Teman-Teman di Perantauan

Memang tak seronok hidup merantau. Hidup berjauhan dari ibu-bapa, adik beradik dan kaum keluarga menimbulkan rasa rindu yang menebal. Kekadang, bila keluarga berkumpul untuk bersantai, mengeratkan silaturrahim ataupun meraikan sesuatu majlis, maka hati rasa pilu dan terkilan kerana tidak dapat memenuhi undangan. Dengan keadaan kenaikan harga minyak di pasaran, maka berlebih-lebih lagi terasa bahananya. Semakinlah kami rasa tersisih dari aktiviti2 keluarga.

Namun, sebenarnya, jika di lihat dari sudut yg berbeza, ada kelebihannya bila hidup merantau.

Bila dah jauh dari keluarga, maka jiran2 dan teman2lah menjadi penggantinya. Merekalah yg sama2 mengambil berat susah-senang hidup di perantauan. Terkadang, teman2 menjadi begitu akrab sehingga kita merasakan mereka seolah-olah sebahagian dari keluarga kita. Saat gembira dan berduka di kongsi bersama. Alhamdulillah, begitulah yg sebaiknya.

Semenjak kami berada di Darul Ridzuan ini, Alhamdulillah, ALlah telah pertemukan kami dengan beberapa keluarga yg begitu baik. Bersama2 kami belajar utk mujahadah dan bersusah payah mengislah diri & keluarga. Bak kata Hamka, kami sama usaha utk menjadi yg sedikit. Sudah pasti, tidaklah mudah menentang arus suasana. Apa lagi buat kami yg baru2 ingin belajar untuk usaha atas iman di saat2 pertengahan usia. Di saat dunia itu telah begitu kuat cengkamannya di dalam hati2 kami. Di saat diri sudah serasi dengan hidup yg alpa dan penuh angan2 yg sia-sia.

Asbab keperluan pekerjaan, satu demi satu teman2 yg telah meniggalkan kami utk pergi merantau jauh ke luar negeri. Walau mereka jauh di seberang lautan namun kami sentiasa terkenang dan merindui mereka. Kami sentiasa berdoa agar Allah swt pilih dan kekalkan kami semua dalam dakwah rasulullullah saw. Semoga ALlah swt merahmati persahabatan2 ini dan kita semua dipertemukan di dunia dan juga di akhirat. Agar di akhirat kelak kita dipilih Allah sebagai manusia2 yg duduk di atas mimbar2 mutiara. Bukan kerana kami dari golangan para anbiya dan shuhada, tetapi kerana di dunia ini, kami datang dari kampung halaman yg berbeza2, kami berkumpul di dunia utk membesar2kan Allah swt, kami berjumpa dan berpisah semata2 kerana Allah swt. AMin.

Pictures from London

Here are some pix of the London Trip. Sorry for taking such a long time to put it up.

This is Hyde Park. Isn't it beautiful? The park is sooo big. From one end to the other, it would take us hours to walk. We came to the park very early in the morning. In fact, this pix was taken at around 6 am. The sun is already up. During our stay, subuh was sometime around 4.30 am. After subuh, we tried to go back to sleep but we were always to excited to explore London. So, we usually wait until solat Isyrak and we went out for walks
The best thing about London is of course the weather. We love temperate climate. Sejuknyeee... best giler. Hehehe...maybe because we were visitors. We didn't mind the cold so much. It was such a wonderful change from the hot and humid weather of Malaysia. When we were there, it was spring and the flowers were blooming everywhere.

Yellow Amphibious Car
















View of the Tower Bridge.
















Double decker buses

Novels

Alhamdulillah, beberapa hari yg lepas, kami berkesempatan ke kedai buku. Apa lagi, aku pun cepat2 lah mencari novel terbaru Habiburrahman. Seronok pulak membaca novelnya. Mungkin kerana banyak kata2 semangat yg diselitkan di dalam novel2 nya. Di kedai buku itu, hanya ada novel "Ketika Cinta Bertasbih". Novel2 Habiburrahman yg lain tidak kelihatan. Mungkin telah habis dijual atau memang tidak di stok langsung. Oleh itu, tanpa banyak pilihan aku pun membeli novel "Ketika Cinta Bertasbih" Episod 1 and 2. InsyaAllah, kalau ceritanya juga bagus, akan aku coretkan di sini. Unutk teman2 yg ingin membaca Ayat-Ayat Cinta tapi belum dpt memilikinya, bolehlah cuba dapatkan e-book di sini -- Ayat-ayat cinta.

