Open House

Salam Lebaran (masih dalam bulan Syawal kan...)!

Alhamdulillah, my batch's open house had just been held successfully last Saturday. Unlike last year when we had rendang, nasi impit, lodeh, etc. This year, we served variety of noodles to our guests :) Yummy! We had laksa, mee bandung, mee kari, and the most special was sushi! Homemade sushi okay. We made it right at that time, in front of the guests. I also got a chance to learn how to prepare sushi. It was best to know that a Japanese also admitted that our sushi was very nice (we also invited international friends to our open house including Japanese, Chinese, Omanese, Kiwis). I hereby this post with a couple of pix during the open house :) And yeah, as usual, I kept myself in the kitchen most of the time. It was funny to hear many of my friends asking me to stop washing dishes, but eating. But on the eve of the open house, I helped my friends to bake kuih bakar. It's not difficult to bake it. Very simple, but delicious! The plate we used to serve kuih bakar got empty very soon as we put it on a table. Sedapppp!!! hehehe... Nanti bolehlah bake untuk mak, abah, kak irah, and adik-adik =)

Alhamdulillah, I learned to cook many recipes during the preparation of the open house. In fact, I have fallen in love with cooking! Because I also love to eat. Anyhow, the presentation of the food must also be taken into account. That's what makes the food looks more mouth-watering. Not only the taste, but the look and way of serving it are also paramount. I remembered the moment when me and coursemates used lesung in Bioprocess lab session. The lab seemed to turn into a huge, hustle kitchen where all 'expert' chefs were trying to work at their best. (mashing potatoes ONLY). Hahahaha...

After the open house, me and friends cleaned up the whole room and kitchen, plus, taking photos of ours. It was a big crude joke to see the boys posing too much compared to us, the girls. LOL! Yet, it was annoying to see them posing like gays. MashaAllah... Hai, budak-budak ni...

Okies, let's have a look at the pictures below! What a pleasant day!

Eidil Fitr 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sejarah Bani Israel





Z.a. Maulani - Zionisme, Gerakan Menaklukkan Dunia

Usrah Jual Gelang

Salam,

Just a refreshment of our usrah group :)
Usrah Jual Gelang! Yay!!! Missing the moments we spent together - through thick and thin.
Here, I would like to show you our exclusive short movie in conjunction of 3S programme I told you in the previous post. Here we go!

p/s: will try to upload the video sooner or later... insyaAllah.

Road Show Aman Palestine (RSAP)

Salam alaik...

Alhamdulillah, we in Chch had been successfully collecting over NZD4000 for RSAP on Sept 5. Dr. Zainur Rasyid, the rep of Aman Palestine Malaysia came to our place to run the show, hence, helping us to donate for palestians. Tho' our collected fund was not that huge compared to Dunny, Welly, and Auck, but at least we had something to give to the needy ones.

May Allah bless Palestinians always!
The most attractive point of the road show is about the chance to have foster kids by sponsoring 'em in aspects of living, studying, nutritions, etc. But let 'em stay in Palestine to fight for their independence and for the deen (Islam). InsyaAllah, if we help Allah's deen (Islam), Allah will surely help us in return. :) Bear in mind that we are actually not donating the Palestinians, but we are as an actual fact, paying our owes to 'em. Give it a thought!

Happy Ramadhan & Happy Eid!
27th Ramadhan 1430 H

Mechanical Workshop

From left: Katherine, Sarah, Anis, demonstrator (dunno his name :P)

Phew! Alhamdulillah, finally I finished my 3-day mechanical workshop. What an exhausting period! For the first time in my life, I needed to do cutting, welding, bending, molding, using heavy, giant machines who have threatened many lives. Thank God coz throughout the workshop, nothing bad happened to me. Just that, I got a 'handmade' brooch on my scarf. Hahaha... A piece of soft metal sticked on my scarf when it was still hot. It is still on the scarf and I decided to make it as a memory. :)

On the first day of the workshop, I came 5-minute late and was so embarrassed to say "Sorry, I'm coming late" to the demonstrator and the other team members. Huahuahua... Amat memalukan. Then again, I came to the room very, very late. One hour late coz I thought the demonstrator said to take a break from 10 to 12pm, but actually from 10 to 11am. That's why when I entered the room, everyone looked at me strangely. Suddenly, the demonstrator called me out, asking why I came late. I told him about the misunderstanding and he forgave me for that.

Another thing I couldn't forget was when he asked me to take off my sweater as it was going to be dangerous to wear when dealing with machines. So, I took it off thou' I felt heavy-hearted to do so. After that, he looked at my scarf and asked me to take it off too. But this time, I told him I couldn't do it. But he told me that it was for my safety. Again, I insisted on putting it on. Since he seemed understood, he asked me to wear an overall which for him was the solution. So I put it on.

After the practice time, it came to the real session where everyone must make their own hammer and another thing that I forgot its name. I was being partnered with the only senior in our team who was a 3rd. Pro student. He taught me lots on how to use the machines, etc. At first, the sound and speed of the machines made my hair stood. But as time went by, I got used to the machines and became more confident to use 'em. To tell the truth, it was not easy to work in a factory. Accidents can just happen without one's expectation. That's why safety always comes first. Thank God coz all of the team members gave their co-operations and helped me lots throughout the workshop. Indirectly, the workshop boosted in developing our friendship. We know each other better, really. I was pretty happy in the workshop, tho many people thought it was like in hell.

I still remember when the demonstrator all of sudden hugged me, just to say very good. He even put his arm on my shoulder when speaking to my partner. Selamba giler... I couldn't say no coz it just happened out of blue. As long as he didn't do something beyond that, it's still ok. Another unforgettable moment was when my partner who was HE, suddenly touched my covered chest just to tell me that there was a piece of steel on my scarf. He actually tried to take it off from my scarf, but it was already sticked there. He was so patient, anyway. I asked him so many questions about handling the machines and he just answered all of my questions very well. He even helped me with welding. I still remember he went to my place to see how I was going with the welding. He showed me how to weld in a straight line and continuously. At least, through the workshop I had experienced wearing a welding helmet, using a special thing to weld, feeling the hotness of the welded steel plate (very, very hot that I could feel it underneath my gloves).

