of perfect timings

Believe

What He has planned for you

Maybe what you like brings no good to you

And what you hate is the best for your needs

Be patient

For perfect things to happen at its most perfect time

Whether it's sooner or later, it is all upon His will

And when He says 'kun fa ya kun'

Nothing else could stop it

And we will accept it

with Shukur 
and Sabr

Ia hanyalah air

Hujan

Turunnya membawa rahmat

Adakalanya musibah

Tapi penuh dengan hikmah

Beruntung bagi orang-orang yang berfikir. 

I'm still learning, just like you

"ape maksud perkataan ni?"

"ntah. tak tau jugak. macam tak pernah jumpe je"

"eh kata cikgu BI? takkan tu pun tak tau?"

"oh kalau macam tu baik aku jadi dictionary je, tau semua perkataan.. "


a teacher, is also a learner.
don't expect a teacher knows it all (that's a bonus if he/she does)
they're not the ones who invented all those words.

fluency is based on how you familiarise with common words
words that are widely used, not those bombastic yet uncommon, but confusing.

language not only depends on individual words.
it also depends on chunks and context as a whole.

so don't judge if I don't know a word.

I'm still learning, just like you. 

it is still a journey.

perhaps
it's just so hard to move on
to let it go and let it be forgotten
to learn from the past
and to live in the moment
and not being afraid to make mistakes

yes, my beginning was tough
but why must I suffer now?
why I keep on questioning those things now?
He has thrown me there so I will learn
but have I learned anything?
it's been couple of years now
but now that I've  realised
how far have I gone through
without that essential element?

al-fahmu.

it's a wonder I survived though
while those around me
they fall back one by one.
didn't I ever think why I'm still here?

there is a reason why
yet to be discovered
and i'm still searching for it.

Rezeki Dhuha

Alkisah hari ini

Pagi tadi saya telah mendapat satu bungkusan Pos Laju dari seorang sahabat senior kenalan di UK dulu. Beliau menjual tudung labuh secara online dan kebetulan pula saya memang sedang tercari-cari tudung yang bersaiz labuh (takde la minat sangat tudung berfesyen-fesyen ni, tapi memandangkan tudung sedia ada yang agak labuh memang limited, jadinya memang tergoda la kan).

Bukak je bungkusan tu, tengah-tengah excited tengok tudung-tudung baru, tiba-tiba saya terperasan satu tudung ni. Rasenye tak de la pulak saya order tudung tu.. Terus saya buka facebook akak tu dan tengok balik album gambar tudung tu. Sah, akak tu tersilap hantar tudung.

Saya maklumkan yang akak tu dah tersalah hantar. Dia pun check balik stok dan berjanji akan hantar tudung yang saya pesan dalam masa terdekat.

dan........

tudung yang dia tersalah hantar tu, dia bagi free!!

Sape yang tak seronok kan dapat benda free, tudung baru kot.

Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah alhamdulillah.

Moga kakakku dilimpahi rezeki yang bertambah-tambah.

Amin.

being a believer

you say you're a proud Muslim
but your act doesn't show one

you say you obey Allah
but the Quran is always left behind

you say you love His Messenger
but his story was never in your mind

you say you love peace and togetherness
yet why yourselves are not united, but divided

Islam teaches you to purify your deen
Islam teaches you to care for others
Islam teaches you to love God more than your own
Islam teaches you to never give up, but believe there's hope

there's hope for everyone
regardless the state you've been into.
He is always forgiving
and He will always love us
when no one else does.

peramah

"buat passport first time juga ke?"

Dia memulakan bicara. 

"oh, takdelah. renew passport je. first time ke?"

Tak jadi saya nak mula baca cerpen yang baru didownload ke smartphone semalam. Terus saja saya tutup apps itu, dan simpan smartphone ke dalam beg. Dan kami berborak panjang sementara menunggu giliran  masing-masing dipanggil ke kaunter. 

Siapa sangka 'strangers' seperti saya dan dia, begitu mudah berborak seperti sudah lama kenal. 

Benar, dengan adanya smartphones, tablets, social networks, dan macam-macam lagi, kita sebenarnya semakin jauh dari orang di sekeliling. walaupun kadang-kadang dia hanya duduk disebelah kita saja. Kita lebih selesa berhubung dengan orang lain di alam maya, yang realitinya mereka itu mungkin berada di zon masa yang berbeza dengan kita. 

yang dekat tapi jauh.

yang jauh tapi dekat. 

Teknologi membuatkan kita semakin lemah interpersonal skills, semakin kurang adab dan common sense nya.

Muhasabah.

Tiada guna jika kita 'peramah' di alam maya, tegur sana, komen sini dan segala macam, tapi di alam realitinya, kita diam membatu. tidak endah hal sekeliling. tiada tegur sapa. hilang dalam dunia sendiri. 

kita ni syok sendiri rupanya!

rezeki

Rezeki.

tiap orang punya rezeki berbeza

ada yang rezekinya cemerlang dalam pelajaran

ada orang rezekinya pada keluarganya yang bahagia

ada orang rezekinya pengalaman merantau ke sini sana

ada orang rezekinya pada setiap urusannya yang dipermudah

kadang-kala, rezeki juga adalah ujian buat hambaNya

tiada guna untuk iri hati pada yang punya rezeki

setiap dari kita punya rezeki masing-masing

nikmat manakah yang engkau dustakan?

persoalannya, bersyukurkah kita?

