Assalamualaikum.. Alhamdulillah, recently Dz, Nik and I (Syira) have been fortunate to be able to join the ISR program at Iowa State University (ISU) from March 12 to March 13. Syira has not met Dz for so long since we flew here to U.S. so I was very excited, since we were roommates and I missed her dearly. :)
From Purdue, we departed with two cars at about 11 am and arrived in Drake University around 8 pm. We stopped and prayed at Kak Atikah's apartment before we proceed with the journey to ISU. When we arrived at the apartment, I was so excited to meet Nik. She came there with Kak Ani and Kak Aziah. We hugged each other and then talked together as though there was nobody else in the room. Hehe. And then, Alhamdulillah, I feel so happy because although it is only for a short while, I get to meet Farah, another one of our usrah members who is in Drake. Unfortunately, Drake's spring break is yet to come so they cannot follow us but still, it was really nice to be able to see her and hug her and have a short gossip with her and Preetha, another one of our housemates. I guess living together in the same house has made us so close but more than that, the ukhwah that was built because of our usrah together has bonded us in this special way. Only Allah SWT knows the excitement and the happiness that we feel when we meet each other. I guess this is what people call 'manisnya ukhwah'. When you love someone because of Allah SWT. :)
After that, we continue our journey and arrived at ISU at about 11 pm. Dz was not home when I arrived at her house. I was so tired so I fell asleep immediately on her bed. And that night the three of us - Nik, Dz and I slept on the same mattress. :) The next morning, we hug each other and say hello for the first time face to face since we arrived in this country. Hehe. And then as usual I talked to Nik and Dz, but not so long because after that we have to get ready and go to the program.
The program was really good. There are participants from four universities: ISU, UIowa, Purdue and Drake. Kak Hanna began the first slot by presenting on Our Fikrah. And then we have a break for zohor prayer and lunch. We had ikan sepat for lunch! Isn't it wonderful. I wonder how they find that fish in U.S. The food was great. But before lunch, we had a taaruf' game. We were asked to write three things about us on a piece of paper and then to crumple it and throw it randomly in the room. The person who pick our papers will have to guess who we are. It was fun playing that and by the end of the game, we know almost everyone in the room. After that we continue with the second session. I sat beside Kak Atikah from Drake that day. And I love talking to her. She knows a lot and she is sweet and confident.
After that, we have a game session outside. We were divided into three groups. We were then asked to put our hands together and then to entangled ourselves and form a circle. Alhamdulillah after much difficulties and try and error, my team, team no 2 won the game. Through this game we learn that as long as we work together we can solve almost any problem even though it seems impossible. After the game session, we had our dinner outside, like a picnic. It was really fun and nice and we eat together in groups in the trays. The menu for the night is rice with chicken soup and cabbage. Again, the food was awesome. Thank you ISU sisters for cooking these delicious food.
After dinner, we perform our Maghrib prayer together and then we continue with the third slot which is Sayonara Jahiliyah with Kak Maryam. After that we return to our places and go to bed. The next morning, we continue with the slot with Kak Maryam. We also have some group discussions on what is considered jahiliyah, those jahiliyah's things that we do and how to solve these problems. After that the program ended. Before we say goodbye, we sat around in a big circle. Each of us was given a piece of paper and was asked to write our names on it. And then we passed around the paper in the circle and each person will have to write down what they think of the person whose name is on the paper. As the circle complete and everyone has written down their impression or thoughts or wishes, we got back our own paper. It was fun to read those thoughts that people have on you. I am really thankful for all the kind and warm wishes. Hope to see everyone again in another program insyaAllah.
