Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,
Two weeks ago, there was a notice circulated around UTM that there will be disruption of electricity starting midnight until 7am this morning. Everyone was prepared for it and announcement has been made all over the whole campus. Two weeks ago, when I read the notice I phone the person in-charged to inquire further so that I can plan what actions can be made from our college to prevent unwanted incidents like break-in, theft, etc. because this is a female-only college. The officer explained that at midnight, the electricity will be cut off from the power station for maintenance and UTM will generate its own electricity and supply it stage by stage to the whole campus. He offered to supply the first generation of electricity to our college to answer my worry. Alhamdulillah.
That is what the officer has promised and alhamdulillah, he delivered his promise. There was actually no electricity disruption at all the whole night at our college. The rest of the campus didn't have any electricity for a short while. Really have to thank the officer for his kind co-operation. I slept before midnight and woke up for suhur. The light is still on, alhamdulillah. A simple test of blackout can actually teach everyone a lesson to be thankful of what we have. InshaALLAH a month of fasting will teach us a lesson to be thankful of what we have our dining table everyday.
Wassalam.
Monday 31 August 2009
Saturday 29 August 2009
International students
Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,
Last night, after the terawih, one of our assistant fellow called for a meeting with all the international students at the college. There are basically 20-ish of them. Some have just moved here at the beginning of this semester and some have been here for at least 2 semesters. The point of the meeting is to let them know the rules and regulations of the college because at most of the time, all the announcements and booklets are in Malay. They don't really know what is happening in the college. They only live here because they have no choice. The worst is that they are paying more than the local students but aren't getting extra facilities.
There are a few from Iran and Turkey and one each from Sri Lanka, Iraq, Bangladesh and China. They are all muslim students who are doing various kinds of degree. While we were discussing the rules and regulations, they raised complains and issues that we cannot answered them. So we had to call the Principal (who is supposed to come to the meeting) to answer their questions. Alhamdulillah, they get to make their complains to the Principal and I really hope that the Principal is not just giving empty promises to them but to try and improve their situation here.
Finally, we appointed a representative among them and informed them the facilities that they can actually asked from the college if they want to organise some kind of activities among themselves. Hopefully this will increase their participation at the college and take away some benefits or sweet memories from this college.
Wassalam.
Last night, after the terawih, one of our assistant fellow called for a meeting with all the international students at the college. There are basically 20-ish of them. Some have just moved here at the beginning of this semester and some have been here for at least 2 semesters. The point of the meeting is to let them know the rules and regulations of the college because at most of the time, all the announcements and booklets are in Malay. They don't really know what is happening in the college. They only live here because they have no choice. The worst is that they are paying more than the local students but aren't getting extra facilities.
There are a few from Iran and Turkey and one each from Sri Lanka, Iraq, Bangladesh and China. They are all muslim students who are doing various kinds of degree. While we were discussing the rules and regulations, they raised complains and issues that we cannot answered them. So we had to call the Principal (who is supposed to come to the meeting) to answer their questions. Alhamdulillah, they get to make their complains to the Principal and I really hope that the Principal is not just giving empty promises to them but to try and improve their situation here.
Finally, we appointed a representative among them and informed them the facilities that they can actually asked from the college if they want to organise some kind of activities among themselves. Hopefully this will increase their participation at the college and take away some benefits or sweet memories from this college.
O mankind! We created you from a single (pair of a) male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may know each other. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of ALLAH is (one who is) the most righteous of you...~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah al-Hujurat
(Chapter 49, The Room) verse 13
Wassalam.
Friday 28 August 2009
Stomach ache
Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,
I don't know what I have eaten that causes such stomach ache today and a few visits to the toilet today. This Ramadhan, besides suhur, I had my iftar either at the mosque or the prayer room with the sisters. We all eat in a big round tray. That is what Malaysian muslims perceive as Islamic eating in jemaah. I hope so.
Anyway, if we ate together, the same tray and the same food, we all should be having stomach ache unless it is the suhur food. I don't know cause I haven't seen the sisters yet today. They didn't turn up for fajr prayer at the prayer room this morning. I hope they are not having severe stomach ache that they couldn't make it to the fajr prayer. I had some biscuits (individually packed) and chocolate drink for suhur this morning. These shouldn't cause any food problem. I feel like food poisoning today. Hopefully, all the stuff is flushed out of my body system.