Muhasabah.

the hijab

people with the hijab
a sign of obedience
a symbol of piety

but wait
they're not angels
they're just people like us
just like you and me

they do make mistakes
just like other people do
so why do we stereotyped them?
why do we judged them
if they make mistakes?

sometimes i wonder
just because they're in the hijab
they can't commit any wrongdoings?

people always say
the hijab you wear symbolises your attitudes
that is true, nobody will deny
but, to shun people of what they have done wrong
is an unacceptable action

within those hijabs
there may be struggles
the struggles to keep them on
the struggles to practise the deen

these people in the hijab
they want to please their Creator
they want to live up the deen
and to be the best slave for their God

so for you, you, and you
your voice do not matter
as long it's according to His ways
nothing else matters.

The imperfection

The ugly truth is...

We can never be perfect.

The more we tried to improve
The greater the challenges would be

Maybe we're not desperate enough in our dua
Maybe we're not fully committed to change
Maybe we're just... take things for granted.

If only we knew
He's waiting for us
He is longing for our desperate duas
He's waiting to listen to all our nags

Yes, we can never be perfect
But we can be the best of our version
The one who pleases Allah
The one who keeps on trying
To improve for the better

Keep on trying
Never stop searching
Believe He will help us through
If we believe in ourselves
Keep the dua in our prayers
And may we steadfast in this path

cahaya iman

sahabat

bilamana hati meronta
diri yang kian alpa akan amalmu

bersyukurlah.
itu tanda hati masih hidup

andai hati tidak tenang
tika diri melakukan dosa

yakinlah
masih bersisa iman di dalam hatimu

hati itu belum mati
cuma menunggu masa
untuk disemai kembali dengan cahayaNya

tika iman tinggi melangit
beribadahlah semahunya

jadikan bekalan
tika ia merudum jatuh

apabila sudah jatuh
usah mengalah, cuba lagi

kerana tiada siapa
imannya tidak naik, tidak pula jatuh

feel it so you will appreciate

tests, difficulties, struggles.
everybody will face it
no one, yes, no one
will be tested the same way
as the person next to you

some of you
will be tested with health

some of you
will be tested with wealth

and some others
will be tested with the words they uttered

do not frown
it is the way Allah have sent to you
He misses our prayers and nags
He misses our dependency towards Him

cry
will not solve the problems
but it gives us strength
even stronger
if we prostrate to Him

back to basics

"Adik, akak nak tanya ni, macam mana adik sekarang ni? Masih mencari lagi ke?"

"Apa maksud akak mencari tu?"

"maksudnya, mencari 'something' yang terbaik untuk diri kita. Rohani.. Soul..."

"Hmm... Rasanya macam tu lah kot kak. Saya memang sejujurnya, tengah ambil masa untuk 'time out' kejap... Sebab tu lepas habis bulan *** aritu, saya senyap je tak join mana-mana program kita..."

"It's okay, good for you. Takpe, you take your time..."

"Tapi off lama-lama pun, nanti tak pasal-pasal lesap terus pulak kann.."

"Jangan terlalu lama dan jauh..."

Menalar. Merenung kembali. Bak kata Ustaz Hasrizal dalam buku terbarunya Menalar Makna Diri, pengkajiannya tentang Imam Birgivi, beliau bukan sahaja menghayati sejarah tokoh tersebut, bahkan merenung dan muhasabah dirinya. Sedikit sebanyak perkongsian ustaz semasa Seminar yang diadakan di UKM tempoh hari betul-betul menusuk hati dan perasaan.

It was at the right moment, as me myself was still in search the meaning of life. I finished my degree in ***, and soon after that, my time was filled with so many things. I want to go back to the basics. I want to unlearn and relearn.

Jujur kata, 3-4 tahun yang dah berlalu, memang banyak perkara yang telah saya belajar. From zero knowledge of anything, I've became someone who have something. Be it knowledge, or experience or anything under the sun. Saya yang sekarang tidak lagi seperti dahulu. Tapi, dalam 'something' yang ada tu, terasa masih ada kekosongan yang belum diisi.

Kita mungkin sibuk buat program sini, handle program sana, peduli hal adik-adik junior, tapi at one point, kita tak ambil peduli progress diri sendiri. Eh. Bukan la nak kata memang tak ambil pusing, tapi kurang sedikit. Yelah, busy buat program, busy juga buat assignment semua tu. Kadang-kadang kita lupa nak revise balik apa yang kita dah belajar. Lupa nak check amalan sendiri. zretttt.

'Time-out' kali ni benar-benar bermanfaat buat saya. Satu demi satu datang kepada saya, dalam keadaan yang tak saya jangkakan. Alhamdulillah dan sememangnya rasa bersyukur dengan segala macam tarbiyah yang saya dapat sepanjang fasa ni.

Beberapa bulan yang sangat lapang ini, saya belajar kembali untuk menghayati ayat-ayat al-Quran. Seperti pertama kali jatuh cinta dengan al-Quran, begitulah perasaannya. Saya membuka kembali buku-buku asas tentang Islam, seperti bagaimana untuk solat dengan sempurna, apakah saya benar-benar menganut Islam (Maza Yakni), buka balik nota-nota usrah berkenaan aqidah dan banyak lagi. It sounds very basics, right? IT IS.

Mungkin, kerana rutin yang diamalkan, menyebabkan saya leka, dan tidak menghargai setiap ibadah yang kita lakukan setiap hari. Dan mungkin juga, kerana leka itulah, saya makin tidak rasa kemanisan beribadah kerana Allah. He knows well upon this slave yang selalu leka. Dalam berprogram dengan pelajar-pelajar sekolah, sebenarnya secara tak langsung Allah bagi saya peluang untuk revise balik semua tu. Serius. Rasa macam baru jumpa jalan pulang lepas sesat yang terlalu lama.

