kerja

Alhamdulillah..baru lepas melantak makan nasik lauk udang masak merah buatan sendiri yang sedap giler boleh lah tahan sedapnya. Dah dekat 2 tahun duduk US ni, kalau tak pandai masak pun kenalah buat2 pandai. Nak harapkan bonda tercinta masak nasik goreng pagi2 time sarapan pastu cekodok petang2 kat sini memang tak dapat lah kan. Hish..ni yang tak sabar nak balik cuti Summer ni..hehe. Ingat lagi time mula2 datang sini dulu, bila time nak masak je mesti tension, resah gelisah, gundah gulana..pastu sibuk dok cari resepi kat internet..ish2. Nak bau dapur pun gerun, inikan nak masuk dapur. Yelah..selalu tu masuk dapur sebagai 'tukang makan', bukan 'tukang masak'. Tapi alhamdulillah sekarang ni masak-memasak ni dah jadi perkara biasa dah.bak kata omputih tu 'second nature' lah. Lagi satu kat rumah ni masak wajib pakai jadual..kalau tak memang tak berasap lah dapur tu. Bila ada jadual ni kira adelah 'sense of responsibility' tu di bahu masing2.

Hm..nak kaitkan isu di atas dengan dakwah..Hari ini kita taknak buat dakwah sebab kita tak rasa yang dakwah tu adalah kerja kita, tanggungjawab kita..atau lebih teruk lagi, seperti kata seorang brother dari Buffalo, kita tak sedar pun yang kita ni ada kerja sebenarnya. Bila seseorang tu tak sedar pun dia ada kerja, macam mana dia nak buat kerja kan. Sebagai analogi, bila aku tau hari ni adalah turn aku untuk masak, dengan terpaksanya sukarelanya aku bergerak ke dapur untuk memasak, sebab aku tau memasak untuk malam ni adalah kerja aku. Aku ada rasa tanggungjawab dan fikir risau untuk siapkan makan malam, dan rasa tanggungjawab tu bukan hanya atas perut diri sendiri, tapi juga untuk member2 lain yang sedang kelaparan tu. Jadi bila kita tau yang kita ada kerja, barulah kita akan bergerak untuk buat kerja tu kan. Likewise, bila wujudnya fikir risau atas agama, barulah kita akan berkerja untuk usaha atas agama kita. Malahan fikir risau untuk agama bukan hanya untuk diri sendiri, tapi juga untuk kawan2, jiran sekampung, dan seluruh umat seperti fikir risau Rasulullah saw. Nak dapat fikir risau atas umat, kenalah keluar lihat keadaan umat hari ni. Keluar dari zon selesa dan belajar mujahadah untuk agama, only then baru kita dapat merasa cebisan2 daripada fikir risau Rasulullah saw. Tapi sudah semestinya usaha agama yang tinggi ini tak boleh disamakan dengan kerja memasak di dapur, ini hanya sekadar analogi untuk mudah faham. =)

Taip2 tak sedar jam dah dekat pukul 11. Sekarang ni Subuh kat sini masuk pukul 4 lebih pagi..huhu..memang seksa nak bangun, tambah2 untuk orang2 yang liat bangun pagi tu kan..hehe. Ok nak mengundur diri dah ni..assalamu'alaikum!

