ICR jaulah squad, reassembled!

WARNING! This entry is super long.

Having been back for a couple of days, Br. Kamran made it to our house at last. He brought along his cute, cuddly, adorable little Atiqa and Taha with him too. I just love playing with kids! Especially the cute ones. But all kids are cute, then that means I love playing with all kids..hrmm..ok, don't mind me. We spent some time catching up. He filled us in on this jord he attended back in Pakistan, along with giving us some targheeb. He said he met some Malaysian jama'ah over there. Well..Malaysian jama'ah is all around the globe now!

As for us, we were just really fortunate to have met one back on our first Eidul Fitri here, the Malaysian jama'ah whose 'amir sab was Br. Ismadi if I'm not mistaken. Br. Hanafiah from Sabah...I still keep the tasbih he gave me. He had a diabetic problem last time, hope he's alright now. ICR brothers were hosting them and that was when we first met Br. Kamran and the others and got connected with the local effort here at once. What a beautifully arranged destiny that was. Otherwise, we might have been complete strangers to each other. Enough with the reminiscing. So Br. Kamran left us with some souvenirs (miswak, kopiah, and cologne) from Pakistan and an invitation to jaulah after maghrib.

After maghrib we left in two groups; one group going to the Burmese community downtown, another going to some other housing area. Br. Kamran, Wae and me were in the first, while Mael in the second with Br. Irfan and the others. There is a Burmese jama'ah from Utica, NY staying at Br. Yunus's house, to which we were headed. His house has been made a musolla at which the Burmese have their congregational prayers. Our goal was to find out how many brothers from the Burmese are ready for next week's Winter-break khuruj.

They were at dinner when we came, and they gave us no choice but to join them. The Burmese is one of the few other communities like Somalian and Bosnian who live as refugees here, being under the protection of US government itself. Most of them don't speak English, only a few among the youngsters do. But in jama'ah, language barrier is never really an issue. We are brothers regardless of any physical, geographical or linguistic differences...and brothers always understand each other. Done eating, we went to the attic upstairs for a quick mesyuwarah with the Burmese jama'ah. Br. Kamran did all the talking on our side. Wrapping up, they said they would come to ICR for Isya'.

Back to ICR, Mael and I had some conversation with these two Arab brothers: Br. Saif and Br. Abd Majid. Br. Saif goes to Monroe Community College (MCC), the same school one of my housemates goes to near Rustic Village while Br. Abd Majid is doing his Master's at RIT. Br. Saif is a very handsome guy (speaking from the standpoint of a girl). He has the looks girls would fight over: Bright skin, sharp nose, thick black hair with thin beard wrapping his jaws. If I were a girl, I might have fallen for him. Just kidding. But believe me sisters, he IS good looking. As for Br. Abd Majid, he is just married, and he is taking the same Biochem class we are taking.

We had bayan after Isya' by a Burmese brother from the guest jama'ah. Br. Rauf Bawani was the interpreter. It was short yet packed with important messages. Among the few things I recall; "Don't worry if the people you are talking to don't understand what you're talking, or if they would understand it wrong, because Allah is the one who bestows understanding. And He is the one who makes you understand what I'm talking right now. Our responsibility is just to convey the message."

We had a mesyuwarah again afterwards on our upcoming Winter-break khuruj. We listed out all the potential brothers that came to mind and discuss the other details. The destination is still undecided, but there is a strong possibility that we'll go to Boston since there's gonna be an ijtimak there on this 23, 24 & 25 of Dec. Br. Intikhab was chosen as the 'amir for this jama'ah. After all, he is the most qualified among us in terms of experience and sacrifice level. He has spent 7 months before on khuruj, traveling around the world just for the sake of religion. I noticed Br. Ismail, son of Br. Gungor was there too. He has grown full beard now. Later when we were leaving I said to him, "Nice beard you have. I would die for that beard. Mine just won't grow." He just laughed at this (man..I was pretty serious~).

Wassalam

p/s: The title is an overstatement really. We have abandoned our jaulah for quite some time now. But its good to be back to work. Also it reminds me of "squad ziarah Cemara." Hm..I really miss those days doing ziarah with you guys. Hope you guys are keeping this effort close to heart. Next time...more pics, less words! =)

i got a kiss!

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I heard Br. Kamran finally came back. The last I heard about him, he was having trouble getting back here because of visa problem or something. Anyway now that he's back, it's a blessing for us all insyaAllah. After being "frozen" for weeks now, it's time to have someone "thaw" or "heatshock" us back to work. There hasn't been any significant progress on our side since the Winter kicked off. When you've got yourself trapped in this misleading "comfortable" zone, it's hard to find your way out. No. Accurately, it's hard enough even to WANT to get out.