Moga, dengan apa yang saya dapat sekarang ni, membuka 1 jalan, 1 peluang untuk saya terus istiqamah. Dalam beramal, dalam menyumbang kepada Islam. Pernah saya pasakkan dalam hati, lepas dari semua ni, saya takkan menoleh ke belakang lagi. Tiba masa untuk kembali infiru dari 'futur' yang disengajakan ni. Insya'allah.

Mail Merge - Microsoft Office Words

    Mail Merge adalah kemudahan yang boleh digunakan dalam Microsoft Office Word. Aplikasi ini membolehkan satu dokumen digunakan untuk semua orang. Lazimnya digunakan untuk mengisi borang, sijil, surat edaran, resit dan banyak lagi kegunaanya. 
   Tak perlu taip secara manual, satu-satu. Cuma kena sediakan master dokument (fail induk) dan satu fail pengkalan data (fail excell). Berikut adalah 4 langkah utama yang perlu dituruti untuk membuat  Mail Merge.

1. Buat satu fail pengkalan data dalam bentuk excell, kemudian simpan (save) dan tutupkannya. 

  (Seperti contoh di bawah)  

2. Sediakan fail induk. (master document) seperti di bawah.

3. Pilih menu Maillings => Select Recipients => Use Existing List... Kemudian pilih fail pengkalan data anda. (Seperti gambar di bawah)

 4. Masukkan data yang berkenaan dengan letakkan kursor (tanda "l" yang sentiasa berkelip) anda pada tempat yang sesuai pada tempat yang sesuai. Kemudian klik :
Mailling => Insert Merge Field => Nama 

Ulang langkah 4 sehingga data telah lengkap. (Seperti di bawah) Siap!!! :)

Untuk melihat semua data yang telah lengkap sila pilih :

  Mallings => Print Result => klik "<"atau">" 
 

(Paparan dokumen akan berubah setiap kali klik < atau >)

Kegunaan Menu "Finish & Merge"
-  Hasil dokumen secara individu (Fail disimpan berasingan)
- Mencetak data Mail Merge
- Edaran e-mail 

Credit to: link asal

mencari ruh yang hilang

aku perlukan ruang
untuk menilai kembali diri

sekian lamanya
kita semakin selesa

semakin leka dibuai senang
semakin alpa matlamat diri

kerana rutin
kita makin hilang ruh itu

aku ingin kembali
mencari yang semakin pudar

andai satu hari nanti
aku tidak bersama lagi

doakan sebaiknya

agar aku teguh bersama Islam

so what's next?

it's coming to an end now

see

so how was it?

did you enjoy it?

or worse...

if nothing ever changed

if what you had

were just thirst and hunger,

you're gotta be kidding me

keep calm and work it out fast

there's few more days left 

will we meet again next time?

no one knows but Him

so what's next?

love

to some

saying 'I Love You'

is effortless

but to some others

saying they love you 

is the hardest

love is a verb

shown through acts

beyond those three words

but if words couldn't describe

and acts couldn't express

then what's left?

through our prayers.

ana uhibbuki fillah

ya ukhti

Surah Fatihah Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014

there's A LOT of linguistics elements in Surah Al-Fatihah that show Al-Quran is indeed from ALLAH - The Owner, The Maintainer of all creations in the heaven and the earth (rabb al-'alamin).

Allah introduces Himself in the first part of Surah al-Fatihah (ayat 2 - 4) as the 'rabb al-'alamin' who is 'ar-rahman ar-rahim' (caring & loving).

While in the third part of Surah al-Fatihah, Allah teaches us i.e. the slaves of Allah, how to ask for His guidance 
(ayat 6 -7)

In the middle of the surah (ayat 5), Allah teaches us that after we accept that Allah is the 'rabb al-'alamin', we must seek help from Allah.

Allah teaches us to seek guidance & help from Him to make us the people with knowledge & act upon the knowledge!

In a nutshell, Surah al-Fatihah teaches us about 'what Allah wants us to know about Him' and 'what we need from Him'.

May Allah give us the understanding and accept our du'a while reciting Surah al-Fatihah in our everyday solat. 

Ameen


Kredit: Syafiqah Sulaiman 

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - Penangan Lalat

Ok, saya share satu lagi - one of my favourite examples in the Quran that I got from Divine Speech Seminar. 

Dalam Surah al-Hajj, ayat 73, Allah membuat satu poin penting bahawa, apa-apa yang disembah selain Allah adalah sia-sia. Allah telah membuat satu perbandingan menggunakan lalat dalam ayat tersebut.

Maksudnya:

"O people, an example is presented, so listen to it.

Indeed, those you call upon/supplicate to besides Allah

will never create (as much as) a fly, even if they gathered together for that purpose.

And if the fly should steal away from them a (tiny) thing, they could not recover it from him.

Weak are the pursuer and pursued."

*****

Dalam Divine Speech, Ustaz Nouman telah menjelaskan ayat ini dengan begitu menarik sekali. Berikut penjelasan beliau:

#1
[...those you call upon/supplicate to besides Allah...]

Manusia, jika tidak menyembah Allah, mereka sembah 2 benda:
- tuhan palsu (false god): macam berhala (idols), etc
- raja (pemerintah): macam Firaun, etc

Untuk memudahkan penceritaan, saya akan guna perkataan 'berhala' dan 'Firaun' sahaja sebagai contoh seterusnya.

#2
[...will never create (as much as) a fly, even if they gathered together for that purpose...]

