Pixelated Scribbles

*brushes off dust*

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah and harrrloooooowww~

Whaasaaaap, ya’all~? Tee hee hee…I know. I’ve been away. I’ve been pretty busy these past few weeks. There had also been times when I didn’t even switch on my laptop. Uh huh~ Believe it, people

It surprises me to see people getting  surprised when they see me wearing a tudong that is relatively large, or talk about Islam, or reading a book on Rasulullah’s life history. Being away and constantly surrounded with Islam-lovin’ girlies have made me forget that it isn’t a norm to see a young person like I (yes, I’m young. I’m unemployed, so consider me young :p) to be into my faith.

So what do people my age suppose to be doing? Hang out with all the boys and girls until the late hours? Read gossip magazines and chick lit? Go out and date boys? Really? Are these really the things that our youth should indulge in? Seriously?

During this phase in life when we’re the fittest, determined, energtic, idealistic and relatively less commitments, should it really be wasted doing all the above? I’m sure Allah didn’t give us all these advantages during our youth to be involved in things that are displeasing to Him.

Hurrmmss….What do you guys think?

I see everybody is hyped up about His Majesty’s titah. I managed to hear some parts of it yesterday. Trillions of thanks to Mrs Mike for letting me hear it from her radio back home (YM –> her mic against her radio). The perks of technology! But! But! earlier today, I gots this from muh twitter: HERE is the link to the HM’s titah as aired on the news.

Taken from Ranoadidas.com

Looking at all the facebook and twitter msgs, quite a lot of Bruneians are cheering behind HM. It was an inspiring titah, indeed.  Score, HM! You’ve won back the hearts of your people *throws confetti*

I think, for so long, I have always wondered if HM really knew the dark and dirty on goings of his government and his people. Does he surf through the HYS of Brudirect? Does he read blogs? Does he have a twitter account under a pseudo name? *Giggles* So yesterday’s titah was comforting (in a way) as he has proved to me and the rest of his people that he IS aware of what goes on in his country – both reported and unreported..both good and bad. And now, he’s going to make sure that we pull ourselves together!

That’s the good part. Now, the sad part.

How did we get to this point? How did the people of an Islamic nation become so complacent, spoiled, wasteful, fame and media greedy, and ignorant/indifferent towards the Islamic teachings? Why did we allow our own people go this far?? It’s heart breaking. It’s heart breaking to see how a supposedly Islamic nation, ummah, is weak. Weak in beliefs, practices and characteristics.

Where is our faith in Allah? Have we become too proud? Have we become too comfortable with all the blessings Allah has given us? We have free education, free medical service, no income tax. We can get jobs as long as our moms, dads, uncles, aunties, cousins etc are in the department/ministry/office. Political stability, manageable inflation rates, subsidised petrol rates. What more do we want?? With so much blessings, instead of drawing closer to Allah we’ve grown further from Him. WHY?! Have we become ungrateful to Allah’s Mercy? Do we not fear Allah’s wrath?

Do we want to live in a Brunei where the people have a blurred perception of ethics? Where the offices and homes are reeking with corruption and scandal? Where it becomes a norm to have boyfriends and girlfriends of our children staying over and sleeping in their bedrooms? It’s not impossible. Not impossible at all.

Spain, a country that was once a strong Islamic nation and the hub for various knowledge from arts to science.  Look at it now. Walking down the streets of Spain donning a hijab invites a lot of weirded-out stares.  Islam was in Spain for about 700 years. If Islam came to Brunei around 1400, and now we’re already in the year 2000’s. How many years has Islam been in Brunei? 600 years? We’re only 100 years behind from Spain. Nobody thought Islam would die in Spain. It’s not impossible if Islam was to die in Brunei too.

So, do we want to be another Spain?

Nauzubillahi min zalik.

Instead of pointing fingers, or laughing and dissing the so called guilty parties why don’t we look into ourselves for a change. Do we regularly practice any zikir or wirid on a daily basis? Do we wait until we are told before we do anything? How much do we depend on our parents to feed us and give us cash? Do we make a habit of going left and right with a non mahram? Have we been performing solat hajat regularly to seek for the safety and protection of ourselves and our people? Is our ruh well fed and satisfied, or has it been neglected and often forgotten?

We can continue to cheer and condemn all we want, but will that do any good? Would that lead to any change? Would that help the nation? Will that help our ummah? So let us stop wasting time engaging in things that are not beneficial, and think about what WE as individuals can do to answer HM’s call!

“Sesungguhnya Allah tidak mengubah keadaan suatu kaum sebelum mereka mengubah keadaan diri mereka sendiri.” (Ar Ra’d 13:11)

“..Verily, God does not change men’s condition unless they change their inner selves..” (Ar Ra’d 13:11)

Allahu akbar!!

Katakanlah, “Wahai hamba-hamba Ku yang melampaui batas terhadap diri mereka sendiri! Jangalah kamu berputus asa dari rahmat Allah. Sesungguhnya Allah mengampuni dosa-dosa semuanya. Sungguh, Dialah Yang Maha Pengampun, Maha Penyayang.” (Az Zumar 39:53)

Say, “Oh you servants of Mine who have transgressed against your own selves! Despair not of God’s mercy: behold, God’s forgives all sins – for, verily, He alone is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!” (Az Zumar 39:53)

Did you read Sunday’s news?

