I’ve been gone for a while, haven’t I? Hardy har har~ I could give you the ins and outs of what’s been happening, but that’ll just bore you to death. So I’ll go with the recency effect and do with what happened last night..and today. I’ll make sure this can benefit both you and I
As of last night, my condition required me to become best buds with…
On the picture above, you can see:
1. Powerade
2. A mug, and
3. Imodium
Uh huh~ My night was interesting alright. Let’s just say that I’d be the last person you’d wanna be hanging around with. Really! I’ve been home alone since Monday night, so running in and out of the bathroom every 10 minutes, or puking or crawling on the floor didn’t cause any discomfort to anybody else (other than myself). But I’m good now. Alhamdulilah. All praise to God. Seriusly, I’m a whole lot better than 30 hrs ago. I can’t eat proper food yet (though I tried pushing it by eating a jam donut. LOL! Yea, I’ve been feeling queasy ever since), but the isotonic drink has kept me going. It’s even more effective than coffee! Ha ha.
So…if you ever have diarrhea or nausea:
1. Drink black tea with lots of sugar
2. Drink an isotonic drink
3. Eat soft, non-complex food, i.e. baby food..or the likes of it
A great friend is indeed a much needed heart warmer during cold weathers like today.
I love receiving e-mails, especially those long and lenghty ones. So you can imagine my delight upon checking my inbox and seeing an e-mail from a old and very dear friend of mine. I was literally reading with abrupt bursts of laughter and almost in tears. It makes me happy when I’m reminded on how time and distance doesn’t necessarily diminish that bond you once had with another person.
All praise to Allah for the little blessings in life.
Reflecting on the state of our society today, it is clear that while technology is advancing, our spirituality is being left behind. It seems as if this modern world has no room for morality, kindness, love, consideration, religion and God. The materialistic philosophy has become the predominant principle in the lives of many people. Should it matter? Of course it should! Do we want to continue living our lives with the constant worry that there are people who are waiting or finding ways for us to fail so they could get ahead of us? Do we want our future generation to be living in a society that has no clear sense of right and wrong? Do we want to keep doing stupid, impulsive things each time we’re faced with a dilemma? Do we want to continue running after the same things that we think are good of us, but only hurts the soul? Do we really want to keep living our lives with ingratitude to God, our Creator?
So in the lecture by Moez Masoud last month, he highlighted 3 things that we need to help us restore that peace, happiness, tranquility, contement and cohesiveness in ouselves and our lives. In this post, I’ll be focusing on ibadatillah – worshipping God; forming the right relationship with Allah.
Ibadatillah has more to do with the outward worship. The Quran states that humans are created to worship Allah (Az Zariyat: 56). To worship God alone and in the correct form. Al-Miqreeze noted that this entails 4 aspects:
Determining what Allah and His Messenger (pbuh) love and are pleased with;
The embodying of and enacting upon those beloved aspects in one’s own heart;
Enacting upon those aspects in one’s speech;
Further enacting upon those aspects in one’s actions.
Thus, ibadatillah covers areas such as fulfilling the pillars of Islam, complying with the syariah, and behaving according to what’s written in the Quran and the sunnah. Sounds boring and restrictive? Would that mean that one would have to spend his days and nights stablishing prayer and going to the masjid ? Does that mean that one would not have a life beyond the praying mat? Of course it isn’t! Ibadah (worship) is more than establishing prayers and fasting at the month of Ramadhan. Ibadah can be incorperated in every single aspect of our daily life. Putting on a cheerful face at the presence of others is an act of worship. Undergoing training to become a doctor is an act of worship. Sleeping is an act of worship. As long as theyfulfilling those 4 criterias mentioned above, and are:
performed sincerely and purely for the sake of Allah, and
in accordance with what Allah has revealed in the Quran and Sunnah.
…then it’s ibadah. Pretty simple, isn’t it? Just to elaborate a bit on what is considered as an act of worship, take offering food to somebody as an example. If we’re offering that bag of chips merely because we want to be nice wouldn’t really be considered as ibadah. If we offered it to them because Allah has commanded us to be kind to others, to share our food even if it’s just a bit, only then will it be accounted as a form of worship. This is how the intention of every action ties in really close with ibadatillah.
