Du'a al-mas'alah, or the 'du'a of asking.' سورة طه

'Why is it so difficult for me? I stutter and I cannot remember...' - Always start with a du'a.

In the terminology of Islam, Duʿāʾ (دعاء) Plural: Dow'āt (دعوات) literally meaning invocation, is an act of supplication. The term is derived from an Arabic word meaning to 'call out' or to 'summon', and Muslims regard this as a profound act of worship. This is when Muslim people from all over connect with God and ask him for forgiveness and favours. The Islamic prophet Muhammad is reported to have said "Du'a is the very essence of worship," while one of Allah's commands expressed through the Quran is for them to call out to Him:
"And your Lord says: "Call on Me; I will answer your Prayer!"

~ Wikipedia

 

رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي

Rabb ish rahli sadri (O My Lord, expand for me my breast [grant me with self-confidence and assurance])

وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي

wa yassir li amri (And ease for me my task)

وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِّن لِّسَانِي

wahlul uqdatam mil lisani (And untie the knot from my tongue)

يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي

yafqahu qawli (So that they may understand my speech)

 (Surah Taha 20: Ayat 25-28)

read on the Profile of Surah Taha.

"Dua for Memorizing the Quran al Kareem"

اللَّهُمَّ ارْحَمْنِي بِتَرْكِ الْمَعَاصِي أَبَدًا مَا أَبْقَيْتَنِي وَارْحَمْنِي أَنْ أَتَكَلَّفَ مَا لَا يَعْنِينِي وَارْزُقْنِي حُسْنَ النَّظَرِ فِيمَا يُرْضِيكَ عَنِّي اللَّهُمَّ بَدِيعَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ذَا الْجَلَالِ وَالْإِكْرَامِ وَالْعِزَّةِ الَّتِي لَا تُرَامُ أَسْأَلُكَ يَا أَللَّهُ يَا رَحْمَنُ بِجَلَالِكَ وَنُورِ وَجْهِكَ أَنْ تُلْزِمَ قَلْبِي حِفْظَ كِتَابِكَ كَمَا عَلَّمْتَنِي وَارْزُقْنِي أَنْ أَتْلُوَهُ عَلَى النَّحْوِ الَّذِي يُرْضِيكَ عَنِّيَ اللَّهُمَّ بَدِيعَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ذَا الْجَلَالِ وَالْإِكْرَامِ وَالْعِزَّةِ الَّتِي لَا تُرَامُ أَسْأَلُكَ يَا أَللَّهُ يَا رَحْمَنُ بِجَلَالِكَ وَنُورِ وَجْهِكَ أَنْ تُنَوِّرَ بِكِتَابِكَ بَصَرِي وَأَنْ تُطْلِقَ بِهِ لِسَانِي وَأَنْ تُفَرِّجَ بِهِ عَنْ قَلْبِي وَأَنْ تَشْرَحَ بِهِ صَدْرِي وَأَنْ تَغْسِلَ بِهِ بَدَنِي فَإِنَّهُ لَا يُعِينُنِي عَلَى الْحَقِّ غَيْرُكَ وَلَا يُؤْتِيهِ إِلَّا أَنْتَ وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ الْعَلِيِّ الْعَظِيمِ
(Tirmidhi, Du'a for Hifz)

also...
* Before StudyingAllahumma infa'nii bimaa 'allamtani wa'allimni ma yanfa' uni. Allahumma inii as'aluka fahmal-nabiyyen wa hifthal mursaleenal-muqarrabeen. Allahumma ijal lesaanee 'amiran bi thikrika wa qalbi bi khashyatika. Innaka 'ala ma-tasha'-u qadeer wa antahasbun-allahu wa na'mal wakeel.O Allah! Make useful for me what You taught me and teach me knowledge that will be useful to me. O Allah! I ask You for the understanding of the prophets and the memory of the messengers, and those nearest to You. O Allah! Make my tongue full of Your remembrance, and my heart with
consciousness of You. (Oh Allah!) You do whatever You wish, and You are my Availer and Protector and the best of aid.
* After StudyingAllahhumma inni astaodeeuka ma qara'tu wama hafathtu. Faruddahu 'allaya inda hajati ilaihi. Innaka 'ala ma-tasha'-u qadeer wa anta hasbeeya wa na'mal wakeel.Oh Allah! I entrust You with what I have read and I have studied. (Oh Allah!) Bring it back to me when I am in need of it. (Oh Allah!) You do whatever You wish, and You are my Availer and Protector and the best of aid.
* While Studying Something DifficultAllahumma la sahla illama ja'altahu sahla wa anta taj'alu alhazana etha shi'ta sahla.O Allah! Nothing is easy except what You have made easy. If You wish, You can make the difficult easy.

