what it sounded like? - Only a few experts claim to know how some words might have sounded but they are not one hundred percent sure about most of it.

Bible? - Are there different versions with omissions, deletions, changes, missing books? (Compare Catholic Bible [73 books] to Protestant Bible [66 books])? - Yes. Many.

Bible? - Do people still memorize it today as they once did thousands of years ago, in the original language? - No.

Quran

Quran? Did it come from the same God? - It claims to and it confirms the same about the real Bible.

Quran? Was it sent down in Arabic? - Yes. It says so as one of the verses in it; "A reading sent down in the clear Arabic language..."

Does the Quran still exist in the original form? - Yes. It is still available all over the world in the Arabic language.

Can any scholar of the Quran sate with absolute certainty that the Quran today is the same one that was sent down to Muhammad? - Yes. And they do.

Do we accept that the Arabic version of the Quran is the same thing that was held in the hearts and memories of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him? - Yes. Ask any Muslim scholar.

Does the book that the Muslims call the Quran today represent the Great and Noble Quran of Muhammad, peace be upon him? - Yes. No doubt.

Does the Arabic Quran contain mistakes? - No. Not even one.

Quran? Does anyone know what it sounded like? - Yes. All Muslims recite it in Arabic in their prayers five times a day.

traumatology UiTM

2005-03-18T00:30:00.000Z

After so long, finally another entry from me. Today, i attended an interview with UiTM Dean of Medical Faculty. He came to Dublin looking for doctors especially who wants to go back to malaysia and work with them. Not my intention to tell in detail what was happening in there, however, i would say it was beneficial for me. Well, not only beneficial, it has changed my future. Perhaps i will be working there one day... or bery soon!!

First, even though it tok us nearly 6 hours waiting at malaysian hall before being called for interview (imagine final year.. doing nothing.... waiitng for interview... and worse, it wasn't even an offer for us), i really enjoyed being with other married couples (i have just realized!!). I was like a family gathering. long-time-no-see Shariz and his wife , Kak Aini were there. Zekri, kak an & dr saiful, kak haz & arope, tariq & kak azizah (first time i saw her anyway) and many more. Plus final years like alee, haninah, lisa, linda, husna & nora. Wow, what a crowd. waiting for 6 hours is not that bad after all. I managed to discuss enterocutaneuos fistula with alee and tariq, managed to learn about COPD with kak haz & kak azizah, and little bit of stroke from hamad. The conversation was unrestricted, it was really like a family gathering. even though i wasn't that close to kak haz (or kak azizah, tariq's wife) before, but what had happened today was completely different. I spoke to them as if i knew them for a long time already. yeah, probably that is why my wife told me that she is close to kak haz - so not 'typical'. there was one time this petronas guy asked arope, why these medical people loves to get married early. Hmmm, quite an invasive question i guess. However, arope's reply was brilliant: "kalau tak kawin awal, nanti terlepas." (Begitu selamba).

Anyway, the main thing that i get from that interview is... probably i would only stay for 1 year in ireland, settle my debts as soon as possible, and get attached to UiTM. Why UiTM? Well, Hosp Sg Buloh (what a name!!) will be the centre for traumatology and i would like to do Emergency Medicine. That's for a start. Plus, if i work there, most probably i will be staying in Shah Alam, which is good. Close to rumah kakyng in Puchong and close as well to Lisa's house. Plus Shah Alam is a nice area to reside at. And UiTM is fairly a new university.. well the medical faculty i mean. Established only in 2003, there are a lot of things to do. Compared to HUKM (which is good as well, but already has established its own 'likes and dislikes' - you know what i mean), I can probably create my own track - I wish huh!! Probably one of my dislikes of UiTM is that, the university itslef is built based on 'racism' policy. I know... i know, many would very much disagree with me, saying all these stuff about malay survival and how we are lagged behind the chinese. But still, we can't deny it is a racism policy, be it for our own good. I remember clearly we have this debate during MYS halaqah back in 2nd/3rd year, everybody was opposing my idea, even the liberal masyitah!! Hmmm.... It's not that i support DAP slogan- Malaysian Malaysia. Muhammad Khanji told me once, imagine he who lives in UK for many years (and has UK nationality), and the government decided to only give free education to so-called 'British Bumis', he will be raged! Plus he would have hard time to consider Britain as his country which he should love. Same things probably happens the chinese and indians in malaysia. How many of them involved in the arm force- ready to be killed in the line of duty for malaysia? Like Ammar said, it's the fault of the system we are living now- after 48 years of independance. Can't really blame the people to think and act what they are doing now.

Rotatory twist

2005-02-17T01:10:00.000Z

Terlalu banyak yg aku fikirkan.