So we do as commanded by Allah to the T. Will we get anything in return? Of course we do! Allah doesn’t need anything from us. It is US who are in desperate need of Him. Everything that are between the heavens and the earth, and the entire universe is ruled by Allah. Every single thing, even the falling of a leaf, occurs with His knowledge and His consent. He is also the One who holds our souls. So you see, Allah gave us all the things that we have right now. From all things material to all the things internal (feelings, thoughts, etc). Sure, on a very superficial level we’d think that we worked for it, we purchased it, we experienced it. But think again. None of it would have been possible if God didn’t allow it.
So if I was feeling really depressed and sad, would talking to another person really help? Would drinking my sorrows away really help? Would clubbing really help? Temporarily, maybe. But I’d still feel dreadful, or maybe even worse, after that. One temporary fix after another is not going to get us far. Those who are in constant ibadah will become dear to Allah, and once Allah loves us, He would want the best for His servants. He’d help His servants get through their life with little trouble. There would still be times of sadness and failure, but we’d have patience and we’d know that it’s not without a reason. So when we’re going through a bad patch in our life, it is only God Whom can take away our sorrows, show us the way, and make it easier for us to endure. And if we dedicate our lives in doing things that pleases Allah and His Messenger, Allah has promised us that we should have no fear, nor grief. God willing.
No doubt! Verily, they who are close to God [the Awliya – those who believe in the Oneness of Allah and fear Allah by abstaining from sins and evil deeds, and love Allah by perfoming all forms of good deeds which He has ordained), no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve. (Surah Yunus:62).
To all readers who are from all walks of faith, feel free to view the clip below…it’s not even 5 mintues long
Because the Quran was confirming the message of Jesus. Confirming the message of Moses. Confirming the message of Abraham. And all of the followed the religion of Adam and Eve, and Noah. But unless you’ve read the Quran, you’ll never know.
This is the true religion of Moses, of Abraham, and Jesus and Mohammed, Mary and the Virigin Mother of Jesus. May love, peace and blessing be upon them all.
A little, teeny, weeny point I’d like to make here as well. Reading the Quran is like seeing with one eye. The other eye is the hadith. So to fully see and understand Islam, you’d need both the Quran AND the hadiths.
Selamat Raya Aidliadha and Eid Mubarak Eidul Adha to all. May Allah accept our deeds for the last 10 days of Zulhijjah. May Allah forgive our past and future sins. And may Allah save us from the hell fire…and I’m saying all this in good spirit!
May our days be filled with Allah’s blessings and love.
So, I was flipping through a book I managed to take with me from home, and bumped into this really awesome nafil prayer (solat sunat).
Solat Sunat Mutlak
This type of nafil prayer is intended to be done to earn those extra pahala (rewards? hasanah?). It can be done anytime and in as many rakaat as you like, as long as it’s not during the times when it’s forbidden to pray.
Translation (the best I can do!): “I intend to offer 2 rakaahs of solat sunat mutlak for the sake of Allah”
I used to take optional prayers really lightly. Like, reaaaaally, reaaaaally lightly (but then again, there was a time when I took A LOT of things lightly. Tsk tsk). I mean, it’s only sunnat. It’s not wajib (obligatory). Right? Well, if you’re worried about tipping the scale (with good deeds) at the Day of Judgement, doing what’s wajib may not be enough. I need to dedicate one whole post on solat. Hah! This is 2nd time I’ve mentioned this. I’m not even done with my Soul Crunch post yet.
Source: Koleksi 100 Solat-Solat Sunat, Al-Fadhil Al-Ustaz Hj Ahmand B. Hj Ibrahim (Ma, Pa…book sound familiar to you? Huhuhuh)
Consumption without excuses and without the need of justification – the beauty part was that it finessed the irksome question of values and of purpose. During the past decade [the 1980's], many people came to believe there didn’t have to be a purpose. The mechanism didn’t require it. Consumption kept the workers working, which kept the paychecks coming, which kept the people spending, which kept investors investing, which mean there was more to consume. The system, properly understod, was independent of values needed no philosophy to prop it up. It was a perfect circle, complete in itself- and empty in the middle
Source: Laurence Shames, The Hunger for More: Searching for Values in an Age of Greed (New York: Times Books, 1989), back cover
WordPress has just released a new version of…WordPress. Heheh. It’s looks a lot …sleeker. If only they had added an extra theme or two (or 10?) maybe you’d see a more estatic me. Yes, you can tell by the frequency of the change in themes that I can get bored with the same look all too easily.
