Iqra' Part 4 : Aku dan Al Ikhwan Al Muslimin

And I have finished this. Alhamdulillah. Buku bertajuk Aku dan Al Ikhwan Al Muslimin written by Yusuf al Qaradhawi. 

Mungkin this is the first time agaknya that I am reading a book like this. Serious bagai. Tak tau nak kata political ke agama ke. But then surely you cant separate the two. Seperti juga ditulis Qaradhawi, "Islam adalah agama dan dunia, dakwah dan negara, aqidah dan syariat, ibadah dan kepimpinan.." 

Dan katanya lagi, Islam adalah konsep yang berasaskan ekonomi sebagai tunjang kredibilitinya (dan saya hmmm.. berfikir seketika; not that it means I am doubting it).

And surprisingly I wasnt bored reading the book. 

Dan saya agak2 tak percaya membaca yang mana di zaman moden Mesir pun ada juga orang yang berkelakuan seperti unbelievers di zaman Nabi Musa as dan Rasulullah saw; yang membentak, "Datangkan ke sini tuhan kamu dan aku akan masukkan dia ke dalam penjara!"

Banyak kisah usaha2 al Ikhwan al Muslimin diketengahkan. Terutamanya usaha dalam memusuhi kelalaian dan membangkitkan umat yang sedang tidur. 

Kata Hasan al Bana, “Sesungguhnya kita ini kuat dengan bantuan Allah, dan tidak akan pernah menjadi lemah dengan pertolongan Allah. Kita ini mulia kerana Allah dan tidak akan pernah hina kerana Allah. Kaya kerana Allah dan tidak akan pernah jatuh miskin kerana Allah. Kami ingin mendidik umat Islam dengan sikap yang baru yang sesuai dengan nilai-nilai Islam. Kami ingin membina umat dengan akhlak Islam dan ingin membimbing mereka dengan sistem hidup Islam. Agar umat Islam dapat berjalan di belakang pemimpinnya yang terulung. Pemimpinnya yang mulia, Muhammad saw".

I thought this was a good book to read; and it made me think that I should read a lot more biographies like this.

And last but not least, di antara pesanan Qaradhawi adalah, "Jihad pertama yang perlu dilakukan adalah jihad melawan hawa nafsu dalam diri kita sendiri sehingga kita mampu menundukkan nafsu dan perasaan mementingkan diri sendiri".




Selamat berilmu, beramal dan mencari keredhaan Allah.

~ xoxo

Balloons!

Dan tak semena2 kami ke PUJ for its 7th Balloon Festival.

It was interesting. Not something we had done before. Tak pernah terfikir nak pergi pun. Tapi tahun ni siap ambik cuti.

The balloon flew at 7:00am. We got to PUJ at 830am! Jadi ni jelah yang kami nampak from the roadside. The end of the flight.

And this. A landed balloon.

And also these at deflation.

You can get (expensive) breakfast from this booth @ the picnic area.

You'll get a bean bag with your food, and sit at this closed area under the tress by the lake for a breakfast picnic while watching the balloons fly across the water (pretty exciting dont you think? And so laid back).

The balloons landed at 9:00am. After that no more balloons in the air.

But you can see balloons that are tied down (haha) and do other stuff. There are plenty of food stalls. Food trucks (we like!) Dan entah stall apa2 lagi.

We were pleasantly surprised to see Mustafa Jones on wheels! We had wondered many times if they are still open in Melawati. You've got to try their food - very good in fact.

And the boys tried a round of archery. They said, we should do this more often.

The festival is on till this Sunday. Admission is free. And I think it is worth the time spent.



~ xoxo

Old Habits Die Hard (Be Passionate)

One of the favorite past times bagi ibu saya dulu adalah menanam orkid. Macam2 jenis orkid mak tanam; dalam pasu atau atas tanah.

This is must be taken in the late 60s (we were tiny! And I love old photos like this). Kat belakang tu was mum's rumah orkid. Over the years we have many rumah sebegini. Bila dah tua rumah tu, my arwah dad would build a new one. Perdu2 pokok orkid pun jangan cakaplah. All my life I remember those.

And whenever we visit arwah ayah's family in Bukit Mertajam or go on day trips to Balik Pulau atau Pantai Merdeka (you dont know this place, do you?), we would stop at a place called Sungai Bakap. Kat situ ada satu ladang orkid dulu, where mum got her orchids from. Dan to save, mum would buy the smallest pokok orkid in the tiniest pasu for her to take home and grow (sedih pulak bercerita).

