Sunday 20 September 2009

عيد سعيد .. وكل عام وأنتم بخير

I wish a Happy Eid Al Fitr to all who will be celebrating it this weekend or Monday. may our deeds be accepted and we will be the people who really fear Allah as He is to be feared.

Eid Al Fitr is a day of joy and thanksgiving. On this day, Muslims show their joy for the health, strength and opportunities of life, which Allah has given them to fulfill their obligations of fasting and other good deeds during the month of Ramadan. It is considered unholy to fast on this day. It is also a day of forgetting old grudges and ill feelings towards other fellow men. It was during this month that the holy Quran was revealed. Eid means recurring happiness or festivity.The celebration at the end of Ramadan, 'Eid-ul-Fitr or al-Fitr (the Festival of Fast-Breaking) is a joyous occasion, similar to Christmas in its celebration with strong religious significance. The giving of a special charity for this occasion is obligatory. Muslims dress in holiday attire, attend a special community prayer in the morning, and visit friends and relatives.

This article is something to ponder about..click here

Monday 14 September 2009

Ramadhan Kareem

Salam everyone and may you all have a great Ramadhan this year and may Allah accept our deeds and please with us for we can be in the paradise forever and never had to experience any torture in our grave nor in the hell...That's our ultimate goal which can be achieved by many means specifically designed individually for us to make use of...for example, there are people with extra energy to perform prayer but cannot stand fasting, so they can use it towards their advantage, people with lots of money can always give the money to charity and people with a genius IQ can always share their knowledge, there's always something to make use of our gift to please our creator, even for people that we think had nothing special can offer something to be rewarded in the hereafter....just try to be patience and live our life as a humble servant of God.
I'm very sorry for not updating my blog for quite some time because of a few unavoidable reasons...but now here I am, back again and ready to work..

Checklist - the last ten nights and days of Ramadhan

In this blessed month of Ramadan, we have now come to the grand finale – the last ten days of Ramadan that are even more blessed than the rest of Ramadan. In it is a night that Quran tells us is better than 1000 months (yes, months – not days).

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

There has come to you Ramadan, a blessed month which Allah has enjoined you to fast, during which the gates of heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed, and the rebellious devils are chained up. In it there is a night which is better than a thousand months, and whoever is deprived of its goodness is indeed deprived.” Narrated by al-Nasa’i, 2106; Ahmad, 8769. classed as saheeh by al-Albani in Saheeh al-Targheeb, 999.

So, in preparation for the grand finale, here is a checklist of some of the things that we can all do to make the remaining days of Ramadan work to our advantage –

1) Get in high gear for the next 10 nights and days –

Time is of the essence. Every moment counts. Whatever you need to do for the next ten days to make the most in Ibada, good deeds, reciting Quran, dhikr, making dua, etc., rewards are going to be multiplied. No one knew about the importance of these days more than the prophet (saws). Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated from ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that when the last ten days of Ramadan began, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would stay up at night, wake his family and tie his lower garment tight. According to Ahmad and Muslim: he would strive hard in worship during the last ten nights of Ramadan as he did not do at other times.

Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah said “When Ramadan would come, the Messenger of Allah would say,

Verily, the month of Ramadan has come to you all. It is a blessed month, which Allah has obligated you all to fast. During it the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are shackled. In it there is a night that is better than one thousand months. Whoever is deprived of its good, then he has truly been deprived.)” An-Nasa’i recorded this same Hadith.

If we lose this opportunity, we get our next opportunity next year – assuming we are still around and are in good health and shape to make use of it. Even if we are – we have the past years’ sins on our shoulders and life’s normal trials and tribulations to face the coming year. So, there is no better time to ask Allah to make all that easier than NOW.

2) Get a Quran and recite as often as you can –

A few lines on this post can’t even come close to explaining the benefits and virtues of Quran. It is proven in the saheeh Sunnah that the Quran will intercede for those who read it at night, as Ahmad (6626) narrated from ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Amr that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

Fasting and the Quran will intercede for a person on the Day of Resurrection. Fasting will say, ‘O Lord, I deprived him of his food and his desires during the day, so let me intercede for him.’ And the Quran will say: ‘I deprived him of his sleep at night so let me intercede for him.’ Then they will intercede.” Narrated by Ahmad; classed as saheeh by al-Albani in Saheeh al-Jami’, no. 3882.

Narrated Abu Musa: The Prophet said,

The example of a believer who recites the Qur’an is that of a citron (a citrus fruit) which is good in taste and good in smell. And the believer who does not recite the quran is like a date which has a good taste but no smell. And the example of an impious person who recites the Qur’an is that of Ar-Rihana (an aromatic plant) which smells good but is bitter in taste. And the example of an impious person who does not recite the quran is that of a colocynth which is bitter in taste and has no smell.” (Book #93, Hadith # 649)

As is stated in the hadeeth narrated by ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas (may Allah be pleased with them both), in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

Whoever recites ten aayaat (verses) in qiyaam will not be recorded as one of the forgetful. Whoever recites a hundred aayaat (verses) in qiyaam will be recorded as one of the devout, and whoever prays a thousand aayaat (verses) in qiyaam will be recorded as one of the muqantareen (those who pile up good deeds).” (Reported by Abu Dawood and Ibn Hibbaan. It is a hasan report. Saheeh al-Targheeb, 635).

3) If your sins are holding you to move forward, this is the time to get them forgiven –

First the bad news – In Musnad Ahmad it is narrated that Thawbaan said: The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) said:

A man is deprived of provision (Rizq) because of the sins that he commits.’” (Narrated by Ibn Maajah, 4022, classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah).

And now for the good news –

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

Whoever spends the night of Laylat al-Qadr in prayer out of faith and in the hope of reward, will be forgiven his previous sins.”

4) What to say on Laylat al-Qadr –

One of the best dua’s that can be recited on Laylat al-Qadr is that which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) taught ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her). It was narrated by al-Tirmidhi, who classed it as saheeh, that ‘A’ishah said: I said: “O Messenger of Allah, If I know which night is Laylat al-Qadr, what should I say?” He said: “Say: Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun tuhibb al-‘afwa fa’fu ‘anni (O Allah, You are All-Forgiving and You love forgiveness so forgive me).”

5) Get in the class of the Pious People –

Allah has described the pious as follows (interpretation of the meaning):

They used to sleep but little by night (invoking their Lord (Allah) and praying, with fear and hope). [Quran: Surah Adh-Dhariyat (17)]

And in the hours before dawn, they were (found) asking (Allah) for forgiveness, [Quran: Surah Adh-Dhariyat (18)]

6) Finally……

Think of all that you need to ask Allah for and ask Him now. If you haven’t before, this is the time to connect with Him and feel closer to Him. And when you do during these last ten nights and days of this Ramadan, you would want to do this again and again – even after the month is over.

And finally, when you are in a state of prayers and worship, please open your heart for others as well and please do remember your brothers and sisters in your prayers. Remember what the Prophet said:

“The supplication that gets the quickest answer is the one made by one Muslim for another in his absence.” Reported by Abu Daw’ud and Tirmidhi

May we all make the most of the last ten nights and days of Ramadan…

Monday 6 July 2009

The best living example of mankind

Most of us already knew that there is no other God worthy to be worshiped than Allah and Muhammad peace be upon him is His messenger. But do we really mean what we testify or we just say it because our parents made us to, and that our grandparents also did as their forefathers did for a long time? Why don't we check and figure it out ourself? Learn the proofs and evidences which we can see and do our own research based on the true sources. Learn our history, study the life of our prophet, question everything and ask for Allah's guidance. Let the truth be said and justice prevail.