One thing I realized in the workshop about myself is that, I am actually not gentle. As a matter of fact, most of the procedures in the workshop needed the gentleness of the maker. Say, when I cut a steel rod, I must make sure that I rolled the measuring roller gently. I failed to do it very often that I realized I'm not gentle actually. Hahaha... What a ridiculous confession! Kwank, kwank, kwank... Look 'gentle' but actually not gentle. LOL!

All in all, I should appreciate everything I obtained in the workshop as an addition value to my life as an engineering student and as a human. It's not easy to be an 'iron man'. Strong body and mental are necessary.

Pre-raya Photoshoot 2009

Me in my new baju kurung posted by mum that day. Thanks mum for giving a new baju raya! I love it! Tudung yang dipakai pun tudung raya juga. Warna baju adalah pilihan diri sendiri. Yang peliknya, how could my mum know my body measurement? Semua baju kurung yang boleh dipakai ada di sini, tiada di Malaysia. Respect mum! Right now, just waiting for kuih raya pulak... hihihi...

With all Canterbury Malysian ladies :) Sweet in our AWESOME baju kurung! hahahaha...


We were in red + purple + pink + peach (warna adik-beradik).


My housemates! :D From left: Azah, Anis, Fiqs, Kak Nisa.

Taking a pic with usrah members :) USRAH JUAL GELANG! Gambar kami memusing-musingkan tangan menunjuk gelang yang tidak boleh dilihat tiada dalam simpanan. Ada dalam dslr orang lain. Tu la yang paling syok. Memang macam joyah masing-masing... hahahaha... lawaks!

This is the pic that we showed our invisible 'gelang'... "Beli, beli gelang!!!", said Fiqs. "Tak boleh, tak boleh", replied Kak Farah :)

With Kak Lizza, wife to Aizuddin (both are medic students).

Johoreans yang excited giler nak ambil gambar... :P "Siapa mak ayah orang Johor and dia lahir kat Johor je boleh masuk dalam gambar ni", kata Raja. hihihi... Ada orang buat lawak waktu ni, tapi lupa pulak lawak apa. LOL! Gambar kumpulan yang berdarah Jowo (Jawa) juga masih belum ada dalam simpanan. Akan cuba dapatkan daripada dslr orang lain. Ramai juga orang Jowo kat sini...

Bazaar Ramadhan

Ramadhan Kareem!

Alhamdulillah, we had been successfully holding our very first bazaar ramadhan in history. The bazaar was actually to help collecting funds for Aman Palestine Road-show. So, half of the profits gained from the sales will be donated for Aman Palestine. Well, the bazaar was held for two days (last Wed and Sat). The responses from Malaysians, Indonesians, and Singaporeans were very good. Newnham Tce (aka Kampung Melayu Christchurch) looked so happening! Kereta berderet-deret tepi jalan. Macam ada kerja kahwin je... huhuhu...

Among the foods sold in the bazaar were like roti John, mertabak, rangka, caramel pudding, egg tart, kuih muih tradisional, cincau, cendol, etc. Tasted so good! :) I like! hehehe... Tabik pada Yazid. He was the one who tebar roti mertabak. Sampai I minta recipe mertabak daripada co-chef who was Zafran. hahahaha... Not forgotten Raja and Tengkuk who made people smiled after buying their roti John... Sedih sebab tak dapat merasa... :(

3S

Only today I remember that I haven't posted the news about 3S (Sembang-sembang Sisters) in Christchurch. Though it's been a few weeks ago (during sem break), but I still want to tell the story in this blog. Known as 'Usrah Jual Gelang' among sisters in Christchurch, it's gonna take long hours to tell the story on how we got the name, in fact there was a history behind the name. Me and my usrah group had been given a task to make a short movie by acting in a few days before the event. The title of the short movie is 'Nur Taubah' adapted from Malay drama 'Nur Kasih'. In fact, the soundtrack of our short movie was the same one as in the drama. Hehehe... This was all Kak Mun's idea... Anyhow, I'll put up the video of our short movie later on, insyaAllah. Wellaway, all shootings were made only around uni and Ilam Village. It was actually a bit stressful to go for the shooting as I had to finish up my lab report on that weekend. But needed to sacrifice for my usrah group. Alhamdulillah, everything went alright.

Below is a picture of me being one of the speakers at that night talking about Sahabiahs - Siti Khadijah Khuwailid. At first, I got butterflies in my stomach even tho' I know the sisters very well. But it got shrank gradually...

After the talk and movie show finished, we all gave away a present to one of our usrah members (Kak Sakina) who had been just going back to Malaysia for good after finishing her studies to become an ONG specialist. Salute her! She's a good example to all of us here. She never feels bored or enough to study. She's been to the UK, Europe, New Zealand, and now is thinking to land a job in Australia. Cukuplah tu Kak Sakina... Dah lama dah akak kat rantau orang. Tak rindu Malaysia ke....? :P You need to think about getting married now ok, Kak Sakina... Your friend dah nak kahwin dah dengan Malaysian astronaut (Dr. Syeikh Muzaffar) tu...You bila lagi??? :P

The following pic was taken with all of the sisters who came for the event =)

Ramadhan Kareem (See you again)

