A new start

Bismillahirrahmanirahim.

Let us begin with praising Allah for all the nikmat that He has showered on us. Alhamdulillah wa syukr lillah.

*This is quite a tricky post because if this is posted, Alhamdulillah, it means that I have managed to get my momentum back after such a long break. Biiznillah*

Apparently, this is my first post POSTED since I came back to Malaysia. Kepulangan ini ibarat sirih pulang ke gagang; balik ke tanah kelahiran sendiri. It has been nearly 5 months since I came back from England (and still waiting for my shipping boxes to arrive… aiyoyo)… Hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri. Lebih baik negeri sendiri. Sehebat mana negeri orang sekalipun, hati ini tetap mahu pulang ke pangkuan keluarga tercinta.

Malaysia is still developing, and after two years being away from home, I could not stop myself from comparing the current Malaysia to the one in the past. I think the funny thing is, I have culture shock in my own country. What is in trend today? What is not? Etc etc etc…

I won’t be sharing explicitly about what I have had experienced. I think it’s better to leave it that way.

But since you are here, let us step aside from our daily routines for a short while. I just want each of us to think about these questions:

1) 1. Have you heard the azan from the masjid today? Did you answer the azan?

2) 2. Did you stop (whatever you were doing) when you heard the azan? If you were listening to music, did you stop the music and pay attention to the azan? Or, if you were playing sports, did you stop and listen to the azan?

3) 3. When the azan stopped, where did you go? Did you haste to perform your solah, or you continue engaging yourselves in the worldly pleasures?

4) 4. Did you recite the du’a when you have your meal today?

5) 5. Did you recite any du’a before you start doing your work today?

6) 6. Did you make fun of the ‘people who raised their hands up and recited the du’a in public’?

How proud are you for being a muslim and submit yourself to your Creator? If you claim to be a mukmin, how proud are you to engage yourself in actions that separate you from the non-believers?

Banggakah kamu dengan Islam?

I only ask about two things: ‘answering the call of the prayer’ and ‘reciting the dua’. Simple actions but actually lay within these two, tremendous amount of the pride as a muslim. If you are not proud to be a muslim, you won’t be firm enough to disengage yourself from the game (to show respect to the azan) while at the same time, all your friends are ignoring the call. You won’t even find the strength to raise your hands up when you recite the du’a, especially when you’re having your meal in public, restaurant or café for examples.

It is not my intention to ridicule anyone, and I am not proposing anyone to give labels to any one of us. Just reflect on your own self. Start changing your own behaviour. Start by believing that you are living in the true religion. Start to feel you are proud to embrace Islam.

If there is anyone being hurt with my choice of words, I would like to apologize. This however, serves as a reminder for me. I need constant reminders, coz I’m human, and human easily forgets.