Moving on.
To my brothers and sisters in Islam, how have your first 6 days of Zulhijjah been? Productive? I’m assuming that quite a lot of you have received a bunch of e-mails on the virtues of the first 10 days of Zulhijjah, or at least aware of the virtues of these days. I’ll try not to be redundant so I’ll just mention a point or two (or 3?) on it, insya Allah.
The day of Arafat – 9th Zulhijjah. Only yesterday did I fully understood the sheer magnitude of greatness of this day, masya Allah. On this day, all sincere doa are accepted; all sincere ibadah are accepted; all sincere taubat are accepted..and you know what else? If we are to fast on this very day and just dedicate a whole chunck of the day just worshiping Allah and make doa, all the sins from the past 2 years and the 2 years ahead (EDIT: Last night, I was told that it’s 2 years, i.e a year before and a year ahead. I’m confused! Anybody care to verify???) are expiated. masya Allah. Allah is indeed the Most Merciful! The knowledge of this simply brought tears to my eyes. I can look back at my last 2 years and feel so much angusih and shame. If there was a list on the ‘Top 1 Billion Muslims of the Year’, I can confidently say that I would’ve never made it to the list. Not even a nomination. Astaghafiruka waatubuilaik. I seek forgiveness and repentence to You (Allah). It was just so easy to take life for granted, especially when you think that you’re already living THE life. When you think that you’ve already got all the things that you could wish for. Who was I kidding? Nothing is worthwhile (or even turns out well) when there’s little rememberance of God – if there was even any at all.
Ok. Emo aside; things that we can do now and also on the 9th (and maybe even for the rest of our lives?):
Make lots of taubat.
Wake up for Tahajjud
Recite the Quran – and understand the meanings
Fast – the first 10 days, the whole 10 days, on the 9th (especially on the 9th!).
Do lots of takbir, tahlil, tahmid and tasbih
Make lots of sadaqah – a penny or two; a helping hand; a smile?
Do as many sunnat prayers – taubat, rawatib, tahajjud, hajat, etc (would love to talk about salat one day, insya Allah)
9th – Spend the time between Zohor – Maghrib worshipping Allah and making looooooong loooooooong doa.
9th – recite the Talbiyah
So let us not waste the remaining days of the first 10 days of Zulhijjah, and especially the day of Arafat when it comes, insya Allah. Aidladha will only have it’s worth if we’ve spent the prior days working for it. Get what I mean? Also, something that I believe is worth mentioning; the last 10 days of Ramadhan are better than any other night including the nights of Zulhijjah, but the first 1o days of Zulhijjah are better than the last 10 days of Ramadhan.
The Prophet SAW said: “There aren’t any days greater, nor any days in which deeds are done in them are more beloved to Allah, the Most High, than these 10 days (of Zulhijjah). They said: O Messenger of Allah, not even Jihad in the Path of Allah? He said: Not even Jihad in the Path of Allah, except if a man goes out (for Jihad) with his self and his wealth, then he doesn’t return with anything from that” (Bukhari, Abu Daud, and others)
When we think that we might’ve already got the latest phone, before you know it another phone with a sleeker design and more hi-tech functions enters the market. Each time we scroll down to Brudirect’s ‘Your Health’ section, there would be news popping up on latest findings on cancer, sleep, drugs, etc. All these scientific and technological developments just seem to be on the fast lane with no red lights to be seen anywhere. Unfortunately, the same thing can’t be said about our spirituality. Our people today is facing a spiritual crisis. WE are facing a spiritual crisis. We’re too tied down to the world (dunia). We’re always seeking for that instant gratification. Using prohibited durgs to get high. Using alcohol and sex to get that excitement. Chasing after wealth and fame to feel happy and gain that sense of power. But are any of these things actually making us happy? Has it actually given us contentment? The immediate yet temporary excitements that we get from all these “wrong doings” are nothing but temporary. As soon as the the feeling frizzles out, we’d feel that void again, then we’d end up doing the same things that are clearly against our natural disposition (fitrah) all over again. Islam believes that all human beings are born in a state of fitrah – knowing the difference between right and wrong, the knowledge of a Creator, a Greater Being and the submission to Him. Thus, the emptiness, grief and dissatisfaction that we feel is a mere manifestation of us going against our fitrah.