Hmm... what is iftar for today?
Wassalam.
I don't know what I have eaten that causes such stomach ache today and a few visits to the toilet today. This Ramadhan, besides suhur, I had my iftar either at the mosque or the prayer room with the sisters. We all eat in a big round tray. That is what Malaysian muslims perceive as Islamic eating in jemaah. I hope so.
Anyway, if we ate together, the same tray and the same food, we all should be having stomach ache unless it is the suhur food. I don't know cause I haven't seen the sisters yet today. They didn't turn up for fajr prayer at the prayer room this morning. I hope they are not having severe stomach ache that they couldn't make it to the fajr prayer. I had some biscuits (individually packed) and chocolate drink for suhur this morning. These shouldn't cause any food problem. I feel like food poisoning today. Hopefully, all the stuff is flushed out of my body system.
Hmm... what is iftar for today?
Wassalam.
Thursday 27 August 2009
A call from abroad
Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,
Alhamdulillah, thankfully there are still friends from the UK who remember me :D. This morning she called me. Actually and technically it is 12.30am. If someone from abroad called my mobile using a phone card, it will appear as 'Unknown' on my mobile. I think I must have been deeply asleep. I went to bed around 11pm and read a few pages of a book written by Muhammad Asad - The Road to Mecca - which is given by a sister during my farewell, before I closed my eyes. The last thing I remember that I have read was when Muhammad Asad talked to an old Palestinian Arab man about why he has to pray with certain kinds of movements.
I woke up and picked up the phone. A very familiar voice but I couldn't recall maybe cause I was still confused. I finally realised who she is and I was fully conscious to talk to her. She was smiling and laughing over the other end of the phone... I miss it. Then she apologised when she realised that I was asleep before that. I really wanted to talk to her but she preferred me to sleep so she hung up. I felt like a dream and went back to sleep when I realised the time was midnight. I felt like I have been sleeping for a few hours already.
This is not the first time she called me and every time she called, I learn something new from her about myself. She doesn't let me call her. UK is 7 hours later than Malaysian time. At 12.00am here, it is 5.00pm there. It is quite difficult to find the right time to talk to each other especially in this month. I have a daily schedule - 6.30pm I'll be at the college, helping the students to prepare for iftar and waiting for maghrib. This will continue until the end of terawih which is around 10pm. I might do something after that and usually go to bed at 11pm. I wake up at 4.45am and stay awake most of the time until I go to work around 7.30am then finish work around 6.00pm. Whereas in the UK, the fajr time is around 4.30am (which is 11.30am in Malaysia) and maghrib is 8.30pm (which is around 3.30am here in Malaysia). It must be tough for them in this month. It is not a big problem to fast for a long period of time in the day but the struggle to wake up at night for suhur. By the time they finish praying terawih (in the UK it is usually 20 rakaah), it must be around 11.30pm or near midnight and then they have to wake up for suhur say around 3.30am. The most one can get to sleep at night is 3 hours or so. In the next ten years, this kind of pattern will persist. The worst is when Ramadhan fall in June which has the longest days of the year. Imagine maghrib at 9.30pm and fajr at 2.30am. Say isha' is at 10.30pm, by the time terawih finishes, it must be over midnight and suhur time is around 1.30am. Might as well just not sleep!
Anyway, if ALLAH has created such an orbiting of the sun and moon, and the rules for men to observe their obligatory worships, there must be ways to overcome everything or that ALLAH alone will give strength to those who struggle on HIS path. Ultimately, it is ALLAH who has created humans and HE alone knows what is the best for HIS creations and to what limit humans can go as far.
ALLAHU'alam.
Wassalam.
Alhamdulillah, thankfully there are still friends from the UK who remember me :D. This morning she called me. Actually and technically it is 12.30am. If someone from abroad called my mobile using a phone card, it will appear as 'Unknown' on my mobile. I think I must have been deeply asleep. I went to bed around 11pm and read a few pages of a book written by Muhammad Asad - The Road to Mecca - which is given by a sister during my farewell, before I closed my eyes. The last thing I remember that I have read was when Muhammad Asad talked to an old Palestinian Arab man about why he has to pray with certain kinds of movements.
