Nikmat-nikmatNya

We thought this is moving and heart warming. Posted by his friend. MasyaaAllah.

InsyaaAllah berjaya dunia, akhirat.

Maka nikmat Allah yang mana yang ingin kita dustakan?





~ AllahuAkbar

Jati Diri

Dua kali kami berulang-alik ke Hulu Selangor. Melawat pelatih PLKN di Kerling.

Kerling reminds me of train trips from long ago days. Ada stesen keretapi di Kerling. Itu pre-express days. Keretapi express tak berhenti di Kerling, terlalu kecil tempatnya.

The camp is quite new. Di kaki bukit; ada sungai dan kolam air panas. Dan kubur cina. Sememangnya dah di hujung jalan kalau terjumpa mana2 yang tersenarai. It is quite a decent place in fact (namun seperti di mana2 tempat di Malaysia pun, toilet hancur).

Efan was on duty last weekend. He was wearing uniform celorong dan beret dan nampak comel (haha, bukan garang walaupun berceloreng).

And I love his boots. I thought they rock.

 Kata Efan, cikgu pesan suruh bagitau ibubapa tak payah lah datang melawat selalu. Ini salah satu cara nak jadi independent. Membina jati diri. Kata hubs, nothing wrong with your jati diri, son. Jati diri mama yang perlu diperkemas sebenarnye sebab dia perlu datang melawat setiap minggu. Mungkin mama yang perlu masuk PLKN. Untuk membina jati dirinya! Haha. (Kesian sebenarnya. He might feel lonely away from home.)

But sebenarnya I have nothing to be worried about. Efan kata makan sedap. More than enough. Kawan2 ada. Cikgu ok. Banyak lecture still; belum pun turun padang lagi (dan menghunus senjata (!) seperti yang saya sangka - lame..)
 

We de-toured to the tempat berkelah. It looked quite fun. Dah lama tak pergi sungai sebab budak2 pun dah besar (kena tunggu Umar dan Sara besar sikit boleh pergi picnic). But dont bother to go to the kolam air panas (it looked muddy and dirty).

So we are still debating if we will visit this weekend.

Ya Allah, Berikan yang terbaik untuk anak muda ini; dunia dan akhirat. Ameen.





~ xoxo

Baby Photos Part 8

Salaam. I have more baby photos (** with a sheepish smile **).

Which makes me think how a sheep looks like when it smiles. And in fact I dont know how. I havent seen one smile come to think of it. Merriam-Webster said the phrase was first known to be used in the 13th century. Hmm..

It means feeling embarrassed especially when you do something foolish. Mmm-hmm, yours truly.

Anyway. The babies.

Sara. And her favorite food.. err.. I mean toy (Sara : Look Atuk, I can eat your remote! Eww..)

 One of her favorite pastimes - looking for (tiny) things on the floor/carpet.

 Umar. Comeii.

Sara membaca buku (konon). Makan buku more like it.

Cucu abang saya is a week younger than Umar. The Atuk is talking about taking cucu to the zoo. And he got an instagram account because he needs to share cucu photos.

Welcome to the world of grand-parenting. This is life!

J

~ xoxo

A Dedication

(I cant remember if I have posted this on Passage Through Life before).

This is my mum. With my nephew. Forty or so years ago. Kata kawan saya, she is pretty! I like the photo - the joy seem to shine through.

I am posting this from CJ again, mum-sitting this year-end.

Semoga bonda dirahmati Allah. Dilindungi. Diampuni. Selamat hingga abadi. InsyaaAllah. And to all you darlings reading this too.






~  AllahuAkbar

On A Stint Away

Kadang2 boleh heart attack dibuatnye dengan anak2.

The other day lepas subuh Eirfan had said, mama kita kena pergi register PLKN harini. I said what?!! He said the website says so. Today.

To cut the long story short, we dragged a bag out for him, get all his clothes and other stuff he requires into it and went to the registration site. But after checking at the camp we were told to come back in two days time for registration (seriously! So tell me, do you trust all that you read on the net?)

Tolonglah update website tu betul2 bagi clear. Of course I made my dissatisfaction clear at the camp and also later when I call their helpdesk..

So we went back two days later untuk registration yang sebetulnye.

Nasib baik saya tak menangis macam dua orang emak yang saya nampak mengesat airmata (considering that this is his first time away from home). Eirfan pun nampak cool je (but hates the fact that we make him tangkap gambar sana-sini..)

J

Hopefully he'll be ok; have an awesome time away; mature out a bit more, learn to mix around; and before I know it he'll be back again. InsyaaAllah.

You have a good week ahead darlings!

~ xoxo

Book 1 : The Journey to Allah the Sublime

This is the title of the last chapter in the Raheequl Makhtum (the Sealed Nectar). I finally finished the book; MasyaaAllah. It took me close to three months to complete it. That long. I definitely have to do better.

I read this last chapter twice sebenarnya sebab cerita wafatnya Rasulullah saw selalunya membuat saya tersedar dari angan2 dunia (walaupun buat sementara waktu). The first time I read it was when I flipped through the pages and saw the title. The second round I really was at the end. I waited to have a quiet moment with the book to digest and feel the events told.