images from the web

LiveJournal Tags: Surah Taha,memorizing,fluent,study,du'a,Al-Quran,Hadith

ssshh...

First time I am able to actually experiment with low light and slow shutter where I chose reflection as a subject. To do that without much disturbance, I needed to come out at an hour where many was already fast asleep, a non-windy day...
peace and quiet was what I got plus tranquillity that soothes.

I hope I did some justice with the images I produced. Lots to learn to make better ones. Well, it's the first...



“It is when you lose sight of yourself, that you lose your way. To keep your truth in sight you must keep yourself in sight and the world to you should be a mirror to reflect to you your image; the world should be a mirror that you reflect upon.” ― C. JoyBell C.

Jus Kedondong n popiah at Kings Cafe

Juice it, add some sour kanna a.k.a. assam boi...

errkkss.. I am drooling just thinking of this!  

The story ~ I happen to be at Kings cafe one day after Eid-ul-Adha, and was being treated to a glass of 'Jus Kedondong' and popiah.. (I must say TQ again!) Well, my mouth water just mentioning this. It tasted... Goooood... an hour later I came back for another!! However, due to popular demand, the popiah counter was already closed. Means, I just have to drive down again...  


The cafe's supply of kedondong/spondias dulcis/ambarella is from the hotel's own backyard. I would say, it's an organic garden/farming...

If you're in Air Keruh, Melaka... it's a MUST to stop for a refresher at their cafe... Jus kedondong and popiah!
Click here for the map... (it's situated right across Pantai Medical Centre, Melaka. Can't miss this!)

or Kings Cafe (606) 231 3899 ext 3 for reservations.

LiveJournal Tags: kedondong,jus,ambarella,spondias dulcis,King's,Hotel,Apartments,cafe,popiah,Air Keruh,Melaka

Eid ul Adha ~ Festival of sacrifice

Dawn today is the day of Arafah...

(an image taken while I was there a few months ago)

Takbir during Eidul Adha is categorized as 'Muqaiyad' which means to accompany or binding. So named because it accompanies or is tied with a prayer/solah. Therefore, it can only be recited after the obligatory or supererogatory (sunat) prayers.
               TAKBIR
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Takbir Muqaiyad starts at dawn on the day of Arafah (10th Muharram) ends after the Asar of 13th Muharram. As the completion of Fajr prayers, it is encouraged to begin reciting takbir. Once Maghrib prayers is done the nature of the takbir changes from 'Muqaiyad' to 'Mursal'. Mursal means the Takbir is allowed at any time and any place. However, after Aidiladha prayers, it goes back to 'Muqaiyad' until Asar of 13th Muharram. (sourced from the web)

Jisr Al-Jamaraat

LiveJournal Tags: Eid,Takbir,Sacrifice

Onion Rings

It’s homemade. Done by my girl… experimenting in the kitchen.

Peel onions and wash, preferably the big round ones/sweet onions. Slice them up, thickness to your liking to make rounds. Separate rounds into rings. In a bowl, combine flour, seasonings, and baking powder and a pinch of salt. In a measuring cup, whisk together egg and milk.
You can add milk mixture to dry ingredients, blending well. Dip onion rings into batter or
coat onions with thin layer of dry ingredients, dip into egg/milk mixture then again into dry ingredients (I love the latter);
then drip into deep fat at about 365°. Fry until golden brown, turning to brown both sides.
Remove to paper towels or brown paper bag to drain thoroughly.