Tadi hilmi balik malaysia. tak ada org nangis. ramai jugak yg datang airport hantar hilmi. seronok tgk walaupun kebanyakannya aku tak kenal pun. teringat masa tidur rumah dia dulu dulu. masa dia demam, jeram kepala dia dgn air. masa dia kongsi apa yg dia ada dalam palm. dia ajak pegi masjid. berada di airport membuatkan aku teringat, nanti bila aku balik, sapalah yg akan hantar aku agaknya.... ataupun cuma tinggal aku ngan lisa akan balik senyap senyap. yelah, aana balik pun aku & lisa tak sempat nak hantar, walhal memang kitorang dah rancang dah.

Attachment kat tallaght under surgical dept... fuuhh.... bukan shj meletihkan diri, tapi juga meletihkan minda. harapnya tak sia sia aku bangun pagi pagi, bukak air panas... tidur dan bangun bali. Pukul 7 ada kat hospital dah. balik pukul 5. itupun sebab tak pegi ward round yg petang tu. kalau tak, tak tahulah balik rumah kol berapa. macam org kerja, tapi tak ada gaji. Cuma berlainan sekali dgn apa yg aku alami masa kat James's dgn Naeve. org ni kata org tu. org tu pulak berbalas balik tembakan. slaing mengelak. tak ada satu pun yg kena dan cedera parah. aku cuma sembunyi celah langsir...

Sibuk studi utk final exam. baru tahu drp masri yg exam 22hb april hingga mid May. oklaaa kot. cuma harapnya aku bersedia laa bila dah sampai masanya. Ada topik penting yg perlu aku cover at least before aku balik galway.

tadi terjumpa sakina dalam internet. Lama tak dgr kabar para ire2000. Dulu masa sblm dtg ireland, riuh dan rancak bercerita. org ni begitu. Org tu berfikir... dan bercerita. Aku tgk msg, last was in august... 1 email bulan tu. before that was in april or may.... entah berapa kali kot aana dapat msg drp yahoogroups nak delete group tu, dan berapa kalilaa aana mintak extend.

it's like.... ireladn is not a place for me anymore. probably sebab aku ada kat dublin, dan tak kenal org kot. or probably malaysia menggamit gamit panggil suruh balik. Tell malaysia, aku kata: sabar dulu. Insya-Allah, kalau panjang umur, kita ketemu lagi.

Busy life

2005-01-24T23:51:00.000Z

Masa aku mula mula bukak blog ni, ingatkan bolehlah konsisten utk bagi contribution, rupa rupanya susah jugak yer. patutlah aku tgk banyak blog blog org yg aku kenal, terbengkalai begitu jer. Sekali tinggal, memang susah nak sambung balik. Menyebut pasal tak konsisten ni, teringat aku pada usrah Galway yg kitorang start dulu. Sekali jer berjaya... lepas tu lenyap. Well, aku ingat tahun lepas ada skeali Pa'an buat. so, kiranya konsisten laa kot - SETAHUN sekali... hehehe.

Aku pulak jenis yg suka tangguh tangguhkan bende ataupun nak elok sikit bunyinya... suka 'bersabar dan cool'. Bukan satu ciri yg bagus kalau nak jadi ketua. Kalau buat sesuatu kerja, utk melihat perkembangan di kalangan anak buah, memang susahlah nak bertanya khabar. Hello, ini dah buat ke belum. Hai, dah telefon pakcik kassim? Assalamualaikum, kertas kerja bila nak submit? Memang susah. Akhirnya, end up dgn aku buat kerja tu sendiri. Itulah yg Maryam tegur aku dulu. Suka buat kerja sendiri sendiri, padahal ramai org lain yg sudi tolong.

Anyway, for the past week, banyak bende berlaku - very busy. Satu yg aku tak dapat lupa ialah Farhaana balik Malaysia sabtu lepas. Sedih jugak aana balik malaysia, lebih sedih bila tak dapat jumpa atau sembang pun utk kali terakhir. Pernah jugak suarakan bende tu kat Lisa, so kitorang bercadang nak laa hantar dia ke airport. Kena pulak hari dia balik, aku attend kursus MRCP (jadi observer jer..), dan lisa pulak ada study group. Try telefon dia pun tak dapat... mungkin sebab dah lewat kot masa tu. berdoa jerlaa, moga moga satu hari nanti the paths cross again.