Friday 26 June 2009

Where are we in this course?

yesterday Michael Jackson passed away and shocked millions of his fans, they all said pretty much the same thing that we had lost a genius performer the world have ever seen. If it is true that Michael's last religion is Islam and he died as a Muslim, I pray for him and may Allah have mercy on his soul. People die each and everyday whether they are ready or not, infant or toddler, teenager or adult, we cannot escape death. The problem is, are we 100% sure what's going to happen at the day we're going to die? how and when is it going to happen are in the hands of Allah.
I am amazed by the efforts done by the converted Muslim in the western secular country rather than a Muslim born in a Muslim country. It's time for us to take action, not taking for granted that being a Muslim in a Muslim country is enough. We are made into our comfort zones so that we fall asleep. I cannot do this on my own, so let's pull ourselves together and make a change starting from ourselves, our families, neighbors, friends and community. A small effort to awaken Muslim community will soon end up a Muslim country, and these Muslim countries will end up a Muslim world. How nice! but I know it's hard to do it, because if it's easy it has been done long time ago. There will always be resistance to the truth.

Thursday 25 June 2009

the urgency of now

If you have the time, please view these videos from the very beginning until the last episode. Do watch them at least once and try to be as open minded and not biased to any ideology from any human's school of thoughts.

These videos talk about One God - One Message.
This series will present divine proof from our creator, it will uncover shocking truths, as well as attempt to provide light, wisdom, guidance, and unity for those who seek it. Hope you enjoy "The Divine Book". I've embedded the related videos so you can simply click the second, third until the tenth episode in this same window. Try viewing in order and not to mix up with other episodes so you will have the total understanding of what the story is all about.


Another series will Explore the Revelations in World Religions Regarding the Arrivals of the Antichrist Dajjal, Imam Al-Mahdi, and The Second Coming of The Christ.
A Work Inspired by Hashemsfilms and of Course the Words of the Noble Qoran, The Holy Bible, and The Torah, The Arrivals is a Joint Production by truthseekers Noreagaaa and Achernahr.

"THE ARRIVALS" IS ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING, WONDERFUL, AMAZING, GRIPPING AND ABOVE ALL OTHER DESCRIPTIVE WORDS I COULD LAY DOWN: IT IS *T*R*U*T*H*!"Quoted from user (78sEVEn78)
"Your documentary is one of the most fascinating, revealing, thought provoking,spiritual & informative piece's of work I have ever seen...on it's way to becoming a MASTERPIECE!!!!!two thumbs up & 5 STARS!! BRAVO!!!
Thanks."quoted from Livingvibe

Some of the episodes were being muted by youtube because of its so-called copyright violation, you can view them directly at www.WakeUpProject.com, there have been increasing efforts to censor these series, so you may as well view them from other websites. If you have the chance to download the series without any problem, please try and show them to your families and friends. It's quite lengthy but worthwhile the time.

Monday 22 June 2009

How I wish such peace can really come true

'There is no compulsion in religion' meaning the Muslim are not to use any force to make anyone to enter Islam, which in the case of 'Murtad' and 'Munafiq' are completely different. These two types of Muslim have to be warned, fought or taken into action if they are to be detected in early stages. Those who are not a Muslim will never be forced to enter Islam if they didn't wish to as 'Hidayah' is only given by Allah and only Him. No one can simply give anyone such a thing so they can embrace Islam wholeheartedly, meaning it is not our job to ensure people enter Islam but our job is to tell people about the true teachings in our religion and it's up to Allah to pick and choose anyone He wants to give the 'Hidayah' like the one we had in order to be a Muslim.
Allah said in the Quran that the Jews and Christians will never be satisfied with the Muslim so long that we are not living the way as how they wanted to. And Allah also said, in Surah Kafirun, verse 1-6; Say(O Muhammad) to the disbelievers in Allah, I worship not that which you worship. Nor will you worship that which I worship. And I shall not worship that which you are worshiping. Nor will you worship that which I worship. To you be your religion and to me my religion (Islamic Monotheism).
Let there be any hidden agenda in the world but this speech was to me very relieving if and only if all parties accepted to live in a better world. Let's work out our common ground and respect our differences. I'm afraid if we are matured enough to think and do some research with our open minds and hearts, our common ground will be an Islamic world. This is the only thing which had and will make us divided until the end of time. The fear of not continuing the religion of their forefathers even though they knew it was not the truth. Life is too short for us to keep on doing wrong things. If Jews and Christians believed in Zabur, Torah and Bible, believed in Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Jesus and other prophets' and what they were teaching, why can't they believe in Muhammad peace be upon him as the final messenger of God in this world? and to the Quran he was given to from Gabriel, the same angel that brought down the other Holy Books? If the Muslim were to believe in the Torah and Bible as the same story with detailed version was told in the Quran, why don't they believe in it as well? In the Isra and Mikraj event, it is clearly stated that Moses, Jesus and Muhammad were praying together as Muhammad be the 'imam', as an indication for us that Jews and Christians were meant to follow Islam as the completed version of the same religion. Whether they like it or not, we are worshiping the same God, the one God who created this universe and put Adam and Eve and their whole generations in this world to test us whether we're worthy enough to be placed back in the heaven for eternity. Islam means peace!

Thursday 18 June 2009

It's time to wake up!

America as the last man standing


'In a generation or two, the US will ask itself: who lost Europe?'
Here is the speech of Geert Wilders, Chairman, Party for Freedom, the Netherlands, at the Four Seasons, New York, introducing an Alliance of Patriots and announcing the Facing Jihad Conference in Jerusalem.

The speech was sponsored by the Hudson Institute on September 25.

