So, here goes the 1st principle or chapter ~
Lesson 1 - Criticism kills | How to win friends and influence people
So, here goes the 1st principle or chapter ~
Me, Shaytan & Fajr
One cold morning, I heard a voice trying to wake me up. The voice said my name once.
"Izzat!"
Twice.
"Izzat, wake up. It's Fajr!"
I was so lazy to wake up. It's cold and it feels really really good under the blanket at this hour. But he kept calling me and waking me up over and over again.
"Izzat, wake up! Don't fall for the shaytan! Come on, now. Wake up! Shaytan is playing tricks on you."
I said to myself, "Oh man, I can't let shaytan play tricks on me!" So, without any delay I woke up immediately, take a bath, make wudhu' and go straight to the masjid to pray Fajr in jamaah.
That was the day when I was in boarding school. Yeah, we have a religious group of students who always wake me and other students up in the morning for Fajr prayer. The way of saying "Don't fall for the shaytan!" have been a powerful phrase that I hold on until today. In fact, Allah said in Surah An-nisa, verse 26, that the plot of the devil/shaytan is very weak. So, what makes of us if we fall for the shaytan and sleep through? Well, what I can say is that we ARE a LOSER. *sigh. (T.T)
So, ever since then, if I were lazy to wake up for Fajr, I would remember this. But there is a second way that I used to force myself to wake up for Fajr and that is bearing in mind that praying Fajr in jamaah is one of the key for Islam to win. Like what Sheikh Khalid Yassin said, "Fajr is for soldier." If you can't mujahadah yourself to commit for praying Fajr in jamaah at the masjid, then the ever-dreamed 'Islam will win' situation will remain as a dream as you sleep through the Fajr praying time.
I'm not saying I always wake up early. Most of the time my friends wake me up. But that's the struggle within. A mujahadah against your nafs and a battle between you and shaytan.
So, two points to take away on how to wake up for fajr :-
*well of course you set your alarm clock, sleep early and all that kind of stuff~
Cos if you snooze, you loose!
(^_^)v
Ramadan|Half done already?
It's been a while I since my last entry on this blog.. huuuuu*blowing all the dust away*
It's Ramadan 18 now and it's half way through. A lot of questions jumping and skipping around inside my mind thinking of whether I have made full use of my last 18 days of Ramadan.
頑張りましょうー! (ganbarimashou = Let's work hard)
You're lying!
I can't really remember when or where this conversation took place..
Anyway, here it goes~
I had a conversation with a close friend of mine. We were chatting a whole lot of stuff about life, uni, and all sorts of things. Then, we reached to the part that he asked me a question, in which I think is quite simple to answer. Especially us, as a Muslim. He asked me..
"What do you want most in life, akhi?"
"Erm.. of course, I want to go to heaven! We have the same goal right?"
He nodded and with a smile on his face, he said to me,
"You're lying akhi. Not just you, but me too. We said we want heaven, we want to go to Jannah, but we're obviously lying."
"What do you mean we're lying? Isn't that what we want?" Me asking him with a puzzled look on my face.
"We're lying because we said we want Jannah, but we're not acting like it. We're doing sins like it's part of our life. Sink into the love of this Dunya, playing games and all other entertainment excessively, to the point that we bargained our sleep time at night. Just makes me think again, whether I'm saying it because I really want it, or just to make myself look pious?"
I remained silent and felt like a strong slap just landed on my cheek, both side of it. It was too bitter to swallow when he called me a liar. But yeah, I did. Some of us did. I mean, do you really want it? Or you're just saying it to make yourself look good, or for whatever reasons it may be. If you want it, act accordingly!
Let's keep moving forward now and be a better Muslim everyday. Not just BE a better Muslim, but call people into Islam, not just to the non-Muslim, but to the Muslim. That's the priority, cos they're our brothers and sisters of Aqidah-bonded.
(^-^)/
Basketball Shoe & Shoe Lace..
A few months before I came to Adelaide, I met an akh from UK. He dropped by KBU (Kolej Bndr Utama, where I had my foundation year).
One afternoon, we were playing basketball together. Me and his 'usrah'mates from UK as well. When we're on our way to the basketball court, I saw his basketball shoe. Still shiny and still have that 'bau kedai'. If I'm not mistaken, the model was Hyperfuse (It was expensive at that time. Around RM300-400. Only 'tokey emas' can buy that).
So, we had a little conversation. Me and him....
Me : Wow, that pair of shoe looks new. I looked at the review and it has good performance too.
Akh : Oh, this shoe... ? This is a little bit special compared to any I had before.
Me : Oh, why's that? (puzzled)
Akh : You see those guys? (pointing towards his 'usrah'mates, walking down the road to the court).
Me : Yeah...
Akh : Yup, those guys bought it for me. (^^)
Me : (O.o) (*speechless!)
Akh : Ukhuwwah values more than this. It's not about the shoe, it's about the willingness to sacrifice some of the things that you loved, to someone that you care for the sake of Allah.
I looked down, looking at my run-down basketball shoe (not that I want a new one, haha). Looking at my shoe lace.
Ukhuwwah is indeed like a shoe lace, while Islam is like the shoe. With a carefully tied shoe lace, you can walk with the shoe, in fact, run with it without falling down. No problem at all. This Deen of Islam can soar as high as it can get. The Ustaziatul Alam (Islam as the world's 'trend-setter') that we've ever dreamed of.
But if it is untied, forget running, walking too can make you fall and bleed. Each end of the shoe lace have its role to play. You can't tie your shoe just with one end of the shoe lace, right? So, value it before the shoe can no more be used. Isn't ukhuwwah is one of the core of this Ummah? Take good care of it, will ya~
Walk your talk!
I do agree that doing da'wah or trying to spread good on this Planet require us to walk our talk. We lead the people, our target of da'wah (mad'u), by example. Through our good akhlak and manners that agrees to Islam.
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