Sebut pasal kursus MRCP yg aku attend baru ni.... fuuh... aku rasa banyak sungguh signs yg boleh tgk. Malah aku rasa berganda ganda banyaknya berbanding duduk kat ward selama ni. Ada sorang pakcik tu, ada kidney transplant. Sebelah sana ada polycystic kidney. Lepas tu ada scar kat abdomen utk peritoneal dialysis. Dan semestinya ada AV fistula kat tangan dia. And tak abis kat situ. Ada jugak hepatomegaly (cystic liver = cystic kidney). And ada scar pulak kat thyroid dia, sebab parathyroidectomy (utk secondary hyperparathyroidism utk chronic renal failur). fuh... itu baru sorang. Banyakkan semua sekali dalam masa 2 hari aku tgk dekat 30 patients. Kalau ada peluang lagi nak pegi, semestinya aku pergi. Tapi bilerlah lagi nak dapat peluang macam tu.

Pegi rumah zekri masa raya haji baru ni. dpaat jumpa dr Azli. Dia akan pegi UK utk jadi Consultant Neurologist kat satu hospital terkenal kat situ. Aku tgk kad dia pun (buat kat vista print - free) ada FRCP & FRCPI, lepas tu apa lagi ntah utk neurology. Member utk american neuro society gitu gitu laa. Kagum aku. Memang dia bagus pun. Sejak sekolah lagi. Org org macam ni ramai jugak, esp drp rcsi. Hizwani dan al-biruni. Dgr kabar, mereka sejak undergrad dah buat banyak research, hujung hujung minggu. Yg best tu, semua budak mrsm taiping. Hehehe... bangga sekejap, walaupun lagilah bangga kalau aku sendiri jadi macam tu. Tapi tak apa laa... setiap org ada dia punya keistimewaan. Bangga ada org Islam macam tu pun dah ok dah.

The last man to enter paradise (from hell)

2005-01-16T22:17:00.000Z

Sahih Bukhari
Volume 1, book 12, no 770

Narated By Abu Huraira : The people said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection?" He replied, "Do you have any doubt in seeing the full moon on a clear (not cloudy) night?" They replied, "No, O Allah's Apostle!" He said, "Do you have any doubt in seeing the sun when there are no clouds?" They replied in the negative. He said, "You will see Allah (your Lord) in the same way. On the Day of Resurrection, people will be gathered and He will order the people to follow what they used to worship. So some of them will follow the sun, some will follow the moon, and some will follow other deities; and only this nation (Muslims) will be left with its hypocrites. Allah will come to them and say, 'I am Your Lord.' They will say, 'We shall stay in this place till our Lord comes to us and when our Lord will come, we will recognize Him. Then Allah will come to them again and say, 'I am your Lord.' They will say, 'You are our Lord.' Allah will call them, and As-Sirat (a bridge) will be laid across Hell and I (Muhammad) shall be the first amongst the Apostles to cross it with my followers. Nobody except the Apostles will then be able to speak and they will be saying then, 'O Allah! Save us. O Allah Save us.'

There will be hooks like the thorns of Sa'dan in Hell. Have you seen the thorns of Sa'dan?" The people said, "Yes." He said, "These hooks will be like the thorns of Sa'dan but nobody except Allah knows their greatness in size and these will entangle the people according to their deeds; some of them will fall and stay in Hell forever; others will receive punishment (torn into small pieces) and will get out of Hell, till when Allah intends mercy on whomever He likes amongst the people of Hell, He will order the angels to take out of Hell those who worshipped none but Him alone. The angels will take them out by recognizing them from the traces of prostrations, for Allah has forbidden the (Hell) fire to eat away those traces. So they will come out of the Fire, it will eat away from the whole of the human body except the marks of the prostrations. At that time they will come out of the Fire as mere skeletons. The Water of Life will be poured on them and as a result they will grow like the seeds growing on the bank of flowing water. Then when Allah had finished from the Judgments amongst his creations, one man will be left between Hell and Paradise and he will be the last man from the people of Hell to enter paradise. He will be facing Hell, and will say, 'O Allah! Turn my face from the fire as its wind has dried me and its steam has burnt me.' Allah will ask him, "Will you ask for anything more in case this favor is granted to you?' He will say, "No by Your (Honor) Power!" And he will give to his Lord (Allah) what he will of the pledges and the covenants. Allah will then turn his face from the Fire. When he will face Paradise and will see its charm, he will remain quiet as long as Allah will. He then will say, 'O my Lord! Let me go to the gate of Paradise.' Allah will ask him, 'Didn't you give pledges and make covenants (to the effect) that you would not ask for anything more than what you requested at first?' He will say, 'O my Lord! Do not make me the most wretched, amongst Your creatures.' Allah will say, 'If this request is granted, will you then ask for anything else?' He will say, 'No! By Your Power! I shall not ask for anything else.' Then he will give to his Lord what He will of the pledges and the covenants. Allah will then let him go to the gate of Paradise. On reaching then and seeing its life, charm, and pleasure, he will remain quiet as long as Allah wills and then will say, 'O my Lord ! Let me enter Paradise.' Allah will say, May Allah be merciful unto you, O son of Adam! How treacherous you are! Haven't you made covenants and given pledges that you will not ask for anything more that what you have been given?' He will say, 'O my Lord! Do not make me the most wretched amongst Your creatures.' So Allah will laugh and allow him to enter Paradise and will ask him to request as much as he likes. He will do so till all his desires have been fulfilled. Then Allah will say, 'Request more of such and such things.' Allah will remind him and when all his desires and wishes; have been fulfilled, Allah will say "All this is granted to you and a similar amount besides." Abu Said Al-Khudri, said to Abu Huraira, 'Allah's Apostle said, "Allah said, 'That is for you and ten times more like it.' "Abu Huraira said, "I do not remember from Allah's Apostle except (his saying), 'All this is granted to you and a similar amount besides." Abu Sahd said, "I heard him saying, 'That is for you and ten times more the like of it."