p/s: Spring quarter dah nak habis..yeay~

ijtima' akhirat

At last, I managed to find an opening in my (konon2nya) tight schedule to write this post. So minggu lepas, seperti yg dah dimaklumkan, kami keluar ke sebuah masjid majoriti orang Yaman di Lackawanna. We started out with 7 people from Rochester: Br. Intikhab, Br. Kamran, Ibrahim, Ammar, Zakaria, Wae, & me. Semua sumbat dalam minivan Br. Intikhab, merangkap driver & 'amir jemaah. Kitorang x pergi masjid Lackawanna terus, tapi singgah markaz Buffalo dulu utk solat Maghrib & Isya'. Masuk2 markaz seronok nampak Maulana Abdul Muqeet. Maulana baru balik dari Bangladesh..dgr citer lepas dari ijtima'a Tongi (21-24 Januari lepas) maulana sempat keluar sebelum balik lagi ke Buffalo ni. Lepas Maghrib lagi tambah seronok sebab maulana yang bagi bayan. Aku memang dengar dgn khusyuk & tawaduk..biasa la, bayan maulana ni 'aura' dia lain sikit daripada bayan2 biasa kan. Tapi kalau dengar bayan Syeikh Hasan daripada Jordan kat ijtima' Boston haritu..subhanallah, memang cair. Allah swt kurniakan syeikh dengan 'ilmu malah kepetahan kata2 untuk sampaikan 'ilmu sebaiknya.

Ni antara gambar2 dari Ijtima' Tongi 2010 yg sempat di copy & paste (boleh klik utk besarkan);

Ijtima' Tongi Gazipur, Bangladesh
(21-24 Januari 2010)
courtesy of freepicturebuzz

Tengok berapa ramai umat Muhammad yang berkumpul kat situ..dgr citer mencecah jutaan orang yang hadir. Hm..ni baru ijtima' kat dunia kan..kalau ijtima' akhirat yang kat Mahsyar esok wallahua'lam mcm mana sesak & ramainya. Time tu bukan setakat seluruh umat Muhammad saw, semua umat dari Nabi Adam as sampai lah kita yang last ni akan membanjiri Mahsyar.

Lepas makan malam kitorang terus gerak ke destinasi khuruj. Beberapa students join jemaah ni dari markaz Buffalo. Jemaah ni boleh kira besar jugak..at one point tu ada sampai 18 orang dalam jemaah kitorang yang semuanya students (kecuali Br. Kamran & Br. Intikhab lah). Kali ni ahli2 jemaah datang dari berbagai nationalities...

Malaysia
Pakistan
Turki
Yaman
Kenya
Bangladesh
Somalia
Burma

tanda umat Muhammad saw itu adalah satu! =) Subhanallah..betapa hebatnya Allah swt. Kami yang datang dari bebeza benua dan negara, yang tak pernah terfikir pun nak jumpa sebelum ni, dipertemukan Allah ditempat yang paling mulia di muka bumi ni..Kerana apa? Semata2 kerana agama-Nya insyaAllah..kerana usaha atas iman kami disatukan, bukan sebab keperluan atau kepentingan dunia. Kami dalam jemaah seolah2 adik-beradik yang dah terpisah lama dan bertemu kembali..despite of diferences in appearance, we all have common 'denominator' (bak kata Br. Kamran) iaitu Lailahaillallah Muhammadurrasulullah...ikatan sesama Muslim yang akan kekal sampai akhirat kelak insyaAllah. Hanya dengan kembali kepada kalimah inilah umat Islam dapat disatukan seluruhnya. Hari ini pelbagai cara, ikhtiar, plan, idea dikerah utk menyatukan umat Islam..tapi tidak juga menampakkan hasil. Kenapa agaknya? Mungkin kerana kita bermula dgn perbezaan, bukan dengan persamaan..sedangkan kita tahu kita umat Islam ada satu persamaan yg x mungkin dpt dinafikan oleh sesiapa pun..iaitu kalimah di atas.

إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى يَقُولُ: يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَيْنَ الْمُتَحَابُّونَ بِجَلاَلِ الْيَوْمَ أُظِلُّهُمْ فِي ظِلِّي يَوْمَ لاَ ظِلَّ إِلاَّ ظِلِّي؟

Maka Sesungguhnya kelak pada Hari Kiamat Allah akan berfirman, "Di mana orang-orang yang saling mencintai kerana keagunganKu? Pada hari ini Aku akan memberikan naungan kepadanya dalam naunganKu di saat tidak ada naungan kecuali naunganKu" (Riwayat Imam Muslim dari Abu Hurairah)