Anyway. These days rumah orkid mak di kampung dah lama pun terbiar. Tak terdaya mak nak membela orkid dah pun.

Namun. A couple of weeks back my sisters brought back some flowering pretty orchids for mum. Diletaknya dalam flower stand di tepi meja yang mak selalu membaca dan minum teh petang.

Punya la mak puji. Kakak2 saya pun kembang. Some other orkid mak dibawa masuk dan diletak di situ.

Kata mak, pergi ambil gunting pokok mak. Mak nak pebetul sikit pokok ni.

And then a bit later she said pergi cari pasu lain yang boleh mak letak kat sini. Then. Pergi cari arang. Pergi ambik pokok lagi mak nak pilih. And the best part is, pergi ambik stand yang panjang tu letak kat sini. Boleh mak letak banyak sikit pokok.

This is what she got in the end. And satisfied, she said pergi ambik penyapu, mak nak sapu. And my sister did.

Later. Kata kakak saya, umur aku 60 tahun. Bukan 16. Berpeluh2 aku pergi-balik2 ambik macam2 (haha. Kesian).

But we all agreed, anything for mum. If this can cheer up her days then so be it.


Ya Allah, rahmatkanlah bonda saya yang lanjut usia ini. Ampunkanlah dia (sila ameenkan. Jazakallah). And to all your parents too.





~ xoxo

Life's Pleasures (Itu Nikmat Allah Sebenarnya)

Jarang pagi2 saya dapat menung dan tak buat apa2. Tapi the other day I did. It felt like I cant make my bones move or do anything routine.

I have a sort of new cookbook. I was looking for a pies and quiches and stuffs-like-that cook book. Specifically one by Paul Hollywood actually, but bought this instead. Which I looove.

Eric Lanlard is based in London and had cooked for Madonna and Elton John. And has made pastries for Michel Roux. And I love his Baking Mad series on Unifi (of course. You've got to watch Unifi. Seriously.)

I love the sun that shines through the kitchen windows (oops, window actually). And Luqman made me an omelette for breakfast (which was sweet of him. He makes the best oozing cheese omelette in the house in fact).

And then decided to make this Seafood and Potato Pie for dinner (click on the recipe for a larger view). It looked yummy. I had to make do with what I have in the fridge. Smoked haddock? Dont know what that tastes like. Scallops? The fresh ones are much too expensive and the frozen ones tastes like rubber. And I gag on mussels. So I only put fresh fish and shrimps.

The pie cooking in the oven.

After. I actually forgot to get a photo before everyone dig into the pie. But it was yum, of course (is there any doubt about that? But my pie wasnt as pretty as the chef's in the photo above).

I made the pie again after this triumphant dinner. But with frozen fish this time. And what can I say? The chefs are always right. Use fresh ingredients all the time.

You should give the recipe a try.


And also. On another note.

I suppose I will love Delinn forever for saying that my life nampak tenang. Dari apa yang dibacanya di blog ini. MasyaaAllah.

Dan Alhamdulillah. Sesungguhnya Allah amat pemurah.

Dan Alhamdulillah juga Allah memberi nikmat untuk merasa cukup dengan apa yang dikurniakanNya. InsyaaAllah akan lebih bersyukur dari ini sentiasa hendaknya.

Namun. Air yang tenang blah, blah, blah.. (which sounds so cliche. Can I say something like, just because the snow on the mountain look pristine doesnt mean there wont be an avalanche, instead?) But I am sticking to my own blogging principles - no whining on-line (walaupun ada juga whines yang terlepas). Di blog ini yang baik2 saja nak diceritakan. Bukanlah bermakna hidup sayalah yang paling best seantero.

Cerita perihal kekecewaan, kekusutan, kesilapan dan kekesalan takkan ada kesudahan. Jadinye cerita2 begini biarlah disimpan diam2. Let's not air our closets in public.


Ayat 59 At Tawba

Dan (amatlah baiknya) kalau mereka berpuas hati dengan apa yang diberikan oleh Allah dan RasulNya kepada mereka, sambil mereka berkata: "Cukuplah Allah bagi kami; Allah akan memberi kepada kami dari limpah kurniaNya, demikian juga RasulNya; sesungguhnya kami sentiasa berharap kepada Allah".

Take care, darlings.





~ xoxo