Dear friends,
Thank you very much for inviting me.
I come to America with a mission. All is not well in the old world. There is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic. We might be in the final stages of the Islamization of Europe. This not only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a threat to America and the sheer survival of the West. The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe.
First I will describe the situation on the ground in Europe. Then, I will say a few things about Islam. To close I will tell you about a meeting in Jerusalem.
The Europe you know is changing. You have probably seen the landmarks. But in all of these cities, sometimes a few blocks away from your tourist destination, there is another world. It is the world of the parallel society created by Muslim mass-migration. All throughout Europe a new reality is rising: entire Muslim neighborhoods where very few indigenous people reside or are even seen. And if they are, they might regret it. This goes for the police as well. It's the world of head scarves, where women walk around in figureless tents, with baby strollers and a group of children. Their husbands, or slaveholders if you prefer, walk three steps ahead. With mosques on many street corners. The shops have signs you and I cannot read. You will be hard-pressed to find any economic activity. These are Muslim ghettos controlled by religious fanatics. These are Muslim neighborhoods, and they are mushrooming in every city across Europe. These are the building-blocks for territorial control of increasingly larger portions of Europe, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city.
There are now thousands of mosques throughout Europe. With larger congregations than there are in churches. And in every European city there are plans to build super-mosques that will dwarf every church in the region. Clearly, the signal is: we rule.
Many European cities are already one-quarter Muslim: just take Amsterdam, Marseille and Malmo in Sweden. In many cities the majority of the under-18 population is Muslim. Paris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighborhoods. Mohammed is the most popular name among boys in many cities. In some elementary schools in Amsterdam the farm can no longer be mentioned, because that would also mean mentioning the pig, and that would be an insult to Muslims. Many state schools in Belgium and Denmark only serve halal food to all pupils. In once-tolerant Amsterdam gays are beaten up almost exclusively by Muslims. Non-Muslim women routinely hear 'whore, whore'. Satellite dishes are not pointed to local TV stations, but to stations in the country of origin. In France school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims, including Voltaire and Diderot; the same is increasingly true of Darwin. The history of the Holocaust can no longer be taught because of Muslim sensitivity. In England sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system.. Many neighborhoods in France are no-go areas for women without head scarves. Last week a man almost died after being beaten up by Muslims in Brussels, because he was drinking during the Ramadan. Jews are fleeing France in record numbers, on the run for the worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II. French is now commonly spoken on the streets of Tel Aviv and Netanya, Israel. I could go on forever with stories like this. Stories about Islamization.
A total of fifty-four million Muslims now live in Europe. San Diego University recently calculated that a staggering 25 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim just 12 years from now. Bernhard Lewis has predicted a Muslim majority by the end of this century.
Now these are just numbers. And the numbers would not be threatening if the Muslim-immigrants had a strong desire to assimilate. But there are few signs of that. The Pew Research Center reported that half of French Muslims see their loyalty to Islam as greater than their loyalty to France. One-third of French Muslims do not object to suicide attacks. The British Centre for Social Cohesion reported that one-third of British Muslim students are in favor of a worldwide caliphate. Muslims demand what they call 'respect'. And this is how we give them respect. We have Muslim official state holidays.
The Christian-Democrati c attorney general is willing to accept sharia in the Netherlands if there is a Muslim majority. We have cabinet members with passports from Morocco and Turkey.
Muslim demands are supported by unlawful behavior, ranging from petty crimes and random violence, for example against ambulance workers and bus drivers, to small-scale riots. Paris has seen its uprising in the low-income suburbs, the banlieus. I call the perpetrators 'settlers'. Because that is what they are. They do not come to integrate into our societies, they come to integrate our society into their Dar-al-Islam. Therefore, they are settlers.
Much of this street violence I mentioned is directed exclusively against non-Muslims, forcing many native people to leave their neighborhoods, their cities, their countries. Moreover, Muslims are now a swing vote not to be ignored.
The second thing you need to know is the importance of Mohammed the prophet. His behavior is an example to all Muslims and cannot be criticized. Now, if Mohammed had been a man of peace, let us say like Ghandi and Mother Theresa wrapped in one, there would be no problem. But Mohammed was a warlord, a mass murderer, a pedophile, and had several marriages - at the same time. Islamic tradition tells us how he fought in battles, how he had his enemies murdered and even had prisoners of war executed. Mohammed himself slaughtered the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza. If it is good for Islam, it is good. If it is bad for Islam, it is bad.
Let no one fool you about Islam being a religion. Sure, it has a god, and a here-after, and 72 virgins. But in its essence Islam is a political ideology. It is a system that lays down detailed rules for society and the life of every person. Islam wants to dictate every aspect of life. Islam means 'submission' . Islam is not compatible with freedom and democracy, because what it strives for is sharia. If you want to compare Islam to anything, compare it to communism or national-socialism, these are all totalitarian ideologies.
Now you know why Winston Churchill called Islam 'the most retrograde force in the world', and why he compared Mein Kampf to the Quran. The public has wholeheartedly accepted the Palestinian narrative, and sees Israel as the aggressor. I have lived in this country and visited it dozens of times. I support Israel. First, because it is the Jewish homeland after two thousand years of exile up to and including Auschwitz, second because it is a democracy, and third because Israel is our first line of defense.
This tiny country is situated on the fault line of jihad, frustrating Islam's territorial advance. Israel is facing the front lines of jihad, like Kashmir, Kosovo, the Philippines, Southern Thailand, Darfur in Sudan, Lebanon, and Aceh in Indonesia. Israel is simply in the way. The same way West-Berlin was during the Cold War.
The war against Israel is not a war against Israel. It is a war against the West. It is jihad. Israel is simply receiving the blows that are meant for all of us. If there would have been no Israel, Islamic imperialism would have found other venues to release its energy and its desire for conquest. Thanks to Israeli parents who send their children to the army and lay awake at night, parents in Europe and America can sleep well and dream, unaware of the dangers looming.
Many in Europe argue in favor of abandoning Israel in order to address the grievances of our Muslim minorities. But if Israel were, God forbid, to go down, it would not bring any solace to the West. It would not mean our Muslim minorities would all of a sudden change their behavior, and accept our values. On the contrary, the end of Israel would give enormous encouragement to the forces of Islam. They would, and rightly so, see the demise of Israel as proof that the West is weak, and doomed. The end of Israel would not mean the end of our problems with Islam, but only the beginning. It would mean the start of the final battle for world domination. If they can get Israel, they can get everything. So-called journalists volunteer to label any and all critics of Islamization as a 'right-wing extremists' or 'racists'. In my country, the Netherlands, 60 percent of the population now sees the mass immigration of Muslims as the number one policy mistake since World War II. And another 60 percent sees Islam as the biggest threat. Yet there is a danger greater danger than terrorist attacks, the scenario of America as the last man standing. The lights may go out in Europe faster than you can imagine. An Islamic Europe means a Europe without freedom and democracy, an economic wasteland, an intellectual nightmare, and a loss of military might for America - as its allies will turn into enemies, enemies with atomic bombs. With an Islamic Europe, it would be up to America alone to preserve the heritage of Rome, Athens and Jerusalem.
Dear friends, liberty is the most precious of gifts. My generation never had to fight for this freedom, it was offered to us on a silver platter, by people who fought for it with their lives. All throughout Europe American cemeteries remind us of the young boys who never made it home, and whose memory we cherish. My generation does not own this freedom; we are merely its custodians. We can only hand over this hard won liberty to Europe's children in the same state in which it was offered to us. We cannot strike a deal with mullahs and imams. Future generations would never forgive us. We cannot squander our liberties. We simply do not have the right to do so.

Tuesday 16 June 2009

An irreplaceable lost

Indeed we all came from God and to Him shall we return. In this few days, the Muslim world has lost one of its greatest scholars, Sheikh Fathi Yakan at the age of 76. One of his beautiful works is his book 'what is the meaning to being Islam' which were used by many Islamic organizations including which I had joined to set the aim to gain before proceeding in preaching others.
As for us the Malaysian community in the UK, Ustaz Erfino Johari is not an uncommon name. His mother in law had just passed away a few days ago. I pray for them to be rewarded in the hereafter. Let's recite Al-Fatihah for them and may Allah bless their souls. I would like to send my regards and condolences to their families and friends. We all felt the lost and waiting for our time to be there. Al-Fatihah...

Saturday 6 June 2009

Mind blowing videos

Although this video was created in 2007, Sony played it at their executive conference this year. A fantastic video on the progression of information technology, researched by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Brenman, remixed. I just want to share it with you since I find it interesting and facts which wakes us from our slumber.

Another video that I'm about to share is more awakening, it's created by a friend of Muslim ie a Christian who felt threatened by increasing Muslim population in the world. He said "Islam will overwhelm Christendom unless Christians recognize the demographic realities, begin reproducing again, and share the gospel with Muslims." I am moved watching this video as it reminds me that the end is almost upon us. The prophet (pbuh) said there will come a time where the Muslim will be oppressed and treated badly. One of the companion ask him is it because we are small in number? The prophet replied No, in fact we are much greater in number like the bubbles in the sea. But most of them have infected with a disease called 'Wahan' aka The love of the world. Oh Allah, if it's true that I will witness the end of time, please spare me and my family from all the fitnah's of the world awaiting which will come silently as a black ant sitting on a black stone in a dark cave during a dark night.

Friday 5 June 2009

Family gathering 2009 aka camping



Our family gathering (aka camping) this year will be held at Ashworth Valley Campsite. The annual family gathering is a key factor in bonding the friendship amongst our members. As in the past, we are proud to inform that this year's family gathering will be also attended by many non-Malays. This proves that the resident Malay community is not an isolated community but is increasingly playing a bigger role in the British community.

Family gathering is a very important event for Melayu UK members. It is an event for the young and not so young, an event where new friendship is made and old friendship is strengthened, an event for recreation and for intellectual discourse.

The number of second and third generation Malays in our community has increased steadily over the years. This year's family gathering will focus on pro-active role of the Malays in the Britain.

This year we have booked 1 building with basic indoor accommodation and an area for camping. As there will be limited indoor accommodation, participants are requested to bring their own tents.

ITEMS FOR SALE
We will provide an area where participants wishing to sell items can display their products. To ease planning, please let us know in advance any products that you intend to sell. There will be no charge for the facility.