Alhamdulillah, I was given another chance to see Ramadhan again this year. I was among those who determined the first day of Ramadhan in New Zealand. :) Me and friends went for moonsighting up in Casmere Hills yesterday evening. I went there with Bro Zul, Majied and some other guys. As an actual fact, I was the only girl in Bro Zul's Estima. Bro Zul was the leader of the moonsighting. He taught us on how to determine 'anak bulan'. Quite number of friends went too to the site. At first, we thought we couldn't see the crescent as the cloud was too heavy and it was windy up there, plus dark. As the result of being more patient, ultimately we could see the crescent. But before that, only Nurul said he saw the crescent. Other people couldn't. But after seeing more attentively in the sky, then we could see it. Yeah, it was so small but got a little light below. It was like huruf nun (Jawi) and the one which was lit was the bottom curve of the nun. Very hard to see unless you gave more heed on it. For those who still couldn't see, thank God coz Bro Zul brought along his telescope. But I didn't try to see the crescent through the telescope as I could see it with my bare eyes. Alhamdulillah. Actually, before we got a chance to see anak bulan, we prayed for Maghrib in the cottage we used to see anak bulan. Felt like praying in a cave because the cottage was so cold and dark. A very nice experience! All in all, we had seen anak bulan and that meant tomorrow would be the first day of Ramdhan (which is today) :) After that, we straight away went to the White Pavilion to do solat tarawikh. Tho' not many people were in the pavilion for solat tarawikh, it really felt like in Ramadhan. Alhamdulillah, I could still pray tarawikh. As usual, throughout this Ramadhan, we're gonna have 8-rakaat tarawikh plus 3-rakaat witr and we're also gonna finish the whole 30 juzu' of Quran in this holy month. And we also have tazkirah after each 4-rakaat tarawikh. May Allah give me strength to go through Ramadhan and shower me with lotsa blessings. I really need those things right now. Amen.

Islam Awareness Week

Stressed out + exhausted... That's all I can say.

Monday - Got to be in charged at the booth. Met this one guy when he asked me something about Islam i.e. about God (Allah). I gave him an analogy about one source of energy which is the sun and there are two holes on a roof, where the sun light comes through the holes and we can see two shadows or we think that there are two sources of light, but in reality, there is only one. Same with God. There's only one God, but he creates many things in this world. - Helped friends frying sausages to be sold for Palestine Fund Raising. Hot pies, really! Finished quickly! :) - Amar bought me and friends some sausages. Best! Free sausage! There was a non-Muslim who was very generous to donate $2 for the fund without even getting the sausage in return. Thank you so much! - Wearing purple baju kurung + orange scarf.

Tuesday - Just went to the booth for a few mins, and went back home to do lab report. Found Ryan at his office but he was out. He went to the booth to find me, instead my friend took the vouchers from him. Thank God! But I wished to see him again. - Wearing orange baju kurung + orange scarf (new one).

Wednesday - International Food Festival! Hihihi... Met handsome Ryan! I helped friends selling nasi Briyani, ketupat, kuah kacang, kuih muih, etc... Many people love Malaysian foods! :) Ryan asked me, between nasi briyani and ketupat + kuah kacang, which one was better for him to buy... And I said, compressed rice + nuts gravy, 'course! It's more Malaysian. And he replied, "Yeah, I want to be more Malaysian!" Hahahaha... So funny of you, Ryan! Again, hot pies! Our foods sold quickly! We got loads for Palestine Fund Raising. Non-Muslims are also very generous to donate :) - Distributed flyers for IAW and Food Fair to coursemates. They thanked for that. - Wearing green baju kurung + green-tinge-black scarf.

Thursday - Second day of International Food Fair. Sold nasi minyak, nasi tomato, apam balik, puding pelangi, cucur goreng. Finished quickly too. Whoa, ppl really love Malaysian foods! Malaysia is a food paradise! Proud to be Malaysian! But this time we set up the stall under central library coz it was raining. - I bought apam balik for coursemates. Just wanted 'em to sample Malaysian food. Some of 'em looked at me strangely. Maybe they wondered why was I being too nice? They all said thank you to me after the lecture. - For the first time I ate during a lecture. Felt too rude, actually when the lecturer looked at me, with food full in my mouth. Fortunately, I was sitting the most behind with Calvin and Kimberly. We shared the food together. I even brought along my nasi minyak to the lecture. Sengaja sebenarnya... Nak menunjuk makanan Malaysia. - Along the way to the class with apam balik in my hands, ppl surround me looked strangely at me... Buat tak tahu je... Just smiled.... :) - Catherine asked me in the class, "Wow, yesterday you wore green one, and today, this one. How many clothes do you have?" I said, "I have many." She asked again, "Many?" Then I said, "Yeah, you can borrow it from me if you wanted to try it out." - Had a meeting with a lecturer. In R.Siemon building, June Walter saw me wearing a purple-tinge-grey baju kurung and purple-tinge-maroon scarf. She said " Wow, you look so fabolous! Fuhhh..." She looked at me upside down. And I said, "No...." That was all I could say... Hahhahaha... People like that baju kurung of mine. Everywhere I went to, ppl would look at me. - Katie and Katherine also praised my clothes. Katie said, "Anis, I really love your dress." And Katherine said, "Do you wear this for the event (IAW)?" Yeah, Katherine was right. I offered to 'em "If you guys want to try out this dress, you can simply borrow from me. And yeah, our size is just the same" They all laughed with that answer of mine.

Friday - Met Rory on my way to uni in the morning. Didnt realize it til we reached the zebra crossing in front of Ilam School. So embarrassing since my kain was a bit annoying due to the wind at that time. But he's just too haughty to say hi... That's alright. - I didnt help friends selling kebab, currypuff, noodles, etc. at IAW booth since I was having a drawing test in the afternoon. I just bought a tupperware of noodles for lunch. Too busy to do a last minute revision for the drawing test. - I was being an emcee for Converts' Night. Whoa, so stressful + nervous. I never prepared for it. Only a few mins before the event started, I was busy preparing the Qs for the converts. I just finished my test at 5pm. Very mad at some ppl... Sabar je lah... I did more on impromptu for the night. I think I looked totally dumb and numb for the event. But thankfully, with the help from Allah, at least I could get the words to tell ppl. I didnt realize that I'd made jokes during the interview session. Selamba sangat I ni... Dah lah kena speak in english... Impromptu pulak tu... huh... Only God knows how nervous I was. Really hope Zayid was not there. I actually didnt see him. I only saw his bro, Aunt Jumaiyah, and Unc Jones. - Got another quarrel with Omar. As usual, I shouted at him. I just don't like his idea of tying me to the secretary position. No matter what, I must resign from the position! He thought I like his way!? No way, Omar! - Makan nasi Afghan. Sedap!!! Full tummy. Alhamdulillah. Gaduh pasal siapa nak basuh periuk belanga. Finally, the boys volunteered to wash the big, heavy pans, wokes... Thanks, guys...