-- a secret call uprose in the heart of the Prophet saw telling him that his stay in the world was about to end. This was clear in his talk to Mu'adh whom he had dispatched to Yemen in 10H. "O Mu'adh, you may not see me after this year. You may even pass by this very Masjid of mine and my grave." Upon hearing that Mu'adh had cried for fear he would part with Allah's Messenger saw.  

In Ramadhan 10H Rasulullah saw secluded himself for 20 days instead of 10 as was in practice previously.

Jibreel reviewed the Quran twice with him instead of once in a year.

His words in the Hajj Al-Wida'.

During the early days of Safar in 11H Rasulullah saw went to Uhud and observed farewell prayer for the martyrs. It looked like he was saying goodbye to the dead and living. And also one day at midnight when he went to Baqi' and begged Allah to forgive the martyrs of Islam. 

Rasulullah saw passed away late morning on Monday, the 12th Rabiul Awal 11H. He was 63 years and 4 days old when he died.

I am keeping this book as the ref book. It detailed out a lot of info some of which I have heard before and some not. I think a lot of other info would be in the books of hadith (this is one of the things I do not find in the book).

This book was awarded first prize in the worldwide competition on the biography of Nabi saw held in Makkah Al Mukarramah in 1399H (1978; that long ago). It could not be the only book to read of course but this would be a good starting point.

I wish the book was translated in Bahasa Melayu or better yet that I understand Arabic. The original text was written in Arabic and then translated to English. Unfortunately the translation goes about the long way to get things across instead of using simple English.

It definitely is a good book to read. The contents are arranged according to the year that things happened and it is rather a complete book on sirah. Bacalah.







~ Selamat mentela'ah sirah Rasulullah saw; kalau tak kenal masakan kita suka apatah lagi nak bercinta.

Baby Photos Part 7

It somewhat occurred to me that I only post anything on a Thursday or Friday for the past few weeks. I suppose by the end of the week I go, uh havent posted anything yet this week and then quickly write something and post it. Mungkin.

It is almost year-end but I havent got any holiday plans this year. Cuma akan balik mum-sitting in a couple of weeks time.

For now I share these favorite photos (the beauty of being a grandma is that you can be over-indulgent and no one would mind).

Have a good weekend everybody!





~ xoxo

On a Friday. This Is Life.

Said someone I know, antara benda yang ditakuti dia is the straw. The straw tanya saya? The kind that can break a camel's back. I thought for a while before it dawned on me what was meant. Ohh..

Semoga dirahmati Allah dan diberikan kesabaran menempuh dugaan. Semestinya ada balasan di sebalik segala ujian.

And. Terharu bila terdengar berita seorang kenalan mualaf. Yang memeluk Islam apabila berkahwin. Dan kini merasa tertekan kerana diasingkan oleh rakan2 sendiri kerana perubahan yang dilakukannya berlandaskan nilai2 Islam. Amat berat rasa hati bila mendengar support untuk memahami ugama dan beramal sangat rapuh. Yang diharapkan hanya kepada isteri. Saya terasa amat buntu.

Semoga sentiasa dipelihara dan dilindungi Allah. Dirahmati. Agar terus menuju jalan yang lurus. Dan berjaya dunia, akhirat InsyaaAllah. Tiada nikmat sebesar nikmat hidayah dan Islam.

Sometime ago I had a chance to send Eirfan to school. Sambil buka pintu he mumbled a salam to me. I put my hand on his arm restraining him from leaving. I asked do you know what salaam means? He said yes. Then, I said, look at me in the eye and say it and in your heart feel that you really, really mean what you are saying. Be sincere. It isnt simply a lip service (he thought I was making a fuss early in the morning).

Semoga Allah merahmati keluarga ini, dunia dan akhirat. InsyaaAllah..

 


Jalan pulang sememangnya rumit jika benar2 difikirkan. Adakah kita sangka kita akan menikmati balasan yang terbaik jika tidak berjaya hadapi ujian Allah? Ignore the small stuffs. Look at the big picture.

Semoga berjaya dunia, akhirat InsyaaAllah.





~ xoxo

Happy Friday!

MasyaaAllah it is almost the weekend already.

Surah al-An'Am, Ayat 32

Dan tidak (dinamakan) kehidupan dunia melainkan permainan yang sia-sia dan hiburan yang melalaikan: dan demi sesungguhnya negeri akhirat itu lebih baik bagi orang-orang yang bertaqwa. Oleh itu, tidakkah kamu mahu berfikir?

Surah Hud, Ayat 23

Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang beriman dan mengerjakan amal yang soleh, serta tunduk taat menunaikan ibadat kepada Tuhan mereka dengan khusyuk, mereka itulah ahli Syurga, mereka kekal di dalamnya. 

Have the most meaningful Friday.





~ Selamat mencari jalan untuk keberkatan abadi

Happy Weekend!

Yeay, it is Friday! It has been a very packed week.

What are your plans? We are baking sample cookies for Christmas orders! Or for any occasions, for that matter (weddings, birthdays, aqiqahs, etc etc. Just give me or Iman a call). We will attend a wedding too. And I still have beading projects that need completing and the Ar-Raheequl Makhtum to finish.