PROGRAMME
Friday 24th July 2009
1600 Arrival and Registration / Orienteering
1830 Dinner
2000 Welcome speech and Briefing
2015 Indoor Session 1

Saturday 25th July 2009
0430 Subh prayer
0730 Breakfast
0900 Indoor Session 2
1000 Outdoor activity
1100 Outdoor activity
1200 Outdoor Activity
1320 Dhuhr prayer
1345 Lunch
1500 Outdoor activity
1600 Outdoor activity
1720 Asr prayer
1750 Group photograph
1800 Dinner
2000 Indoor session 3
2130 Maghrib prayer
2330 Isha’ prayer

Sunday 26th July 2009
0430 Subh prayer
0730 Breakfast
0900 Indoor session 4
1000 Outdoor activity
1100 Outdoor activity
1200 Outdoor activity
1320 Dhuhr prayer
1345 Lunch
1500 Outdoor activity
1600 Outdoor activity
1720 Asr prayer
1800 BBQ
2000 Group discussion
2130 Maghrib prayer
2330 Isha’ prayer

Monday 27th July 2009
0430 Subh prayer
0730 Breakfast
0900 Evaluation & Closing ceremony
1100 Games for children / Adults tidy-up
1300 Departure

Registration fees:
INDOOR ACCOMMODATION
ADULTS: £40
UNDERGRADUATES: £35
CHILDREN (HIGH SCHOOL / COLLEGE): £30
CHILDREN (3 – 11): £25
CHILDREN (UNDER 3): FREE

OUTDOOR CAMPING (PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN TENTS)
ADULTS: £36
UNDERGRADUATES: £30
CHILDREN (HIGH SCHOOL / COLLEGE): £27
CHILDREN (3 – 11): £22
CHILDREN (UNDER 3): FREE

FEES INCLUDE CAMPING FEES, ACTIVITIES AND FOOD

ADVANCED BOOKING
Booking made and paid before 15th June will be given 10% discount.

Payment
A minimum deposit of 20% is required upon registration. We encourage participants to pay the full amount to ease our cash flow.

Please make cheque payable to "Melayu UK" post to:
Melayu UK
7 Falcon Mead
Bicester
Oxfordshire OX26 6XE

Please visit www.melayu.org. uk regularly for the latest update.

Thursday 4 June 2009

An adhoc decision

Once again, Cardiff's usrah team had organized a 'Solat Hajat' and Yaasin recitation event successfully. My part in the event as usual was to perform and hopefully relaxing the students' mind away from stressful study. With less than 2 hours of training and no idea of what song to perform initially, we had selected 6 songs randomly and tried to do them medley. Mind you that this group has no name and was spontaneously formed a day before the program. This was the outcome and I hope you all enjoy it, regardless any mistakes done as expected. The first song is a medley from Inteam's collection; 'segenggam tabah' + 'kehidupan'.

The second song is a medley from Raihan's collection; 'demi masa' + 'iman mutiara'.

The third and last song is a medley from Saujana's collection; 'suci sekeping hati' + 'keluarga bahagia'. Good luck and all the best for those who are taking their examination soon. Best wishes for all the final year students whom already excited to go back and serve the country. I would like to thank my friend Syafeeq for his hard work in editing the songs, Fairus for willingly joined the group in the last minute to make it a trio instead of a duet, Islahuddin, Fayadh and Fakri for taking the video, Asmawi for snaping some pictures, and last but not least all the audience for listening.

We managed to listen to a bit 'tazkirah' or reminder from surah Toha which tells us about how Moses was saved by the Pharoah's wife herself and how Allah commanded the angel to tell Moses's mother to put her son into the Nile river in a special basket. The man who designed the basket were about to tell Pharoah about the baby but couldn't say a word by the will of Allah. How the basket runs against the flow of the river and ended in Pharoah's wife garden. Finally Moses was brought up in the same palace the order to exterminate 60 thousand new born baby boy was made. And he touch a bit of the story of Abraham. How Abraham felt nice and cold in the burning fire that burn him. Fire with hot and destructive characteristic are commanded to be pleasant as He wills. This story was cut short due to time constraint but the moral is our whole life is a test. Don't exclude ourselves from other human being in the examination period, just to focus in our study successfully. Try to relax and believe what we have studied and everything else will be decided by God. Miracles happen when you believe, provided you have work hard for it.

Wednesday 3 June 2009

Sincerity in religious work

"What kind of man is he? teaching tajwid and charging fees? surely he's not sincere!"
"I don't know what happen to most 'ustaz' nowadays, charging money for their services to teach Islamic education?"
"Nasheedian are not sincere enough because they charge high rates!They can be quite demanding sometimes..."

Have you ever heard these phrases? or have they ever crossed your mind? Let me tell you one thing, all these crap came out from ignorant people who does not know anything about sincerity and believe me when I said they are the majority in our society. Sadly it only comes out to the religious people, meaning that other than these kind of people are free to charge any rate accordingly. Sincere as the dictionary defines it is totally different than in Islamic perspective. 'Ikhlas' in doing our job does not mean you don't take your salary or don't charge a fee to your service. But ignorant people nowadays are using this excuse not to pay the religious people accordingly and force them to sacrifice their potential income. Now answer these questions for me, do we sincerely go to work everyday? Do we receive our monthly income to be spent on our family needs? Are we considered sincere in our job or we're just doing it for the money?
Do we pay expensive fees for our children personal tuition in maths or science and feel hesitated to pay the fees for Islamic education? Is there any difference in terms of hours spent and work done by the tutor to teach them? Its natural that science tutor being paid more because they had to pay more when studying thus they have to earn more to pay back their expenses (loan etc)...Which knowledge are more beneficial for us after we die? Who taught our children to read Quran properly and to love us till the end of time? Who did all the research in how to live life in accordance with Islamic teachings and put it into action?
I have a lot of questions for examples in mind but to write it down in words would use all the space in this post. To make my point clear, people are so skeptical about spending money towards religion and being double standard to people who works for it. Undeniably there are some people taking advantage of using religion to persuade people in business. Firstly we have to know that there's nothing wrong in giving and receiving money for anything related to so-called religion. (If you had read my previous postings, we already discussed about secularism and to be honest, everything in the world is related to religion. Whether you are a politician, scientist, mathematician, policeman, etc...we are all performing 'ibadah'/worship to Allah.) Secondly, Islam prohibits any form of activity that will harm ourselves, therefore providing free service means we have to bear the cost of fuel, toll, labor, tax etc which will put us in a disadvantage position in the long run. Thirdly, we have to know the true meaning of sincerity and don't use it in a wrong concept giving the impression that someone is bad.
As for nasheedian performance as far as I'm concerned, is far more cheaper than other pop or rock artist available. But as usual, to spend RM10 in the mosque seems a lot of money but to spend RM1000 in leisure seems a small amount. Since entertainment industry is still a business, it depends on the demand before the supply can be commenced, hence I sense the demand for Islamic entertainment is not encouraging enough for it may lead to unnecessary nuisance in our ibadah. An understandable dilemma within a Muslim to enjoy themselves in a lawful manner than to restrain themselves from any sort of entertainment whatsoever. This is utterly formidable challenge for the nasheedian to educate people. Unfortunately, only a few people have the opportunity to listen to what I'm saying. So if you are one of the selected, please spread the truth to others and may Allah bless you.
Last but not least, I would like to tell you the danger waiting for these 3 types of people in the hereafter. 1) People who go to jihad, will be question if they do it for wealth or fame (considered a brave patriot etc). 2) People who seek knowledge and read the Quran, will be question if they do it to show that they are more knowledgeable than others, or if they do it to show they are good and pious. 3)People who gives a lot of charity (sedekah/infak), will be question if they do it so others may think that they are generous and loved by humans.
In conclusion, the main difference between a Muslim and non-Muslim is we do everything for the sake of Allah, just because Allah commands it to be done, and most of the commands are best for us whether we knew it or not, but other religion are doing good because of human nature(fitrah) that wants good things to happen. For example, Muslim don't eat pork or drink alcohol because Allah forbids them from doing so, but other religion may also do the same simply because of scientific reasoning that they are not good for our health.
May we be sincere in everything we do... Good luck and all the best!