Semoga Allah swt masukkan kita semua dalam golongan tersebut..ameen. Kesimpulannya khuruj kali ni mmg best (semua khuruj pn best!) sbb dapat kenal brother2 dari Kenya. Walaupun mereka tinggal sebagai pelarian kat sini, diorang memang kelakar & sentiasa ceria, sekaligus membuatkan jemaah kitorang pun happy. Looking forward to spending time with other brothers from more other nationalities..lets experience the colors of this ummah. =)

Trinidad and Tobago

Bestnya hujung minggu ni keluar ke Lackawanna..tempat masjid orang Yaman tu. Ni kali kedua aku akan keluar kat sana..first time khuruj ke sana dalam bulan 10 thn lepas. Memandangkan sekarang ni pun tgh cuti sekolah bagi kebanyakan high school, dengar ceritanya memang ramai budak-budak yang akan join jemaah ni. Bagus2..the more the merrier kan. Dengar cerita lagi Syeikh Yahya, 'alim dari Somalia yang pernah muncul dalam entry sebelum ni pun akan luangkan masa untuk mudzakarah dgn student2 ni suma..hm..masa yg bagus utk menimba 'ilmu! Aku mmg sgt excited kalau ada 'alim yg keluar sekali dalam jemaah..always learn a lot from them. Ulama' ul haq pewaris para Nabi..siapa itu ulama' ul haq? Mereka itu lah ulama' yg amalkan sunnah dan perjuangkan apa yang Rasulullah perjuangkan. Tapi sekarang ulama' semakin menghilang (berkurang)..golongan lain pulak yg semakin bertambah..salah satu petanda kiamat dah dekat tu..hingga satu tahap kejahilan akan berleluasa; Dua orang akan berbalah & berhujah tentang perkara agama sedangkan dua2 pun takde 'ilmu tentang perkara tu. Menakutkan? So do make your children an 'alim ok..bagi yg dah ada lah..=)

Apa lagi update ye..ha..Satu jemaah 40 hari akan keluar ke Trinidad and Tobago pada 1 hb Mei ni insyaAllah. Kalau nak tau kat mana tempat tu boleh lah tanya Mr. Google Map sbb aku pn xberapa nak tau..tapi somewhere dekat2 dgn Caribbean Sea la. Alhamdulillah kami di Rochester ni ada wakil yang akan turut serta iaitu Br. Intikhab. Jadi kami di sini minta doa dari semua agar segalanya berjalan lancar bagi jemaah ni. Semoga dengan pengorbanan mereka hidayah tersebar di penjuru-penjuru dunia. InsyaAllah semoga Allah pilih aku dan kawan2 utk keluar jauh2 seluruh dunia.."Belajar agama, faham agama, sebar agama.." [Pak Su, 2009]

Sekarang ni kebanyakan dekat sini semua tgh bertungkus lumus prepare utk Malaysian Night hujung minggu ni, sebuah yearly event utk promote Malaysian cultures. Memang terasa agak kekok sebab tak dapat nak membantu..bukan kami di sini taknak membantu tapi kami ada prinsip yg dipegang..dan selagi terdaya akan kami pertahankan. Mungkin orang akan kata kitorang ni kolot or anything but it's fine..kami hanya buat yg termampu utk diri kami. Aku sendiri takkan mampu utk bertahan sendiri..byk kekurangan & kelemahan, but thanks to my sahabat2 who are always here for me to take example from..I do learn a lot from them. Anyway I wish them all the best in the event and may something good turn out from it..=) Wallahua'lam...

p/s: Actually next week Monday ada exam..tapi nak keluar jugak! Kena start belajar awal skit lah nampaknya..hm..taknak lose khuruj lagi mcm haritu because of my poor planning.

die-hard memories

Talk about anomalies..things beyond ordinary that happen every now and then in life. Though we may think some of the events we come across in life are beyond expectation or comprehension, those events had actually been written for us long before you and me even came into existence, on The Preserved Tablet (al-Lauh al-Mahfuz)..=)