Kalau ada kesempatan dan peluang lain, bolehlah beli buku Habiburrahman yg asli. Dapat lah kita tolong support penulis2 Islam. Lagipun, kita boleh gunakan resit2 pembelian buku untuk dapatkan pengecualian cukai pendapatan. Betul tak? Untuk tahun lepas, sebanyak RM1,000 rebet diberikan utk pembelian buku2.

Neighbours

As I was walking out from my house, a pakcik, who had just arrived in front of my doorsteps told me that my neighbour has passed away. I am not too familiar with the neighbour as he is a middle-aged man who lived several houses from me. Apparently, he had died while he was on a fishing trip to Lumut. Innalillahiwa innailaihi rajiun. I couldn't believe my ears. It seems that just a few days ago, I saw him driving past my house. Now, his wife is left a widow and his 9 children are orphans.

That is life. When our time comes, DEFINITELY we will be called to His side. Whether we like it or not...no matter whether we are prepared or not. What I really regret is the fact that I have never been close to my neighbours. Not just this particular neighbour but almost all of my neighbours. Somehow, because we are all working women, I feel that it is justified that we seldom talk or visit each other.

Secara logiknya, kalau kita bekerja dari 8pg -5 ptg, bila kah masa yg kita ada utk bertandang bertanya ikhabar dengan jiran? Apa lagi kalau jiran kita pun sama2 bekerja. Tentu bila pulang dari kerja, hari pun dah petang, mereka pun sibuk dgn tugasan2 rumahnya. Hujung minggu pula, kita masing2 ada program...mungkin pulang ke kampung, ziarah keluarga, membeli-belah ke pekan atau berjalan2 makan angin. Pendek kata, walau pun kami sudah berjiran hampir 5 tahun, sangat sedikit kesempatan utk kita bersuai kenal atau beramah mesra.

Masya Allah. Ini semua alasan atas kelemahan diri saya. Jika saya benar2 usahakan, pasti dapat saya pergi ziarah mereka dan bertanya khabar. Lemah betul sifat ikram pada diri saya ini. Mulai hari ini, saya berazam akan mengubah keadaan diri. Mungkin saya akan gunakan ilmu masakan dari teman di http://perutkenyang.blogspot.com. Mana lah tau, dengan masakan2 nie, boleh jadi pembuka bicara dan dapat jadi asbab utk saya penuhi hak2 jiran tetangga.

In actuality, our next-door neighbours have vast claims over us. I fear, in the hereafter, their demands on us will prevent us from entering jannah. Astaghfirlahalazim.

Ultimate Laziness

Dear friends,

I do apologize for my looooong silence. Hmmm, there is definitely no excuse for my disappearance. I've been visiting and reading from the net, but, I have stayed incognito.

Entahlah, takde ilham nak tulis n3 baru. I am glad that some of my friends have started their own blogs. Reading their updates forces me to come out of my lazy spell.

Lately, I've finished reading the novel Ayat-Ayat Cinta. Amazingly, it was inspiring. Frankly, I've been reading romance novels since I was 12. I've completed rows & rows of M&B books in my hometown library. From M&B, I've graduated to Harlequins, Silhouttes and many2 others. My hubby used to tell me that my head is permanently in the clouds and I have unrealistic love expectations from reading too much romance books. Furthermore, now that I am much older, this genre of books seemed too idealistic. Thus, I stopped reading romance.

I was introduced to the idea of reading the book because the movie takes such a long time to appear in our cinema. So, I searched thru google and got a copy of the e-book. (I promise to buy the original book). Initially,I was quite sceptical about the book. I heard all the fuss about the book and the movie. I was definitely not convinced. Come on, I've seen quite a few of the Indonesian love stories ( albeit not full-length, only some parts and peices) and frankly, I do not believe in their values. Watching Indonesian movies make me question about the spiritual values of the actors/actresses/producers. Although I believe that most are muslims, their movies definitely do not potray muslim identities and beliefs. I am quite disappointed with all of them.

However, to my amazing surprise, the book Ayat2 Cinta has none of the stereotypical "western" love scenes and nuances. Alhamdulillah...I salute the author who managed to relay his message of love thru his beautiful phrases. He manages to simplify abstract values into everyday occurences. His analogy works. Although there are a whole bunch of Indonesian words which I do not understand, I still get the big picture/story.

I've seen the teaser/trailer for the movie. I do not think that I will be going to watch it. I believe that the movie did not manage to capture the spirituality of the book. From the few trailer scenes that I have seen, the movie seem to have betrayed the actual "feeling" and "values" of the characters. Alas, I guess the movie producers have compromised quite a bit to make the movie more commercial. I prefer to keep the story pure. I'll stick to my novel and I will not want to watch the adapted version of Ayat-Ayat Cinta.

Well...that's my 2 cents review of the book. What's your views ?