Wednesday 27 May 2009

Money really changes people

Today we are friends but tomorrow who knows? A lot of people I heard totally changes in a flash, it's just like meeting a different person. Today they are humble and polite because they feel they have no say just because they are poor, but after they reached a certain level in society and considered as rich, they feel they are unstoppable. They have the power to buy anything, they can do whatever they want, greedy and selfishness conquered their hearts, not feeling sorry for other people and hate to go back to poverty. They feel like they deserve the money because they had worked so hard to get it. Even praying to God is irrelevant, because most people only pray to get rich. If they'd found a magic lamp with three wishes, they would use it to get rich. There's a saying that a successful man is the one who can buy whatever his wife wants and still have much money left for himself, and a successful woman is the one who can find that kind of man. So what is it that is so strong about money? Why do we have to be so dependent on it?
I'm not saying we don't have to find money because we still need it to buy food for living, but all I'm saying is why people are working so hard day and night to find something that will definitely left behind? Why there's no end in finding wealth? Why do people are willing to kill others for it? let alone hurting other peoples' feeling and defying them...wars are made to show whose the most powerful being on earth. Money is not everything but it is something. One thing that matter the most, will it be counted as our good deed in our graves? If the answer is yes, then we have to go all out for it! I really admire rich people who are generous to share their wealth with the poor, inviting the needy to their weddings, sponsor the hopeless orphanage children, etc...but the fact is, that kind of people is so hard to find. If all the rich people pay the zakat, there will be no poverty in the world, provided that all the governments in the world implies the zakat concept which is quite impossible if the world is not dominated by practicing Muslims.
We tend to forget who gives our wealth, we easily forget how we use to be before we're rich, we comfortably spend anything without realizing that it is still a test from Allah. All our wealth will be the burden for us to enter heaven.
One of the the prophet's (pbuh) companion, Saidina Ali once said; Knowledge is better than money for it will take care of you while you need to look after your money, knowledge is better than money for it will be your justification while your money will be put into justice, knowledge is better than money for it will grow much stronger when shared while money will be less and finish when spent.
Let us all be extra cautious in our monetary activities throughout our lives.

Everything we are now were designed and created as a result of the impact we had in our school days. This song reminds me of my school days in SRK Kampung Tunku, PJ, SMKA Maahad Hamidiah, Kajang and IIUM Gombak. The bitter and sweet things which will be restored in my memory forever.

Wednesday 13 May 2009

In our desperate times

Recession, recession...this is the word we heard everyday nowadays. So what is recession?

In economics, a recession is a general slowdown in economic activity in a country over a sustained period of time, or a business cycle contraction. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way. Production as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment, investment spending, capacity utilization, household incomes and business profits all fall during recessions.

Governments usually respond to recessions by adopting expansionary macroeconomic policies, such as increasing money supply, increasing government spending and decreasing taxation.

In a layman's term, a recession period is the best time to really test ourselves that rizk or livelihood is given by Allah and only Him, not by our ministers, not by our employers, not by any human being. We maybe offered a VSS and out of work today but no one knows who will feed our family at the end of each month. If Allah had made that fortune is for you, then there's nothing in this world who can deny it. Ever wondered how some of the poor families survived with 13 children but some of the rich families are always insufficient even with 1 child? Allah had reserved the rizk for every living creature ever since they are not even exist in the world and those who are grateful in whatever they got will be rewarded to gain more and more. Even a small insect living in a stone has something to eat, so don't get too worried about it. I'm not saying that we don't have to work for it, but after we have work for it, we have to believe that only Allah permits us to get it. Ever wondered why we always got into accidents or our children always got sick or we always threw our food to waste? Now we realized that maybe that part of money was not meant to be ours. It's the rizk of the mechanics and their families or the doctors and their families or even to the pest in the garbage.

I'm not going to touch about how recession happened in the capitalism and Thatcherism (greedy) environment because if every bank in the world apply the Islamic banking, there would not be a recession.

Swine flu, swine flu....everyday we hear people talk about it. So what is it all about? The 2009 outbreak of influenza A (H1N1) virus is an epidemic of a new strain of influenza virus identified in April 2009, commonly referred to as "swine flu." Although the source of the outbreak in humans is still unknown, cases were first discovered in the U.S. and officials soon suspected a link between those incidents and an earlier outbreak of late-season flu cases in Mexico. Within days hundreds of suspected cases, many of them fatal, were discovered in Mexico, with yet more cases found in the U.S. and several other countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Soon thereafter, the U.N.'s World Health Organization (WHO), along with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), expressed concern that the A(H1N1) could become a worldwide flu pandemic, and WHO then raised its pandemic alert level to "Phase 5" out of the six maximum, as a "signal that a pandemic is imminent".

For more information click here and here.

I'm not touching anything about the roots of the problem here because if every one apply Islamic teaching and not breeding the pigs, this problem would not exist in the first place. So you see, Islam is always taking prevention is better than cure. Don't apply interest, don't eat pork or bacon or whatever name we call it, don't drink alcohol, don't get near adultery, and so on so forth. When human are trying to think that they can outsmart God's way, a lot of hideous tragedy will emerge. There's a saying that desperate time needs desperate measures, but I have to say that any desperate measures that we decide to make have to be compliance with the Shariah. Don't commit a crime to feed our children, don't cheat peoples' money to get more, don't swindle our partner to run away from problem...In desperate times, seek help from Allah by being patience and performing prayers. Anyway, we are constantly in desperate needs for Allah blessings. So people, let us all come back to the teachings of Islam... I am urging myself and all of you, it's for your own good.

Tuesday 12 May 2009

Yes we can!

Entertainment has been an intriguing industry in the world where it can generate income and a lot of youngsters are trying their luck in this field regardless from all sorts of background. Everybody seems to have fond interest in contributing towards entertainment and people doesn't seem to get enough. Nevertheless the so called artist are bound to be in the market only between a decade or two before being made redundant or obsolete. In this period of time, they are supposed to raise enough fund to live for the rest of their lives. Being an artist in a bigger country shouldn't be any problem because if they manage to make 1 hit album, they could already make a fortune out of it. Being an artist in a smaller region in the world tells a different kind of story and it isn't really exciting as other people think it's going to be. You might be in the same office as them or work in the same department, they could be your lecturer, school teacher, doctor, engineer, architect, etc during the day yet they still have to work during the night. We might see them in newspapers or magazines wearing smart 'sponsored' outfits and see them performing with smiles in their faces as though their life is perfect. Well I want to tell you this, it's not! (*sponsored means they have to be returned back)
Art as a whole is a very complicated and subjective area which many people won't understand or more precisely didn't bother to. Only a few passionate people want to associate themselves with art in depth. Thus it is not going to be the same for everyone doing the exact same thing, it's all depends on the luck and the effort put on the work they do.
So the story goes, once upon a time, in a land far far away, there lived a man with full ambitious intention to make the world a better place by spreading knowledge through songs and hoping to get Allah's blessings. Before long, he realized that he had been doing so many things for free, yes you read it correctly, free of charge. What kind of mentality does one have to make someone work for free? that's just ridiculous and a mean thing to do to a human. Islam teaches us to pay the salary to our employees even before their sweat got dried. We can understand if a person had already making a lot of money from the job that he's doing, and decided to give away something for free..that's fine. But if he's not making any money out of it and people keep on taking for granted of him, what will happen to him? I know this man was trying to be courteous but it looks like people were taking advantage of using him. So this man gave away a lot of free CD to his colleagues, families, not forgetting the press, tv presenter, radio dj, etc..in short, anyone who asked for free CD will finally somehow got it...leaving this man in debt around 10 grand just for that. Thinking that he can gain back all the money to pay the debt by his show, most of his performance are not paid in full amount as agreed, some of it didn't turn up at all. To make this story even interesting, the recording company didn't pay him a single penny of royalty because they said that unfortunately his album was not sold, everyone are downloading them for free from the internet. Then he said to himself, what a cruel world! This is reality, it's not like everyone live here know about Islam and want to embrace it as him. Time goes by and he is still fighting in that field believing someday, people might change the way they look at him. Someday people will recognize his work and appreciate him a lot more. Worse thing happened, his wife left him because of insecure and couldn't stand supporting him financially. Since he is lacking of experience to work like everyone else, he had no choice but to dedicate his life in the so called multi-million industry, but not making any. Please don't let this happen to your friend.
Some people may think that he was just mismanaging his money or it's his bad luck but I was hoping that after reading this, we will never take advantage from the vulnerable immature people. The moral of the story, firstly, whenever comes a new artist, please don't ask for free CD from him. You can ask his management or the recording company to get one. Please don't bully the enthusiastic novice and pure little boy because he will then felt disappointed to record his next album and you wouldn't be able to listen to him anymore. Please make an effort to pay their expenses even if it's a charity show. Secondly, always have back up plans! Fail to plan is planning to fail, but an idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea, because action speaks louder than words. Finish our degree, masters or phd, take any professional certificate to stay updated and let ourselves marketable. Thirdly, know that human love is limited to wealth, health and other temporary material thing but loving Allah is something everlasting and promising. So love our spouses because of Allah, not for their looks or money. Doing something for Allah and we will never feel disappointed.
Do we really want to see someone so dedicated in his work to break down due to financial pressure? Further more, that person is helping to widespread our religion and giving our children an alternative Halal music to listen to.... In a way, asking CD for free is kind of disrespecting the work of an artist. Did we go to our friend's shop and take anything for free? Can we possibly get someone to do a service for us using merely his talent for free? No, we don't... Do we need to change or can we change? Yes, we can!