Winter break 2010, we were on our way back from a 10-day khuruj to Chicago when something frightening happened; The car I was riding in spun 360 degrees and skidded off the road into the snow piles between the opposite traffics. I was getting goosebumps when I noticed the speedometer just kept going up. For such a road condition, we were already going pretty fast. The road was kinda icy, and speeding was the last thing you would want to do here. Phew..even prior to the big slide I felt the car was making occasional sideways movements. Subhanallah..I could feel it to my bones when the car was spinning, but no one was making a single sound..no screaming, no yelling..and I myself did not feel the slightest worry about the car getting into an accident. Strange..maybe that's because it was happening too sudden. The spin was followed by a crash over a small speed sign on the road side, and then an emergency landing in a mass of snow in the middle of nowhere. Then, there was this short interval of absolute silence in the car. Everyone was taking their time to comprehend what was going on. I couldn't be more grateful that the car stayed in it's upright position..it could have turned over or landed on the sides but it didn't. We were fortunate enough that no cars were coming our way on the road. Oh great..now the tires are stuck in the snow and we couldn't get back on the road. After a series of struggle in the windy weather, we finally made our way out of the snow, back up on the road. The car suffered a couple of dents, but we all got out of the mess and back to Rochester in one peace. Alhamdulillah..what a ride.

I never really got into a serious accident before. But I had a life-threatening experience once when I was out in the jungle on a camping trip. This was back in my secondary-school days. We were trying to climb down this rocky hill using a rope tied to a big tree..the ground was somewhat damp and watery. When it was my turn down, unfortunately, I slipped off the rope and slid right down the slippery ground head-first. Now..my head was going straight for a big rock on the way down. Lucky me, I saw that coming. I made my last-second dodge from the rock by turning my head away and "Dush.." I made my landing in style. I took a moment to catch my breath..I couldn't believe I made it. The people around were just as startled as I was..there was a sigh of relief celebrating my being alive..haha. My shirt was a total mess, I was covered in mud all over. I never told my mom about this, I wonder how she would have reacted...

Another incident took place way back in time, when I was just a cute little boy..ahha. I was in my beloved kampung in Sungai Manik. So in my kampung, almost all of the houses have paddy fields as a backyard..and the houses are located alongside a small river, which separates them from a tarred road. In my case, the river is just next to my front yard. At that time we only had a very small, shaky bridge that connected us to the road. But now the bridge has been replaced with a mass of soil packed across the river..more sturdy and safe. Here the story begins..one fine day, I was cycling my bike across the shabby bridge when I tripped over a piece of wood and fell off. It was a small bike I was riding..the one with the side wheels. So, you know this was one of the crucial moments of my life: learning how to ride a bike. Okay back to the falling part..I didn't fall right off..thanks to my quick reflexes. I managed to grab a hold of the bridge's side. I was holding on tight, half drowning. The water reached up to the top of my head..at this point only my hand was visible. Poor little me..I couldn't even shout for help. Now what's going to happen to me? My mom was inside the house and as far as I could remember nobody else was around. This little kid could really use a saving right now or else..Even though I was down there for quite a while, I don't remember breathing any water into my lungs..hm..I actually did a good job holding my breath long enough for saving to come. By Allah's will, one of my neighbors just happened to be close by doing his chores. Well he didn't hear me shouting..but I guess he saw my bike lying on the bridge..and a hand?! From under the water, I could see the sky was kinda blurry, and watery..my mind was empty..well what would you expect a kid would do in his dying moments? This emptiness dragged on for a while until suddenly I felt my hand being pulled up..and seconds later I was back on the bridge. Yeay..I was saved. Now I can't quite recall the later part..but I saw my mom coming to me running..with this expression a mother would have when her child almost drowned.

Despite all these..I'm still here! He has made me live for almost 22 years now. Alhamdulillah..may He put blessings in the coming seconds, days, or years of our life..ameen. =)

kenapa perlu buat dakwah?