History of Presenting Complaint

2005-01-14T01:27:00.000Z

Just want to remind my self what are things needed in history of presenting complaint:
1. Details of each symptom - SR COPD SARA
2. Risk factor for related disease (breast cancer, cvs)
3. Question about related systems
4. Question about probable complication
5. Question to differentiate differential diagnosis
6. Background history of related dzs

Social History
1. Smoking (pack years - 1 pack years mean smoked 20 cig/day for 1 year)
2. Alcohol (change into unit/week)
3. Housing (storey, stairs, bathroom)
4. Social support (living with, helping neighbours, home helpers, community nurse)
5. Mobility (using stick, wheelchair)
6. Self catering (dressing, bathing, shaving)
7. House job (cleaning, cooking)

I am currently doing my attachment in St James's Hospital, Dublin. Few people there were suprised that Galway asked its students to do attachment when there is only 3 months left before final exam. It is true!! Imagine myself coming back to Galway in March, and only have 1 month to adapt with the way of consultant overthere... hmmm. However, Galway still is producing high quality medical graduates among medical school in ireland (Dr Maeve Murphy, trinity MedEL lecturer, 7 January 2005- when i think about it again, she probably saying that just as a sign of good gesture).

Budi Mawardi's site

2005-01-13T01:12:00.000Z

Aku terjumpa website Budi, geng lama kat Taiping. Aku rasa dia baru buat kot website ni - sebab ada berita baru macam syahid kawin, azar dah jadi doktor, dan guessbook dia masih kosong lagi. Terjumpa pulak tu biler aku cari nama aku kat google "wan ahmad hafiz" - tup tup keluar website dia.
Gembira aku tgk gambar gambar lama kat taiping. Tanpa aku sedar, dah dekat 10 tahun aku tinggalkan taiping, dan sebenarnya banyak sungguh memori taiping aku. Mana tak nya, kawin dgn a lady yg jumpa masa kat taiping, kawan kawan medic sekitar ireland pun kebanyakan budak taiping. I didn't realize that just by looking at the pictures brings so much memories. Ingat lagi masa 1st day kat taiping, nervous sungguh, especially lepas perjumpaan dgn waden (cikgu saidi) malam tu. And the rest is history. Diari 1996. Tapi malam tu jugak, lepas sembang dgn kawan kawan sblh bilik, akhirnya masa tidur, tenang kembali aku. Roommate aku, Hareez Miszard, baik sangat dia ni, sangat pengemas orgnya (skrg dah kawin). last sekali aku jumpa dia masa pegi USM lepas aku kawin bebaru ni.

Stages of change

2005-01-12T22:47:00.000Z

When i was doing my GP attachment, there was one slot dedicated on how to help patients to change their behaviour, like smoking. I was really interested in its steps... and it can be used nearly to change everything (religion perhaps?).

In 1983, two researchers called Prochaska and DiClementi introduced the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change (TTM). The TTM very simply describes how people go about changing their health or lifestyle behaviours by defining five 'stages of change'. The TTM suggests that, for people to make positive change, they must go through a process of increasing their readiness to change. In other words, before a new behaviour or action can occur, the individual must have the right attitudes and beliefs to embrace it. Each of the five 'stages of change' depicts a distinct level of attitude and action for behaviour change.