"It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom to the darkest of life.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --

Yes. We. Can."

Monday 11 May 2009

Happy Birthday to you (my son)


Today is my son's third birthday. Although he might not even realized it yet but it has been a wake up call for me to know that my life is shortened by three years to spend with my son. I really hope I can be a good father to teach you our religion so you can be a great teacher to your son, my grandchildren and so on. May you be pious and a good Muslim in the future, not only having a good life in this world but in the hereafter. May Allah bless you forever and ever...If only you knew how much I love you, then know that Allah is more loving than I am and He borrowed you to me within this short period of time to be my test as I was to my father, your granddad...

Allah said in the Quran, from Surah Luqman [31: verse 13-20] (translation by Yusuf Ali, Pickthal and Shakir)

031.013
YUSUFALI: Behold, Luqman said to his son by way of instruction: "O my son! join not in worship (others) with Allah: for false worship is indeed the highest wrong-doing."
PICKTHAL: And (remember) when Luqman said unto his son, when he was exhorting him: O my dear son! Ascribe no partners unto Allah. Lo! to ascribe partners (unto Him) is a tremendous wrong -
SHAKIR: And when Luqman said to his son while he admonished him: O my son! do not associate aught with Allah; most surely polytheism is a grievous iniquity--

031.014
YUSUFALI: And We have enjoined on man (to be good) to his parents: in travail upon travail did his mother bear him, and in years twain was his weaning: (hear the command), "Show gratitude to Me and to thy parents: to Me is (thy final) Goal.
PICKTHAL: And We have enjoined upon man concerning his partners - His mother beareth him in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years - Give thanks unto Me and unto thy parents. Unto Me is the journeying.
SHAKIR: And We have enjoined man in respect of his parents-- his mother bears him with faintings upon faintings and his weaning takes two years-- saying: Be grateful to Me and to both your parents; to Me is the eventual coming.

031.015
YUSUFALI: "But if they strive to make thee join in worship with Me things of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not; yet bear them company in this life with justice (and consideration), and follow the way of those who turn to me (in love): in the end the return of you all is to Me, and I will tell you the truth (and meaning) of all that ye did."
PICKTHAL: But if they strive with thee to make thee ascribe unto Me as partner that of which thou hast no knowledge, then obey them not. Consort with them in the world kindly, and follow the path of him who repenteth unto Me. Then unto Me will be your return, and I shall tell you what ye used to do -
SHAKIR: And if they contend with you that you should associate with Me what you have no knowledge of, do not obey them, and keep company with them in this world kindly, and follow the way of him who turns to Me, then to Me is your return, then will I inform you of what you did--

031.016
YUSUFALI: "O my son!" (said Luqman), "If there be (but) the weight of a mustard-seed and it were (hidden) in a rock, or (anywhere) in the heavens or on earth, Allah will bring it forth: for Allah understands the finest mysteries, (and) is well-acquainted (with them).
PICKTHAL: O my dear son! Lo! though it be but 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. Lo! Allah is Subtile, Aware.
SHAKIR: O my son! surely if it is the very weight of the grain of a mustard-seed, even though it is in (the heart of) rock, or (high above) in the heaven or (deep down) in the earth, Allah will bring it (to light); surely Allah is Knower of subtleties, Aware;

031.017
YUSUFALI: "O my son! establish regular prayer, enjoin what is just, and forbid what is wrong: and bear with patient constancy whatever betide thee; for this is firmness (of purpose) in (the conduct of) affairs.
PICKTHAL: O my dear son! Establish worship and enjoin kindness and forbid iniquity, and persevere whatever may befall thee. Lo! that is of the steadfast heart of things.
SHAKIR: O my son! keep up prayer and enjoin the good and forbid the evil, and bear patiently that which befalls you; surely these acts require courage;

031.018
YUSUFALI: "And swell not thy cheek (for pride) at men, nor walk in insolence through the earth; for Allah loveth not any arrogant boaster.
PICKTHAL: Turn not thy cheek in scorn toward folk, nor walk with pertness in the land. Lo! Allah loveth not each braggart boaster.
SHAKIR: And do not turn your face away from people in contempt, nor go about in the land exulting overmuch; surely Allah does not love any self-conceited boaster;

031.019
YUSUFALI: "And be moderate in thy pace, and lower thy voice; for the harshest of sounds without doubt is the braying of the ass."
PICKTHAL: Be modest in thy bearing and subdue thy voice. Lo! the harshest of all voices is the voice of the ass.
SHAKIR: And pursue the right course in your going about and lower your voice; surely the most hateful of voices is braying of the asses.

031.020
YUSUFALI: Do ye not see that Allah has subjected to your (use) all things in the heavens and on earth, and has made his bounties flow to you in exceeding measure, (both) seen and unseen? Yet there are among men those who dispute about Allah, without knowledge and without guidance, and without a Book to enlighten them!
PICKTHAL: See ye not how Allah hath made serviceable unto you whatsoever is in the skies and whatsoever is in the earth and hath loaded you with His favours both without and within? Yet of mankind is he who disputeth concerning Allah, without knowledge or guidance or a scripture giving light.
SHAKIR: Do you not see that Allah has made what is in the heavens and what is in the earth subservient to you, and made complete to you His favors outwardly and inwardly? And among men is he who disputes in respect of Allah though having no knowledge nor guidance, nor a book giving light.

Monday 27 April 2009

don't give up!


A very old song, recorded in 1997..we are a bit reluctant to claim this one is ours..too many theoretical mistakes here and there...nevertheless, the message becomes the main point. Forgive us for any uncomfortable sound and for the lack of musical knowledge back then.

Be thankful for it is the secret to happiness. Smile and it will lighten the heart. Talk less and listen more is the key to good relationship. Have patience for it builds character. Think good thoughts and you will be young at heart.
"God in His equity and Justice, has made joy and relief the consequence of contentment, and worry and sorrow the consequence of discontent"
- Hadith Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah
Let us all learn joy and relief from now on by being content. 786 Alhamdulillah Syukur!

I don't actually have any idea to write anything but I don't want my blog being idle for quite some time. So let's talk about this song instead...still in Akbar's mode though...a very heartening song to make us feel we're not alone in this life. Don't ever give up in what we're doing, of course if it is a good thing to do...Don't think twice to stop whatever we're doing if it is a bad thing...no doubt about that! For those who are studying or working, this song is for you...

