"prisoners" at ICR

Yesterday a jama'ah of about 20 madrasah students came to ICR for the month's khuruj. Among them were a couple of adults, including an uztaz teaching at the madrasah and a mufti from New York City. It's become part of the policy for madrasahs with da'wah that the students should spend one day in khuruj every month. Regular students like us are encouraged to spend one and a half days, whereas the general adults should spend complete 3 days a month. We did jaulah with them after 'Asar. Two groups went out; Wae took one group to the Yamanese masjid, and I took the other smaller group to visit the Malaysians. I love being in the company of madrasah students and I'd be delighted every time I get to go in khuruj with them. I've always envied those bright faces, thinking how blessed they are and how blessed their parents are that their kids are enrolled in the path of preserving the knowledge Deen. I see these kids as profitable investments of the parents for their akhirah. Now I wonder if I've had any significant investment for mine. I undertand, with the correct intention, striving to get a degree is also a rewardable good deed, but still when I look at those faces long enough I wouldn't realize when my eyes started welling up with tears. Yes, every now and then I would hear this consoling remark, "If you go to college with the right intention to please Allah you'll be rewarded for that.." But I can't quite confirm if all this while my intention has always been to please Allah. Anyway, later after Maghrib we listened to a bayan by the mufti. Among the point I can remember was that it doesn't matter if you're not doing a lot of solah or making enough dzikir..when you go out and see the real condition of the ummah, your heart will cry, and then you'll get the concern and appreciation for this Deen, from which the practice will follow. Otherwise, if we stay at home we'll see that everything is fine and nothing wrong is going on, and slowly we'll stop making effort on this Deen altogether. Also glad to hear from the mufti that even Al-Azhar now have started sending jama'ahs out and the grand masyaikh are stepping into this effort of da'wah. Yet another door is opened by Him. ALHAMDULILLAH. ^^

acquaintances

I've been getting some unexpected calls these past few days. The other day a Moroccan brother whom I met at an Ijtima' in Reading Pennsylvania called saying that he'd like to come to Malaysia, as part of his travel around the world plan, and would like to meet me over there. I barely remembered him but he did take my cellphone number during our short meeting. Do come over brother, I'll be there to show you around. Just yesterday, an America revert, Br. Omar, whom we met in Utica while in khuruj called me for help. His wearing Baju Melayu caught our eye back at Utica masjid. He was so delighted to meet some Malaysians again after his return from Malaysia. Br. Omar took his syahadah in Malaysia while teaching at IIUM aka UIA. His family, however, did not approve of his decision and until now they are still mad at him over his conversion. He went to Malaysia recently in the hope to find a job as a teacher. He was looking for a part-time position since he's currently suffering from a health problem and can't work long hours. Unfortunately the jobs available are just for full-time positions. And now he's coming back here again, having spent almost all of his funds. So he asked me if I could find him a place to stay for a while, perhaps until he gets a job. I told him if he's coming to Rochester he could stay in our house for as long as we're still here, and perhaps I can hook him up with some brothers who might be able to help. May Allah make things easy for Br. Omar and strengthen his iman for this is a trying moment for him as a revert to Islam. He's currently staying at a motel with a cousin who is not Muslim.

hadiah

Petang tadi Br. Intikhab datang. Terkejut jugak tiba-tiba dia telefon cakap nak singgah rumah dari balik kerja. Kitorang kat rumah tengah tengok bola dengan khusyuknya di TV skrin besar. Apa lagi..kemas2 lah apa yang patut kan. Maklumlah rumah orang lelaki bujang, rumah dah la kecik duduk ramai2 pulak tu (alasan!). Tiba2 terngiang kata2 ibu tercinta ditelinga; "Kamu ni suka letak barang merata, dompet, henset semua nak kena cari..ni nanti dah kahwin takkan bini nak kena cari?" "Ala..nanti kitorang cari sama-sama lah.." Nak jawab macam tu, tapi kupendamkan..haha. Ibu dan nasihat-nasihat nya..rindu lah! Balik ni azam nak berkhidmat untuk ayah dan ibu..hehe.