I woke up and picked up the phone. A very familiar voice but I couldn't recall maybe cause I was still confused. I finally realised who she is and I was fully conscious to talk to her. She was smiling and laughing over the other end of the phone... I miss it. Then she apologised when she realised that I was asleep before that. I really wanted to talk to her but she preferred me to sleep so she hung up. I felt like a dream and went back to sleep when I realised the time was midnight. I felt like I have been sleeping for a few hours already.
This is not the first time she called me and every time she called, I learn something new from her about myself. She doesn't let me call her. UK is 7 hours later than Malaysian time. At 12.00am here, it is 5.00pm there. It is quite difficult to find the right time to talk to each other especially in this month. I have a daily schedule - 6.30pm I'll be at the college, helping the students to prepare for iftar and waiting for maghrib. This will continue until the end of terawih which is around 10pm. I might do something after that and usually go to bed at 11pm. I wake up at 4.45am and stay awake most of the time until I go to work around 7.30am then finish work around 6.00pm. Whereas in the UK, the fajr time is around 4.30am (which is 11.30am in Malaysia) and maghrib is 8.30pm (which is around 3.30am here in Malaysia). It must be tough for them in this month. It is not a big problem to fast for a long period of time in the day but the struggle to wake up at night for suhur. By the time they finish praying terawih (in the UK it is usually 20 rakaah), it must be around 11.30pm or near midnight and then they have to wake up for suhur say around 3.30am. The most one can get to sleep at night is 3 hours or so. In the next ten years, this kind of pattern will persist. The worst is when Ramadhan fall in June which has the longest days of the year. Imagine maghrib at 9.30pm and fajr at 2.30am. Say isha' is at 10.30pm, by the time terawih finishes, it must be over midnight and suhur time is around 1.30am. Might as well just not sleep!
Anyway, if ALLAH has created such an orbiting of the sun and moon, and the rules for men to observe their obligatory worships, there must be ways to overcome everything or that ALLAH alone will give strength to those who struggle on HIS path. Ultimately, it is ALLAH who has created humans and HE alone knows what is the best for HIS creations and to what limit humans can go as far.
ALLAHU'alam.
Wassalam.
Wednesday 26 August 2009
Blood Donation
Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,
Blood donation in Ramadhan - sounds odd? It is actually happening here at UTM, my workplace. Yesterday and today there is a blood donation session at the mosque. Of course, it is at night time after isha' prayer - 9.00pm-11.00pm. You don't release blood when you are fasting. Anyway, it was well received.
I went there last night after terawih prayer. The queue for registration was quite long. Alhamdulillah it's not too long of a wait. My blood count was at a good level for donation but my blood pressure initially was quite low when measured using an electronic device. When a manual machine was used, my blood pressure was at a normal level. Maybe they need to calibrate the electronic one. After fasting for 4 days, alhamdulillah, I still maintain my normal body weight. There are a few criteria for blood donation in Malaysia beside the blood count, being healthy and has the minimum body weight of 45 kg. One has to have at least 5 hours sleep before the donation, not donating because one wants to check if he/she is HIV positive and a woman donor cannot donate if she is in between 7 days before her normal period and 7 days after that.
In Malaysia, this is my third blood donation since 2005. The nurse was surprise that there was a big gap between my last donation in Malaysia and now. I explained to her my time in the UK and was going to ask if I can convert the several times of donation in the UK to be counted here but didn't. Felt like I was asking for rewards if I requested that. Basically, to encourage people donate blood, the Ministry of Health has promised certain medical benefits for the frequency of donation. For example getting free Hepatitis B immune injection after 2 times of donation.
After I have passed all the tests, the nurse gave me a packed meal (didn't expect that) - for suhur - and I waited for an empty bed. There were only six beds and I think that they did not expect such a good turn out at the blood donation session. I think cause this is a month for generosity, even donating blood is considered as a form of sadaqah, especially for poor students who can't afford to give sadaqah in the form of money. Moreover, giving blood can save life and in the Qur'an ALLAH says saving a life is like saving the whole humanity (Chapter 5, verse 32).