And also it was during this circle that I was overwhelmed with emotions. Thank you Nik, for being a shoulder for me to cry on. I have no idea why my tears kept coming down and why I could not speak at the time, but I suppose I just miss you and Dz and us Bubbletea Di Syurga so much. It was embarrassing though, I dislike crying in public but it does not matter anymore. Because it just feel nice to get a hug from you Nik. Hehe. Mengada-ngadakan? Thank you for all the supportive words you kept giving me at the time. InsyaAllah I will remember them and thank you for the hadis you dedicated to me. I already read it. Jzkk. :) I love you fillah nik. And dz, I read your statement in the paper and of course I know which one is for you. Thank you for considering me as your best friend although we are far from each other and do not keep in touch as often as we used to now. It was fun that I get to makan suap2 with you. Hehe. It was fun that we get to sleep together with nik side by side. It was fun cam-whoring with you. Haha. Although rasa macam tak cukup masa je kan the times we spend together but it really meant a lot to me. InsyaAllah ada rezeki we will meet again, eat together again, sleep together again, take picture byk2 lg and do things together because of Him insyaAllah. :)
After that writing down thingy, we perform our zohor prayer together and then is the session to salam2 and say goodbye before we went down for lunch. It was really nice to meet everyone. Although we were there for only like 48 hours but I feel close to everyone somehow. And then after that we have lunch downstairs. I ate on the same table with my usrah sister here Kak Faizah, and with Nik and Dz and their usrah sister Kak Ani. It's like kind of awkward and funny at the same time. Some mixture of the old usrah group and the new usrah group. Haha. I dunno how to say it but I suppose Dz and Nik will know what I mean. But that was our farewell lunch. And after that we have to say goodbye. Kak Ani and I got a surprise gift from Dz, a keychain with ISU logo on it. Aww.. thank you my dear ex-roommie. <3 :D But I won't forget your promise: "this is all for now but there's more to come!" hehe. I'm waiting for more. LOL. Just kidding. I don't need more, I only need you to be happy and to keep on fighting in this path. See you in Jannah Dz, insyaAllah like you wrote on my paper. :)
After that, I walk around the lake while waiting for our car with my fellow Purdue sisters. We take some pictures. They actually got a lake! How nice! I wish Purdue has one. Okay, Syira, stop it. Be thankful with what you have. Huhu. Anyway, then we headed back to Purdue. Well, not really. We went to Drake first to send Kak Atikah. And before that we stopped by at a mall in Des Moines for a short while. It was a beautiful mall and it was fun the time that I got to spend with the kakak2 Purdue, and then we sit down and just eat ice-creams. Just normal stuffs but I appreciate every second of it. I am so gonna miss them. This is the last semester for most of them and they will be graduating in May. I wish I can spend more time with these kind sisters but of course this is life and I need to be strong and learn to move on. :) And I need to learn as much as I can from them before they leave. Oh, and one sweet thing is.. hehe.. Kak Faizah my usrah sister saw me crying at Nik earlier and she said, "Syahirah, if you have anything don't keep it to yourself. Share with us." Oh.. although I feel embarrased that people had seen me crying.. haha.. but I dunno why I'm not embarrased now to tell it here to the whole world.. haha.. okay, anyway, it was sweet.. that's why if any of you readers have not join usrah, go ahead. I meant it. It's great to have kakak usrah coz they will worry for you although I was just crying ngada2 kot mse tu. Entahla sbenanya tak tau nape. Haha.But they will be willing to hear you anyway. And at the same time when you have your usrah group, friendship tu lg sweet and you can support one another. <3 Bestkan? :D
Okay, then after the mall, we send Kak Atikah back home, pray there and we continue our journey. Somehow the journey back feels much longer than the journey when we came to Iowa. Maybe because it was already night by then and we were so tired and sleepy. But I decided to stay awake to accompany Kak Maryam when she drive. I love accompanying people driving at night. I don't really know why but I love talking to these kakak2 when they drive at night maybe because I could talk to them personally and learn a lot from them while everyone else is sleeping. Hehe. :)
Okay, so it was already subuh when we arrived at Purdue. Alhamdulillah we have a safe journey back. It was a great program and I have learn a lot from it and also throughout the journey because we have done a lot of sharing along the way as well. Alhamdulillah, may this knowledge we gain could help us in our life till the end. I wish all Bubbletea Di Syurga members could have gone but time and distance does not allow some of us to be there. But it is okay, insyaAllah wherever we are we will always join any tarbiyyah that we can and we will keep on fighting in this path in our own ways. I miss my group but I know we each have our own responsibilities and obligations. May Allah SWT guide us always and may we see each other again, sit drinking the most delicious bubbletea ever in Jannah. I love you fillah Nik, Dz, Farah, Emi, Fatin. :)
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Islamic Spring Retreat (ISR) 2012 Part 2 - Sayonara Jahiliyah
Now that we have understand Our Fikrah, the next thing for us to do is to say Sayonara to Jahiliyah. Sayonara is a Japanese language. It means goodbye. Jahiliyah means anything that is opposite to Islam. So, Sayonara Jahiliyah means bidding farewell to any elements that is not Islam. Our next presenter was Kak Maryam, also from Purdue University. (Syira: yeay Purdue! hehe.. :P). So here are the details that we gain from the talk.