Those steps are:
1. Pre-contemplation stage
2. Contemplation stage
3. Preparation stage
4. Action stage
5. Maintanance stage

In each of these steps, there are certain set of questions or issues that we need to address. For example, in introducing a religion of Islam to somebody:

1. Pre-contemplation stage:
That person doesn't even know what Islam is. All his view was similar with that portrayed by the media. So we ask him, "what do you know about Islam?" and let him do the talk. Well, worse come to worst, he will tell everything bad about Islam... and we'll say, "It can be that bad. In fact, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. There must be something good about it." At this pre-contemplation stage, it is important not to impose our view to the person. Let it be neutral for him.

2. Contemplation stage:
This is the stage where he has some interest/knowledge about Islam, but not yet convince of its perfection. Probably this stage will take a long time before moving to the next stage: preparation. The discussion must go on regarding Islam. The objective is to make him think (once in a while) that probably, Islam IS the true religion after all.

3. Preparation stage:
This is the stage where we make the call to embrace Islam to the person. If the person agrees, then the preparation to become a muslim need to be done, such as learning how to pray, meeting other new muslims etc. A date need to be chosen for a complete change, a revert muslim.

4. Action stage:
The time when the person embrace Islam.

5. Maintanance stage:
This stage is very important, if not the most important. People usually leave this step, thinking that everything is ok after the action stage. In this maintanance stage, it is important to continue discussion on Islam, especially questions that comes to the person's mind. Any doubts need to be addressed... and answered. His current condition need to be checked, and all the helps should be given.

Of course, this is just my tiny little idea, adjusted to suit the transtheoretical model of behaviour change (TTM), which is definitely not prefect. Verily, we need His help, but not otherwise.

Love & Hate

2005-01-12T01:22:00.000Z

Extracted & edited from:
Love & Hate For The Sake of Allah, by Shaikh Saleem Al-Hilaalee.
Translated by Abu Talhah Daawood ibn Ronald Burbank. 1995 (Birmingham, UK)

It is easy to love for the sake of Allah, we love good things... that would be for the sake of Allah. We love our family, our friends... those are for the sake of Allah. But how about hating something for the sake of Allah? Islam is a religion of peace, how come it teaches muslims to hate somebody? And more important, how to hate for the sake of Allah? It is to hate something that Allah hates, and love something that Allah loves, those actions would be for the sake of Allah.
Reported by Ahmad (Hasan due to supproting narrations), from Al-Baraa ibn Aazib, Rasulullah said:Indeed the firmest handhold from Iman is that you love for Allah and hate for Allah.

FRIENDS AND FOES
Al-Anfal, 62-64: And if they intend to deceive you, then verily Allah is All-Suffeicient for you. He it is who has supported you with His help and with the believers. And He has united their (the believers' heart) hearts. If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts, but Allah has united them. Certainly He is All-Mighty, All-Wise. O Prophet (Muhammad) Allah is sufficient for you and for the believers who follow you.
Al-Imran, 103: And hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves, and remeber Allah's favour upon you, for you were enemies one to another, but He joined you hearts togetehr, so that, by His Grace, you become brothers, and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Signs clear to you, that you may be saved.
Al-Zukhruf, 67: Friends that Day will be foes one to another except the pious who fear Allah (Al-Muttaqoon).
Al-Furqan, 27-29: And (remember) the day when the wrongdoer will bite his hands, he will say: Oh! Would that I had taken a path with the Messenger (Muhhamad). Ah! Woe to me! Would that I had never taken so-and-so as a friend! He indeed led me astray from the Reminder (the Quran) after it had come to me. And Syaitan is ever a deserter to main in the hour of need.