I Cry

I don't need a friend.
I just need Allah, my Love.
I also need my parents.

I know, people will never like my pace of life.
Ad nauseum, recluse, eccentric.
That's me.

My friends like laughing, having fun, being happy.
But I like crying, keeping myself home, being blue.
No one included my parents know that I'm a crying 'baby'.
I cry when I'm all alone in my room.
No one to soothe my feelings, but Allah.
Allah sees me, knows what is actually in my heart.
I know it's not that bad to cry.
Allah loves His servants to cry more than laugh.

I am a genuine actress.
I show a happy face outside the room.
But cry inside the room.
I am not crazy.
Cry does not always mean sadness.
Happiness can also make someone crying.
Every drop of tear is a witness of my emotion.

Dah lah...
Jangan asyik menangis je...
Bengkak dah mata tu.
Astaghfirullahal'azim...

I'm proud of being a Malaysian Muslim!

Malaysia today is not the same old Malaysia. It has been going through many steps of evolutions, thus, making it the most respectful developing country in the eyes of the world. It is not merely in an aspect of economics stability, but the success is measured ranging from political stability, Malaysians unity, environmental safety, religions and races sensitivity, educational integrity, as well as international diplomacy. It is true that this is the result of an efficient government that rules the country right now. Nevertheless, we can never deny that the folks also help in ensuring the success of Malaysia. The combination and alliance between government and folks form a smooth, nice structure of Malaysia.

Wherever I go in New Zealand, people can easily notice that I'm a Malaysian. Perhaps, the style I wear my scarves differentiate a Malaysian with Arabs and Indonesians. Most of the people I met up, they told me that they have been to Malaysia and they love Malaysia. Some of them like the foods because Malaysia offers varieties of delicious foods tho' a few are very sweet. Some others said that they love traveling all over Malaysia in that we have many unique attractions that give different experiences. There were four old folks I met during last eid. They like Malaysian costumes. They said our costumes are colourful and have beautiful patterns. The kiwi ladies like our scarves. Very modest, yet pretty. But don't be surprised to hear the reason why western men love Malaysians. Hehehe... Most of the men that I talked to, they told me that they dream of searching for Malaysian wives. I was speechless when I heard that. But I asked them to come to Malaysia and seek for the women they love to make as their wives. To my surprise, when I was in Christchurch City with a friend at Art Gallery, suddenly came an old man passing by us. Then, he reversed back to our seats and asked us about our nationality and the like. After that, he praised both of us. He said, "You both look so beautiful. I like your dress." After a while, he was about to dismiss, but not forgetting to shake hands with us. He even unwore his gloves to shake hands with us tho our hands were still covered with gloves (thank God). He added, "Nice meeting you girls!".

Alhamdulillah, all western people that I met up so far are all friendly to me, including my coursemates. They all smile when seeing me and say hi or hello. I like that way of relationship. Some of my coursemates can even remember my name and they say hi and smile to me whenever we see each other. Honestly, Malaysia is popular among international people. We display good behaviours to them. They like our national foods, costumes, and attitudes as well. Malaysia students are very popular in universities. People respect us and our country's name is always uttered in any occasions going on all around the globe. What more right at this time, when Obama himself praises Malaysia too much that he's considering of discussing world issues with Malaysia and would also like to know Malaysia notions about international issues. Many developing countries have made Malaysia as an example country. Malaysia has also become trusted by the first world countries. We should be thankful to Allah for showering Malaysia and its inhabitants with full of blessings. InsyaAllah, if Malaysia keeps spurring and standing on Islamic foundation, it's not impossible for Malaysia to be the most successful country in the world like Medina (during Prophet's time). While Islam is renowned as a terrorist religion by the Westerners, it's undeniable that many more people want to get to know in depth about Islam. Whatever people's opinions about Islam, as a Muslim we should always portray good attitudes and characteristics in front of those people. Our appearance is an external outlook of Islam itself. Don't make people confused about Islam. The confusion will only make people hate Islam.

I am proud to be a Muslim and a Malaysian! :) Thank you, Allah!

Ketika Cinta Bertasbih

Tiba-tiba hati ini berasa sayu. Walau bagaimana kuat dan cekal aku menahan sebak di hati ini, namun kugagalkan jua. Aku tenang dan tersenyum mendengar cerita-cerita tentang pemergiannya daripada sahabat taulan. Mungkin aku boleh berpura-pura di depan mereka, tetapi aku tidak mampu menipu diriku dan Allah yang Maha Mengetahui. Terlalu banyak rahsia antara aku dan dia yang aku tak pernah bercerita kepada sesiapapun. Aku sempat meninggalkan beberapa baris kata sebelum pemergiannya. Pemergian itu bukanlah sementara tetapi untuk selama-lamanya (sekurang-kurangnya bagi diriku). Aku bersyukur ke hadrat Ilahi kerana telah menemukan aku dan dia, lalu berhijrah dengan redha-Nya. Dia banyak memberi panduan untukku menjadi insan yang lebih baik. Namun begitu, pemergiannya diiringi pandangan-pandangan buruk tentang diriku. Memang sengaja aku buat begitu, biar terus pudar ingatannya tentang aku. Maaf 'awak' kerana saya tak mampu meneruskan perjuangan 'awak' di tempat ini. 'Awak' tak dapat memahami saya dan saya juga tak berupaya memahami 'awak'. Muslimin dan Muslimah lain di tempat ini akan meneruskan ijtihad 'awak' itu, insyaAllah. Selamat mendirikan baitulmuslim! Harapan saya agar 'awak' dapat melahirkan lebih ramai pejuang sepertimana yang 'awak' inginkan selepas ini.

