Pixelated Scribbles

Before you say anything…I know I keep coming and going. Inconsistent with the updates. Forgive me. The life beyond the blogging world have been demanding my attention..and brain juice. Alhamdulilah. The world does need me afterall :p Oh, and there’s a new wordpress theme, so I’m gonna use it while it’s hot *sizzle*

You know how sometimes you have SO much work, and it stresses you out like mad? And sometimes, we worry too much on trying to get it right..or making it as perfect as possible.

Reality check – there will always be work. This THING called work will be around until we grow old and grey and finally die. And that’s good. At least we’re living a productive life.  At least we’re not a waste of space.  Instead, we should be worried when we’ve got nothing to do! When we’re not contributing to any good!

Trully, a happy state shall attain the believers: those who humble themselves in their prayer, and who turn away from all that is frivolous, and who are intent in inner purity, and who are mindful of their chastity (Al Mu’minun: 1-5)

Secondly,  when it comes to work, we should strive to perfect it. However, we shouldn’t let these efforts become a hinderance to what is important – like getting the work done, or gaining rewards/pahala and barakah/blessings from Allah for doing them. So just chill a bit ya when that Mr or Miss 110%-Perfection starts creeping in. And worry not when it feels as if there’s too much work and too much difficulty. For after each difficulty, there shall be ease, insya Allah.

Verily, Allah loves that when anyone of you does a job he should perfect it (Baihaqi)

And behold, with every hardship comes ease;  verily, with every hardship comes ease! (Al-Insyirah: 5-6)

Those who believe, and whose hearts find their rest in the remembrance of  God – for, verily, in the remembrance of God hearts do find rest (Ar-Ra’d: 28)

Have you been to our Jame Asr’ masjid in Brunei? You know that specific area where we can take our wudu’. You know how once we wave our hands beneath those sensors, the water comes GUSHING out like a waterfall?

Gushing? waterfall? yeah..not the best description..but you get what I mean, right?

Well anyway, don’t you think it’s a waste of water? You don’t need that much water to take wudhu’. Really. The Prophet’s SAW and his companions never needed that much water. A small bowl was sufficient for them to perform a perfect wudhu.

I’ve been playing around with the..ermm..measuring jug in the bathroom, and y’kno, 200ml of water was more than enough for me. Imagine how much water we waste when we perform our wudhu every single day. Be smart, and do not waste water while taking wudu’, okeys?

“Membazir atu sifat apa~? Syaaaaaiiiiiitaaaaaaan~”

Just thought I’d publish a short post to let y’all know I’m still alive and kicking.

Alhamdulilah. All praise to Allah.

I was away for most of last week. Was with the girls.  Sweet. Uni reopens tomorrow and I still haven’t checked what time lectures are on tomorrow.

Work is doing well too. Alhamdulilah. Slow for some, top speed for others…but both are progressing nonetheless. I have a few things that are worth getting anxious and excited about, but we’ll have save them for another time – if they’re share-able, that is. 

Till then. Blog soon. Twitter me@Lilyander.

…He brought you into being out of the earth, and made you thrive thereon… (Hud:61)

And remember how He made you heirs to the tribe of ‘Ad and settled you firmly on earth, so that you are able to build for yourselves castles on its plains and hew out mountains to serve you as dwellings: remember, God’s blessings, do not act wickedly on earth by spreading corruption. (Al-Araf:74)

*cracks neck*

I’ve been working on a post-event report for the past hour or so.  It’s in Bahasa Melayu standard. STANDARD! Prior to the actual write-up, I wished I had “Contoh-contoh surat rasmi” with me. It came really handy during the earlier Secondary years. Now that I have actually started the write-up, it isn’t so bad. Especially when you have a bunch of really awesome people doing parts of the report too. It’s a joint effort for..a jointly organised event …Jagung. 

So earlier today, some of my girls and I were talking about our Prophet Muhammad SAW. You know how in the past Allah used to send down messengers not one at a time but in twos and sometimes threes:

When We sent to them two Messengers they rejected them both; so We strenghtened them by a third; and they said, ‘ Verily, we have been sent to you  as Messengers.’ 

(Surah Yasin: 14)

Messengers were sent down to the people to guide them to the right path. Allah cared for them so much that He would send down more than one Messenger to right the wrongs. To save them from their misguided ways. 

Then, our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW was sent down to us. He was Allah’s last Messenger. After the wafat of the Prophet SAW, there were to be no more Messengers after that. No matter how misguided or corrupted our socities become, there won’t be any more Messengers to push us into the right direction. The thought of this alone makes me sad. It really does. Who’s going to save us now?

With the sharp decline in morality and spiritual within many of our societies, we can’t keep expecting the ulama’s, sheikhs, ustaz, ministry or government to solve these problems alone.  Before our Prophet SAW left this earth, Islam was complete. He did not leave until Islam was perfected. He had left us the Quran and his sunnah. So with these two things, we CAN make a difference.  WE too can learn and help our brothers and sisters. WE can call others to enjoin good and forbid evil. Together, WE can bring about change.  Together, we shall continue the Prophets’ mission.

So I was searching for revelant journal articles for my mini project. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned about my mini project but it’s an earth-loving study that’s to do with littering..or cigarette butts.  If you’re familiar with research and experimental designs, I think you’ll have and idea what the data collection comprise of. Dedication to a whole new level, say I!

Anyway, I bumped into this really nifty news article:

Student get stuck into skip-art project

Have a look at the article and just see how artistic and innovative these 2 girls are! There’s a little slideshow of their portfolio.

THEY’RE known as the partners in grime – two conceptual artists who hijack rubbish skips and pose for photos with the surprising things they find inside.

The skip-jumping duo, Anni Skilton, 21, of Monmouth, and 20-year-old Rhondda-born Allie Birch-Probyn, hope their growing portfolio of “throwaway Wales” photographs will deliver a powerful environmental message.

Wynne Williams, spokesman for Keep Wales Tidy said the skip art project in Swansea was sending an important message.
He said: “We like to use as

 many innovative ways as possible to change people’s behaviour and to make them think that what they throw away has to be dealt with by somebody, somewhere.

 Now this is what you call making a statement with photography! With the rise in excellent  photobloggers/photographers in Brunei, it’d be great to see at least one of them (or some?) do something as significant and meaningful as what these two girls have been doing.

If we stop speaking and talking to ourselves for once, and listen instead to the sounds of the world, it is as if we were listening to the sound of God’s original act of creation.

Listening softens the gaze. And if we listen deeply enough – if, that is, we stop talking to ourselves completely enough – then the Eye of the Heart may open, and let us see into the hearts of things

- Listening, Charles Upton 

The Book of Nature, Camille Helminski