Jadi, berhala ataupun Firaun; tidak mampu mencipta apa-apa pun walaupun seekor LALAT, sekalipun semua berhala dan sembahan lain bekerjasama dengan mereka, mereka semua tidak akan mampu mencipta seekor LALAT itu.

#3
[...And if the fly should steal away from them a (tiny) thing, they could not recover it from him...]

Bila baca ayat ini, mungkin kita tertanya-tanya, bagaimanalah lalat yang begitu kecil boleh mengambil sesuatu daripada berhala itu? Apa maksud ayat ini sebenarnya?

Bayangkan...

Di satu tempat yang penuh dengan berhala dan di antara berhala-berhala itu ada satu berhala yang paling besar.

Di hadapan berhala besar itu pula tersedia pelbagai jenis makanan. Ada buah epal, ada anggur, ada nanas, ada pisang, ada pizza peperoni, ada nasi putih, ada ikan goreng, dan macam-macam lagi.

Tiba-tiba, datang seorang insan yang kelaparan lalu di tempat itu. Apabila dia melihat makanan yang banyak di hadapan berhala besar itu, dia terus mencapai sebiji buah epal yang kelihatan sungguh sedap di matanya.

Baru sahaja dia hendak mencapai buah epal tersebut, tidak semena-mena tangannya ditepuk oleh salah seorang penyembah berhala yang sedang melakukan upacara penyembahan di situ.

"Hoi, siapa suruh kau ambil buah epal tu? Itu untuk tuhan akulah!" kata orang yang menepuk tangan insan kelaparan itu tadi. Insan kelaparan itu lalu berlalu dari situ dengan penuh kesedihan.

Tanpa disedari, kelihatan seekor lalat sedang berterbangan mengelilingi pizza peperoni di hadapan berhala besar itu.

*bzzz*bzzz*bzzz* - lalat itu berbunyi.

'Waah, peperoni tu nampak sedaplah. Aku nak makan peperoni tu. Aku nak makan peperoni tu,' kata lalat itu di dalam hati lalu mendarat di atas pizza peperoni tersebut. Dengan lahapnya, dia menggigit peperoni itu sepuas hatinya.

*burp* - lalat itu tersendawa kecil.

Setelah sendawa kekenyangan, lalat itu dengan selamba dan senang hati terbang meninggalkan tempat itu.

Itulah keadaannya, berhala yang berada di hadapan makanan itu tidak mampu mengambil balik makanannya yang diambil oleh seekor LALAT yang kecil itu.

Mar kita lihat kembali perumpamaan yang Allah berikan dalam Surah al-Hajj, ayat 73:

[...And if the fly should steal away from them a [tiny] thing, they could not recover it from him...]

Alangkah benarnya kata-kata ALLAH itu!

#4
[...Weak are the pursuer and pursued...]

Lalu Ustaz Nouman menjelaskan, apa yang Allah mahu kita belajar daripada perumpamaan itu ialah:

"When the thing/person that you are pursuing is weak, you'll become weak. If you want to be strong, SEEK ALLAH and only ALLAH"

*****

Begitulah Allah membuatkan perumpamaan di dalam al-Quran agar MANUSIA BERFIKIR dan FAHAM.

Betapa lemahnya segala apa pun yang disembah selain Allah.

Dan 'tuhan palsu' itu bukan hanya terdiri daripada berhala semata-mata tetapi boleh jadi apa sahaja yang menjauhkan kita daripada mengakui Allah sebagai satu-satunya tuhan yang wajib dituruti perintah-Nya - termasuklah hiburan melampau, materialism, ideologi sekular, dan sebagainya.

Sesungguhnya, tiada tuhan yang layak disembah melainkan Allah!

Semoga kita menjadi manusia yang berfikir.

Allahu'alam.

Credit: Syafiqah Sulaiman

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - The Eloquent Speech of Allah

Alhamdulillah, semalam berakhir sudah seminar "Divine Speech" yang disampaikan oleh Ustaz Nouman Ali Khan.

One word for it - mind blowing!

Secara peribadi, saya rasa seminar ini mampu memberikan perspektif baru kepada para hadirin dalam melihat al-Quran.

Antara part yang menarik adalah apabila Ustaz Nouman membawa hadirin melihat peristiwa-peristiwa yang diceritakan dalam al-Quran seperti 'scene' yang bertukar-tukar 'angle' dalam filem.

Mari kita tengok ayat ni dan bayangkan situasi dalam ayat ini macam mana Ustaz Nouman bayangkan kepada kami:

(ayat ini mengisahkan tentang Perang al-Ahzab/Khandak atau 'The Battle of The Trench')

<< When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when the eyes grew wild and the hearts reached to the throats, and you were harbouring doubts about Allah >>

(Surah al-Ahzab, 33 : 10)

"Imagine, the camera from the aerial view which you can see the enemies are coming from one side and the other side..."

(sambil kedua-dua belah tangan Ustaz Nouman menggayakan situasi itu)

"Now, the camera moves right in front of the face of the muslim army...so close that you can see their face expression, their eyes grew bigger...terrified..."

(sambil tangan Ustaz Nouman menggayakan camera bergerak dari 'aerial view' dan berada di hadapan mukanya, dan dia membesarkan matanya dan mulut yang terlopong untuk membuat mimik muka yang penuh ketakutan)

"And then, the camera zooms to their chest. Their heart beating fast that you can hear it..."

(sambil buat gaya jantung berdegup dengan tangannya)

"The camera zooms in deep into their hearts and their minds that Allah can see the doubts that they have in their minds towards Allah..."

*****

Wow! Just wow! Honestly, have any of you read the Quran with such intensity?! Because I didn't! Huhu. (if you do, that's amazing masyaAllah!)