"Bila kita rindukan seseorang itu, tak semestinya orang itu pun rindukan kita. Kalau rindu, tak semestinya perlu bersua kerana ingatan di qalbu itu boleh menjadi penawar jua. Sesungguhnya, rindu itu anugerah Allah. InsyaAllah."

Civic and Belonging Conference

Fabulous! That's all I can say about the conference with NZ Department of Internal Affairs which lasted for five hours today. I went there with another two friends to listen to the problems in Kiwis' community as a whole and NZ Muslim community particularly. The speakers in the conference were composed of experts in their own fields such as psychology, education, politics, ethnics, and Muslims welfare in NZ. There were Dr. Hj. Hanif Qaizi (the first Muslim migrated to NZ), Mr. Abdullah Drury (an Islam convert), Mr. Hassan Hj. Ibrahim (a Somalian refugee), and Dr. Ron Mcintyre (a political science lecturer in UC).

Each and every of the speakers delivered their ideas precisely and confidently. In the beginning of the ocassion, one Muslim man namely Mr. Farid Ahmed recited a duaa, which I found a bit strange because he explained every line of the duaa to the attendees, who comprised of the non-Muslims too. Here I could see that he emphasized more on the understanding of the contents of our duaa, of what we want from Allah.

Next, Dr. Qaizi took the floor and he was very well at delivering a discourse. I found that he likes telling stories, and yeah, he told us about his story of being the first Muslim migrated to NZ and he was one of the masterminds behind the idea of introducing Muslim community in this Kiwis' land. He told us about the hardships he went through to face the challenges in managing the next Muslim migrants especially in cases such as community services, halal foods, and funerals. There was one time when he and the other Muslim community at that time found it hard to manage a funeral of one Muslim guy. They did not know where to bury the corp. The NZ govt declined to give a piece of land for a grave, initially. After a few negotiations, finally the govt approved to verify the application for the grave land, but again, they faced another problem which was the burial way. The govt buried the corp just like a Christian's corp (not in the direction of qiblat). Then, they needed to dig again the soil and buried the corp in Islam way. Apart from the Muslim community thingy, Dr. Qaizi also touched on the matter of meat trade between NZ and the Middle East countries like Egypt. There was a conflict between the governments of those countries about exporting non-halal meats to Middle East from NZ. They even stopped the import-export operations until the delegations from both govts met up and achieved an understanding. At last, the trade collaboration started again and both parties earn umpteen benefits from the MoU up to now. This is attributed to an awareness by NZ govt that their economics collaboration with Middle East countries is highly advantageous, what more because NZ is the primary meat exporter in the world.

On the other hand, Mr. Abdullah who I have met before during one of the talks in uni had covered most of the Muslim community history in Canterbury in his talk today. He, who tied the knots with an Indian Muslimah (I guess so), is a good example of an Islam convert. He is not merely good at doing what Islam fosters its ummah to do, but he's also very active in Islamic activities in Canterbury. He repeatedly made Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as an example throughout his talk. He added that the number of Muslims in Canterbury is still in a small figure, however, the govt should not take it for granted as the community still needs proper facilities for them to follow Islam way of life comfortably, without any kind of discrimination.

The next speaker, who was Mr. Hassan, an officer at Christchurch Refugee Center, used his expertise in education field to relate it to Muslim community in NZ. He said that the development of Muslim community begins at school. Muslim children should be educated with moral values as they might be confused or trapped in a circumference of Western values, tho' the values that they learned at schools are just fine to be implemented in their daily lives. Nevertheless, as parents we must ensure that we can superimpose the Western values that the kids learn at schools with the Islamic values which ought to be inculcated at homes. In addition, as parents, we should build the acquaintance between our kids and their non-Muslim friends in a very friendly way, despite not forgetting to attach a bond with the kids' parents. With that, our job to exist unity and integrity within NZ community irrespective of backgrounds could be achieved without a hitch.

The last one was Dr. Ron, who talked about his experience in interacting with Muslim students in uni. He is thankful for being able to know many students from different cultures and backgrounds. He did agree that the Muslim students in uni should gain an equal treatment from the authority in order to perform well in their studies. Even though students come from different religions like Islam, Christian, Hindhu, and Buddha, they must accept everybody with open arms and hearts. Plus, people should be sensitive to other religions in which the wrong steps will result in a break of unity.

What attracted me most during the conference is that, many speakers had iteratedly said 'Malaysia' in their discourses. Me and a few other Malaysians in the room felt very proud to be an example of Muslim society. It is because Malaysia muslims were among those who firstly migrated to NZ. With the increasing number of the Muslims in NZ, therefore, the govt had taken prompt actions to provide many facilities suit to them, which portrayed how concern the govt was. The panels also stressed on the importance of Muslim students to make a move in uni in order to expose Islam cultures to the public. There are yet a few people who do not have the foggiest idea about Islam and Muslims. This is a worrying sign to everyone in our aim or purpose to develop unity and integrity among us. It is undoubtedly true that communication between the Muslim community and the govt is substantial so that the govt may understand what the Muslims want, hence, can improve any weaknesses they could identify.

After the conference, we had very delicious dinner. For the appetizer, we were served Egyptians' traditional foods made of wine leaves, prata breads, and salads. I thought that was all for our dinner, but I was wrong. There were more to come. My table was the first one to be allowed to take our main course. Whoa... I loved this one. We had nasi minyak, rendang ayam and daging, kebab, nasi Afghan, caramel pudding, currypuffs, etc. Malaysian foods are always in my heart and always the best one! :) Geramnyer... Arghhhh... Nak makan lagi!

