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...