Oh kat mana tadi? Jadi, perlawanan antara Real Madrid dan Bayern Munich terpaksa diberhentikan sebentar apabila loceng berbunyi. Dipendekkan cerita, Br. Intikhab datang sebab nak bagi kitorang jubah2 yang dia kirim dari Toronto sebagai hadiah. Minggu lepas Br. Syish pergi Toronto nak renew passport dia, jadi dia kirimlah beli jubah dekat sebuah kedai ni kat sana. Saya dapat kaler hijau, Mael dapat putih, Wae dapat hitam..siap ada matching kopiah lagi. Seronok nampaknya Br. Intikhab tu bila dapat bagi kitorang hadiah. Kitorang pun seronok la dapat hadiah kan. Lepas ni nak kena rajin2 pakai jubah la nampaknya. Ni kira hadiah perpisahan la kot sebab kitorang pun nak balik Malaysia dah insyaAllah dlm sebulan dua. Kitorang dah anggap dia macam keluarga sendiri kat sini. Dia pun dah anggap kitorang macam anak-anak dia dah. Dia tau kitorang ni duduk jauh dari keluarga, jadi macam2 lah dia buat kadang2 tu sebab nak hiburkan hati kitorang. Lagu Negaraku pun dia dah hafal dan selalu nyanyi kat kitorang. Tapi dia punya melody off sikitlah..haha. Hm..mesti dia sedih sebab kitorang nak balik ni. Dia memang dah bagitau siap2 dia akan nangis nanti..huhu. Takpe, insyaAllah boleh tetap berhubung melalui Skype kan. Br. Intikhab siap mintak nak tengok kitorang kawin live dekat Skype lagi..macam mana tu?

Hari Jumaat ni satu jema'ah Arab dari Lackawanna akan khuruj di Masjid Ar Rahman di Bay St. Rochester insyaAllah. Ingat lagi masjid yang asal nya church tu, tapi dah dibeli dan dijadikan masjid oleh komuniti Yaman kat situ. Kalau tengok masjid tu luar dalam sebijik macam church. Kuasa Allah kan. Allah boleh tukar semua church kat dunia ni jadi masjid kalau Dia berkehendak. Tapi Allah nak muliakan kita dengan bagi kita peluang untuk tunjukkan usaha kita dulu. Dan kemudian Allah sendiri yang kan beri ganjaran kepada orang-orang yang berusaha untuk menegakkan agama-Nya. Allah tak perlukan kita untuk buat apa-apa..sikit pun tidak. Semoga kita tergolong di kalangan orang2 yang dipilih Allah untuk membantu agama-Nya. Ameen. ^^,

P/s: Exam Advance Immune tadi macam tak boleh jawab. Sedihnya. Dah la Real Madrid kalah..huhu.

finally~

I knew something was not right! Hehe. Alhamdulillah, hopefully everything will work out smoothly after this. Tell the world I'm coming home, insyaAllah.

Click on the image to share my joy.

P/s: Phew! I'm a happy guy now. Hm..rasa macam nak belanja seseorang pun ada nih. =)

seratus

Si cantik manis dah dapat adik! Hanis dah jadi kakak sekarang. Kakak kenalah jaga adik kan. ^^

P/s: Tiba-tiba rasa ingin dikerumuni oleh kanak-kanak. Haha. ^^"

news from Chicago

We got a call from Br. Kamran yesterday. This was the first time we heard from him since he moved to Chicago about two months ago. We have lost a great companion in dakwah since then. Alhamdulillah..he and his family have settled down and found a new house over there. From his voice I could tell he is enjoying his new home a lot. He was telling me how the brothers there were very welcoming and happy to receive a new member in their community. And how much they look up to him as a hafiz of Quran. I'm glad to hear that the dakwah effort in his new place is very established and they have strong brothers on the team. I remember being to the markaz masjid in Chicago, and seeing such a great dakwah effort by the Arab brothers, I have no doubt that the surrounding places would at least get sprinkles of its noor. He was telling me how he feels inferior to the level of effort they have over there, that he needs to step at a faster pace to catch up with them. As much as he enjoys his new home, he and his family are starting to miss Rochester already. He said Atiqa and Taha have been mentioning Rochester. I told him we would love to pay him a visit..maybe during this coming winter break insyaAllah, along with spending some time over there. Alhamdulillah. Praise be to Allah. Established or not, strong or weak, this effort is growing all around the globe..and I couldn't be more grateful to be part of it, despite my countless shortcomings. May Allah open this effort to more and more of this ummah..ameen.

p/s: glad to hear some other friend of mine is also enjoying her new home..enjoy the roses while u can..^^