multiple tongues?

Our student gathering last Sunday went well though we had less attendance than we'd expected. As a matter of fact, we almost canceled the program. A brother's wife passed away a day before and they were having the funeral and some Quranic recitation for the deceased in the same day. We thought we would cancel our program to give way to theirs, but the brothers at ICR encouraged us the otherwise since we had planned the gathering way ahead of time. Besides the recitation would due later in the afternoon, so we made some changes to our program so we could finish before they started. Afterward, we joined them in the recitation.

Over the food, I sat at the same table with Br. Intikhab and some other Malaysians. At one point in our conversation, we were talking about how easy it is for a child to pick up multiple languages, due to the fact that their minds are still pure of "contamination" and irrelevant thoughts we grown-ups tend to have. Br. Intikhab gave the example of his sons. His youngest son is not even in school yet, but his English is already as good as any other native kids'. He learned English so quickly just by being around his older brothers and watching English programs on TV; you can see the environmental influence there. For those who started learning a foreign language later in life (like me), try as hard as you may, it will always be your second language; it's hard to make it nearly as good as your first language. As we grow old our tongues harden, which makes learning a new language even tougher (bitter truth). So I was saying that it's good to teach your children more than one languages, because for kids, picking up multiple languages is not a burden. They are in a stage where they can readily absorb anything at all you throw at them. Likewise, this is also a delicate time when you should teach as much Islamic basics as possible to them so this may be retained throughout their entire life. "Kids never forget." This is what I came to learn through my occasional observations on my little brother, Akim. Trust me, kids nowadays are far smarter than we were as kids. This holds true at least in my case. Throw them a laptop, an iPhone, or a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, they'll have it all figured out before you know it. But just before you do that, be ready to face the risk that you might not get it back until they fall asleep.

Iklan: Meet my new baby, Encik Samsung. ^^

I believe knowing multiple languages will come in handy later in a child's life, a favorable addition perhaps to his future career as a Dai'e Illallah. The more people they can communicate with, the bigger their "business network" is insyaAllah. Okay, coming to a more important point; the best way to work on these pure minds is to nourish them with the verses of Allah: teach them Quran. Make them huffaz if possible, or ulama', or both.. then you may mold them into someone else: a doctor, a lawyer, or a biotechnologist (though I wouldn't prefer this last option). As I said, "Kids never forget." So you wanna make sure that those things they won't forget, that they are bringing along with them throughout their life, are the things that not only will help them here, but also hereafter. And they might as well be of help to you on the Day of Judgment; after all, children are the best investment for the parents. Wallahua'lam.

P/s: So, what third languages you want your kids/future kids to learn? :D

sublime conduct

"To know someone's true character, watch how they treat people closest to them."

Observing good character or good conduct is part of Iman. In fact, it is a very essential component of Islam that the Prophet saw himself was sent by Allah swt to perfect the akhlak of his people, to teach us good manners. Going back to the above quote, a person's true character is reflected in the way they deal with those closest to them (parents, siblings etc) Most of the time we would observe good manners around strangers, but then show our true colors around close company.

It's pretty easy to keep our cool in front of people we barely know, but unfortunately, we tend to blow our top when dealing with our close ones. This is when our true colors shine through. Sounds familiar? It does to me. -__-") Observing good manners is no small thing; an 'abid (devout worshiper) could end up in Jahannam for hurting his/her neighbor. That is why the reward for observing good manners is also tremendous, as told by our beloved Propet saw;

Jabir r.a. reported: The Prophet saw said, “The dearest and nearest among you to me on the Day of Resurrection will be one who is the best of you in manners..."

Abu Hurairah r.a. reported: The Prophet saw said, “The most perfect man in his faith among the believers is the one whose behaviour is most excellent; and the best of you are those who are the best to their wives.”

Abud-Darda r.a. reported: The Prophet saw said, “Nothing will be heavier on the Day of Resurrection in the Scale of the believer than good manners. Allah hates one who utters foul or coarse language.”

Abu Umamah Al-Bahili r.a. reported: The Prophet saw said, “I guarantee a house in Jannah for one who gives up arguing, even if he is in the right; and I guarantee a home in the middle of Jannah for one who abandons lying even for the sake of fun; and I guarantee a house in the highest levels of Jannah for one who has good manners."

Jika ingin tahu akhlak sebenar seseorang,

lihatlah dia sewaktu dia sangat marah.