Tuesday 21 April 2009

Palestine Forum - the first Qiblah

This event took place just after NEXT at Sheffield but I did this entry before NEXT because I'm still waiting for the committee to upload the videos. They are pretty busy with examination at the moment, so I just have to wait a little longer. Patience is a part of 'iman'. Anyway, the forum made by Ust Irfan from Aberdeen was about the first Qiblah for Muslim which is the Masjidil Aqsa in Palestine, he did discussed thoroughly about how it all begin and what is the condition there now. The myth and hidden reality that we should discern as a Muslim. For those who are interested to learn more about it, click here.
So I was there to complete the event by a performance and here goes...I hope you all will enjoy them as I do cherish this moment as one of the last shows in the UK

There was a bit technical problem at first, but the wife of the owner of the canteen in MSD if I'm not mistaken came to the rescue. Taking advantage having Akbar here, I ask him to sing this song with me even though he did not memorize the lyrics anymore. I can understand that he has so many rapping to memorize and for songs like 'keampunan' which have not been performed as many times as the other songs, it would fade away slowly but surely. Please forgive any blunder we've made during the show.

I did a duet with Akbar for the second time in a famous song written by Yasin, Alhamdulillah. As Akbar said, he was still experiencing jet lag until the time he went back to Malaysia 4 days after the event. Congratulations for doing a good job performing at 5 in the morning. Thank you Hafidz (DZ-Soutussalam) and Rizaudin for shooting the videos. Last but not least, thank you very much to Ustaz Erfino again for still believing in me to contribute towards the success of the program. May Allah bless you and your family forever, Ameen...

Thursday 2 April 2009

Delayed event Maal Hijrah

I have been waiting to post these videos for quite some time but couldn't get the time to finish them on time. Sometimes, we just didn't realize how fast time flies. No matter what we do, we never could turn back time. So use our time wisely for it is one of the things that we have to grab before it's gone; being healthy before we're sick, being young before we're old, being rich before we're poor, being free before we're busy, being alive before we're dead. This is a reminder for me especially but if it does remind you too, I am very glad.
The Malaysian in Cardiff are quite active and they held a lot of Islamic events such as the Eid, Maulidur Rasul, Asyura Day, Maal Hijrah and many more. We are quite blessed being here because there are currently 100 Malaysian families approximately not including the single undergraduate and postgraduate student. This number is only an estimated figure because it changes every year. For more information on cardiffkeluarga click here. The Halal food are very easy to get and there's no problem finding a mosque in the city. We also have a Malaysian School consists of about 50 children studying Bahasa Melayu, Arabic Language, Quranic literature, Iqra, Islamic Education, Martial Art, Malay dance, Nasheed and a few more. For more information on 'Sekolah Melayu Cardiff', click here.

Cymru is the Welsh name of Wales, one of the countries united in the UK besides Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. Cymru pronounced as 'KAMRI' is the name chosen by this nasheed group from the student of Cardiff University because of its uniqueness in the pronunciation and to mark the place they originated. As the capital city of Wales, Cardiff offers an exciting opportunity in education and lifestyle.

Allow me to introduce the team member of Cymru.
1. Syafeeq Ridzam - The vocalist (2nd year Medic)
2. Fayyadh - backup vocal (1st year Medic)
3. Aufa - Bongo (3rd year Engin)
4. Azad - Bass & Tambourine & Leader (4th year Engin)
5. Syafiq - Lead percussion & second solo (1st year Medic)
6. Ibrahim - percussionist (1st year Medic)

I would like to dedicate this appreciation to the photographer of the event; Haneef, the videoman; Islahuddin, Nasir and Wan for their endeavor. Not forgetting the organizer; Ustaz Sheikh Anuar Al-Hafeez for his inexorable exertion towards the betterment of all the members of 'cardiffkeluarga's iman. Thank you and may Allah bless you all forever.

Tuesday 24 March 2009

Islam: the Way of Perfection

Someone told me to give a comment on an article in a newspaper entitled: 'When nasheed lost its identity.'
To answer this question, I may need to explain from the very beginning for better understanding. As we all know, Allah as the creator of human being is the All Knowing and is acquainted with all things. He knows every needs and desires hidden in our hearts. And He said: “This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor towards you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.”(Al-Ma’idah 5:3)
Allah knows the desire of human to have fun and festival, so He gave us not one but two Eids(Eidul Fitr and Eidul Adha). He knows man cannot live without a woman and He made adultery prohibited, so He replaced it with marriage. He made alcohol and pork forbidden and replaced them with many other food and drink in the world. The main point is there's always an alternative for Haram with a Halal thing. Islam is a perfect religion, not for one society, or country for one particular time, but it is the perfect religion for all mankind till the end of time. So He knows that some people can't live without any entertainment at all and made some people a good entertainer.
Now we come to nasheed, Nasheed (Arabic: singular نشيد , plural أناشيد)is an Islamic-oriented song, an Islamic vocal music that is either sung a cappella or accompanied by percussion instruments. In general, true Islamic nasheed does not contain lamellaphone instruments, string instruments, or wind and brass instruments, although digital remastering—either to mimic percussion instruments or create overtones—is permitted. This musical style is used because many Muslim scholars interpret Islam as prohibiting the use of musical instruments except for some basic percussion. Many people admire the purity and simplicity of the music. Nasheeds are popular throughout the Islamic World. The material and lyrics of Nasheed usually make reference to Islamic beliefs, history, and religion, as well as current events.
A new generation of "Nasheed" artists use a wide variety of musical instruments in their art. This has caused controversy amongst the Muslim community because of the vast range of scholarly opinions that exist on Music in Islam. These range from absolutely no music and singing, to that of any musical instruments allowed so long as the subject matter is of an Islamic ethos. There is also a crossover of mainstream music of groups, and solo artists, appealing to a significant Muslim crowd and also leading to performance of such artists at Islamic orientated festivals, conferences, concerts and shows. Other artists and organizations promote a 100% instrument free stance with nasheeds, differing from the current trends of the increasing usage of instruments in nasheeds.
Why do I have to tell you all this? Because we need to really understand what is the definition of nasheed. It's not a musical genre rather a concept to apply in music. And then we have to look into what secular means.
Secularism is the assertion that governmental practices or institutions should exist separately from religion and/or religious beliefs.
In one sense, secularism may assert the right to be free from religious rule and teachings, and freedom from the government imposition of religion upon the people, within a state that is neutral on matters of belief, and gives no state privileges or subsidies to religions. In another sense, it refers to a belief that human activities and decisions, especially political ones, should be based on evidence and fact unbiased by religious influence. In its most prominent form, secularism is critical of religious orthodoxy and asserts that religion impedes human progress because of its focus on superstition and dogma versus reason and scientific method.
The term "secularism" was first used by the British writer George Holyoake in 1846. The only reason they need to separate their religion from the worldly affair is because their religion is imperfect! But to us the Muslim, we shouldn't be disconnecting the religion in our daily affairs because our religion tells us every single thing in detail.(with of course a lot of interpretation from the scholars, but it is still prefect as it is).

So if we learned the definition of nasheed, we now understand that theoretically every Muslim who sings must be a nasheed if he/she don't want to belong in the secular group. That is what Allah told and allow us to do. By these definitions, we can already figure out what's the newspapers are making us to believe. I think the Muslim have to study on how to be a Muslim in depth before we can even talk about Islam. As for my personal comment about the matter is, whether or not the nasheedians set their hearts to get blessing from Allah, making a statement that nasheed products should be this way or that way is nonsense. We didn't even need the award in the first place, but getting it is a bonus. Allah equipped human with creativity and we have to use it to tell people the truth, don't ever give up because our enemies never give up telling us lies and trying to make us falling in love with the world. Anything we do, will be open to criticism especially the religious people, but we know that people who wants to comment will never stop giving their comments no matter what we do to try to satisfy them. Don't waste our time compromising peoples' request, we must focus only to satisfy Allah and He is the One who gives 'Hidayah' to whom He wants. After we have done our job as His servant, leave the rest on His side.
Another important point to highlight is that, don't ever think that by doing good, you are better that anyone else, because it's Allah who put the effort in you to do good deeds to guide you through the right path. Never claim anything which we don't possess. Never judge a person whether he/she is going to hell or heaven, these are secrets that only Allah knows. Just be grateful that you still have the Hidayah to embrace Islam wholeheartedly and try to do our job to protect our 'iman' until we meet Him.