Eat hot while crispy… heaven!

LiveJournal Tags: onions rings,homemade

Photo editing

This is another that I began experimenting with. Editing. With this digital era, one cannot say ‘No’ to editing images. Especially so if one wants their art work to be ‘seen’. Technology, you grow with it or fall into oblivion!

 I tried out Photo Pos Pro with this image. What was initially under exposed, I made clear! Wasn’t a waste was it. My first introduction to photo editing was by using Picasa, then Picnik before I dared moved on to this. later I will also try out Photoshop and ACDSee. I know there’s many more out there.. slowly eh!

However, I will still strive for the one-off SOOC!! Editing can take ages, I’ll grow old in no time…

Hijab today and yesteryears

Emails and circulations… rights and wrongs. OMG!

Have you ever received any that condemns one adorning hijab? Strange people. Well, I am strange too then… because, in religion I choose to seek answers from the Quran. In fact, it’s a life manual from our Creator.

This one says, to avoid wearing hijab by pinning the neck and look like a priestess.

 

 

 

OK… actually, I don’t adorn it that way either. I look awful because I have short and wide neck. Plus I find it troublesome to pin-up, unpin for wudhu then pin-up again. Sheesh!

However, it does look pretty neat to some, a little over to others. Like the one in the first image where they pull it real tight. Not choking.. choked? I wonder!

I am new to adorning hijab myself but did lots of research before I decided to wear it for sure. I needed to understand it, so I have no qualms later as I did before.

A study on this quotes Surah An-Nur (24:31):

وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا ۖ وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَىٰ جُيُوبِهِنَّ ۖ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَائِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَاءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَائِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَاءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي أَخَوَاتِهِنَّ أَوْ نِسَائِهِنَّ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُنَّ أَوِ التَّابِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُولِي الْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ أَوِ الطِّفْلِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَىٰ عَوْرَاتِ النِّسَاءِ ۖ وَلَا يَضْرِبْنَ بِأَرْجُلِهِنَّ لِيُعْلَمَ مَا يُخْفِينَ مِن زِينَتِهِنَّ ۚ وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

And say to the faithful women to lower their gazes, and to guard their private parts, and not to display their adornment except what is apparent of it, and to extend their head-coverings (khimars) to cover their bosoms (jaybs), and not to display their adornment except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husband's fathers, or their sons, or their husband's sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their womenfolk, or what their right hands rule (slaves), or the followers from the men who do not feel sexual desire, or the small children to whom the nakedness of women is not apparent, and not to strike their feet (on the ground) so as to make known what they hide of their adornments. And turn in repentance to Allah together, O you the faithful, in order that you are successful.

Clear… ?? no indication on fashion but what hijab should cover for sure. Well, read somemore! So I did. What about the hadith then… “Mantasyabbaha biqoumin Fahuwa Minhum” - Whoever resembles a people is one of them.

The scholars explain: the purpose of imitation to the heathen or the Gentiles is specifically prohibited for a pagan or a transgressor of that reflects their identity, such as at the cross (which represents the Christian religion), sickle and hammer (communist symbol), Nazi symbols, the garments of a transgressor (such as the dress/hair styles of Western artists). As for the clothing worn by people regardless of religion and race, such as pants, shirts, coats etc., or of an equality/ similarity by chance as the sight of the robes worn by the scholars and also worn by Christian priests or ‘kupiah’ worn by Muslims and Jews, a head scarf/hijab (which is also worn by Christian women priests), and so on,  general similarity or coincidence is not prohibited by the hadith because it is not specific for a particular nature or from those who represent their religious identity. (translated from Uztaz Adnan’s blog)

I believe the hadith applies better to this;
Imam al-Qurthubi said: "If a garment has a specific identity that indicates one as kufr and faasiq, others are forbidden to wear" (Faidhul-Qadier, 6/104).