Kalau kita teliti ayat-ayat ini, kita akan mendapati betapa sifat Allah Yang Maha Melihat dan Maha Mendengar!

Pertama, Dia Melihat keadaan keseluruhan di pertempuran Ahzab itu bagaimana tentera musuh datang dari segenap arah;

Kemudian, Dia juga Maha Melihat sekecil-kecil perkara, dalam ribuan tentera itu, Dia menyebut dengan jelas 'ekspresi wajah' tentera yang ketakutan;

Bukan itu sahaja, Dia turut dapat mendengar debaran jantung dan apa yang bermain di fikiran mereka!

Subhanallah!

*****

Sukar untuk saya kongsikan dalam bentuk penulisan, tapi begitulah suasana yang kami alami di dalam dewan seminar; itu baru satu ayat!

Yang paling best, bila Ustaz Nouman ajak kami membayangkan peristiwa perdebatan Nabi Musa a.s. dengan Firaun (Surah as-Syua'ra, 26 : 10 - 50)

Jaw-droppingly awesome!!

(part ni kalau nak dengar, kena cerita one to one. tak dapat nak tulis. siapa nak dengar bole request, tapi tak dapat lah exactly the same macam mana Ustaz Nouman buat. heh) 

*****

Lagi poin menarik yang dikongsikan oleh Ustaz Nouman tentang al-Quran:

#1
Al-Quran bukan diturunkan sebagai sebuah buku yang sudah siap tetapi al-Quran adalah kata-kata Allah kepada Nabi Muhammad S.A.W. yang disampaikan kepadanya secara berperingkat dalam tempoh 23 tahun

#2
Pada tahun terakhir kehidupan Rasulullah s.a.w., Rasulullah telah memperdengarkan bacaan keseluruhan al-Quran sebanyak 2 KALI untuk diperiksa oleh Malaikat Jibril (peristiwa ini disaksikan oleh Zaid b. Thabit)

#3
Selepas Rasulullah s.a.w. wafat, di zaman Khalifah Abu Bakar r.a., usaha pengumpulan al-Quran dimulakan dan yang bertanggungjawab dalam misi tersebut ialah Zaid b. Thabit.

**Zaid b. Thabit adalah sahabat yang menyaksikan bacaan al-Quran oleh Rasulullah s.a.w. kepada Jibril

**Kata Ustaz Nouman, bacaan Rasulullah s.a.w. pada ketika itu adalah menurut susunan yang Allah kehendaki

**Kalau ada yang tanya bagaimana susunan surah dalam al-Quran terhasil, susunan itu adalah hasil perbincangan (consensus) para sahabat (termasuk Zaid b. Thabit) dan kita tidak mendengar ada susunan surah yang lain (selain yang ada pada hari ini) daripada mana-mana sahabat

**Ini membuktikan susunan surah dalam al-Quran bukanlah sesuatu yang direka oleh mana-mana manusia

#4
Ada RIBUAN sahabat Rasulullah s.a.w. yang menghafal al-Quran tapi semuanya menghafal SATU versi yang sama.

**Setiap kali sesebuah ayat diturunkan, mereka akan menghafalnya (ingat, al-Quran bukan diturunkan dalam bentuk 'sebuah buku' in bulk, tetapi secara berperingkat)

Jikalau tiada 'konsensus' antara mereka, sudah tentu akan wujud beribu-ribu versi al-Quran dengan susunan surah yang berbeza-beza. Tapi wujudnya hanya SATU VERSI al-Quran membuktikan al-Quran tidak mengalami perubahan dari zaman ke zaman.

Para sahabat Rasullah s.a.w. mengajarkan al-Quran di luar Tanah Arab dan seterusnya dari satu generasi ke satu generasi hinggalah ke hari ini.

Kalaulah kita panggil seorang yang hafaz al-Quran dari Amerika, seorang dari Afrika, seorang dari China dan kita minta mereka baca mana-mana surah dalam al-Quran, mereka mula baca dan berakhir dengan susunan dan jumlah ayat yang sama!

Jikalau al-Quran pernah diubah manusia sepanjang lebih 1400 tahun semenjak ia diturunkan, pasti al-Quran di China berbeza daripada yang di Afrika, dan berbeza dari yang ada di Amerika, tapi semua itu tak berlaku.

Maha Suci Allah!

#5
Pilihan perkataan dalam al-Quran yang sangat teliti.

Dalam al-Quran, Surah al-Baqarah ayat 2:

ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ

<< ITULAH kitab... >>

Walaupun dalam banyak terjemahan menterjemahkan ayat tersebut sebagai:

"Inilah kitab..."

Ustaz Nouman menyatakan terjemahan yang tepat adalah perkataan "ITU" kerana dalam bahasa Arab,

'ini' = هَذَا
'itu' = ذَلِكَ

Maka,

ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ = 'kitab itu'

'Kitab itu' merujuk kepada al-Quran yang lengkap yang tersimpan di Lauh Mahfuz (sebelum ayat-ayat al-Quran diturunkan secara berperingkat ke bumi, al-Quran sudah wujud 'in bulk' di Lauh Mahfuz).

Biasanya, sesuatu yang dekat dengan kita akan dirujuk dengan menggunakan perkataan 'INI'.

Penggunaan 'itu' memberikan indikasi 'sesuatu yang berada jauh', maka Allah guna 'itu', sebab kitab yang telah tertulis berada jauh di Lauh Mahfuz.

Begitulah ketelitian Allah dalam memilih perkataan dalam al-Quran. Hanya Allah yang Maha Sempurna dapat melakukan sesuatu yang seteliti itu!