I found this post very enlightening..it's short yet concise..it answers the question above pretty well..things just clicked when I read it through..hope you'll find it helpful too..=)

***************

SEORANG Mufti ditanya, “Dakwah ni apa hukumnya tuan mufti, fardhu ain ke fardhu kifayah?”. Mufti bagitau,”Dakwah ni bukanlah fardhu ain atau fardhu kifayah”, Habis tu apa hukumnya tuan mufti??” .”Dakwah ni adalah ‘maksudul hayah’ (maksud hidup) dan mengatasi daripada fardhu ain dan kifayah. Maksud hidup ummat akhir zaman ini dihantar oleh Allah kepada seluruh umat manusia, iaitu untuk mengajak kepada ma’ruf (kebaikan) dan mencegah yang mungkar (kejahatan). Kebaikan yg macamana?, segala bentuk ketaatan kepada allah dan sunnah nabi saw. Kejahatan yg macamana?, seluruh perkara yg bertentangan dgn ketaatan kepada Allah dan sunnah nabi saw.
(dipetik dari Bayan Mokhtar TS,jemaah 10 hari masturat Sri Petaling).

SYAITAN takut dgn org yg buat dakwah, tapi syaitan tak takut dgn ibadat2 kita. (Mafhum Hadis Nabi SAW lebih kurang) Seorang yg azan, syaitan akan lari kebelakang dengan terkentut2 jauh sehingga tidak kedengaran lagi suara azan. Siapa sahaja yg azan, tidak kira orang muda atau tua, berpelajaran atau tidak, cantik atau hodoh, miskin atau kaya,kanak2 atau dewasa, asal laung saja AZAN ‘ALLAHU AKBAR…..ALLAHU AKBAR….’ Terusssss syaitan lari bertempiaran… tapi bila kita mula angkat takbir ‘ALLAHU AKBAR’ syaitan datang semula utk cuba rosakkan solat kita…LAFAZ yang sama,ERTI YANG SAMA tapi atas maksud yg berbeza. Lafaz Allahu akbar dalam azan merupakan dakwah, malah azan itu sendiri merupakan dakwah yang sempurna, dan lafaz Allahu akbar dalam solat adalah lafaz utk ibadat. Maka, syaitan datang utk membisik-bisikkan sesuatu di telinga dan timbul rasa was2 sehingga teringat itu dan ini, akhirnya lupa rakaat dalam solat…
(dipetik daripada Bayan Jemaah Jeddah Mekah yang keluar di Indonesia, mutarjim oleh Maulana Harun)

Ulama bagitahu semua orang boleh buat dakwah walau siapapun dia. Namun dalam ibadat perlu pada ilmu, terutamanya ilmu masail/hokum ahkam agama kena belajar dengan ustaz/guru2 yang mursyid. Ulama bagitahu, Allah gunakan perkataan ‘kuntum khoiru ummah…”kamu semua adalah sebaik2 ummat…” menunnjukkan semua orang daripada ummat nabi saw adlaah bertanggjung jawab walau apa keadaan dia sekalipun utk amal dan sebarkan agama allah. Tidak kira lelaki,wanita,terpelajar,buta huruf,tua muda,miskin kaya,di desa di kota,siapa sahaja bertanggung jawab atas perkara ini, iaitu (berdakwah) utk mengajak pada kebaikan dan mencegah kemungkaran’.
(dipetik dari Bayan Maulana Harun dan Bayan Mokhtar TS,jemaah 10 hari masturat Sri Petaling)