Imagine my glee when I came across the news article entitled, “All Celebration Events Postponed“. Personally, me thinks it’s a wonderful news. Less waste (food, money, decorations, time), and less maksiat *thumbs up*

Good job, Brunei!

Lets keep doing things that are pleasing to Allah, and not those that evoke His wrath, okeys?

I remember the time when I decided to properly, properly hijrah. To completely leave all my dirty and wicked ways, and come back to Allah. Completely and full heartedly.

I had just finished salat, and was still sat on the sajadah. A salat mat which had long been abandoned, or only laid out at times of trouble but left to accumulate dust at times of joy. Having just completed my long doa to Allah (which was mostly in malay, with only the bismillah and the selawat being in arabic); my mind was empty and my heart was at peace. It was at that instant I witnessed Allah’s Greatness. His Power. All the thoughts and questions that I had in my mind that entire time, were answered. My confusions sorted. My worries vanished. Masya Allah. Masya Allah. The feeling of calmness and amazement was like none I have had experienced before. I kid you not!

Just because my hijrah took overnight, doesn’t mean that it was the same with the transformation. My tops were still short. I still didn’t wear a hijab inside the house at the presence of non mahram. I still hadn’t memorised the top 10 most frequently recited surah from the Quran. Externally I might have still appeared as if I wasn’t just ‘there’ yet, but internally I felt different (read: only observed the 5 times a day salat, a bit of Quranic recitation now and again, and lots of reading) . I was in so much awe with the beauty of Islam. With each information I find about the Deen, I would burst into excitement! I felt enlightened! Things were beginning to make a lot of sense. With the newfound (proper) understanding of the little ins and outs of Islam, it became easier to do things that were pleasing to Allah.

So yes, I am a strong believer of how an inward change would eventually lead to an outward change. Just look at all the sahabah and believers during the Prophet Muhammad’s SAW time. Why were they so ready to accept all hukum Allah each time it came down;  no questions asked? Was it really blind faith? If we examined the Quran and the seerah, all the first surahs (Makkiyah) all touched upon tauhid, sins, rewards, jannah and jahaman. Only then were the surah on hukum were sent down (Madaniyyah). So everybody had their beliefs rectified and perfected, before Allah gave them the Sacred Law. Makes you wonder why it’s hard for us who are born Muslim to committ/understand the deen, aye?

Right ok. What was the point of my story, again?

…ah…yes.

Committing completely to Islam is not easy and isn’t like some 3-in-1 milo mix. It takes time, patience, and tons of effort. At times you’d become worried, “Oh dear~ I hope this isn’t a phase!” And boy I had my fair share of worry on that! But once u start ploughing through the jahiliyah mess, you’ll reach a point where you become firm and absolutely sure that you’ll stick to the Right Path. No bargaining. But even if we haven’t reached ‘that’ point yet, do not use the ‘I’m not there yet’ excuse to slack on the core duties, e.g. as simple as establishing salat 5 times a day. I mean, come on. Is it really hard to find that time to just spend 20 mins a day with Allah? Why it so hard to wake up in the morning to solat Fajar, but easier to stay up til lthe wee hours to hang out with friends or watch TV? Are we too busy, and too attached with this temporary, worldly nikmat that Allah has given us to even come back to Him? Every single thing that we have, we own, are all from Allah. We are on borrowed time, borrowed wealth, borrowed intelligence. None of the things that we have are truly ours. This plain and simple realisation should instead compel us to draw ourselves closer to Allah. To do show our gratitude to Allah? Or are we just too proud?

As a reminder to us all:

Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang beriman lalu kafir, kemudian beriman (lagi), kemudian kafir lagi, lalu bertambah kekafirannya, maka Allah tidak akan mengampuni mereka, dan tidak (pula) menunjukkan kepada mereka jalan (yang lurus).

Those who believe then reject Faith, then believe (again) and (again) reject Faith and go on an increasing in unbelief – Allah will not forgive them, nor guide them on the way.  (Surah An Nisa 4:137)

Mereka dalam keadaan ragu antara yang demikian (iman atau kafir) tidak termasuk kepada golongan ini (orang beriman) dan tidak (pula) kepada golongan itu (orang kafir). Barangsiapa dibiarkan sesat oleh Allah, maka kamu tidak akan mendapatkan jalan (untuk memberi petunjuk) baginya.

(They are) distracted in mind even in the midst of it – being (sincerely) for neither one group or another. Whom Allah leaves straying, – never will thou find for him the Way. (Surah An Nisa 4:143)

Allah has warned us against going on a constant hot-cold, hot-cold cycle. We can’t be establishing prayer, taking care of our aurat, avoiding free mingling with the opposite sex in one minute…and then missing solat, back with the short skirts and hugging and kissing the male/female species the next minute…then switching back and forth. What if Allah doesn’t forgive us the next time we decided to come back to Him (for the umpteenth time!)? What if Allah decides to stop giving  signposts to ensure us a good life – dunia and akhirat? What then?

May we all be firm, steadfast and patient in attaining Allah’s rahmat, hidayah, love and jannah. Amiin…Amiin…Yaa Rabbalalamin…