Come to think of it, I can't help comparing this whole situation to being caught under a genjutsu in Naruto (anime series). Ok2..Let me brief you on this. Genjutsu is a ninja battle technique that traps your opponent under an illusion, causing a disruption in their senses. There are two ways to escape, one is to have your comrade snap you out of it by disrupting your chakra (energy) flow, the other is to inflict considerable pain onto yourself in trying to cancel it's effect. Apparently, the earlier is more practical. So now we're counting on our comrade (Br. Kamran) who is outside this illusion to pull us out -End of detour-

Br. Intikhab dropped in yesterday and brought us some cookies, upon his coming back from attending city mesyuwarah (held once every two months) at Buffalo markaz. It might appear that he just came to say "salam" and then leave, but I could sense something else behind his coming. He came to give us an encouragement to come to the masjid more often. This is a great blessing of being among muslim jama'ah; When you forget and start losing your way, someone will pull you back home. So basically he came over to say "My dear brothers, you guys haven't been showing up for congregational prayers lately. What's happening? Is there a problem?" Just before he left, he gave me a warm hug, and a fatherly kiss on the forehead as a sign of concern. Karkun 2 got one too. Haha..I bet we both felt a little awkward back then.

Wow, even my dad never did that, at least as far as I can remember. And my mom hasn't done that in a while either..haha (like I'd ever ask my mom to do that anyway). You think it's creepy? Outside the jama'ah, maybe..but within the jama'ah, it's nothing unusual. Not saying that you kiss each other's foreheads all the time, but this is the level of affection sprouted from a strong tie of brotherhood in Islam. You see, until we can establish firm love, respect and care for our muslim brothers and sisters, there is no way unity can be achieved. This is the kind of bond we're trying to establish by going out on khuruj. The feelings of high and mighty, hatred, jealosy..we learn to suppress all these bit by bit. In jama'ah, we learn to honor each other: we eat in the same plate, we watch each other's back, we cover for each other, we even feed each other. All of these are contained in the fourth quality of the sahabah, ikramul muslim. Fuh..I can continue all day on this but I think I'll pen off here. There's still a whole lot of chapters to go over! Bye for now.

adam...

Another fruitful result of a random blogwalking I guess. This one hits me hard on the head. =)

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Adam,
Maafkan aku jika coretan ini memanaskan hatimu. Sesungguhnya aku adalah hawa, temanmu yang kau pinta semasa kesunyian di syurga dahulu. Aku asalnya dari tulang rusukmu yang bengkok. Jadi, tidak hairanlah jika perjalanan hidup ku sentiasa inginkan bimbingan darimu. Sentiasa mahu terpesong dari landasan kerana aku buruan syaitan.

Adam,
Maha suci Allah yang mentakdirkan kaumku lebih ramai bilangannya dari kaummu dikala akhir zaman ini. Itulah sebenarnya ketelitian Allah dalam urusanNya, kerana andainya Allah mentakdirkan bilangan kaummu mengatasi kaumku nescaya merahlah dunia ini dengan darah manusia. Kacau bilaulah suasana Adam sesama Adam bermusuh hanya kerana Hawa.

Bukti cukup nyata dari peristiwa Habil dan Qabil. Sehingga pada zaman cucu-cicitnya juga. Jika begitu maka tidak selaraslah undang-undang Allah yang mengharuskan adam beristeri lebih dari satu tetapi tidak melebihi 4 orang dalam satu masa.

Adam,
Bukan kerana ramainya isterimu membimbangkan daku. Bukan kerana sedikitnya bilanganmu merunsingkanku. Tetapi aku risau, gundah dan gulana menyaksikan tingkahmu. Sejak dahulu lagi telah aku ketahui bahawa seharusnya aku tunduk tatkala menjadi isterimu. Patutlah terlalu berat lidahku berbicara untuk menyatakan isi hati ini. Namun sebagai hamba Allah, aku sayang padamu.

Adam,
Sebagaimana di dalam Al-Quran telah menyatakan yang engku diberi kuasa terhadap wanita. Kau diberi amanah mendidikku Kau diberi tanggungjawab untuk menjagaku, memerhati dan mengawasiku agar redha Allah sentiasa menaungi. Tetapi duhai Adam, lihatlah dunia kini.

Apa yang telah terjadi kepada kaumku?

Kini, aku dan kaumku telah ramai yang menderhakaimu. Ramai yang telah menyimpang dari jalan yang telah ditetapkan. Asalnya Allah mengkehendaki aku tinggal tetap dirumah. Dijalan-jalan, dipasar, di bandar-bandar bukanlah tempatku. Jika terpaksa, aku keluar dari rumah seluruh tubuhku ditutup dari hujung rambut sehingga ke hujung kaki. Tetapi realitinya kini, aku lebih dari yang sepatutnya.