Before I went back, one of the guys in the room approached me and asked me to think about the upcoming Islam Awareness Week (IAW) which will be held in August. He reminded me to get some of the ideas from the talk today. I know what he meant. He wanted me to take an action on Muslim integrity in uni. I don't mean that I have given up in this kind of stuff. It's just that that is really a strain for me as he was asking a 'girl' to do that job. It's really, really, really a heavy responsibility. I've been carried this responsibility on my shoulder for quite long and again, it strucked me. He said I'm a good thinker. Whoa, in your dream... I felt like I wanted to throw that phrase on his face.

At the final moment before I went out from the room, I apologized from Ara (the DIA officer) for my inability to help him out with the management stuff during the conference. He replied to me, "That's all right. It was my fault for not informing you of what to do. Please keep in touch with me." Oh yeah, I'll do that, but for the purpose of achieving MUSA objectives especially getting a proper prayer room for the Muslim society in UC. InsyaAllah. May Allah ease our way to make the dream come true.

Do you think you're bright? No, I think I'm still in the dark...

Assalamualaikum w.b.t.

“Proclaim! (or read!) In the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created” is a verse taken from Surah Al-‘Alaq in the Koran.

Rasulullah s.a.w. reminded his ummah, “Learn, albeit way to China.” This reminder should have been accepted by the Muslims in every nook of the world as a stepping stone to make learning as a life long activity. Allah loves His servants who are knowledgeable, indeed.

A statistics about a rising mental illness phenomenon among college students in the States has captured my interest to share with you, guys. In 2006, 50% of college students in the USA said they feel depressed at some point that they cannot function properly. As Muslims, we should be grateful, for we have Allah to ask for help when we are down to the mouth or in hassles. Ironically, the non-Muslims take the easy way out by committing suicide to escape from the deepened gloom, hence, resulting in a considerable number of such cases. In this article, we will be discussing about the ways to glean knowledge without putting ourselves under a great pressure. Reading, socializing as well as traveling are the ways, to name a few.

The Koran verse as mentioned earlier touches on reading as an order from Allah to Muhammad s.a.w. Here we can see how fundamental it is to read, in that by reading, we can enhance our knowledge about one particular thing. We can feel the pleasure of reading if we try to reflect what we read into our daily lives. Among all of the books in this world, Koran al-Kareem is the best one, which contains everything the humans want to know, ranging from economics, education, politics, and the like, everything is in there. However, it is undeniable that other sources of readings are useful, either. It is not simply the thing that the author wants to tell us is precious, but the terms used by the author could also be useful for us. Say, we are reading an economic article, thus, we should have added many inputs about economics through the reading. At the same time, we make ourselves known the economics terms used in the article. Even if we are not studying economics, but at least, we can reflect the knowledge that we have gained to our lives. For instance, we will be more aware of the banking systems that we are using i.e. interests, fees, etc.; also, associating the economics principles to our action of booking flight tickets i.e. we would think why the airline companies sell cheap tickets to the customers. Conclusively, there is no doubt upon the fact that reading widens apart the way we think without giving too much strains, only if we apply a right way.

Aside from reading, socializing is also an aid for us to be more knowledgeable. Don’t get me wrong with the word socializing. I do not mean to encourage you guys to be sociable. Islam itself encourages its ummah to mingle with anybody as long as those people do not drag us to a social stigma. Nevertheless, we are told to find good friends since they give huge influence towards us. Who are good fellows? They are those who have wide knowledge, who are well-mannered, and who hold tight on Islam principles. Know-it-all companions are easy to get along since we can discuss many things with them, even if a few things are not at their expertise. By assimilating with different types of people, we may learn how to deal with the public and control ourselves. This is a good practice for us in the process to raise our kids to be a high quality generation, for we always want the best for them. It is good to highlight here that our social circles should not be bounded by ages, let alone the religions and races. For example, we got to know a fifty-year-old Japanese bloke with a Buddhism background who is ace in information technology. Beyond our realization, that old man is a good person for us to obtain more knowledge from his past experiences, probably, if we want to know about his career experience in his favorite field. Plus, we may also try to understand his religion so that we would be more aware of the sensitivities of other Buddhists. It also a benefit for us to know more about Japanese cultures as displayed by him. It is clear that socializing brings us closer to the knowledge about people and their life styles, apart from being a platform for us to learn something conveniently through communications.

Finally, one can gain knowledge through travels, too. Traveling is not merely a mean for us to have a whale of a time, but indirectly, we may learn people’s cultures and the place’s history. Each place offers unique story that we can only know by being there. Perhaps, we just know that the trademark of Venice is its gondolas in the canals. What we have in mind is that, When I get there, I must try out this one. Suddenly, a friend who just came back from Venice told us that the fare for canoe ride was very expensive. If we do not know how to bargain, they could charge us up to 50 euro. See, it’s all through traveling. We would only know the truth when we were there. Therefore, we would learn something about the culture of Italians in this context. Thus, we can relate that incident to the socio-economics of the people in Italy. This relationship helps us in learning about not only the country, but also its people, culture, and economics condition. We commonly learn from a minute thing, nay, an insignificant one. It is proven that traveling gives us more experiences and knowledge. The further we go, the more things we see and the infinite knowledge we gain.

All in all, a thirst for knowledge is a good sign to be a better person. We should not be expecting that knowledge can only be obtained by going to school. Reading, socializing, and traveling are some of the ways that promote to gaining knowledge without keeping us under a great force. It is because we have fun whilst learning. Believe me, how knowledgeable we are is not being measured by looking at our academic results solely, it is our extra knowledge about what’s going on in our daily lives that matters most. Something which is not taught in the class… But in live…

Hidayah

This song reminds me of Kiamat...
Ya Rabb, please forgive me, for every sin I've made.
Please forgive me, ya Allah... Please...
I'm pleading you...

Dambakan Hidayah-Mu...