O you who have believed, enter into Islam completely [and perfectly] and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.
[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving -
A mukmin wil never ever be willing to live and die except in iman. It does not occur to him or her to recite the kalimah syahadah other than as a swear to leave jahiliyah forever.
This reality can be felt from the hadis of Prophet Muhammad PBUH (Bukhari, chapter Halawatul Iman):
There are three things that if a man posses he could feel the sweetness of iman:
1) the love to Allah SWT and His Prophet PBUH more than anything else
2) the love to his own brothers
3) the hate to return to ignorant and sins and the hate to be thrown into hellfire
Syed Kutub: You will never feel the sweetness of iman as long as you do not struggle to gain it.
Two Different People
The difference between a mukmin and non-mukmin has been depicted in a lot of Allah's wors, among which is (47:1-3):
Those who disbelieve and hinder men from the way of Allah — He renders their works vain. But as for those who believe and do good works and believe in that which has been revealed to Muhammad — and it is the truth from their Lord — He removes from them their sins and improves their condition. That is because those who disbelieve follow falsehood while those who believe follow the truth from their Lord. Thus does Allah set forth for men their similitudes.
This difference does not lies in the aqidah only BUT also in ubudiah, practice, behavior, vision, the questions that become their attentions, hobbies, feelings, emotions and also the life manhaj that they practice.
Leaving Jahiliyah
Thus, it is not enough for each mukmin to declare that he is believing in Allah SWT and His Prophet PBUH, but it has become his obligations to shape himself and his life with the Islamic manhaj. He must leave jahiliyah totally. This is because Islam does not accept the mixture between the two (2:208):
Leaving jahiliyah must be done by:
1) Strong Aqidah
Each Muslim must ensure that their aqidah is right and strong and not lacking or extra in anything. The cleanliness of aqidah is the main separator between him and jahiliyah.There are four kinds of aqidah:
- weak & okay - for instance, we recite the kalimah syahadah, admit that we are Muslims but we do not dress like one
- weak & not okay - apply to non-Muslims who are not good believers
- strong & not okay - for example, a believer of other religions who fast and pray diligently but does not worship Allah SWT
- strong & okay - e.g.: a pious Muslim
To prevent a problem, we must prevent it from its sources. For example, Kak Maryam gave us an analogy of a tree that grows in the middle of a road. At first, the tree was small thus nobody bothers to remove it because it does not disturb the traffic. However, the tree soon grew tall and begin to sprout its branches and cause disturbance to the traffic. So people began cutting its branches but the tree was still there and keep on growing its branches and disturbing the road traffic. The only way to ensure that the traffic will be smooth is to cut down the tree or pull it all together with its roots. This is how a problem can be overcome entirely.
2) The Right Ibadah
Al-Fudhail bin Iyadh when describing Allah's words (67:2):
Take note of the sentence "which of you is best in deed". This also means "those of you who is most sincere and most correct in their practice and deeds". He explains: "Any deeds if done sincerely but not correctly, it is rejected. And so is any deeds that is done correctly but not sincerely. It is also rejected. Until those deeds are done sincerely and correctly.. then it is accepted. The meaning of deeds done sincerely is doing a deed because of Allah whereas a deed done correctly is a deed done according to Sunnah.
3) Pure Morals
Morals is one of the separator for a mukmin from jahiliyah. There are a lot of Allah's words and Hadis that stress on mukmin to leave jahiliyah's behavior, among them are:
- tabarruj al-jahiliyah (33:33): You shall settle down in your homes, and do not mingle with the people excessively, like you used to do in the old days of ignorance. You shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salat), and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and obey GOD and His messenger. GODwishes to remove all unholiness from you, O you who live around the Sacred Shrine, and to purify you completely.