*****

Tulisan ini panjang TAPI ini bukan 'summary' hari kedua seminar Divine Speech! Ada banyak lagi yang menarik yang tak tertulis di sini.

Mungkin apa yang ditulis ini tak mampu menggambarkan keseluruhan keindahan bahasa al-Quran (dan itu adalah kelemahan saya).

Hence, once again I would like to invite all of you to visit Bayyinah.tv for awesome lessons from the Quran! 

Allahu'alam.

Credit: Syafiqah Sulaiman 

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - Verbal Idioms "to Venture Into Every Valley"

VERBAL IDIOMS PART 5 – To Venture Into Every Valley

Did you not see that they wander [yaheemun] in every valley? [Surah Al-Shu’araa’ 26:225]

This is actually an expression in the Qur’an describing poets and it is extremely relevant to our time. Some points to bear in mind:

1. The word [haamat] (to wander) is used to describe a camel when it is lost looking for water, wandering aimlessly in any direction, from one valley into another.
2. It also includes wandering while not knowing the kind of danger ahead.
3. Also before one ventures into a valley, he is on the higher ground - which is associated with honor & dignity. Its opposite is going down into the valley, and being low is normally associated with humiliation.

This isn’t a phrase about how the poets like hiking :) What does this expression really mean then?

The Thought Process of Entertainers

Back in the old times, the Arabs entertained themselves by listening to poets. These poets had 2 roles: They were the entertainers (they performed story-telling and singing) and also the philosophers at that time (which will be explained further).

Fast-forward to the present is the entertainment industry today. Now we have movies or songs that became extremely popular. As a result the artist received spotlights, won awards and got millions of downloads – but how long did the craze last? After some time of listening to the same thing repeatedly, people just got tired of it - they want something new.

So the artists had to work hard to come up with the next big hit. But when the sequel isn’t as popular as the first, people begin to lose interest in them. The problem is, the lives of these entertainers revolve around fame and recognition. They become desperate when people no longer pay attention to them. So we see how certain artists would re-invent themselves by making their songs more controversial and indecent. Some would even further lower their standards of decency for the sake of popularity – they got arrested, drug overdose, or did something utterly scandalous, they would try all sorts of style and methods - doesn’t matter to them as long as they get a little bit of the spotlight again. So they keepventuring into every, single, possible valley. That's the correlation with this Ayah. The entire thought process and career goal of entertainers is being described in this one Ayah.

If we compare today’s entertainment with 50 years ago, we will find how deteriorating they get in terms of language, decency, and shamelessness. Here’s the scary part: The entertainment industry has the opportunity to influence thousands of minds. What we listen WILL affect our thoughts, and in turn affect our behavior and speech. Every container only gives out what it contains.

The Philosophers

In the old times, the poets were also their philosophers. In our time, we have certain philosophy professors who try to instill one thing: That there is no such thing as absolute truth. They live in the world of What-If’s: What if there is no God? What if the Book has been tampered? What if all of these are just folktales? If someone tries to answer them, they would continue to ask the next What-If question - they keep wandering into every valley that has no end.

The Qur’an teaches us to live in the world of WHAT IS. Overwhelmingly in the Qur'an, Allah s.w.t. asks us to look WHAT IS around us, at ourselves, at the ruins of nations that were destroyed. We are supposed to have clarity of thoughts, we don’t venture into any valley. Instead, our job is to pull people out of them!

- Notes extracted from the Divine Speech Seminar by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan. Please let me know of any mistake, jazakumullahu khairan. (PS: If you like writing poetries - don't fret, read the next Ayat :)

Credit: Aida Msr

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - Verbal Idioms :to Untie the Knot in One's Tongue"

VERBAL IDIOMS PART 3 – TO UNTIE THE KNOT IN ONE’S TONGUE

Musa a.s. made the following du’a before he confronted Fir’aun:

"O my Lord! Open for me my chest (grant me self-confidence, contentment, and boldness). And ease my task for me. And loose [untie] the knot from my tongue. That they understand my speech.” [Surah Ta-Ha 20:25-28]

Imagine a string that is all jumbled up; we don’t know where it begins or where it ends. There might even be more than one string that got mixed-up together so they become confusing. The only way to make things clear is by untangling them. So “untie the knot from my tongue” in this Ayah mean:

1. To ask for clarity in speech

When we speak, sometimes we get our words mixed up. This is especially true when it comes to public speaking. We get really nervous, trip all over our words, and as a result our audience gets confused. So this du’a teaches us to ask from Allah s.w.t. for clarity in speech, one that has a clear beginning, middle and end like a clear straight line, just like how a string would look like when it’s not tangled. Furthermore, Musa a.s. had a stutter. When someone with a stutter gets nervous or angry, the stutter gets worse. So this beautiful du’a covers in both figuratively and literally sense.

2. To stay on focus

We see numerous times how smart politicians or TV hosts throw their opponents off in debates. Their opponent would be bombarded with questions after questions and attacked from all angles just so that he is thrown off and look really bad in front all of the audience. Similarly, Fir’aun was a very savvy politician and Musa a.s. was commanded to speak to such a tyrant. If we read surah Ash-Shu’ara, we’ll learn that Fir’aun tried to do the same but he was defeated in his own court in front of his generals whereas Musa a.s. remain undeterred and stayed focus on his mission, as a result of this du’a.