Entry ini ditulis pada ketika hati ini amat sayu memikirkan keadaan saudara-saudara seagamaku yang kian lemah dan lemas dalam pelukan syaitan (yang direjam). Perubahan segelintir saudara seagamaku yang aku pernal kenal suatu ketika dulu ke lembah durjana amat menyedihkan, hingga mengalir air mataku menyaksikan semua itu. Ya Allah, ampunilah saudaraku itu... Berilah hidayah-Mu kepada mereka, agar mereka kembali ke pangkal jalan. Diri ini tidak mampu untuk berbuat sesuatu, melainkan dengan pertolongan Kau, Ya Allah. Hati saja yang mampu berdoa. Itulah selemah-lemah iman manusia.

Ya Allah, inikah salah satu petanda Kiamat yang pernah Kau firmankan dalam Quran Al-Kareem? Aku tahu, telah banyak petanda Kiamat yang Kau telah tunjukkan kepada kami. Berikanlah kesempatan kepada kami semua untuk bertaubat, Ya Allah sebelum pintu taubat-Mu ditutup. Aku tidak berharap untuk merasai kedahsyatan Hari Kiamat-Mu, namun tidak jua ku berharap untuk menemui-Mu sebelum ku sempat bertaubat. Kau berikanlah jua kesempatan bertaubat kepada saudaraku. Aku sayangkan mereka. Apa yang kuharapkan agar pertemuan aku dan saudaraku bukan berakhir di dunia, tetapi kekal hingga ke syurga.

Jadikanlah kami hamba yang bersyukur atas segala nikmat-Mu dan menggunakan nikmat-Mu ke jalan kebenaran dan diredhai oleh-Mu, Ya Allah. Pimpinlah kami menyusuri suluhan hidayah-Mu. Janganlah Engkau turunkan bala kepada kami disebabkan kerakusan kami meraih nikmat-Mu tanpa melahirkan kesyukuran ke hadrat-Mu. Aku tahu, segala nikmat ini hanya pinjaman dari-Mu semata-mata. Aku dan saudaraku tidak layak menerima semua ini. Ya Allah, aku pohon dengan amat sangat agar Kau berikan hidayah-Mu kepada aku dan saudaraku.

Engkau pulihkanlah keadaan umat Islam zaman ini Ya Allah. Umat Islam makin menuju ke arah jahiliyah sepertimana yang pernah berlaku dahulu. Janganlah Kau biarkan kami jahil akan tauhid-Mu. Kau lahirkanlah pemimpin Islam yang agung sepertimana sewaktu zaman khulafa' arrasyidin. Aku idamkan berada dalam sebuah negara Islam yang pernah dipimpin oleh Abu Bakar As-Siddiq, Umar Al-Khattab, Uthman bin Affan, dan Ali bin Abi Talib. Kau berikanlah petunjuk-Mu kepada para pemimpin negara Islam pada hari ini, Ya Allah. Pemimpin yang diharapkan ialah seorang pemimpin yang menerajui negara berasaskan prinsip-prinsip Islam dengan berlandaskan al-Quran dan as-sunnah.

Aku sedih melihat sikap para pemimpin negara-negara Islam hari ini yang langsung tidak melambangkan pemerintahan sebuah negara Islam yang sebenar. Walaupun hukum hudud dilaksanakan di Saudi, tetapi masih banyak aspek lain yang tidak selari dengan anjuran Islam. Walaupun pemimpin menegakkan hak-hak orang Islam seperti di Malaysia, tetapi ketrampilan diri serta keluarga pemimpin itu sendiri tidak melambangkan imej seorang mukmin dan sebuah keluarga Islam. Di manakah boleh ku cari negara Islam sebenar pada ketika ini, waktu Kiamat makin hampir? Aku kasihan mengenangkan nasib pemimpin negara-negara Islam jika disoal oleh-Mu akan tindakan mereka sewaktu memegang kuasa tertinggi di negara masing-masing dulu. Aku kasihan mengenangkan nasib mereka yang perlu menanggung dosa rakyat mereka disebabkan kejahilan mereka sewaktu memerintah.

Ya Allah, Kau rahmatilah aku dan saudaraku...
Aku tahu Kau Maha Penyayang, Ya Rahim...
Doaku tidak putus mengharapkan hidayah-Mu untuk diriku dan saudara seagamaku yang aku sayangi.

Ku Takkan Berpaling

Ku Takkan Berpaling - Akil Hayy

Ku takkan berpaling dari agamaMu
Segala fitrah, hadith dan sunnah
Ku pasrahkan dan bersujud

Hanya Kau yang satu
Tempatku mengadu
Tiada daya serta upaya
Ku pohonkan doaku Ya Allah

Tuhan… berikanlah hidayahMu
Oh Tuhan… ku bersyukur atas rahmatMu
Oh Tuhan… limpahkan kurniaMu
Kuatkan lah imanku
Luaskan fikiranku
Lapangkan lah hatiku
Ampunilah dosaku Ya Allah Ya Tuhanku
Engkau Maha Tahu…

Hanya Kau yang satu
Tempatku mengadu
Tiada daya serta upaya
Ku pohonkan doaku Ya Allah

Amin…Ya Rabbal Alamin


I love this song very badly.
I love you, Ya Malik, Ya Rabb, Ya Illah...
I give all of my life to You.
To You I come, and to You too I leave.
Please forgive me, Ya Allah, my true love.

Cinta Hakiki (True Love)

Ya Allah, jika aku jatuh cinta, cintakanlah aku pada
seseorang yang melabuhkan cintanya pada-Mu, agar
bertambah kekuatan ku untuk mencintai-Mu.

Ya Muhaimin, jika aku jatuh cinta, jagalah cintaku
padanya agar tidak melebihi cintaku pada-Mu

Ya Allah, jika aku jatuh hati, izinkanlah aku
menyentuh hati seseorang yang hatinya tertaut pada-Mu,
agar tidak terjatuh aku dalam jurang cinta semu.

Ya Rabbana, jika aku jatuh hati, jagalah hatiku
padanya agar tidak berpaling pada hati-Mu.