- hamiyah (spirit of) jahiliyah (48:26): When those who disbelieved had put into their hearts chauvinism - the chauvinism of the time of ignorance. But Allah sent down His tranquillity upon His Messenger and upon the believers and imposed upon them the word of righteousness, and they were more deserving of it and worthy of it. And ever is Allah , of all things, Knowing.
- assumption of jahiliyah (3:154): And the disbelievers planned, but Allah planned. And Allah is the best of planners
- judgement of jahiliyah (5:50): Then is it the judgement of [the time of] ignorance they desire? But who is better than Allah in judgement for a people who are certain [in faith].
- asobiah jahiliyah (see Hadis Muslim's attachment).
This cannot be achieved by reading alone but requires mujahadah and continuous practice.
4) The Straight Life Manhaj
As-Syatibi said: "Allah SWT has limited something into two: Revelation which are syariat and Hawa. There is not third kind other than the two." (Al-Muwafaqat: 2/121)
Mukmin has only two choices syariat or hawa which can lead to digression. It has become his obligation to live on the Islamic manhaj and its syariat only (6:153):
And, [moreover], this is My path, which is straight, so follow it; and do not follow [other] ways, for you will be separated from His way. This has He instructed you that you may become righteous.
5) The True Wala'
Allah SWT has determine the border line for wala' mukmin to three parties only (5:55):
Your ally is none but Allah and [therefore] His Messenger and those who have believed - those who establish prayer and give zakah, and they bow [in worship].
Allah SWT has also forbidden a mukmin to give away his wala' to non-mukmin (4:144):
O Ye who believe! take not infidels for friends, instead of believers. Would ye give Allah against you a manifest warranty!
Dr. Ali Abdul Halim Mahmud (Tarbiah an-Naasyi' al-Muslim) has given a few meanings of wala' which are:
- Al- Qurb (approaching)
- Al-Nusrah (helping)
- Al-Mahabbah (loving)
Based on these definitions, each mukmin has to work on approaching Allah SWT, His Prophet PBUH and mukminin, to help and to love them.
How is wala' applied?
a) Wala' to Allah
- To worship ONLY Allah SWT
- To love Allah SWT more than yourself and and everything (families, homes, properties, etc 5:24)
- Referring to Allah SWT in every wants, action and silence; when alone and when with others
- Faithful in the syariat brought by His Prophet PBUH
- Believe that His manhaj is the only true manhaj and could not be exchanged, and then to fight and work on realizing all aspects of lives
- Putting ghayah 'vision' in all efforts because of Allah
b) Wala' to the Prophet
- Because Allah's Prophet PBUH is the messenger to Allah SWT, thus his wala' done the same way as the wala' to Allah SWT.
c) Wala' to the mukminin
- Making akidah as the core tie (not ancestry, skin's color, country, economic benefit, social or politics).
- No toleration and compromise in the problem of aqidah and the rules of life between mukmin and non-mukmin. Toleration only exist in individual muamalat problems.
- Bein concern with mukminin matters and helping them facing their problems and the planning of the Islam enemies.
- Loving mukminin because of Allah SWT, as long as they are faithful to Allah SWT
- Persuading to goodness and preventing mungkar and leaving parties in which sins are being done
- Cooperating in takwa matters and goodness
- Helping any mukmin sof besides weakening and eliminating all jahili sof.
Alhamdulillah, the ISR ends here. I am sorry if there are certain things which are not clear or hard to understand. Feel free to ask here or to refer to you usrah sisters/ brothers, insyaAllah they can help. I am still new in this and there are still so much for me to learn.