It’s great that we are technologically progressing, but it doesn’t mean that we should let our spirituality be left behind. No space for religion in the modern world? Islam is a religion that doesn’t compartmentalise spirituality and life. Life as a whole and religious practices go hand in hand. We have guidelines in how to lead our life – how to interact with one another, how to run a honest business, how to eat and drink, etc. And surprise! Surpise! It is still applicable till this day! Spirituality does not restrict us, but it frees us instead. Spirituality frees us from our raging nafs, and peer/worldy pressures. Being free from all these can actually allow us to choose what we want to do. Now that is real freedom. Freedom is not defined by being able to wear what’s “trendy”, or being able to date whoever, however and whenever. Realise that the society and the media plays a huge role in “setting the trend”. So complying to their expectancies is the same as being forced to do as such. One might argue that the same thing can be said about religion. A religious belief demands us to comply to a list of rules and regulations and become a servant to God. Well, let me just put it this way; “who” is more worthy of our obedience and worship – the pages of cosmo, or God?
In this time and age, we have collectively forgotten. The worldy demands and the little trinkets have distracted us from God and our real purpose in life. We’ve got it all wrong. A huge house, a hot boyfriend, and the latest gadgets are not going to keep us happy. The only way to feel that contentment and that constant high is by getting closer to Allah, submitting to Him, and by becoming a true Muslim like our Prophet Muhammad SAW, his companions and the other outstanding Muslims. To get that peace, happiness, serenity, satisfaction and spiritual high we’d need to go back to the basics and return to our fitrah. So we need to act now, and act fast in order to spiritually progress for the benefit of ourselves and the entire humanity. Now this can be done by balancing 3 things:
Ibadatillah – Worship Allah
Immaratal ardh – develop the earth
Tazkiyatinafs – Purify the nafs
I’ll elborate further on these three points in a different post (possibly separately for each point), so watch out for the next “Soul Cruch” post I’ll try my best to do a “Soul Crunch” post a maximum of once a week, insya Allah.
Today’s lectures were awesome. Yes, ALL three of them. masya Allah. I might’ve been struggling to stay awake during the first lecture (I didn’t have mymorning coffee), but I heard everything and I got everything! Honest! The lecturer practically killed the DSM by the end of the class. What’s not interesting about that? Haha. Now, the other 2 remaining lectures got me thinking about its applicability to Brunei’s educational system.
Sending off children for private “tuition” is a well rooted culture for pre-university (lower primary up to 6th Form) Bruneian students. School in the day. Tuition in the evening. This is how it is for the majority of the population (i.e. these pre-university Bruneian students). Shouldn’t this be seen as a red flag for the Ministry of Education and its subcomponents (i.e. schools, teachers, UBD, etc)? Any objective observer would think that this is an indication that students are just not learning enough at schools. When effective learning does not take place in the classrooms, it doesn’t mean that the students can’t learn nor does it mean that the teachers can’t teach. It simply means that the contingencies within the environment does not allow effective learning. There are insufficient (let alone a maximisation of) learning opportunities. All students can learn despite their history. A student that comes from a less fortunate socioeconomic background might not grow up with ‘educational toys’ which may make them less ‘advanced’ than those who were exposed with educational toys from a young age. However, they are still able to learn if the contingencies within the learning environment allows learning to take place effectively. Similarly, teachers cannot be blamed for being “bad teachers” or “not knowing how to teach”. They are only a product of the educational system (BA is quite huge on the influence of environment and consequences on behaviour). If the eduational system does not equip them with the right tools to teach effectively, how can they even teach effectively to begin with? A person can’t try to fix the electricity with a hammer. No matter how he twists and turns and uses the hammer, he will never be able to fix the electricity.
Imagine a math class. The teacher is about to introduce a new formula or a new mathematical whateveryoucallit. He writes on the board, explains everything, and the class stays quiet and pays attention (at least hopefully!). The teacher would then say, “Any questions?”, or “Do you understand?”. A question or two might be raised but a majority would just remain silent or indicate that they have understood the concept. So the teacher then gives a set of questions to do in class, and some others to do as homework. Of course, the teacher remembers to say, “Let me know if you have any questions”.