I've used most of this post to answer the question that I didn't actually tell you about the songs embedded. The first video is a song from our retro album entitled Raihan. But after Raihan named their group after this song, Brothers who put the same track in their first album had to change its name to 'Mahligai kebahgiaan'. I still remember the time we record this song with our late Zairi from Raihan in OVA's studio, Sungai Penchala. I was in form 2 (13 years old) at that time. However, this is a newly recorded version as a half way project to produce the retro albums which for a certain reason cannot be released to the market.
The second song is the original version in one of the retro albums entitled Kembali. This song was re-recorded by Firdaus in 1999 for their first album and the title changed to 'Keampunan'.

Thursday 19 March 2009

Charity Show @ London

We would like to use the opportunity having Akbar here in the UK to put up a charity show for our brothers and sisters in Palestine. I am going to join him in MSD London on Thursday, the 26th of March 2009, from 6.00 pm to 8.30 pm. We hope you all will be participating in the event and donate as much as you can. Don't be hesitated to give away our money for the sake of Allah, just think of it as an investment for yourself in the hereafter, InsyaAllah. We will be surprised of what we think a small insignificant effort would give us in return.
Here is a clip made by my friend, to promote Inteam's latest album; Allahu Robbi featuring 5 of their original members reunited.


Also performing is a nasheed group from London who called themselves Soutussalam which means the voice of peace. This group is one of the contestants in NEXT Sheffield every year and had made quite an impression every time by composing their own song and stuff. They actually proved that we can still contribute to our Deen and study simultaneously without clashing both of them. In fact, many 'nasheedians' I knew came from this line; the student and academician. I heard they had performed several times in many occasions throughout the UK which made them more popular than me I suppose. I am going to meet them on the 26th and maybe we can make a collaboration in an album, who knows? I want to produce an album consists of all the nasheed groups in the UK who can come up with their own song. Anyone interested please contact me...

Monday 16 March 2009

NEXT Sheffield

I would like to thank the organizer for giving me the opportunity to be a part of such a great event. Hope to see you guys again next time, InsyaAllah...
Here are 2 clips that were shown during the event, it was posted by a committee in youtube, I hope she don't mind me embedding the same video in my blog.
I will give my comments on the performances that day in another post soon.



Monday 9 March 2009

the most precious thing in our life

There's one thing in our body which can make us a bad person or a good one depending on it's condition, that thing is our heart. That's why everything we do is depending on what we have set our hearts on, whether for a bad intention or vice versa. When most of the people are busy with their life, less people are taking care of their hearts. Not by eating good food for its health but nourishing it with knowledge and care for it is the only thing that can save us after we die. When I talk about the after-life subject, which people tend to neglect so much whether it is on purpose or not, we can see that people are avoiding this subject to feel good about their life. This feeling is a dangerous one which had been warned by our prophet (peace be upon him) that there will be one time that the Muslims will be huge in numbers but most of them are infected with a devastating disease. And that is 'the love for the world and afraid of death.' Why did the prophet said that devoting ourselves to the world is an illness?
Before the Quran was even written into what we have today, the companion used to memorize them word by word. Later on the Quran was written properly after the Muslim had lost most of the companion committed to memorize the Quran in a war. Those days, the Muslims were like a 'walking Quran' who talks and acts accordingly to its verse and being closely supervised by the prophet himself. Now is the time to re-invent that moment for us to be the new Quranic Generation. We are the one who wants to be in heaven, don't we? Why wait for someone else to make a different?

Every Muslim with even a tiny bit of faith in their hearts will surely enter the heaven. How can we check if we have that tiny bit? There's no one in this world who can guarantee us a place in paradise, but all we can do is to constantly be reminiscent to each other about the main purpose of being a Muslim. And for that, I would like to thank all of my friends who keeps on jogging my memory to be a better Muslim every single day. How dare we misused the gifts that Allah had blessed for us and returning it to Him not as the way we got it. Anyway, let's find a way to increase our iman day by day and to cover back our duties that we had abandoned all these times to finally grasp the true sweetness until we die for the sake of Allah. One can never be adequate for such a great task, therefore I am enrolling you to join forces with us to ensure ourselves a greater future. May Allah helps the one who helps His religion.

Friday 6 March 2009

it's a you AND me world

We've been thought since the beginning of time that this world is a cruel thing which any opportunity arose either got by you or me, one of us have to sacrifice. One of us have to be a victim in any situation. That is our paradigm brought down by generations. But we never thought about that the other way round, one doesn't have to be a victim and always complaining about something, rather we can make something to change the way of anything to the way that is satisfactory to all. We never thought that by making someone else successful, we will be successful as well. The world might just work in a you AND me environment rather than you OR me. By being responsible for what you do and said, you can create a new realm of possibilities around you and not always be a victim of the system you're in.
What would you do if somebody's telling you that there's one thing you can do and would receive a reward which has not seen by any eyes, not heard by any ears nor thought by any human thinking, beyond the imaginable depiction.


What if someone's telling you that the prophet is coming to see you? What is it like to be in our prophet's time? Would we be a follower or not? Just a thought to make we realize how different we are compared to the companions' life in the glorious time of our prophet.

Thursday 5 March 2009

there is no secret ingredient

"One can say that life is 'empty and meaningless' simply because we are a 'meaning making machine' from the day we born until the day we die. There's not one time we do something that is not either our 'rackets' or our 'strong suits'. And the truth is that you're not even listening to what I'm writing but you're responding to your filter created by you in your head-the already always listening."

There's a lot of difference if you see the world not as you've being seeing it all these while. For example, if you want to be happy, don't wait to get the happiness comes from someone else like your husband or wife, parents or families. You are the one who have the key to your own happiness by sharing your happiness to them. You need to make yourself happy and bring the energy within your social community to make them happy, then your happiness will be fulfill and content. Don't go and marry someone to find your happiness from your spouses, but bring your happiness to them. What you give you get it back...it really does!
All your thoughts of the right and wrong things are not actually yours, it's just your interpretation of life. If we can let it all go, what do we have? nothing! and what is the opposite of nothing? Everything! We can create our own possibilities by just believing in ourselves. Does a university's degree guaranteed us a job? No,they don't! It's you getting the job. If the whole world tries to stop you from getting your bit which Allah has reserved for you in this world, they would have failed. And if the whole world tries to help you to get something that Allah didn't meant to be yours, they would also failed.
People always been afraid of these 3 things; wealth, health and marriage. Undoubtedly, these are the 3 most discussed area in our whole life. But as a Muslim we are blessed with the knowledge that there's nothing we can do to change them. (Maybe someone have just disagreed with me by now). Think about it this way, at the end of the day, we are all going to be judge on how we live our life in hereafter right? Do we pray to be born as royals? or even having a beautiful face? No we don't! There are just gift and at the same time a test from Allah, if you still don't get what I'm trying to say. What we have, who are we going to marry and when we are going to die had been pre-destined for us before we are born. All we have to do is to make sure we use all we've got for the sake of Allah.
Sometimes, I just wonder how the prophet did to implant faith into the companion until they actually wanted to die for the sake of Allah. How did they think about this life that they can just ignore the beauties and pleasure, and moreover they don't really go for the rewards they would get in the heaven, but only for the gratification of Allah. How did they retained the high motivation throughout their lives. I really longed to see that kind of environment once before I die.


The quoted sign sentences above are jargon used by a training I got recently. It was not an absolute breakthrough though as I already knew most of the concepts but I just want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to experience the 3 days course in Bristol. I will be going to the 10 days seminar of the same training starting next week and I hope I can get something out of it. Someone can be our teacher even if he or she thought us only one simple thing, what if that someone had thought us so many things? How in the world are we going to repay that someone? Only God can reward the sacrifice made by our teachers by limitless profits in the hereafter because their will to spread knowledge are going to benefit them as long as the knowledge still beneficial in this world. And my deepest respect to the teacher of all the teachers in the whole universe, our beloved prophet Muhammad SAW (peace be upon him). The most perfect creation ever lived in this world to be copied by all.