WAYS TO STRENGTHEN ONE'S LOVE FOR ALLAH'S SAKE
1. Informing the one whom you love that you love him for Allah's sake
Reported by Al-Bukhari, Abu Dawood & Al-Tirmizi, from Al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dee Karib, Rasulullah said:If one of you loves his brother then let him tell him that he loves him.
Reported by Al-Bukhari, Rasulullah said:If one of you loves his brother for Allah's sake, then let him tell him since it causes familiarity to endure and firmly established love.
And his brother should reply: May the one for whose sake you have loved me, love you - based on a hadis reported by Abu Dawood, Ahmad & Al-Hakim (sahih):Anad ibn Malik said: A man passed by the prophet who was in the company of some people, so a man from those with him said, " Indeed I love that person for Allah's sake."So the Prophet said, "Have you infromed him?"He said, "No."Rasulullah said, "Go to him and inform him."So he went to him and informed him, so he replied, "May the One for whose sake you have loved me, love you."Then he returned nad the Prophet asked him and he told him what he had said. So the Prophet said, "You will be with the one whom you have loved and there will be for you the reward that you hoped for."
2. Spreading the greeting of Salaam
Reported by Muslim, from Abu Hurairah, Rasulullah said:You will not enter Paradise until you believe (have Iman), and you will not believe (have Iman) until you love one another. Shall I not guide you to something which you carry out you will love one another. Spread Al-Salam amongst yourselves.
3. Giving Gifts
Reported by Al-Bukhari & Al-Baihaqi, Rasulullah said:Give gifts and you will love one another.
4. Visiting
Reported by Al-Bazaar (sahih by Albani), Rasulullah said:Visit now and again - your love will increase.
5. Moderation in Love & Hatred
Reported by Al-Tirmizi (Sahih by Albani), Rasulullah said:Love the one whom you love in the moderation, perhaps one day he will be one whom you hate, and hate the one whom you hate in moderation perhaps one day he will be one whom you love.
6. Persisting in obidience and in desisting form sin
Surah Maryam, 96: Verily, those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, the Most Beneficient (Allah) will bestow love for them (in the hearts of the Believers).
7. Love his brother as he loves a good for himself
Reported by Bukhari & Muslim, & part in bracket reported by Abu Awaanah & Ahmad, from Anas ibn Malik, Rasulullah said:None of you will truly believe untiol he loves for his brother (the good) that he loves for himself.

My 1st ever family picture

2005-01-12T01:07:00.000Z

First ever gambar family yg lengkap sejak aku kawin hari tu. Yelah, bukan senang nak kumpulkan semua family satu tempat. Aku laa kot yg paling susah sebab summer jer balik malaysia. Itupun kekadang kat kt, kadang kat kl. Nahar kat johor, dan asyraf kat kmb. Bukan senang oo. Dah sedap ada gambar family yg lengkap, tetiba datang pula seorang lagi. Takperlaa, at least Afiq ada dalam gambar, cuma tak nampak muka...

Afiq/ah Ahmad

2005-01-12T01:00:00.000Z

Probably this is a little bit late to announce, but i have a new nephew (susah sungguh nak cari anak saudara lelaki dalam english... terpaksa surf internet pulak tu. Thanks to this site!). They said his face looks like me.... hhmmm wonder do i look that cute though! Anyway congratulations to my sister and abg mat. Afiq (named by my cousin, Shakir) is his name.... Ahmad Afiq Najmi bin Ahmad to be exact. Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat ke atasnya, dan semoga jadilah dia org yg berani menegakkan agama Allah satu hari nanti (di sebalik demam akademi fantasia 2 masa dia dalam kandungan)