Adam,
Mengapa kau biarkan daku begini? Sememangnya aku ibu dan guru kepada anak-anakmu. Tetapi kini, aku jadi ibu, guru dan aku jugalah yang memikul senjata. Padahal engkau duduk sahaja. Ada diantara kau yang menganggur tiada kerja. Kau perhatikan sahaja aku panjat tangga dipejabat bomba. Kainku tinggi menyingsing peha, mengamankan Negara. Apakah kau sekarang tidak seperti dahulu? Apakah sudah hilang kasih sucimu padaku?

Adam,
Marahkah kau jika ku katakan terpesongnya hawa sekarang engkaulah yang harus dipersalahkan! Kenapa kau? Bukankah orang sering bicara, jika anak jahat maka emak bapak tidak pandai mendidik, jika murid bodoh, guru tidak pandai mengajar. Jadi secara formulanya, Aku binasa, kaulah puncanya!!!

Adam,
Kau selalu mangata, Hawa memang degil! Tidak mahu dengar kata! Tidak mudah makan nasihat! Kepala batu! Tetapi duhai Adam, seharusnya kau bertanya kepada dirimu, Siapakah ikutanmu? Siapakah rujukanmu? Dalam mendidik aku yang lemah ini. Adakah ikutanmu Muhammad saw? Adakah rujukanmu Muhammad saw? Adakah akhlak-akhlakmu boleh dijadikan contah buat kami kaum Hawa?

Adam,
Sebenarnya kaulah imam dan aku adalah makmummu. Aku adalah pengikut-pengikutmu kerana kaulah amir. Jika kau benar maka benarlah aku. Jika kau lalai, lalailah aku. Lupakah kau duhai Adam? Kau punya satu kelebihan anugerah Tuhan. Akalmu sembilan, nafsumu satu. Dan aku, akalku satu nafsuku beribu! Dari itu Adam, gunakanlah ketinggian akalmu untuk membimbingku.

Pimpinlah tanganku kerana aku sering lupa dan lalai. Seringkali aku tergelincir ditolak, disorong oleh nafsu dan kuncu-kuncunya. Bimbing dan bantulah aku dalam menyelami kalimah Allah. Perdengarkanlah daku kalimah syahdu dari TuhanMu agar duniaku sentiasa dijalan rahmah. Tiupkanlah roh jihad ke dalam dadaku agar aku mampu tetap menjadi mujahidah kekasih Allah.

Adam,
Andainya kau masih lali dengan kerenahmu sendiri. Masih segan mengikut langkah para sahabat baginda. Masih gentar mencegah mungkar. Maka kita tunggu dan lihatlah dunia ini akan hancur bila aku yang memerintah. Malulah engkau Adam. Malulah engkau pada dirimu sendiri.

Credit: Original source

a drop of reminder, a pool of apology

MySA's general meeting last night was quite interesting, especially the last portion of it when our president was directly addressing us about our putting Malaysia's pride on the line. Well, not all of us of course, but this Malay saying would well describe the situation, "Kerana nila setitik rosak susu sebelanga." What a moving speech. I expected no less from a president of his caliber. The things he said about us bearing the rights of others really made me rethink the purpose of my being here. Just how much sin I have committed by just slacking off in my studies. Sometimes you just need someone to strike at you head-on like that for you to get it. A real friend is someone who can give you a sincere advice when you really need one, even if it costs you your tears. How you would take it, that's for you to decide. After all, reminders are beneficial for Muslims. Back to the issue, so now MySA is not giving out any "aids" to anyone any more. I wish they could have done that way sooner, so I could have spent more time sharpening my reasoning skills.

Speaking of reminder, someone just gave me a warm reminder to come to the dodgeball tournament tonight. Well that's not strange at all since I skipped the last treasure hunt contest and put my team at the risk of losing their winning points. (And my team did win.) MySA have come up with this new rule where points will be deducted for every absence; a particularly effective strategy against those who hardly show up in the meetings. So it seems like I'll have to at least make sure my attendance is checked somehow. "What a drag...", the line my favorite Naruto character would say if he gets caught up in a tricky situation. It's a good thing though that this time around the matches between girls and boys will be done separately; otherwise, some people might not even consider coming at all. I'd love to be actively involved in these get-together activities as much as others do, but for some reasons I can't. By saying that, I'm not trying to offend anyone here, just delivering my sincere thoughts. My apology if it does sound that way. =)

p/s: MySA = Malaysian Students Association

Wassalam

dakwah dan cinta

I did some blogwalking a while back and ran into this nice wordwork. But..it's in Indonesian. Well, I guess it's time to put those hours spent on watching Sinetron to use! =)