Ya Rabbul Izzati, jika aku rindu, rindukanlah aku pada
seseorang yang merindui syahid di jalan-Mu.

Ya Allah, jika aku rindu, jagalah rinduku padanya agar
tidak lalai aku merindukan syurga-Mu.

Ya Allah, jika aku menikmati cinta kekasih-Mu,
janganlah kenikmatan itu melebihi kenikmatan indahnya
bermunajat di sepertiga malam terakhirmu.

Ya Allah, jika aku jatuh hati pada kekasih-Mu, jangan
biarkan aku tertatih dan terjatuh dalam perjalanan
panjang menyeru manusia kepada-Mu.

Ya Allah, jika Kau halalkan aku merindui kekasih-Mu,
jangan biarkan aku melampaui batas sehingga melupakan
aku pada cinta hakiki dan rindu abadi hanya kepada-Mu.

Ya Allah Engkau mengetahui bahwa hati-hati ini telah
berhimpun dalam cinta pada-Mu, telah berjumpa pada
taat pada-Mu, telah bersatu dalam dakwah pada-MU,
telah berpadu dalam membela syariat-Mu. Kukuhkanlah ya
Allah ikatannya. Kekalkanlah cintanya. Tunjukilah
jalan-jalannya. Penuhilah hati-hati ini dengan nur-Mu
yang tiada pernah pudar. Lapangkanlah dada-dada kami
dengan limpahan keimanan kepada-Mu dan keindahan
bertawakal di jalan-Mu.Amin. ....

Pandemic - Swine Flu

The world has been rocked with a breaking news about Swine Flu virus. The vector has been spreading over Mexico and the States currently. This brought the whole world in full blast to prevent the outbreak of the flu epidemic. In Christchurch itself, there are four people identified to have been coming back from the States and are suspected to have been infected by the virus since there were a few shcool kids on the same plane with them to Christchurch from LA. New Zealand is one of the countries that is classified to be in danger. Probably, there are quite number of people who came into NZ have just been in the North America in last few weeks when the Swine Flu virus started to spread.

I am still thinking about the probability that the outbreak may be one of the disasters that Allah wants to teach all of the people on this Earth. With the increase of social problems all over the globe, we do not realize that many crises occurred are attributed to our attitudes that take Allah's reminders for granted. If Allah wants to give us a lesson, it's either He shows it directly to ourselves or by giving the troubles to other people and it is our responsibility to learn from what has happened to the people. Nonetheless, we're too much close to Satan instead of Allah, thus, the whisper of Satan penetrates deeper into our cochleas, and when Satan is already in our nerves, we begin to be controlled by him. The Satan is too clever to make fool of us, but we are too fool to be fooled by the best 'jester'.

Right now, the Swine Flu alert has been raised from phase four to phase five out of six. This new update should be taken seriously by everybody especially the medical organizations. The human-to-human method of virus infection can put anyone at stake, for we don't know that probably the person who's sneezing beside us is the virus carrier. Nauzubillah minzaliq... May Allah protect us from such 'disaster'. Amen. Well, the thing I would like to emphasize here is that about the rationality of the order from Allah for not allowing us to eat non-halal foods such as pork. It is not my job to verify each and every order of Allah to all of His creations since all of the orders are non-negotiable and we only have to believe that Allah's orders are by all means, for the best of everyone. However, the non-muslims always need supporting facts for any Islamic fact raked up by the Muslims. If I were asked by them, my answers are very parallel to our logical thinkings and of reflections to our lives.

Before we go in depth upon the Islamic arguments, let's see the source of Swine Flu (H1N1) virus... The scientist said, it was sourced from pigs in Mexico farmlands. This has been verified by the UN health agency experts. As a matter of fact, beforehand, we had been startled by the appearance of H5N1 virus which was also from pigs. People still in their sleeps for not realizing the terrible things caused by pigs or pork that they eat. See Bank of New Zealand money box give away, they use a pig image to be the money box as known as Piggy Bank. They thought the animal is so cute that they can make it to be the money box. What so animal!

Now, let's heed on what Islam says about pigs and pork. Allah outlined the negative effects of eating porks in Quran. It is indeed that porks affect our health. I will not be going into scientific stuff since I'm not into Biology, but as Allah's servant, what we need to do is simply accepting and believing what He told us to do. He said don't eat pork, then we shouldn't eat it. Don't touch wet or damp pigs, then we shouldn't do that. Allah knows what we don't know. No argument is necessary actually when it comes to hukum Allah. The kafiruns are very stubborn to accept Islam even though at times, they have already known that Islam is always for goodness. The WHO can still confirm to all over the world that porks are still safe to be consumed at this while. It's up to them... It's all about themselves. The more kafiruns go to hell, the better it will be. We must believe that there will come the time when Islam rises up again to its heyday (before the last day) and that's the time when the number of kafiruns will be going down to the foot of the bell graph hill.

We must notice that this Swine Flu outbreak is the sequential disaster after the global recession. On surface, we look at the matters as economics and health problems. However, it is not all about worldly thingy. I must say that it's undeniable that all of the disasters on this Earth are created by the human themselves, but, it's due to their lack of knowledge on how to manage the Earth properly as ordered by Allah in the Quran. Human do not manage the Earth (tho' only the land) by referring to the Quran and sunnah, but they use their brains solely. They never thought who created the brain... Time is running out to improve the situation, unless we unite to take an action. Oh God, to relate world issues with Islamic elements can't be finished in one day or in one entry like this. There are infinite things to say and human's knowledge is very limited to know about everything. Ya Rabb, please forgive me, your humble, small servant...

All in all, the consequences of Swine Flu must be taken soberly by all and sundry. Our Malaysia High Commission First Secretary, Puan Siti Jalilah Abd. Manap has urged the medical students in NZ to study and take this opportunity to observe how the NZ government handles this situation. In the meantime, let's pray so that Allah will always protect us and our loved ones from the unwanted troubles. Amen.