All the good things come from Allah SWT and all the weakness and the bad come from me. May Allah SWT bless all of you readers of this blog, insyaAllah. :)
Islamic Spring Retreat (ISR) 2012 Part 1
Assalamualaikum to all readers and followers. First of all, on behalf of our usrah group Bubbletea di Syurga (translated: Bubbletea in Heaven) we would like to apologize for having leave this page unattended for a while. We have recently take a break from our online usrah and starting anew with our land usrah with new usrah sisters from our distinctive areas. We are still adjusting but alhamdulillah, everything is going on well now and insyaAllah, though we are in different2 groups now we will still update on this page and try to share as much as we can about what we have learn from our usrahs and the islamic programs that we have follow here in the land of America. :) And as a new way of spreading dakwah to attract more people around the world, we have decided that we are going to try to write this blog in English. We might mix it sometimes between Malay and English. Hopefully this will work as well. Since this is my first try in English, in the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Gracious, let's begin this. :)
As the title suggests, this new post is going to be about the recent ISR that 3 of our usrah members have attended. Alhamdulillah, we are currently having a one week spring break and Nik, Dz and I (Syira) have joined the ISR which was held at Iowa State University from March 12, 2012 to March 13, 2012. It was a really good program and we have all learnt a lot from it. We will try to share as much as we can from it and hopefully the message will get to all of you as well, insyaAllah.
Our first talk was titled "Our Fikrah" and it was presented by Kak Hana from Purdue University. The Islamic Fikrah, or our Fikrah is the teachings of Allah which is syamil, kamil and mutakamil. It covers all aspects of a mukmin's life.
Definitions and analogies:
Syamil - complete. Islam is complete. It covers all aspects of our lives.
Kamil - perfect. Islam is perfect. Everything that it covers, are the best and perfect. For instance, we can say that all politics such as republican, democrat etc are complete. They all have a leader, and all the leaders have their helpers and so on. But the politics that follow the way of Islam is the best. Likewise someone who wears a top, a bottom and shoes can say he or she has dress completely. But the dress code that is taught by Islam is the best.
Mutakamil - completing/perfecting each other. For instance, we cannot just take one aspect of Islam to follow but we must implement Islam in all aspects. Let's say we have a country. The country could not just implement Islamic law, but the country must also implement Islamic education, Islamic politics and everything else that Islam covers.
This is Islam, the Addeen that is brought down by Allah SWT and brought by our Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. It was practiced during the early ages of Islam. Allah S.W.T. has explained about the perfection of Islam in His words (5:3):
This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.
Because Dienul Islam is perfect thus we cannot add or lessen (abasa, qul).
In the Quran, Allah SWT has deliver a surah Abasa (80) in order to remind our Prophet Muhammad PBUH not to make a sour face or look away from the poor people. The whole surah basically is a reminder for him but Muhammad PBUH do not hide nor keep the surah a secret. It is His obligation as a Prophet to deliver it to his ummah and he did so faithfully, without adding or deleting any part of the surah. The same goes in all the surahs that started with Qul. Qul means "Say".(Say o' Muhammad). Although it is a word of order for him to tell others he includes it all when he received the revelation from Gabriel. Thus when we recite the Quran we will read the word "Say" to and this way we too, could feel the obligation to deliver what we have recited to others.
In the Quran, it is mentioned that when we embrace Islam, we must embrace it fully (2:208):
The same goes that we cannot take one without the other. This is also mentioned in the Quran (2:85):
Then, you are those [same ones who are] killing one another and evicting a party of your people from their homes, cooperating against them in sin and aggression. And if they come to you as captives, you ransom them, although their eviction was forbidden to you. So do you believe in part of the Scripture and disbelieve in part? Then what is the recompense for those who do that among you except disgrace in worldly life; and on the Day of Resurrection they will be sent back to the severest of punishment. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.
Thus, we have to realize that we are followers and worshiper of the Dienul Islam and we declare ourselves as servant of Allah and we are not the creator of Dien. Therefore we are the ones who have to adapt to Islam.
And it is not that Islam must be in sync with our taste, our wants and our society wants like that of Allah's words (6:116):
And if you obey most of those upon the earth, they will mislead you from the way of Allah . They follow not except assumption, and they are not but falsifying.
Our value is that of Islam, that is the value that has been determined by Allah SWT and applied by Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. Thus, we must always be faithful to our Islamic syari'ah. Allah says (4:65):
But no, by thy Lord, they can have no real faith until they make thee judge in all disputes between them and find in their souls no resistance against thy decisions but accept them with fullest conviction.