Dakwah begitu tinggi di sisi Allah. Dalam Quran, apabila Nabi sulaiman minta kerajaan yang tidak pernah dimiliki oleh sebelum dan selepasnya, Allah terus bagi kerajaan kepada Nabi Sulaiman dalam ayat yg seterusnya tanpa banyak soal kerana nialai dunia tidak ada apa2 di sisi Allah. Tapi apabila Nabi Musa minta Allah Jadikan sepupunya Harun Sbg Nabi utk Bantu beliau berdakwah kpd firaun, Allah telah ungkit satu persatu tentang bantuan2 Allah kpd beliau sebelum Allah pilih Harun sebagai Nabi. Allah telah ungkit sejak nabi musa dihanyutkan di sungai, dipelihara oleh firaun musuhnya sendiri dalam istana firaun,sehinnga Musa lari dari mesir kerana menyebabkan seorang qibti dibunuh barulah Allah tukar perintah “idzhab” kepada “idzhabaa” iaitu “pergilah kamu berdua (musa as dan Harun as) kepada firaun.. dalam ayat yg seterusnya”
(Dipetik drpd Bayan Maulana Rahmat (Bahasa Urdu), mutarjim Maulana Azhim Sri Petaling)

Credits to the original site: USAHA ATAS IMAN

Masjid al-Rahman

We did jaulah yesterday with a joined jama'ah from Lackawanna and Buffalo. There were 5 people in the guest jama'ah, 3 of which were Yamanese brothers. After 'Asr, we sat in mesyuwarah (consultation) to decide what to do and where to go. To start, Br. Muhammad Muhsin gave us some targheeb on the importance of dakwah, to get us pumped up a bit. The targheeb went well, I expected no less from an Arab brother. I don't know if I'm overreacting, but it's always a great feeling to have the Arab brothers around..specifically speaking, I feel like more reassured and motivated in their presence..it is as though, nothing can go wrong with them on the team. This Br. Muhammad has spent much time in this effort, and his predecessors were known to have established many masjids in this effort of dakwah. There were around 10-12 people sitting in the mesyuwarah at that time. As decided, we split in two, one group staying in the masjid while the other (the one I was in) went to a newly opened Yamanese masjid, Masjid al-Rahman, downtown. Some brothers from the staying jama'ah were assigned to go to the Somali musolla, pray maghrib over there and get back to ICR before Isya'. Here is a picture of the masjid below;

Masjid al-Rahman, 300 Bay St. Rochester NY
(Courtesy of Mael)

As you might have noticed, this building doesn't portray the typical looks of a masjid on the outside..but it's a masjid alright. Before it was taken over by the Yamanese community here, this building used to be a church. I can't give you the exact statistics but believe me, lots of churches and other buildings are changing into masjids now..may it be here or in other places around the globe. Alhamdulillah..this is the sign of Allah's power and mercy. Biiznillah this will keep up until the Last Hour. The question on our side now is, whether or not we want to play a role in these changes..whether or not we want to be a means through which Allah's Mercy spreads.

On our way there, we stopped by a couple of muslim-owned corner stores for a quick ziarah. There was this one Yamanese store I went with Br. Muhammad that sells haram stuff in it. I couldn't believe myself being in a muslim store, with all those things around me. Since it was Yamanese brothers we're meeting, Br. Muhammad did the talking on our side. Well, thanks to my poor Arabic, I couldn't understand a thing of what they were talking about. But It seemed to me that Br. Muhammad was giving a direct reminder to the store owners..I could hear the words "beer" and "haram" being mentioned from his speech. La haula wala quwata illa billah..This is what happens when the effort of iman is neglected. Iman has no guarantee, may it be Arabs or non-Arabs..without a constant effort on our iman we're all susceptible to satanic deception. We should be sad for them..deep inside they do know they're doing the wrong thing, they do want to change and leave those haram businesses..but they are so much caught up in such an environment that they need their muslim brothers to come to the help. Now it's time we respond to their calls or they'll blame us in the hereafter for our selfishness.

As disappointing as it sounds, we didn't get to enter the masjid. The plan was to pray Maghrib over there and do some greetings with local brothers, but the door was locked and there was no one around. After waiting for almost half an hour, we headed back to ICR since Maghrib was apporaching. We'll have our chance next time insyaallah. The jama'ah left earlier than planned..one of the brothers had some health issues. We didn't get to listen to the bayan and the karkuzari (report) from the other jama'ah since we ourselves had to rush to RIT. Well, that's pretty much how our night wrapped up. May Allah accept these little things that we did.