This is one of Ustadh Nouman’s favourite du’a – it’s a du'a for confidence! :)

VERBAL IDIOMS PART 4 – TO DOUBLE UP A CHORD & TWIST IT

A building is hold up by its beams or pillars. Back in old times, the beams were held together by a really strong type of rope, where one beam would be literally tied to the other. The people would use this strong rope, then double it and twist it many times so that the bond becomes super strong. In comparison to shoelaces which are only temporary knots, the tied-up ropes in construction must not come undone under any circumstances. They are permanent and the word “Abrama” (أبرم) in the Arabic language literally means to tie something with a knot permanently. We find this word in the following Ayah:

Is it that they have firmly resolved (أَبْرَمُوا) to do something? Then, We have firmlyresolved (مُبۡرِمُونَ). [Surah Az-Zukhruf 43:79]

1. Firm & final decision

Allah s.w.t. asked a rhetorical question to the Quraish who did shirk:

أَمْ أَبْرَمُوا أَمْرًا

Have they tied the knot / made their final decision / completely set with regard to their decision?

The Ayah is not talking about tying knots in a construction, but it’s about tying knots in theirdecision. Allah s.w.t. asked if they’ve made up their mind in rejecting the truth. If they’ve tied up their rope then…

فَإِنَّا مُبْرِ مُو ن 

Then We (Allah s.w.t.) have tied the rope too.

The Mushrikin have tied their knot because they refused to accept the Oneness of Allah and His Messenger s.a.w. Because of their refusal, He s.w.t. made them permanent that way. In other words, Allah s.w.t. will never seal anybody’s heart until they have completely made up their mind on their decision to reject the truth, and who knows better the inner depths of our hearts than Allah s.w.t. This Ayah is beautiful because this figure of speech shows the comparison between the Mushrikin’s decision and Allah’s decision. If we refuse to accept the truth, then Allah will let us stay that way. I thought this was scary enough! But there is something MORE SCARY that is being implied in this Ayah.

2. Temporary (Verb) VS Permanent (Noun)

When the Mushrikin tied their rope, the word أَبْرَمُوا is used. This is actually a verb.

But when Allah s.w.t. tied His rope, the word مُبْرِ مُو ن is used. This is a noun.

We learnt in the previous Ustadh Nouman's lecture that verbs are temporary by nature, whereas nouns are PERMANENT.

What does this mean?

Sometimes when we make a decision, we’re not quite sure on what we have decided, so we go back and change it. Then there are times when we think we’ve really made up our mind, that there is no way that we would ever change it. The Mushrikin said that they have completely made up their mind, but rhetorically Allah s.w.t. shows that their decision was still something temporary. When Judgment Day comes and the Mushrikin finally see the reality of what they were denying… Do you think they would want to go back on their decision?

It may be that those who disbelieve wish ardently that they were Muslims.[Surah Al-Hijr 15:2]

Oh how they would wish that they could untie their rope! But when Allah s.w.t. has made up His decision, it is PERMANENT.

May Allah s.w.t. protect and guide us!

- Notes extracted from the Divine Speech Seminar by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan. Please let me know of any mistake, jazakumullahu khairan.

Credit: Aida Msr 

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - Verbal Idioms "to Lower Wings"

VERBAL IDIOMS PART 2 – TO LOWER WINGS

When someone said that person is “raising his wings” or “lowering his wings”, an imagery of a bird comes to mind. When a bird raises its wings, it means it’s about to go up and fly off. And when it lowers its wings, then it’s about to go down and land. Obviously when the bird has wings, it has the ability to raise them anytime it wants. Yet this bird still chooses to lower them.

And lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy [rahmah], and say: "My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was young." [Surah Al-Israa’17:24]

This Ayah is about our relationship with our parents – that we should lower our wing of humility out of love and mercy towards them. What does this actually mean?

1. The bird can fly, but it chooses to stay down

As time goes by, as we get older, our parents get older too. But they don’t just get weaker, they sometimes become more sensitive and emotional. Perhaps some parents become more difficult to speak with; they become angrier or easily agitated. By now, we would have our own job, money, and family. We have a pair of strong wings which we can raise anytime we want.

But the lesson from this Ayah is this: Even though you have powerful wings, you need to learn to lower them when it comes to your parents. To act like the wings don’t work. To refrain from saying hurtful things like, “You know dad, I’m a grown up now. You can’t talk like that to me anymore!” We have to be humble with our parents. Remember: The bird can fly, but it CHOOSES to stay down.

If we think our parents are unusually exasperating – then realize that these are all testsfrom Allah s.w.t. There might also be rare occassions where our parents just want to test us - like how Ustadh Nouman went through when he was younger :)

2. Lowering the wing out of rahmah (love and mercy)

The word “rahmah” in this Ayah has 3 implications:

i. When the bird was young, its parents would gather food and bring it to the chicks because they couldn’t survive on their own. Similarly, we were completely dependable on our parents too. They showed us love and care, they did everything for us. Now is time we do the same for them. Some of us may complain that our parents don’t understand us, ask too many questions, get agitated towards us, to the point that we became so weary. But you know what, when we were little, WE made them weary didn’t we? They put up with us. Why is it that we can’t put up with them?

ii. Secondly, we ourselves should genuinely have love and care for our parents. A sign of humbleness in a person is in the way how he treats his parents. We can’t raise our voice to our parents, yet say we love them.

iii. Thirdly, and the most powerful of them all is: If we want Allah’s Rahmah, we’d better show rahmah to our parents!

3. Sacrifice

Do you see how birds would lower their wings over their nest to defend it from being attacked by predators? Their wings will be attacked, but the chicks are protected. Thus, this phrase also refers to the sacrifice of a parent for the children. But this Ayah is about the children sacrificing THEMSELVES for their parents. Our parents protected us – it’s time for us to protect them.