The Islamic tasawwur must be understood correctly. We must be jiddiah (serious) in understanding Islam and not mix it with other ismes. At this point, Kak Hana shared with us the tale of Umar (Al-Khattab) and the Torah's pieces (Kasyful Musykil: 1:708). Umar is very good at reading. Torah can be found in Madinah. That is why in Madinah the people know that a prophet will be sent to them. The Jews in Palestine thought that this prophet would have been from among them, just as Moses has been. Anyway, back to the story, Umar sat down and read the Torah. That was when Prophet Muhammad PBUH passed by him and asked him what he was doing. Then Umar asked him, "Are you the prophet?". Thus Prophet Muhammad PBUH replied, "If Moses is here at this time, I am certain that even he would have follow me".
Thus we must know Islam and Jahiliyah, know Islam to apply and know jahiliyah to avoid. We have to know each look, shape and tactic of jahiliyah in order to avoid it. Only through this can we tell which is Islam and which is not.
We must also know the reality and what is named and what is not named so that we will not misunderstand. For instance holding a charity concert. Although doing charity is good deed, but the way of doing it, by holding a concert is not right or jahiliyah. In understanding Islam and its reality, we are lacking in knowledge. This is why we needed jamaa'ah (doing things together). We certainly do not have the same knowledge but through harakah (group discussion) we could overcome this.
The same goes, we cannot accept something that is not Islam and easily get influenced by interesting terms or techniques or slogans like: for the sake of development, for the sake of modernization, etc. In this matter we must put forward Islamic fikrah clearly and make a stance for Islamic's teachings to the society.
A muslim must not eliminate even one Islamic fikrah from his/her thoughts. Our fikrah is the deen that is determined by Allah SWT. The Addeen meant here is not the Addeen that is translated into religion, as understood by most people.
The purity of Islam can only be seen from its original source which are Al-Quran and Al-Hadith and also mutabar ulama' and mujahid. Allah has given us the final word and the choice to believe or not, like mentioned in His words (18:29):
And say, "The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills - let him believe; and whoever wills - let him disbelieve." Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them.
We must think forward and far till the day of dooms. Because we don't know where our place is, whether in heaven or in hell. Because of this ignorant we must also have fear and hope. Fear is for recognizing it and hope for those who practice.
Our effort towards Islam must be at all times and not in formal events only. For that to happen we must have al-wa'yu al Islamiyy (Islamic awareness) . It is not the same as Islamic knowledge. In the effort to gain 'Islamic awareness' we need patience and determination. Someone who have 'Islamic awareness' can easily feel and is sensitive to anything that is opposing Islam. That is why we need education and 'tarbiyyah'. 'Tarbiyyah' which can give birth to syakhsiyyah or the true Muslim personality.
A Muslim mujahid, Al-Ustaz Fathi Yakan said that the development of sahsiyyah can only be shaped in a certain environment which is far from jahiliyah attractions. For instance through halaqah, usrah, ijtima' etc.
Islamic knowledge must be processed and edited through iman or tarbiyyah iman till the awareness can be born and people are willing to practice Islam faithfully. Fikrah awareness only is not enough but we must iltizam with Islam. This means that wherever we are, we take Islam with us. This also means that our personality, our character, our behavior will all reflect Islam.. Islam become our blood and meat.
However, we must not deny that in that process there will still be leftovers of the jahiliyah's rusts (rawasib jahiliyah). There is this one tale that could relate to this.Abu Zar r.a. is a close friend of the Prophet PBUH and has learn a lot from him. He has a lot of knowledge in Islam. But he has called Bilal r.a. with the name 'Ibnu Assauda' (dear son of a black woman). Bilal told Prophet Muhammad PBUH about this and the Prophet then called Abu Dzar and told him that he still has the leftover of jahiliyah. The Prophet then asked Bilal to step on Abud Dzar's cheeks. This shows that even though Abu Dzar is close to the Propeht PBUH and learn from him, he is still jahil (ignorant).
Thus Islam should be our guidance in doing anything whether it is doing good or leaving the forbidden. Never be guided by group's priority, profession, position, stars etc.
The process of imaniyyah tarbiyah is such way and it is very important in shaping a mu'min.
Alhamdulillah part 1 of our ISR ends here. InsyaAllah the next part titled Sayonara Jahiliyah will follow after this.
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