All the preparations... all for this week & nationalisme... one ummah?

Assalammualaikum wbt

This week... is a holiday for the faculty of medicine @ unsw... but I cant really go anywhere this whole week... why? bcoz there's....

Click here to find out more

I dont really know how I got involved in this, I was like sleeping in the UNSW musolla after Asar prayer... then Huzaifah came to me and asked me if I'm free... and suddenly I'm at the meeting... and Sabir (the president of ISOC - Islamic Society on Campus) told me; "get all the Malaysians that I see 8 out of 10 hours I'm at uni everyday to get involved.." and he put me on the food commitee..

Well, time passed by... we have meetings every week.. the one thing that we really have shortage is ironically manpower... ironic because... there's a lot of muslims on campus... there's like 500 from Saudi's and Malaysian I think easily surpasses 200++, not to mention from Pakistan, India, and other muslims countries...

Yeah, people's been busy with uni life and all...

But, there was this one meeting where one of the brother has test the hour after that, but he still went to the meeting... and participate well... even though he has test the next hour... MasyaAllah... even for me I've been making a lot of excuses to myself to avoid doing some jobs or stuffs... I'm really far left behind them in terms of jihad... and I thought I have it...

Trying to organize an event this big where trying to spread da'wah to especially to the non-muslims is very very hard... its really sad yet inspiring seeing the brothers and sisters really struggling hard to get this done... they have to skip classes, go all around uni to meet people, call up people, photocopying, pasting posters... and many more... at times I wonder... how can they still have the spirit to do this? If I were them... I'd probably given up...

It was because of this that I felt... its wrong for me to leave them alone... as a muslims whom Allah has opened my eyes to witness them.. how could I pretended nothing happened? And I'm just like one monkey's leg away from uni (sekangkang kera)... monkey? monkey d. luffy!!

Anyway, they sacrificed a lot of their time to do this... in fact 3 of the commitee members are doing medicine 3rd and 4th year!! There's law student, petroleum, business, econs... you name it man.. almost all faculty has a representatives...so if I say I'm too busy that I cannot help them?? yeah right... Alhamdulillah, most of the time Allah swt get rid of all the excuses and helped carry my lazy self from the bed to help them...

Ali, one of the brothers said to me "the best thing of getting involve in IAW, is you get to meet new friends..."

Well said brother...

All the brothers in the IAW commitee, if I weren't here, I would not even know them!! (even though one of the brothers is actually a 4th year med student). MasyaAllah, all of them are very good muslims, they are not afraid, nor care-free or even lazy to propagate Islam.

"Let's go to a CBS (Campus Bible Studies) meeting, and tell them to learn about Islam and come to IAW" , "yeah, I'll do it!" a brother said without any hesitation. if it was Me... going into a christian club and saying come to islamic event... ???

"let's put out a poster stating Jesus was (actually is..) a Muslim!" <-- and we really did print out this posters... if it were me, i wouldn't even dare...

These are some of the normal conversation you hear from them... showing how they are really serious to spread Islam... and how far behind I am...


someone told me...


"islam akan naik kembali dari Nusantara..."


hmmm.....



Anyway... I'm really really grateful that Allah swt fated for me to be involved in this... this is just another blessings from Him, for me to learn more about Islam from the international brothers... there's a lot I can learn from them~!! and hopefully someday I'll be able to become someone as inspiring as them...


Todays.. the last day of preparation, we went postering and chalking almost the whole uni so that on monday the people will only see UNSW... and today I was again impressed by the spirits of the brothers and sisters... totally totally impressed... I was at many time saying... "cmon man that's enough..." but they're like keep on going... I still have a lot to learn~


Anyway, it was really tiring for all of us... but what came to my mind is... it would definitely be easier if there were a lot of people helping... like I said earlier... we're really short on manpower... but Alhamdulillah, we've done our target after working from 10.00am to 4.00pm.. some of them even stayed longer since there's more work to do... Hopefully next year, we'll have more people helping out with the next IAW... and hopefully by then me myself will not be saying "owh I'm busy with assignments/projects/exams/other programs etc..." Bcoz there's brothers out there that's doing someting very good and is very near to us and really really hoping to get some help from us...


I overheard a brother's conversation..

"If we can't even get this done, forget about Palestine man..." <-- he's actually referring about the Friday's prayers problem at UNSW, but I just think its also relevant here, if I cant even help this brother who's so close to me, why am I even dreaming of helping Palestine?


And we wonder how come Palestine is still not free... bcoz no one will really helped them unless they're there in Palestine (generally speaking... no offense), some do.. yeah


So that's its for preparation, Alhamdulillah for all the stuffs that Allah's enabled us to do... and hopefully it will be a very successfull week, hopefully people will come to our events, hopefully we get to see some people converting to Islam.. InsyaAllah...

I myself been really lazy with the preparations, hopefully Allah will forgive me for that... and hopefully I gained a lot from this


I came home today feeling tired and all... well actually I played football after the preparations... and my ears heard...


