Great Lesson - Believe Me~

A young boy, a wise grandfather, a beautiful reminder... and this... is OUR story... Here it goes:

An old American Muslim lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Qur'an. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked,
"Grandpa! I try to read the Qur'an just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Qur'an do?"

The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied,
"Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water."



The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house.

The grandfather laughed and said,
"You'll have to move a little faster next time,"

He sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.

The old man said,
"I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough,"

He went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would Leak out before he got back to the house. The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.

Out of breath, he said,
"See Grandpa, it's useless!"

"So you think it is useless?"

The old man said,
"Look at the basket."

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.

"Son, that's what happens when you read the Qur'an. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and outside. That is the work of Allah in our lives."

Subhanallah.. and THANK YOU ALLAH~

It Was A Post Without A Title

It's been quite a while since I last posted a real entry into this humble blog. So many things have been happening over the last two weeks, many of which are significant ones. Concerning the lack of updates for the past month, I’ll try to make it up with this entry which obviously doesn’t have a title. Or perhaps the most unique title I’ve ever used.

When I was trying to look at this world from a different perspective, I know that each and everyone of us are on a long but temporary journey, and that the destination is the hereafter, either Paradise, or Hell. Keep that in mind. Indeed, no one said this journey was gonna be easy.

Whenever we feel that patience is running out as a result of the things that go against us, just recount the endless blessings that God has endowed us with. All this time, when my faith is being tested, I remember all the whines and complaints that I make whilst adapting the reality prompts me into thinking "What an ungrateful slave of Allah am I?" It's not like I don't have enough foods in the kitchen, or that I am starving to death. How lucky am I compared to the so many unfortunate people out there?

People in Gaza are deprived of foods, clean water, or even a shelter to protect themselves from the adverse weather. The children in Africa are malnourished, lying helplessly with flies all around them, surrounded by vultures waiting to eat them once they die.

They are never given the opportunity to enjoy the life I, You and We have. Yet they adapted, in a circumstance worse than us truly. How ungrateful am I when these people, amid their struggles, can still praise and thank Allah whenever they are blessed with a loaf of bread, or even a bottle of plain water.

Allah teach us patience in the most beautiful way we can ever imagine. But, I am just like everyone else. I cry when things go beyond my control. I cry when trials just kept on coming over and over again. I cry when I feel helpless in the battle I face. But my dearest friends, it's really ok to cry. That’s what my good friend said. Natural it is for a human being to feel sorrow over times of hardship. The heart doesn't have to be dead or numb. Our beloved Prophet cried over the death of his son, Ibrahim, yet he is the epitome of strength in the face of trials and tribulations.

The important thing is how we reacted after we cried. That’s what differentiate us from others.

In life, we choose who becomes our friend. We determine the type of person we want around us, be it a good or a bad friend. A friend you'd hope will remain by your side through the thick and thin. But try as we might, we always feel that friends can only help us to a certain limit before we know we're on our own.

Families, we don't choose them. They are God's gift to us. Curse your luck for getting a nasty sister or a big fat brother, they are part of you and that is final. It's not exchangeable. But ironically we can always be sure that families will always be there for us, when no one else does.

As one saying goes, the only rock I know that remains steady, and the only institution that I know works, is FAMILY.

Love your family. Pray for their well-being in this world and in the hereafter. Don't break their hearts for you're only gonna break yours.

Through thick and thin, WE WILL ALWAYS STAY TOGETHER~

InshaAllah

Kembali ke Asal

Rasa seperti nak terjun ke dalam lumpur dan main dengan pasir sungai dan pantai. Rasa seperti nak masuk ke hutan dan mendengar bunyi cengkerik, unggas mahupun angin yang berdesir. Rasa seperti nak terbang ke bulan dan melihat bumi dari sudut pandangan bulan. Semua kerana rindunya saya pada damai alam, damai desa, damai malam, damainya kembali ke asal, asal yang fitrah.

Semalam saya diuji, hari ini juga pasti, setiap hari adalah ujian. Kerana kita hamba maka kita layak diuji. Kerana ujian-ujian inilah saya ingin kembali ke asal, asal pada Pencipta, juga bonda dan damai desa. Kerana generasi yang kembali ke asal itu lebih sedar diri. Sedar akan asal usulnya.

Hanya dengan berlalunya waktu, maka hikmah setiap ujian itu dapat dirasa. Semoga Allah kuatkan hati-hati hambaNya yang berjuang dijalanNya, menuntut ilmu keranaNya, dan hidup mati dijalanNya.

InsyaAllah...

The seven heavens and the earth and whatever is in them exalt Him. And there is not a thing except that it exalts [ Allah ] by His praise, but you do not understand their [way of] exalting. Indeed, He is ever Forbearing and Forgiving.

Quran 17: 44

Can I... Be A Leader?

p.s_1: Tengah kemas-kemas semua folder dalam laptop, tiba-tiba terbuka folder my education >> leadership file. Terjumpa pula assignment leadership yang dikarang sangat-sangatla at the very last minute. Kalau tak silap, sehari sebelum submit baru nak buat. Dengan tiba-tiba juga rasa nak publish walaupun tak tahu la apa motifnya. Dengan bermotif ataupun tidak, here it goes;

CAN I BE A LEADER?