That's about it I suppose.

I am sharing photos of activities from other weekends -- barbequing! (please bear with me)

This is Ilyas at the gas bbq set. Hubs bought this particular model because - quote, nak bbq dengan arang lambat and takes too much time/effort. Yang ni senang & cepat.

This is the next bbq set we have. Hubs bought this because the gas set was too simple to use. Quote, tak ada challenge; tak ada thrill (I personally translate it as not manly enough).

This is the third bbq set we have. Hubs bought this even before he started using the second one. He bought this because -- quote, yang bulat tu kecik sangat -- yang tu kalau nak smoke boleh la..

(Me : Speechless)

Our friends thought we are the ultimate, extreme bbq fans (and I suppose they are rather correct, come to think of it. Otherwise we wouldnt have three of these things out on our front porch).

That was like a few months back. So last weekend I said to the man, if you are not using the small set you should sell it on mudah.com or somewhere. He said yes I am going to use it. When said I? Tomorrow was the comeback.

So that was sort of how we got to finally use the set last weekend.

And, these are some of the stuff we had cooked on the fire (gas and charcoal). I think the ones done on the charcoal taste much better.

And if anyone would like to have a bbq, please just invite yourselves over (but do give us advanced notice). We can have anything from sirloin to salmon, chicken and sausages and anything in between including prawns, calamari, kerang and burgers. There can be potatoes, corn and pineapples on the side.

We have got them all (please take me seriously!)

And if you are looking for a bbq set yourself, try finding it at Ace. The bigger outlets will be your best bet. Maybe at IPC or Publika. High end bbq sets at Bangsar Village and IPC look like real killers too (if you are willing to depart that much cash for them). Happy bbq-ing.






~ xoxo

Sujood

Al-An'Aam; Ayat 162

Katakanlah: "Sesungguhnya sembahyangku dan ibadatku, hidupku dan matiku, hanyalah untuk Allah Tuhan yang memelihara dan mentadbirkan sekalian alam".

And my favorite related photo.

Semoga di bawah lindungan Illahi sepanjang hayat, InsyaaAllah.






~ xoxo

She is Sara

Isnt she cute?

Semoga di bawah lindungan Allah sepanjang hayat, InsyaaAllah.





~ xoxo

Happy Days

So after a 5-day break, Monday will be here again tomorrow. And I thought yeay, bring it on. It has been a very fruitful, calm and quiet long weekend.

We had a girls' day out and visited Jakel which has a sale till end of the month. Apparently they are moving out to their multi-storey "the biggest fabric mall in the world" along Jalan Munshi Abdullah. We were late; and Ilyas texted Zuf, bila nak balik? Kata Zuf, with a gleeful laugh, saya ada lesen besar harini sebab kluar dengan mama.. and we bought lots of stuff; including some fabrics especially for arbaya.

I made a pair of cute bantal for Sara (kata Iman Sara's name ended with an h. But for some reason I prefer it without) which took me ages! Sebab tak cekap kan.. But I thought they turned out sweet; pastel colors with frilly shams and lace edges - fit for a girl.

And I did this too for my kurung.

Although I got only one of the sleeves done so far. This is hard work; no joking. And it gave me bad shoulders because I was hunching over the kurung and an eye sore due to the small-ness of the beads (and the threading was rather a nightmare also).

I also put this on the selendang.

This is also work in progress. I am thinking I should put more daisies along the edge. This is too tiny on its own on the selendang. I am calling this Mid-night Daisies (tiba2 plak ada nama..) I also cut up some fabrics for selendangs. Turned out I was super-creative this week apparently.

Nevertheless I wasnt too involved in the kitchen. I was a minimalist there (if I can call it that). Everything was ultra-simple. Meehoon goreng, kuayteow, nasi bungkus and mamak take-aways.

And this was breakfast; toast with butter and jam.

There's a story with the jam (as usual there is always a story to go with everything) - I bought this particular strawberry jam because it is made in Scotland. It is called Mrs Bridges. Given that I love anything Scottish, I took this home. You'll never guess what I said when I first tasted it.. I said, sedapnye jam  ni - macam jam strawberry Cameron Highlands! haha. Jadi kalau ada sesiapa yang sampai ke Cameron Highlands, do get me a couple bottles of the locally made jem strawberi yang dijual di pejabat FAMA.

And I love the plate too; it reminds me of some exotic Moroccan wares. I got that at Parkson's the other day (they do carry some interesting stuff).

And I also did some reading; and found heart-wrenching riwayats of sahabat bersama Rasulullah saw. The book is called Ar-Raheequl Makhtum; translated as The Sealed Nectar. Buku sirah Rasulullah. Ustaz Anzar shared the title; on line pun ada kata ustaz . Tapi saya lebih gemar memegang buku instead of the iPad. Kata ustaz this is one of the best buku sirah yang ada. I bought this when we were last in Madinah; at the book store in front of Masjid Nabi. I was surprised when my sister said she finished the book in 1998! (speechless in fact..) Nevertheless, I'll share some of what I read with you next time.

Have a productive week ahead, darlings!




~ xoxo