Saturday, May 26, 2012

A Cup Of tea


A group of students, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old teacher. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.


Offering his guests tea, the teacher went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of tea and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the tea.

When all the students had a cup of tea in hand, the professor said: ‘If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the tea. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was tea, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups too.


Now consider this: Life is the tea; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the tea Allah has provided us.’ Allah brews the tea, not the cups. Enjoy your tea.




Friday, May 25, 2012

Kamu Cantik Sekali, Tapi..





Saudari, kamu cantik sekali

Tapi hanya di mata manusia. Sedangkan yang Maha Kuasa tak pernah memandang rupa atau 
pun bentuk tubuh kita. Namun Dia melihat pada hati dan amal-amal yang dilakukan hamba-Nya.
Saudari, kamu cantik sekali           
 
Tapi cantik luaran tak akan pernah abadi. Saat ini kita boleh berbangga dengan 
kemolekan wajah ataupun bentuk tubuh. Namun beberapa waktu nanti, saat wajah telah keriput,
rambut pun kusut dan berubah warna putih, tubuh tak lagi tegap, membongkok dimakan usia,
tak akan ada lagi yang boleh dibanggakan. Lebih-lebih jika telah memasuki liang lahad,
tentu tiada manusia yang mahu mendekat.

Saudari, kamu cantik sekali


Tapi kecantikan hanyalah pemberian dan untuk apa dibangga-banggakan? Sesungguhnya
kecantikan patut disyukuri dengan cara yang baik. Mensyukuri kecantikan bukanlah dengan
cara mempamerkan gambar atau   membandingkan rupa, sedangkan hakikatnya wajah itu 
bukan milik kita.



Tidakkah engkau rimas bila banyak mata lelaki yang memandang berhari-hari? Tidakkah 
engkau malu ketika wajahmu dinikmati tanpa kebenaran engkau sendiri yang menayang 
gambar. Ataukah rasa malu itu telah punah musnah? Betapa sayangnya jika demikian 
sedangkan ia sebahagian dari keimanan.



Saudari, kamu cantik sekali

Tapi apa manfaat pujian dan kekaguman seseorang? Adakah ia akan menambah pahala 
dari-Nya? Adakah darjatmu akan meninggi di sisi Ilahi setelah dipuji? Tiada yang menjamin 
wahai ukhti. Mungkin malah sebaliknya, wajah cantik itu menjadikanmu tiada harga di 
hadapan-Nya, kerana kamu tak mampu memelihara sesuai dengan ketentuan-Nya.

Saudari, kamu cantik sekali

Kecantikan itu harta berharga bukan barang murah yang boleh dinikmati dengan mudah. 
Dimana nilainya jika setiap mata begitu leluasa memandang cantiknya rupa. Dimana harganya
dan kehormatan sebagai hamba Tuhan jika setiap orang, baik dia seorang kafir, musyrik 
atau munafik begitu mudah menikmati wajah para muslimah?

Saudari, kamu cantik sekali

Alangkah indah jika kecantikan luaran  itu dipadu dengan kecantikan hatimu. Apalah erti 
cantik rupawan bila tak memiliki keimanan. Apalah guna tubuh molek memikat bila tiada rasa 
malu yang lekat. Cantikkan dirimu dengan cahayaNya. Cahaya yang bersinar dari hati 
benderang penuh keimanan. Hati yang taat sentiasa patuh pada syariat. Hati yang 
taqwa, yang selalu menjalankan perintah dan menjauhi larangan-Nya. Hati yang sederhana, 
yang tak berlebihan dalam segala urusan dunia.

Maka tampillah cantik di hadapan Penciptamu kerana itu lebih bererti daripada menampilkan 
kecantikan pada manusia yang bukan muhrimmu. Tampillah cantik di hadapan suamimu, 
kerana itu adalah sebahagian dari jihadmu. Mengabdi pada manusia yang kamu kasihi demi 
keredhaan Ilahi.

Tampillah cantik, cantik iman, cantik batin, cantik hati, kerana itu lebih abadi.


Sunday, May 13, 2012

Cerita Burung Kecil dan Nabi Ibrahim


Ingat Lagi Cerita Burung Kecil dan Nabi Ibrahim?

Semasa Nabi Ibrahim dibakar oleh kaumnya, ada seekor burung kecil comel yang menonton peristiwa itu, lalu terus terbang berulang-alik mencari air. Burung kecil itu menyedut dan mengisi air di dalam paruhnya lalu dilepaskannya ke atas unggun api yang membakar Nabi Ibrahim a.s. Itulah yang dilakukannya berulang-ulang kali, sehinggalah Nabi Ibrahim a.s. dikeluarkan daripada api.

Perbuatan burung kecil itu diperhatikan oleh makhluk Allah yang lain, lantas bertanya kepada burung kecil itu, "Mengapakah kamu bersusah-payah berulang-alik mengambil air, sedangkan kamu tahu api besar yang membakar Nabi Ibrahim takkan terpadam dengan sedikit air yang kamu siramkan itu?"


Lalu dijawab oleh burung kecil, "Walaupun aku tahu aku tidak berupaya memadam api tersebut, namun aku mesti berusaha untuk menegakkan kebenaran atas kemampuan yang terdaya oleh diriku sendiri, Allah tidak akan bertanya sama ada aku berjaya memadamkan api itu ataupun tidak! Aku lebih takut kepada Allah kerana Allah akan menyoal aku nanti, kelak di hadapan Allah aktu tidak akan dipertanggung-jawapkan kerana aku telah berusaha melakukan sesuatu apabila melihat kezaliman!"

P/S: at least kita bersama mereka yang menjunjung perintah Allah SWT....