As we grow older, Allah s.w.t. reverses our roles and we find this reversal in the du’a in the last part of the Ayah:

"My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was young." [Surah Al-Israa’17:24]

Ya Allah, show our parents love and care like how they showed us love and care when we were small.

Ameen.

- Notes extracted from the Divine Speech Seminar by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan. Please let me know of any mistake, jazakumullahu khairan.

Credit: Aida Msr

Divine Speech Nouman Ali Khan Malaysia 2014 Notes - Verbal Idioms "Coolness of the Eyes"

VERBAL IDIOMS PT 1 - COOLNESS OF THE EYES

Language is dynamic – sometimes it is impossible to do word-by-word translation of certain phrases without losing their actual meaning. This is particularly true for figures of speech. Someone who asks me, “What’s up?” isn’t asking me in a literally sense – the person is asking how I am, not what’s up there over your head? Similarly, Ancient Arabic has figures of speech and the Qur’an uses them too. So in order for us to understand the actual meaning of the Ayat, we have to know how these idioms were used in ancient times.

Coolness of the Eyes

Literally, coolness of the eyes would probably mean placing banana peels over our eyes :) What does it actually mean in Ancient Arabic?

1. Tears of immense joy - There are 2 expressions in the Arab idioms: The eyes becoming cool, and the eyes becoming warm. “May Allah warm his eyes” is actually a curse which means may that person suffer so much sadness the he shed tears out of sorrow. Whereas “Cooling the eyes” is the opposite, to mean shedding tears out of happiness and joy.
2. Finding refuge & relief - The Arabs when travelling in the desert would wrap their face as a protection from sandstorms. But they couldn’t afford to cover their eyes without losing their vision, so they would say “My eyes are becoming warm.” And when they finally found a cave, they would say "My eyes are becoming cool.”
3. The word also means when something stays in one place.

We find this figure of speech several times in the Qur’an:

1. [Surah Al-Furqan 25:74] "Our Lord! Bestow on us from our spouses and our offspring the coolness of the eyes…”

What this du’a means is that we ask from Allah for our spouses and children to be the coolness of our eyes from the outside storm. The outside world is full of stress, problems and difficulties, and our refuge and relief from that storm is our home. But sadly, how opposite is the state of our homes today? The storm isn’t happening outside of our homes, rather it’s happening inside. This du’a teaches us to ask from Allah for peace, tranquility and not just a happy home, but a home that makes us so happy that it makes us cry. What a beautiful du’a.

2. [Surah Ta-ha 20:40] “...So We restored you to your mother, that she might cool her eyes and she should not grieve...”

When Fir’aun’s soldiers were approaching, the mother of Musa a.s. put her baby (i.e. Musa) in the river to save him. She saw her baby floating away from her, and her heart became so deeply distraught and distressed, not knowing what would happen to him. So when she was finally reunited with her baby, by the will of Allah, she began to cry... And that cry was not a cry of sadness, it was out of immense happiness. This reunion between a mother and child is captured beautifully by this phrase in the Qur’an.

3. [Surah Al-Qasas 28:9] “And the wife of Fir'aun said: "A comfort [coolness] of the eye for me and for you. Kill him not, perhaps he may be of benefit to us, or we may adopt him as a son..."

Fir’aun’s wife was in an abusive relationship, perhaps both psychologically & physically. She didn’t have any place to turn to, except Allah s.w.t., because the police, government – in general everyone - was owned by Fir’aun. When she discovered Musa a.s. in the river, she picked him up, brought him to Fir’aun and said [paraphrasing]: “When I look at the baby, my eyes stay on him.” She couldn’t take her eyes away from Musa a.s.; she found her relief. Even Fir’aun, the same tyrant who ordered for a military campaign to kill thousands of babies, experienced the same and they ended up adopting Musa a.s.

4. This figure of speech is also found in hadith. Remember when Musa a.s. spoke directly to Allah s.w.t.? There can never, ever be anyone else more important and more beloved than our Rabb. So we know for sure that this is a memory that Musa a.s. will never, everforget! But what did Allah s.w.t. command? Allah s.w.t. said to Musa a.s.:

Verily! I am Allah! None has the right to be worshipped but I, so worship Me, and perform As-Salat for My Remembrance.” [Surah Ta-ha 20:14]

The REAL way to remember Allah s.w.t. is through prayer. And our beloved Rasulallah s.a.w. said “The coolness of my eyes is in Salah.” *1

Those who have a clean heart are more sensitive than others; it really hurts when someone speaks to them in a foul language. Our beloved Rasulallah s.a.w., the best of mankind, heard foul language, curses, allegations, being mocked at, being made fun of by the Quraish Every-Single-Day. But he s.a.w. never stopped, he still made da’wah to the same people continuously, and their hatred and aggressiveness only got worse each day. He s.a.w. was in this storm all the time, but when he enters Salah... that is when he found his relief. The coolness of his s.a.w. eyes is placed in the Salah. It completely changes our perspective what Salah should really mean to us.

The idea about crying in our prayers is true. Usually we cry when we listen to Ayat about the Hellfire or Judgment Day. But the Qur’an should also make us cry that cools our eyes… When we listen to Ayat about Allah’s gifts and rizq, His Mercy and forgiveness, how Allah s.w.t. protects us… they should move us to tears of joy.

*1 : Sunan an-Nasa'i | http://sunnah.com/nasai/36/2

 

Notes extracted from the Divine Speech Seminar by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan. Please let me know of any mistakes. Also subscribe to Bayyinah TV!

Credit: Aida Msr