Adzan zuhur dah pun berkumandang kat PC nie. Time for me to go. Do leave your mark :)

Daughters

Hmmm, sayu rasanya hati. Baru sekejap tadi, aku telah menghantar Sarah pulang ke madrasahnya. Hati ibu mana yang tak tersentuh apabila melihat aliran air mata anaknya. Namun inilah korban. Korban dari kami sekeluarga. Korban utk agama. Korban terbesar dari Sarah sendiri kerana dia lah yang menanggung mujahadah berada dlm suasana madrasah...segala2nya kami lakukan semata-mata untuk mendapat keredhaan Allah.

Puas sudah memujuk dan memberi semangat pada dia utk meneruskan perjuangan. Membaca & menghafaz Al-Quran bukanlah sesuatu yg mudah... mana mungkin ia mudah. Hati yg ingin memikul firman2 suci Allah swt itu pastinya harus suci bersih. Jauh dari kemungkaran dan maksiat. Masya ALlah, inilah yang cuba aku terapkan kedalam hati kecil Sarah.

Sarah, bukan calang2 orang yg akan Allah pilih utk menjadi penerima wasiat nabi. Memegang amanah, menyimpan ayat2 suci Al-Quran di dalam hatinya. Sesungguhnya hati kecilmu yg tulus, bersih dan suci ini yg mampu. Jika di beri peluang sudah pasti ibumu ini ingin saja mengorbankan diri utk usaha ini. Namun, apakan daya, ibu ini berlumuran dgn daki2 dosa & noda. Anakku, kaulah pemangkin perubahan kami.Asbab susah payahmu, ibu & ayahmu dapat bangun malam munajat menangis memohon pd Allah. Asbab getirnya perjuangan mu, kami jadi lebih tawajjuh. Azam kami adalah membawa agama yg sempurna dlm penghidupan kami. Sarah, kaulah contoh tauladan buat adik2mu, malah buat ibu-bapa mu sendiri. Iman yg tersemat di hatimu, membunga & mekar indah dengan mujahadah mu. Yakinlah anakku, pasti Allah ganjarkan bagimu atas setiap titisan air matamu. Tidak pernah Allah itu memungkiri janji2nya. Walau kebaikanmu sebesar zarah, pasti akan dibilang.

Hanya pada Allah saja tempat kami mengadu. Susah sungguh ujian2 mendatang dlm meniti arus kehidupan. Semoga kami tidak tergelincir dari jalanMu yg lurus. Amin

Welcome Friend

Jeng...Jeng...Jeng

I am kinda expecting an old friend to drop by. As she is coming, I better update my blog asap. Hehehe...else, she would think that I am such a lazy bum for not updating any new n3 since March. True, I did promise to write more. However, life has been hectic these past few months. I am anticipating that things will wind down soon...Insya ALlah, when this happens, I shall vow to keep a daily update on my blog.

Two weeks ago, I got the opportunity to visit London. Wowweeeeee...seronoknya. Actually, its kinda business+pleasure trip. I did not bring any of the kids. But...I did bring the kid's father. hehehe...the trip turned out to be sorta like a second honeymoon. In fact, we never even had our first honeymoon. So, it was actually more like a belated honeymoon. Insya Allah, once I get the pix from hubby, I shall post it onto this site.

SubhanAllah, how great is ALlah. Bila melihat keindahan alam ciptaan ALlah, maka terdetik kesempurnaan & kehebatan Allah dalam mencipta dunia ini. Pasti, tidaklah sia-sia ciptaan2 ALlah itu.

"Tidaklah aku ciptakan jin dan manusia kecuali untuk beribadat kepadaKu"
Surah AdDzariyat Ayat 56

Sesungguhnya, manusia ini telah dijanjikan untuk menjadi makhluk ciptaan Allah yg terbaik. Bagaimanakah caranya utk kita dapat pengiktirafan sbg makhluk yg terbaik ini ? Marilah kita sama2 fikir2kan.

After all, even Socrates, a kufar believed that an unexamined life is a life not worth living. Apatah lagi kita, yang telah terpilih lahir sebagai muslim. Menjadi tanggungjawab kita untuk mengkaji dengan ikhlas, "APakah tujuan hidup kita di dunia ini?" Adakah utk mencari keseronokan ? Atau mengumpul harta? Atau menjana ekonomi keluarga, bangsa & negara? Atau mencari job satisfaction/career advancement? Atau semata-mata mencari redha ALlah? Seikhlas hati, marilah kita lapangkan masa & fikir2kan. Fikirkan tujuan maksud hidup kita di dunia ini. Sesungguhnya, hadis nabi Muhammad saw ada mengatakan bahawa fikir sesaat itu adalah lebih baik dari ibadat sunat 70 tahun. Insya Allah, kita mampu melakukannya.