CCLM 2021: LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

SECTION 8, SESSION: 2008/2009

If I had been asked the question; “Can you be a leader?”, then my spontaneous answer will be; “No, I can’t be a leader”. For this time being, I have no intention to be a leader of any society or even just a group of people. But, in the future, if someone asks me this question again, I really hope that my answer will be different. Leadership, it’s all about responsibility. There is one famous quote which goes, “Leadership is not a position or place in an organization, but a sense of responsibility”. Responsibility, it’s like a common word, I mean, we use the word ‘responsibility’ most of the time, in most of our daily life conversations. But being responsible, it’s not as easy as its pronunciation. Role as a leader means there are huge responsibilities. One day, if not in this world, in the hereafter, at the Day of Judgment, we will be ask either we have fulfill our responsibilities or not.

As had been mentioned earlier, I’m not ready to be a leader, my reason is not because I’m not confident, and it is not because I don’t have any soft skills like communication skill, public speaking skill, time management skill, leadership skill and etcetera. It’s not because all that, because all those things can be learned, can be improved as time goes by. Skill like public speaking, I have experienced participating public speaking competition, district level in 2005 during high school. I gain my confident through this competition. I learned to speak spontaneously through this competition. I also learned the importance of knowledge during this competition. Meaning to say, I have some of the soft skills needed by a leader. But still, I can’t be a leader.

My one and only reason is that, I’m too afraid, too afraid of taking the responsibilities, too afraid of not be able to be a good leader to my people. This kind of feeling, it makes me always in the state of worry. But still, deep inside my heart, I want to be a leader. Maybe one day, when the time eventually comes, after I have gain more knowledge, when I have the braveness, and when I’m ready, then, I will definitely take any opportunity of being a leader

At that time, my goal is to be the best leader and to show the most outstanding example to people under my society or organization. What are the reasons of my action? When I am more than ready to face the real challenge, why I want to be a leader? When I just can work under other people and just follow whatever their command, then why I still wants to be a leader? The question that I kept asking myself and took me a long time to find the answer.

Finally, after some thought and analysis, I found the answer. There are several reasons of my decision of being a future leader of an organization, or future leader of my country, or perhaps, future leader of the world. My main reason is that, I want to contribute my knowledge and my capabilities to as many people as I could possibly reach. Knowledge is not something to keep. But, it must be use, must be apply in a real life situation, and most importantly, it must be spread to every human kind regardless of whatever religion, race, gender, and position.

One day, when I have enough confident to take the responsibilities of a leader, then I will definitely give my utmost effort to be the best among the best. I can be a leader. It’s all about mind setting. It’s about having confident. Confident doesn’t comes naturally without doing any effort. For me, to be confident, we have to believe in ourselves. Once we believe, then, we are able to do anything it takes, anything it costs to fulfill our mission. Then another question will rise, how can we belief in ourselves? As had been mentioned earlier, it’s about mind setting. My analogy is that, if my parents believed me, that am why I am here, because they believe, so they let me go. They let me be in this university alone, without family and relative, and with thousand worries in their head, but still they let me go. They believe that I will study really smart and hard, gaining as much knowledge as possible. They also believe that I can be independent and I will not wasting my time with unnecessary thing. So, if my parents can believe me, why don’t I believe in myself and give a chance to at least try.

I’m strongly believe that I can be a good leader because I have the desire and confident. I am very passionate to face any challenges, obstacles that will lies in front. I have clear vision and sense of purpose. I know that being a leader; I must win followers’ trust and respect. I must have ‘first class mind setting’. And I must also practice Islamic teaching in my leadership. So I can produce the best quality of my friend, brothers and sisters in Islam. I have big dream, strong belief, and confident. But, as had been mentioned from the very beginning of this essay, I’m too afraid of taking responsibilities. This feeling that I felt, is actually the real challenge to me. How can I achieve my dream which is to lead my followers-to-be based on Islamic brotherhood if I can’t take any responsibility?

I know that one day, I have to stand straight and be brave to take the responsibilities. If the responsibilities are way too heavy, did I just walk away and leave the task? Or did I sit back and calm down, then think the best way or methodology to actually fulfill the task? People around me always said that I’m a very optimist person. I’m not sure if they really think like that. But if they do, then I just act an opposite behaviour if I choose to walk away. Until I found my strength, then I will keep working and will never give up until I am more than ready to face the challenge. Definitely. Insha’Allah.

At the end, everything will be based on our intention. If my niyyat is to lead the ummah to be the best nation ever, to share the knowledge and to strengthen the ukhwah, also to practice Islamic value in my leadership, then, Insha’Allah Allah will help me to perform my duty as a leader as best as I can. And when the day eventually comes, I hope that Allah will guide me to lead my people with fairness, moderate, love and respect. Insha’Allah.

No matter what people might say, no matter what people might think, the most important is to stay steadfast and motivated. I believe that our existence in this world is not for nothing, but there is a beautiful meaning for each and every single creation of Allah. Imam Shafi’, one of the Muslim Scholar once said, “Every human are dead, except those who have knowledge. And those who have knowledge are asleep, except those who do good deeds. And those who do good deeds are deceived, except those who are sincere. And those who are sincere are always in the state of worry”. Insha’Allah with determination and self belief, one day, I will be able to become a great leader in the society, practicing Islamic leadership which is based on fairness, moderation, love for what are good, lesson from history, avoid trivializing sins, respect for objective criticism and love for Allah. Insha’Allah.

p.s_2: Lecturer sangatla baik bagi markah, walaupun tak full mark, tapi alhamdulillah~

p.s_3: Banyaknya perkataan responsibility dalam ni, a word to ponder about perhaps~

Till then, ROGER and OUT~

Wassalam (^_^)