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Katakanlah, Inilah jalanku, aku mengajak kalian kepada Allah dengan bashirah, aku dan
pengikut-pengikutku. Mahasuci Allah, dan aku bukan termasuk orang-orang yang musyrik.
Jalan dakwah panjang terbentang jauh kedepan
duri dan batu selalu mengganjal, lembah dan bukit menghadang
Ujungnya bukan di usia, bukan pula di dunia
Tetapi Cahaya Maha Cahaya, Syurga dan Ridho Allah
CINTA ADALAH SUMBERNYA, HATI DAN JIWA ADALAH RUMAHNYA
PERGILAH KE HATI-HATI
MANUSIA, AJAKLAH KE JALAN RABBMU
Nikmati perjalannya, berdiskusilah dengan bahasa bijaksana
Dan jika seseorang mendapat hidayah karenamu, itu lebih baik daripada dunia dan segala isinya
Pergilah ke hati-hati manusia ajaklah ke jalan Rabbmu
Jika engkau CINTA maka dakwah adalah FAHAM
Mengerti tentang Islam, risalah anbiya' dan warisan ulama'
Hendaklah engkau fanatis dan bangga dengannya
Seperti Mughirah bin Syu'bah di hadapan Rustum panglima Kisra
Jika engkau CINTA, maka dakwah adalah IKHLAS
Menghiasi hati, memotivasi jiwa untuk berkarya
Seperti kata abul anbiya, Sesungguhnya solatku, ibadahku, hidupku dan matiku semata bagi Rabb semesta
Berikanlah hatimu untuk Dia, katakanlah Allahu Ghayatuna
Jika engkau CINTA maka dakwah adalah AMAL
Membangun kejayaan umat kapan saja, di mana saja berada
Yang bernilai adalah kerja bukan semata ilmu apalagi lamunan.
Sasarannya adalah perbaikan dan perubahan
AL ISLAH WA TAGHYIR
Dari diri pribadi, keluarga, masyarakat dan negara. Bangun aktivitas secara tertib untuk mencapai KEJAYAAN
Jika engkau CINTA maka dakwah adalah TAAT
Kepada Allah dan RasulNya, Al-Quran dan sunnahnya
Serta orang-orang bertaqwa yang tertata. Taat adalah wujud syukurmu kepada hidayah Allah
Karenanya nikmat akan bertambah melimpah penuh berkah
Jika engkau CINTA maka dakwah adalah TADHIYAH
Bukti kesetiaan dan kesiapan memberi, pantang meminta. Bersedialah banyak kehilangan
dan sedikit menerima
KARENA YANG DI SISI ALLAH LEBIH MULIA...SEDANG DI SISIMU FANA BELAKA
Sedangkan setiap tetes keringat berpahala berlipat ganda
Jika engkau CINTA maka dakwah adalah TSABAT
Hati dan jiwa yang tegar walau banyak rintangan. Buah dari sabar meniti jalan,
teguh dalam barisan
ISTIQAMAH DALAM PERJUANGAN DENGAN KAKI TAK TERGOYAHKAN
Berjalan lempang jauh dari penyimpangan
Jika engkau CINTA maka dakwah adalah TAJARRUD
Ikhlas di setiap langkah menggapai suatu tujuan
Padukanlah seluruh potensimu libatkan dalam jalan ini
ENGKAU DA'I SEBELUM APAPUN ADANYA ENGKAU
Dakwah tugas utamamu sedangkan lainnya selingan
Jika engkau CINTA maka dakwah adalah TSIQOH
Kepercayaan yang dilandasi iman suci penuh keyakinan
Kepada Rasul, Islam, Qiyadah dan Junudnya
Hilangkan keraguan dan pastikan kejujuran
KARENA INILAH KAFILAH KEBENARAN YANG PENUH BERKAH
Jika engkau CINTA maka dakwah adalah UKHUWAH
Lekatnya ikatan hati berjalan dalam nilai-nilai persaudaraan. Bersaudaralah dengan
muslimin sedunia, umumnya mukmin mujahidin
LAPANG DADA syarat terendahnya, ITSAR bentuk tertingginya
Dan Allah yang mengetahui, menghimpun hati-hati para da'i dalam cintaNya
berjumpa karena taat kepadaNya
MELEBUR SATU DALAM DAKWAH KE JALAN ALLAH, SALING BERJANJI UNTUK
MENOLONG SYARI'ATNYA

original source: umuazzam.multiply.com