"Best siot macam party bile dekat nak abeh..." humm...


"Islam akan naik dari Nusantara.......kah?"


***mode kecewa ngan diri sendiri***

do forgive me~

*sorry la post ne serabut sket, x brape pandai luahkan perasaan...

Ad-Duha.. A meaningful Khutbah, beautiful Iftar and wonderful Ramadhan

It was the last Friday of Ramadhan, the day starts off at Masjid Zetland, eating sahur there... and then went home and went to Anatomy prac~ (fell asleep 3/4 of it..)

So the Khutbah starts...
The 1st was about Syukur~ Sykur Illah.

I was so tired, so I kinda dozed off a little bit at the beginning of the Khutbah. I thought it was just a normal khutbah about syukur... until the khatib recited a verse;

وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ
(And proclaim the grace of your Lord)

I heard that verse before... hey... its surah Ad-Duha.. the final verse. This is one of my favorite verse, I liked it since I heard one of my friend reciting it very beautifully in prayers when I was in form 4. It's also one of the first surah I've memorized besides the common surah (well... I guess this can be considered common too...)

Anyway... the khatib explained how this Surah related to syukur. I first read about the tafsir of this Surah in form 5, alone in the night... and I cried because it is so beautiful...

*the following was reffered to Tafsir Ibn Khatir (www.qtafsir.com)

وَالضُّحَى - وَالَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى - مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى
1.By the forenoon.) (2. By the night when it darkens.) (3. Your Lord has neither forsaken you nor hates you.)

This surah was revealed to Muhammad saw after the revelation from Allah swt has "halted" for a quite long period of time, and Muhammad became sad since he hasn't heard anything from Allah swt. Then a woman came and said, `O Muhammad! I think that your devil has finally left you.' and the idolators said 'His Lord has abandoned him and hates him'. So Allah revealed this surah to Muhammad saw to tell him, Allah has neither forsaken you nor hates you.

Imagine how our beloved Muhammad saw felt when these verses came down to him... to calm him, to tell him that Allah swt is always there, and has never abandoned Muhammad saw. Same goes with us, no matter how hard or how cruel life can be, and we felt lonely or empty... know that; (3. Your Lord has neither forsaken you nor hates you)

That was the one part I understood in form 5 until the khutbah, I never really fully understood the later part of the surah. The khatib explained well to me that the later part is about Shukur.

أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيماً فَآوَى - وَوَجَدَكَ ضَآلاًّ فَهَدَى - وَوَجَدَكَ عَآئِلاً فَأَغْنَى

(6. Did He not find you an orphan and gave you a refuge) (7. And He found you unaware and guided you) (8. And He found you poor and made you rich)

These verses really relate a lot to me.. and I'm sure to most of us too. (6. Did He not find you an orphan and gave you refuge), in terms of Muhammad saw, he was an orphan as we all know, but Allah swt always gave Muhammad saw protection, eg. Abdul Mutalib after Aminah died, then followed by Abu Talib, then after he died, and kuffars started to attack the muslims, Allah swt will's it that Hijrah happen and gave Madinah as a refuge for Muhammad saw and the muslims.

Me, my dad passed away when I was 14 years old, and my family situations has been kinda rough since then, espacially financially... but, now that I look at this verse, I realized that despite losing a father, Allah swt gave me refuge without me noticing it, eg. he wills it for me to enter hostel in form 4, which really allows me to survive without having a lot of money, as well as a platform for me to strive during my days at SMART. So indeed... he found me an orphan, and gave me refuge. Alhamdulillah, thank you Allah.


(7. And He found you unaware and guided you), this verse relates to the fact that Allah swt sent down guidance to Muhammad saw throughout his phrophethood, which guided him and the rest of the human being towards the straight path. Me, I was once living in "dark ages", I was reallyastrayed from the right path, I didnt even perform the basic compulsary ibadah. I was really unaware of how "kufr" I was... Now as I look to the past, little by litte, starting from when I entered hostel, the guidance came from Allah swt... slowly guiding me back into the straight path... The most amazing fact is, I never actually prayed to be guided, but still, His guidance came for this lowly servants of His... not everyone is as lucky as I am to still be guided even though I was really bad... indeed, he found me unaware, and guided me. Alhamdulillah.

(8. And he found you poor and made you rich). this is not really related to money. Muhammad saw said;

"Wealth is not determined by abundance of possessions, but wealth is the richness of the soul" narrated from Abu Hurairah. Sahih.

According to Ibn Khatir, `you were poor having dependents', so Allah made you wealthy and independent of all others besides Allah swt. As I said before, financially Allah swt has really helped me and even now blessing me with this scholarship. But, most important of all, is that with Allah swt guidance, I can feel that my soul is richer then what it used to be, compared to when I didn't care about Islam. Alhamdulillah.