Tribute to the death

2005-01-11T01:25:00.000Z

Kita semua akan meninggal dunia satu hari nanti. Dan amalan yang kita lakukan di dunia akan dinilai nanti. Mereka yang dah meninggal, maka tamatlah amalan mereka (kecuali beberapa bende). Namun yang aku nak sebut kat sini adalah, apa yang kita boleh buat sbg org yang masih hidup utk bantu rakan atau saudara mara kita yang dah meninggal.
Allah says in the Quran: " Everyone shall taste death. And only on the day of resurrection shall you be paid your wages in full. And whoever is removed away from the fire and admitted to paradise, this person is indeed successful. The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception:" (Quran 3:185)
Semalam (Ahad, 11 Mei 2003), aku call Malaysia sebagaimana minggu-minggu biasa, namun Nahar bagitau pasal berita kematian Azman Arief Abdul Manan, yang telah meninggal dunia pada hari raya ke-3 tahun lepas (2002). Aku baru tahu sebab dia baru teringat. Maka, apabila kita ditimpa musibah atau mendengar berita kematian, maka kita menyebut Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raaji'uun (Sesungguhnya drp Allah kita datang dan kepada-Nya kita kembali).
Tirmizhi reports from Abu Musa al-Ash'ari that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "When a child of a servant of Allah passes away, Allah says to the angels: 'Did you take the soul of My servant's child?' They say: 'Yes.' He, the Almighty, says: 'Did you take away the apple of my servant's eye?' They say: 'Yes.' He, the Almighty says: 'What did My servant say at this?' They say: 'He praised You and said: "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'a un (Verily we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return)." At this Allah says: ' Build for My servant a mansion in Paradise and call it the House of Praise (bayt al-hamd)'." Tirmizhi says this is a sound hadith.
Aku dah hadapi beberapa kematian org terdekat. First sekali, Ayah Su (bapa saudara) masa aku cuti matriculation atau cuti spm. Lepas tu Ayah Wa (bapa saudara) aku rasa 2 tahun lepas kot (2001). Tahun lepas (2002), nenek aku meninggal dunia. Aku rasa antara ramai ramai sedara mara yang meninggal, kematian nenek aku yang paling sedih sebab antara yang meninggal tu, dialah yang paling rapat. Bali (saudara) kat Duyong pun meninggal jugak dalam lingkungan aku bertunang. Selain saudara mara, ada 2 org rakan aku yang dah meninggal setakat ni (Mei 2003). Pertama, Nazri... kenalan masa kat SS, dia kelas sebelah. Dan seorang lagi, Azman Arief yang baru aku tahu berita semalam.
Semoga mereka semua mendapat balasan Syurga drp Allah swt, Insya-Allah mereka meninggal dalam keadaan beriman kpd Allah... tak kiralah dosa dosa yang mungkin mereka dah lakukan. Yelah, kita manusia... selalu lakukan dosa. Namun Allah maha pengampun.
Hadis Abu Zar r.a:Nabi s.a.w bersabda: Jibril a.s. telah datang berjumpa aku lalu memberitahu berita gembira, iaitu sesiapa yang mati di kalangan umatku dalam keadaan tidak mensyirikkan Allah dengan sesuatu, nescaya dia akan dimasukkan ke dalam Syurga. Aku bertanya: Walaupun dia berzina dan mencuri? Rasulullah bersabda: Walaupun dia berzina dan mencuri. (Sahih Muslim: 137)
Di Malaysia, kalau ada org meninggal, maka kita akan mensedekahkan Al-Fatihah kpd yang meninggal. Aku tak pasti sama ada amalan ni mengikut amalan Rasulullah ataupun tidak, jadi aku rasa lebih baik aku berdiam diri, tak komen pasal bende ni sehingga ada aku jumpa bukti yang mengiakan atau yang menidakkan. Namun, yang pasti, apabila seorang Islam tu meninggal, maka 3 bende yang masih lagi boleh membantu mereka, sebagaimana hadis berikut:
Abu Hurairah reported, "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, 'When a person dies all his good deeds cease except for three: a continuous act of charity, beneficial knowledge, and a righteous son who prays for him'.'' (Muslim, and the Sunan)
Act of charity (sedekah), itu bergantung pada empunya diri. Kalau dia bersedekah masa hidup di dunia, maka berbahagialah dia. Sebab tulaa, sbg org yang masih hidup, kita perlu banyakkan sedekah... esp kpd bende yang tahan lama dan digunakan ramai... spt masjid Galway yang baru nak bina, tgh cari fund. Aku rasa elok tu kalau boleh derma.
Tentang beneficial knowledge (ilmu), aku teringat berbincang dgn Yurzi, kepentingan melibatkan diri dgn aktiviti yang bersifat agama atau yang memberi manfaat pada masyarakat. Let say kita tulis pasal satu ilmu yang benar dan baik, kalau 100 org baca.. takkanlaa 10 org tak leh ambik pengajaran. Dan dalam 10 org tu, takkanlah sorang pun tak amalkan. (namun semestinya tak mustahil kalau Allah dah tetapkan begitu). Maka ilmu yang kita sampaikan tu dan tentulah menolong kita masa kita meninggal nanti.
Aku harap, mereka yang dah meninggal tu mendapat juga kesan sampingan hasil apa apa amalan baik yang aku lakukan. Yelaa... krn indirectly, aku jadi apa yang aku jadi skrg, kerana bergaul dgn mereka semua. Maka mana yang baik, mungkin sebab pengaruh mereka. mana yang aku buat buruk tu... itu kelemahan aku sendiri. Mana sifat atau pengalaman buruk kita dgn mereka, maka eloklah kita simpan, tidak dedahkan, sebagaimana hadis Rasulullah:
Bukhari's report from 'Aishah that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Do not speak ill of the dead; they have seen the result of (the deeds) that they forwarded before them."
(A) Azman Arief merupakan rakan yang boleh aku kongsi cerita suka dan duka, rakan yang baik sekali. Aku selalu kalau sekolah rendah dulu nak 'memasukkan' diri aku dlaam group dia. Dia suka main bola, so aku selalu main bola petang petang. JAdilah aku skrg, seorang yang suka main bola. Semoga tiap kali aku main bola dgn niat krn Allah.. nak sihatkan badan dsbgnya, maka dia juga dapat amalan kebaikan tersebut. Dia jugak seorang leader yang aku hormati... spt masa pengakap sekolah rendah. Semangat kekawanan dia tu masih aku ingat sampai skrg. Semoga dia ditempatkan Allah ke dalam golongan ahli Syurga eventually. (A) Ayah Su, aku masih ingat kalau aku kecik dulu, aku ada kawan... Mat Sura (Khairuddin). Mungkin sebab perangai dia yang nakal masa tu (sekarang ni dah alim), maka adalaa org tak suka dia. Namun dalam suasana macam tu... Ayah Su selalu ajak dia datang rumah kitorang, suruh dia beli makanan dan sbgnya... begitu baik sekali layanan Ayah Su kpdnya. Maka itu mengajar aku bahawa tak perlu kita dgr cakap org keliling kita terlalu mudah. Kalau kita yakin apa yang kita buat betul... maka teruskanlah.
Anak yang soleh: mungkin kalau dalam mereka yang dah meninggal... nenek aku jer laa kot yang apply dalam hal ni, itupun kalau cucu dikira jugak. Itulah pentingnya anak anak berkelakuan baik dan sentiasa mendoakan kesejahteraan ibu bapa mereka.. krn pasti Allah akan menolong ibu bapa mereka dgn doa dan amalan mereka.
Aku mengajak mereka yng membaca artikel ni, marilah kita sama sama selalu doakan kesejahteraan mereka yang dah meninggal, ingat kembali pengalaman manis dan pengajaran yang mereka dah bagi kat kita. Mana yang buruk, kita keep aside.. cuma ingat yang baik baik sahaja, eloklah juga kita persiapkan diri kita dgn amal sedekah, ilmu yang kita bagi kat org lain... serta kalau kita sempat ada anak, maka didiklah anak kita tu agar jadi anak yang soleh.
Hadis Anas bin Malik katanya:Ketika satu jenazah diiringi, orang ramai memuji jenazah tersebut sebagai orang baik iaitu semasa hidupnya, maka Nabi s.a.w pun bersabda mengenainya: Wajib, wajib, wajib. Lalu datang pula iringan jenazah yang kedua, orang ramai mengutuk mengenai jenazah tersebut sebagai orang yang jahat semasa hidupnya. Nabi s.a.w pun bersabda: Wajib, wajib, wajib. Umar berkata: Menjadi penebusmu, ayah dan ibuku! Ketika jenazah pertama diiringi, orang ramai memujinya sebagai orang baik, lalu kamu berkata: Wajib, wajib, wajib. Kemudian ketika jenazah kedua diiringi, orang ramai mengutuknya sebagai orang yang jahat, kamu juga berkata: Wajib, wajib, wajib. Apa ertinya? Lalu Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda: Orang yang kamu puji sebagai orang baik, maka diwajibkan kepadanya Syurga. Sedangkan orang yang kamu katakan sebagai orang yang jahat, maka diwajibkan kepadanya Neraka. Kamu sekalian adalah saksi Allah di muka bumi. Kamu sekalian adalah saksi Allah di muka bumi. Kamu sekalian adalah saksi Allah di muka bumi. (Sahih Muslim: 1578)