Jika ingin melihat kehebatan akhlaknya

lihatlah dia sewaktu berurusan dengan orang yang mencerca & membencinya.

Jika ingin lihat keadilan mindanya dan kebaikan pola pemikirannya,

lihatlah cara dia berbincang dengan orang pandangan berbeza dengannya.

Jika ingin lihat amanahnya,

lihat cara dia berurusan wang & duit denganmu.

Jika ingin lihat kawalan nafsunya,

lihat cara dia berbicara dengan org berlainan jantina yg dia sukai.

-Ustaz Zaharuddin-

"Ikramul muslimin (giving honor/respect to fellow muslims) is the test of Iman."

Whether we realize it or not, our Iman is being tested every single time we interact with the people around. To put up with their different kinds of attitudes and manners is not easy; to smile to an insult, to forgive and forget, showing compassion to foes, being humble to complements, clinging to humility, all this relates back to our Iman. May Allah guide us to keep working on our iman, may Allah guide us to excel in good character. Ameen. =)

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. =)

homing in on home

I've been worried sick about my pending flight tickets home. All my housemates have received their tickets but strangely I can't feel mine being on their way. Honestly, I feel like I'm dying every second I'm here lately. This overwhelming longing for home is becoming unbearable, and torturing. It's not that I can't wait to start a job or something, or that I've got some outstandingly good grades to show my parents, or some super-cool goodies that I'm getting them. It's not that I feel happy about leaving here either, or that..I have some girl I'd like my parents to meet. I know I'd be really sad about leaving those people I've known from here. That's why I've been going around collecting their Skype IDs so I can skype them later when I get home..hoho. Too bad we don't have a yearbook like back in middle school to pass around, kan. Okay back to my state of helplessness. At this very moment, I just want to be home in the company of my family, and cats (we used to have only one! and Gogo died!). And apparently this pending answer on my tickets really adds to the frustration. Patience ye Adam, patience.

Yes. I'm homesick. Thank you.

P/s: Excuse me for the drama. Saje..bersenda gurau di petang hari. (I still can't believe what I got for my Advanced Immune exam! -__-")

Pp/s: We are holding a student gathering this coming Sunday at ICR, but for boys only la. Please pray for the success of our (probably) last gathering together.

"prisoners" of Jannah

Yesterday I went to Buffalo for a halaqah mesyuarah with Br. Intikhab, Br. Rauf Bawani, and Br. Khalid. In Buffalo, just before we reached the masjid, we stopped by the madrasah Darul Uloom since Br. Intikhab needed to drop off some stuff for his sons there. We all helped to carry those stuff upstairs into the kids' dormitory. Looking at the massive and sturdy structure, my heart was impressed by the fact that that building actually started out as a prison. I believe it had been abandoned for some period of time before the Buffalo brothers bought it and changed it into a madrasah. Now the very structure that used to hold prisoners is now a sanctuary for future huffaz and ulama'. This impression I had then reminded me of a hadith which says;

I pondered over it for a while, then smiled to the cynical truth of the hadith. I thought, "How many of us are actually living a "prison" life and how many are living a "paradise" life?" But the real meaning of this hadith lies far beyond this superficial interpretation I made. I already wrote a scholar's explanation on this hadith in a previous post, but it was in Malay. So now I'm just writing it again, in English.

Hazrat 'Ali r.a. was teaching this hadith to a group of other companions when a Jew happened to pass by. The Muslims were living a prosperous life at that time. The Jew, on the other hand, was very poor-looking and had patches all over his clothes. Upon hearing the mention of this hadith, the Jew remarked, "That's a lie! You said this world is a prison for the believers and a paradise for the non believers. But look at my condition now and look at yours!" At this 'Ali r.a. replied; A mukmin who had lived all his life as a king, had never felt the slightest hardship and worry, had never suffered a disease, had enjoyed all the luxuries in this world, when he will have entered paradise and Allah will ask him, "Don't you want to go back to that paradise of yours?", he will answer; "Forgive me O Allah. You have granted me everything the heart may desire here, please don't bring me back to that terrible place!" And a non believer who had lived all his life as a beggar in the streets, had never felt the slightest happiness in his life, had suffered all the severest diseases in the world, when he will have entered hellfire he will beg; "O Allah, please bring me back to my Jannah!" (more or less the story)

P/s: The pleasure of paradise and the torment of hellfire are respectively tremendous and severe. All the pleasures in the world put together will not match the pleasure of Jannah, and all the torments in the world put together will not match the torment of Hellfire.