Seems pretty alright, doesn’t it? Doesn’t seem as if there’s anything wrong there, is there? Well, let’s see…
1.The teacher started off great. He taught the new concept and asked the students if they understood. But then again, how likely is it for the average student to put himself or herself out there to ask a question. A question that he might assume would make him look stupid, yet very important for his learning? Remember how peer pressure gets really intense during our adolescent years (lol. I’m making myself sound old).
2. If a student doesn’t fully understand what is being taught, he or she is likely to make mistakes when doing the calculations. Once they try and do the math tasks independently, they would probably be making the same errors repeadtedly reflecting that gap in their understanding. Ever heard about the saying “old habits die hard”. Well, it’s an empirically validated phenomena – but differently termed. Hence it is important that teaching should target to minimise as many errors as possible from the beginning.
An effective learning environment is a situation which allows the students to get as many learning opportunities as possible. Learning should also aim for fluency, which involves BOTH accuracy and speed. Not just accurate answers which takes a while to come up with; or a quick response that is inaccurate. Memory retention and recall is also important in learning. Thus, a learning environment (teaching methods, students behaviour) should have all these components.
For subjects such as history or psychology, we often see the teacher stand in front of the class and starts talking. They’ll go on and on and then…drrrriiiingg!! The school bell goes off and the class ends. For subjects that are so heavily loaded with concepts and sometimes rather dry, the mind just wanders after 10mins into the lecture. Sometimes, a lot less than that. So how can we ensure that the students are actually listening, but more importantly, learning in class? Accurate and observable FEEDBACK (e.g. active student responding – ASR) is the answer, my dear readers. An accurate feedback from the students (no, “do you understand?” questions!) can be an observable and objective measure as to whether the students have understood what has been taught.
ASR allows more frequent responding in the classroom DURING and AFTER the lessons. If we refer to the aforementioned math class scenario, the teacher might breakdown the concept into smaller components. After each component, the teacher might stop and turn to everybody and ask them to do one question to test if they have understood that component. Now, there are a number of ways to makes sure that EVERYBODY answers. In this situation, writing the answer on an A4 piece of paper and lifting it up when the teacher signals for it is one possible way. However, it has to be ensured that they all show the answers at the same time (to avoid referring to others’ answers), and that EVERYBODY have to give their responses (letting them know that EVERYBODY has to answer – escape extinction). So there should be a few trials before implementing this response technique. If there is a majority of inaccurate responses, it would indicate that the students are still unsure about the concept. Thus, the teacher should go back and teach the concept again…and test them again. Response methods can vary from using coloured cards to answer MCQs, choral responding, and guided notes. This type of strategy could provide the teachers on immediate feedback on the performance of both the teachers and the students during AND after each learning units.
In light of the SPN 21 (which is still a tad bit blurry to me), I am hoping that the new system involves the training of teachers on effective teaching methods. Not pseudoscientific or anecdotal types of teaching methods, but teaching methods that actually work and have empirical evidence to back it up. For instance, there is a program called Direct Instruction (big DI). It’s a systematic approach to designing and delivering instructions. It involves repeated trials, quick responses, demands attention, starts with developing basic skills then moving to more complex, and so on. DI also involves a script, and this script is scientifically proven to work. What more do you need? Though, when a teacher hears about this, there might become apprehensive about this method, “It’s so prescribed and robotic,” “Where’s the creativity?” A script only makes up HALF of the effectiveness. A teacher’s enthusiasm, reinforcement procedures and scheduling, classroom management, etc. are also prominant in making the program a success. I also believe that Brunei educational system could learn something from this DI in the delivery of language and maths. HERE is a link on DI and the different programs available. They can also be purchased through the website.
Below are some videos on DI so you can have a flavour on what it’s about.
If you’re interested in knowing more about DI, ASR…or would like to employ me or do my thesis on you class (hehe), leave me a commet here or e-mail me (e-mail address if found in the She. I. Me page). If I can’t answer your questions, I’ll get back to you once I do find the answers to you questions, insya Allah.
P.S.: I really hope that the committe/consultants for the SPN21 involves a Behaviour Analyist. If the committe can’t find one, I’m sure I can try and get hold of the contact details of a BAst specialising in education, insya Allah.