Salam Iftitah

2005-01-10T23:53:00.000Z

Finally my own version of blog is up and running. After seeing other people's blog (thanks to Shaiq Aiman for his interesting blog), my wife kept giving me hint to create my own blog.And here i am now, and she doesn't even know that i am doing this.
Blog ni macam diari, cuma unlike diari, kita berharap sgt yg akan ada org sudi baca catatan/luahan kita. Dan cara utk kita tahu plg mudah, biler org tu tulis komen or maybe at least take something good out of it. Teringat masa masa tulis diari dulu, from 4 & 5... those finest years of mine. lelaki tulis diari? lembik....? ikutlah. As for me, peluang utk ingat balik apa terjadi hari tu dan ambil pengajaran... fuuhhh, reading those entries back make me smile... and laugh... dan sayu pun ada. it was like writing my dreams. biler baca balik, memang boleh ingat apa jadi dalam mimpi tu... vaguely. sayangnya, tak kekal lama. Mana nak larat... 1 minggu jer dah penuh beberapa helai kertas A4. Biler kekadang terjadi 'deja vu', barulah berharap yg aku teruskan tulis mimpi tu. Perhaps then, i might have proof yg deja vu boleh terjadi kerana mimpi... no just because there's some weird stuff happens in your temporal area of the brain.
i have a website, which has long being deserted due to tremendous pressure of studying. Dah buat version Arrpeace 2.0, however still tak siap siap lagi copy and paste walaupun senang. Yelah, dah ubah wajah, kenalah ubah isi sikit sikit. And aku rasa blog lebih sesuai (kot), sebab i can say whatever in my mind right now, and in the mean time, boleh masukkan artikel yg difikirkan sesuai. part yg aku paling suka dalam website tu ialah: View guestbook. Obvious kan sebabnya.... Hopefully, one day aku boleh teruskan website aku tu dan guna nama www.arrpeace.com. Check it out, probably next year?