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Teladan Perubahan


Kejayaan mengubah manusia bergantung kepada faktor pengubah itu sendiri.Justeru,pemimpin atau sesiapa sahaja yang hendak mengubah sikap bangsanya mestilah mempunyai teladan perubahan .Berubahlah untuk merubah orang lain.!

Rasulullah s.a.w berjaya mengubah manusia kerana baginda terlebih dahulu menjadi qudwah hasanah-contoh yang baik pada seruan ,pendidikan dan pimpinannya.Hanya orang yang berjaya mengubah sikapnya dahulu ,barulah dia akan berjaya mengubah sikap orang lain.

Manusia lebih mempercayai mata daripada telinga.
Maksudnya,cakap kita yang didengar manusia akan menjadi hambar sekiranya sikap kita yang dipandang terlalu tercemar.


Kredit to : akuislam.com

Friday, May 4, 2012

Of TV, differences and saff-making




When I was a child, I had this obsession of watching TV. I bet most of my time at home especially during holidays, was spent befriending that black box named Panasonic. Not too classy of a name though. I remember her being far from having the perfect figure. If she joins a beauty pageant, she’d be the laughing stock of those slim and slender flat screen TVs of today. Her voice husky at times, and her image gets blurry when we move the fish bone aerial on top. Talk about sensitivity.
I enjoyed watching TV so much simply for one reason – I love watching people. The TV opened a vast opportunity for a curious, mischievous-at-times kid like me to actually see the hidden parts of the world and meet people of different colour, race, religion, tribe, you name it.
Looking and knowing those differences always fascinated me to understand people more. I watched almost everything not to mention Teletubbies just to know how white kids play. I watched Kung Fu movies and got the perception that all Chinese knows Kung Fu which, when I got my first Chinese friend I know it’s not true.  I became a fan of all Japanese superhero programs – Ultraman, Flashman, Mask Man, Masked Rider – but got lucky not to believe that monsters really like to visit Japan and make a scene. I watched Malay dramas and saw a pattern – love is like salt to gulai it has to be the main agenda – even my favourite drama, “Cinta Si Penggali Kubur”  is about love.  And yes, I watched Bollywood movies and got stunned by the speed the dancers change their outfits and how more and more dancers come out of nowhere like Naruto performing his cloning technique. Wow, that’s a mouthful.
People will always be different. Go and travel around the world and I bet you’ll never find someone exactly like you. Even your best friend, whom you claim knows you inside-out is not your replica. Even your mother, whom you stayed in her womb and fed from her breasts isn’t exactly like you. Even your life partner, whom you say is your half, is just your half. People are different because they are created to be different. As a deen worker, being different makes da’wah an adventure..an exciting one, really.
O mankind! we have created You from a male and a female, and made You into nations and tribes, that You may know one another. Verily, the Most honourable of You with Allah is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa . Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.
(Al-Hujurat : 13)
People sometimes see differences as a reason to feel more superior to others. History has shown that not little blood has been smeared and not few babies have lost their fathers because of disputes and conflicts caused by differences. The apartheid in South Africa, slavery in America, tribal conflicts in Africa, Sunni-Shiah disputes in Iraq, Catholic-Protestant clash in Northern Ireland, 16th September riot in Malaya are but some of the recorded history of human clashes caused by untolerated and misunderstood differences.

Young kids and stigma
I remember an interesting experience I encountered a few years back regarding differences and stigma. My friends and I were assigned to run a project to identify social patterns in the society, using kids as samples. So we went to a nearby kindergarten and decided to do some interviews with the kids. We had fun games with them, ran here and there and occasionally asked questions with everything recorded. After getting them comfortable with my presence, camera rolling, I began to ask questions, probing social patterns that can be seen. At this point, getting excited with a camera in front of them, the kids gathered around me like bees sucking honey.
Me : Adik-adik, best tak pergi sekolah?
Kids : Best!!!
Me : Cikgu kat sini baik tak?
Kids : Baik!!!
Me : Hm, dekat sekolah belajar apa ya?
Kids : Belajar lukis, warna, Matematik, ABC, Bahasa Melayu …..
A kid at the back : Bahasa India! (Everyone laughed their heart out)

All the kids burst into laughter!  And I was puzzled, really.
What exactly caused the kids, these pure 5,6 year old kids to laugh at the mention of the word ‘India’? Does it sound funny? Or does it mean funny? I don’t think so, seriously. These kids weren’t even exposed wide enough to gain contact and to have friends from a different race or religion. Then what exactly came into their minds when the word is said? This, I still don’t have the answer. But one thing I noticed, obviously a stigma has been implanted. A stigma that says, it’s OK to laugh at the word India. I know this might sound racially sensitive, but it’s a fact. A cruel one, indeed. A stigma has been implanted to think it’s fine to make fun of people who are different from you. Young kids were taught, maybe unconsciously, not to tolerate differences. And I pray, that this will reverse.

Why not make differences a unifying factor?
Imam Hassan al-Banna once said, “We don’t invite to unite minds. We invite to perfect the saff.”
The Imam knows too well, and recognizes the differences among men. Thus he invites people not to see only from one’s limited perspective.  He invites people to retain their identities, keep their different hats, and speak their own voice but be in a perfect saff. In a perfect saff people submit to the One Greater Being who created them and wanted them to be different.  In a perfect saff people stay different but stand shoulder to shoulder and foot to foot facing one direction. In a perfect saff different languages merge into one. In a perfect saff one leader is more than enough. In a perfect saff different size and colour do not matter a pinch.  In a perfect saff hearts become one.
Understand, respect and tolerate. Come, let’s perfect our saff.

credit to : LangitIlahi

Thursday, May 3, 2012

What men know about women?


nothing...yes,nothing!!