And so the khatib concluded this sura with the final verse;

وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ
(And proclaim the grace of your Lord.)

With all the blessings and bouties Allah swt has given us, we should spread it, we should tell others about it, share it with people. We should not keep it to ourselves. That is the sign of being Shukur according to this verse. However, spread it without being proud or riya'. Muhammad saw said that a proud man is those who belittles others and denied the truth. That's why in accordance with being Shukur for all the blessings in my life, I've decided to share this (to those who have a lot of free time to read this...). Wallahu'alam.

UNSW Big Iftar.

I went home after Khutbah at 2.00pm, and supposed to be back at UNSW by 3.00pm to help prepare the big iftar. Did some stuff at at 2.50pm decided to lie down for a while. Then, I blacked out because of the tiredness and woke up at 3.30pm.... aaaaa.........??? That time, I was so lazy and sleepy that I decided to just skip being helpers.... but, Alhamdulillah, Allah swt helped me against my lazyness, and I went to UNSW.

I was so glad that I went, the preparation was very tiring, handling the Iftar was extremely exhausiting... but when you see muslims from all races together, combined with good food, and wonderful environments, it was worth it. The night was filled with the beauty of brotherhood in Islam... MasyaAllah... this is one of the blessings of Allah swt to muslims.

Pictures of the iftar:
http://picasaweb.google.com/isocunswau/AnnualIftar2009#

By the end of the iftar, after tarawikh... it finally struck to me...

This is the last night of Ramadhan...

The prophet saw and his companions cried when Ramadhan almost left them...It's the 29th night, and my heart really feels heavy that time. I really wasted a lot of this Ramadhan by not making the most of it. And now the month of blessings will leave me... I pray I will not be among those who gained nothing from Ramadhan...

This is my first Ramadhan in Australia, and certainly was a very wonderful one. Many things happen when I review my Ramadhan that I'm grateful off. My assignments that I did last minute and I thought I really blew it up, turns up great~ My trip to newcastle during the holidays was really meaningful especially during their Iftar at masjid~ and also during this Ramadhan, I get to meet many new brothers not just from Malaysia, which really.. makes me feel great~

Despite the me that didn't pull off 100% efforts in Ramadhan, the blessings still come. Alhamdulillah

And now Ramadhan will end...


Many people are preparing for eid... feeling happy and all...

Its not bad to feel happy for eid, we are actually told by the phrophet to be happy on it, to celebrate it!! of course within the guidelines of Islam. (beware of getting close to maksiat my brothers & sisters, the temptations is very high high on eid)



But, I woke up this morning... the last day of Ramadhan... feeling really2 weird... will I be able to once again feel the blessings during Ramadhan next year?







What I'm feeling now...


Let's leave the joy of eid for tommorow...

Let's make the most of Ramadhan today~



Berkata Wathilah, Aku bertemu Rasulullah s.a.w pada hari raya dan aku katakan pada baginda "taqabballahu minna wa minka", baginda menjawab : Ya, taqabbalallahu minna wa minka"

May Allah swt accpets the deeds (in Ramadhan) of you and me.

Islamic Awareness Week

ISOC invites you to Islamic Awareness Week 2009. This year, IAW will take place in week 10 (28 September - 2 October 2009), and is set to be an exciting but intense week of dawah to primarily non-Muslims in a "get-to-know Islam and Muslims" campaign.



This year's theme is The Qur'an: A guidance for mankind, and aims to bring about awareness of the Holy Qur'an to non-Muslims around campus and explain to them it's importance, why we believe in it and what it has to offer them. We have a great line-up of talks and events that are set to engage non-Muslims and to raise awareness of Islam's teachings and principles. Further details will be released shortly.


Want to help out?



So far, a group of dedicated brothers and sisters have been working tirelessly to get the plans for this week to the final stages. However, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done and there's room for anyone who wants to be part of the most anticipated ISOC event for the year!



We will be having a meeting on this Thursday 10 September at 11am as a recap of what we have done so far, and also discuss the final stage of our preparations in the lead up to IAW. The meeting will start off with a discussion about what da'wah is from a panel of speakers, and following dhuhr salaah we will discuss the specific plans for IAW. Everyone who wishes to help with IAW is requested to attend - it's midsession break so we hope you should be free inshaAllah!



The least you can do



The aim of this week is to inform people about Islam, and particularly the Qur'an. If you are unable to help out, we request that you invite your friends to attend every single event - Muslim or non-Muslim!



We want the impact of this week to be felt all throughout the university, and as Muslims studying in all faculties, we have the ability to reach the whole of UNSW! We would love your help in the week, but if you are busy or unable, tell your friends to attend the events and find time to attend yourself.



If you are interested in helping out, please attend the meeting on Thursday 10 September from 11am. If you think you might be late or are unable to attend but want to help out, send us an email at iaw@isoc-unsw.org.au



We also ask that you make dua that the event is a success.



Wassalaam,
IAW Team