Once again, we should be clear, specific identity referred to in this Hadith is in matters that are specific to a tribe or religion. If that is not specific to them, then the hadith is not applicable.
In a globalized world, many cultures and customs shared by various parties such as clothing, food, construction and other similarity are non-specific to a particular religion.Thus, we must be-careful in assessing what is special and what is general. Clothing worn by the non-Muslims do not necessarily represent their religion. Similarly with food, architecture and customs; i.e. eating with fork n spoon, chop-sticks or bare hands, wearing jackets, coats or robes. Living according to western or eastern customs is certainly not related to religion. (translated from Uztaz Azri’s blog)

I do agree with this; “whosoever came on this earth since Hazrat Adam up till now, spent his life in accordance with the instructions of Allah, was a Muslim. In other words, in the Ummat gone by, those people who stood by the Ultimate Truth and traversed the righteous path were definitely Muslims, inspite of being Christians, Jews or followers of any other religion. However, as per the terminology of Quran, Islam is the name of the final religion preached by Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) in the sixth century A.D. It was the message of Allah for the entire mankind. (Islam an Introduction)

History supports; The earliest evidence for veiling is an Assyrian legal text dating from the thirteenth century bce, requiring women of clearly defined social status to wear veils, and prohibiting prostitutes and slaves from doing so. The veil thus distinguished respectable women from women who were publicly available, protecting the former from the gaze of men and from their advances. The apostle Paul called upon Christian women to cover their heads, and in the third century, Tertulian recommended that the Christian women of Carthage veil themselves outdoors. Jewish women had covered their hair in public, as an act of modesty, since biblical times. The veiling of women became a feature of Islamic society some time after the Islamic conquests of the eastern Byzantine lands and the domains of the Sassanian empire in the early seventh century. (extracts from Answers.com)

My only hope for putting up this write-up is to open us to another perspective in dealing with the same topic. Please read up from as many source as you can before becoming one of them who seems to enjoy ‘copy paste’ then to spread before checking it out. We are, after all accountable and answerable in the Hereafter before God Almighty for our actions in this world. Please don’t get me wrong… let’s open our minds and ponder.

Reference and excerpts for this write-up: The Hijab as Da’waa, Digital Islamic Library, IslamHouse.com, IslamicAwakening, Minda Tajdid Prof. Dr. Asri, Laman Soal Jawab Uzt. Adnan, DocStoc, Islam an Introduction, Hijab n women of today, Answers.com.
Images from the web. TQ.

LiveJournal Tags: Hijab,pins,Mantasyabbaha biqoumin Fahuwa Minhum” - Whoever resembles a people is one of them,barangsiapa menyerupai sesuatu kaum,hadith

Parkia speciosa a.k.a. Petai

Parkia speciosa (petai, bitter bean or stink bean) is a plant of the genus Parkia in the family Fabaceae. It bears long, flat edible beans with bright green seeds the size and shape of plump almonds which have a rather peculiar smell, characterised by some as being similar to natural gas.
Petai has earned its nickname 'stink bean' because its strong smell is very pervasive. It lingers in the mouth and body; an effect that can be noticed up to two days after consumption.

I love it’s smell and taste in my chilli prawn (sambal udang) but I don’t consume it’s beans… how’s that?

Some eats it raw, most would cook it. It is said to not only provide energy, but also able to prevent and overcome several illnesses and conditions. Those benefits include:

1. Reduce depression/The brain’s ability: Fruits high calcium can help increase the brain’s ability to learn.
2. Streamlining the menstrual
3. Overcoming anemia: Because they contain high iron, petai can stimulate the production of red blood cells and help in case of anemia.
4. Reducing high blood pressure (hypertension): Petai contains high calcium, but low in salt, so good for reducing blood pressure.
5. Controlling blood sugar levels.
6. Overcoming constipation: Because of the high fiber, petai then restore normal bowel action.
7. Smoking: Vitamin B6 and B12, as well as calcium and magnesium contained petai help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.
8. Mosquito bites, itching, and swelling: Rub the affected area bites, itching, and swelling of the petai skin

Anyway, too much of it can cause you to suffer from uric acid. High concentrations of uric acid in blood serum can lead to a type of arthritis known as gout.

Take it in moderation… in fact, everything in moderation!

LiveJournal Tags: petai,hypertension,parkia speciosa,sugar,nocotine