Finally, there was an empty bed for those who prefer to be jabbed at the right hand (I'm left-handed). The first thing the nurse did was jabbing my vein for needle insertion with a local anesthetic. I asked what was that injection for and she immediately showed me a very big needle. Unlike my experience in the UK, there is no such anesthetic jab prior to the needle because the needle was relatively smaller than the one here. This one was somehow bigger than my vein.
It didn't take long to get 300 ml of blood from me but it took a very long time for the blood to stop. Usually 3-5 minute of pressurising the cut area is enough to stop the blood, but after 3 times, mine was still bleeding. It took probably half an hour to stop. I have never experienced such a problem when I donated blood in the UK. Could it be the size of the needle?
While I was sitting there folding my arm to stop the bleeding, a reporter came and started to ask me for details. He was surprise that I am an academic staff because usually, those who come for blood donation are either students or non-academic staff. I was equally surprise to know that academic staff aren't keen to give blood or they might just go straight to the hospital to donate blood rather than waiting for a campaign like this?
By the time I got home, it was near to midnight. I pray that ALLAH accept my deed and may this little that I gave can bring happiness for anyone who receives it.
ALLAHU'alam.
Wassalam.
Blood donation in Ramadhan - sounds odd? It is actually happening here at UTM, my workplace. Yesterday and today there is a blood donation session at the mosque. Of course, it is at night time after isha' prayer - 9.00pm-11.00pm. You don't release blood when you are fasting. Anyway, it was well received.
I went there last night after terawih prayer. The queue for registration was quite long. Alhamdulillah it's not too long of a wait. My blood count was at a good level for donation but my blood pressure initially was quite low when measured using an electronic device. When a manual machine was used, my blood pressure was at a normal level. Maybe they need to calibrate the electronic one. After fasting for 4 days, alhamdulillah, I still maintain my normal body weight. There are a few criteria for blood donation in Malaysia beside the blood count, being healthy and has the minimum body weight of 45 kg. One has to have at least 5 hours sleep before the donation, not donating because one wants to check if he/she is HIV positive and a woman donor cannot donate if she is in between 7 days before her normal period and 7 days after that.
In Malaysia, this is my third blood donation since 2005. The nurse was surprise that there was a big gap between my last donation in Malaysia and now. I explained to her my time in the UK and was going to ask if I can convert the several times of donation in the UK to be counted here but didn't. Felt like I was asking for rewards if I requested that. Basically, to encourage people donate blood, the Ministry of Health has promised certain medical benefits for the frequency of donation. For example getting free Hepatitis B immune injection after 2 times of donation.
After I have passed all the tests, the nurse gave me a packed meal (didn't expect that) - for suhur - and I waited for an empty bed. There were only six beds and I think that they did not expect such a good turn out at the blood donation session. I think cause this is a month for generosity, even donating blood is considered as a form of sadaqah, especially for poor students who can't afford to give sadaqah in the form of money. Moreover, giving blood can save life and in the Qur'an ALLAH says saving a life is like saving the whole humanity (Chapter 5, verse 32).
Finally, there was an empty bed for those who prefer to be jabbed at the right hand (I'm left-handed). The first thing the nurse did was jabbing my vein for needle insertion with a local anesthetic. I asked what was that injection for and she immediately showed me a very big needle. Unlike my experience in the UK, there is no such anesthetic jab prior to the needle because the needle was relatively smaller than the one here. This one was somehow bigger than my vein.
It didn't take long to get 300 ml of blood from me but it took a very long time for the blood to stop. Usually 3-5 minute of pressurising the cut area is enough to stop the blood, but after 3 times, mine was still bleeding. It took probably half an hour to stop. I have never experienced such a problem when I donated blood in the UK. Could it be the size of the needle?
While I was sitting there folding my arm to stop the bleeding, a reporter came and started to ask me for details. He was surprise that I am an academic staff because usually, those who come for blood donation are either students or non-academic staff. I was equally surprise to know that academic staff aren't keen to give blood or they might just go straight to the hospital to donate blood rather than waiting for a campaign like this?
By the time I got home, it was near to midnight. I pray that ALLAH accept my deed and may this little that I gave can bring happiness for anyone who receives it.
ALLAHU'alam.
Wassalam.
Tuesday 25 August 2009
Ramadhan Karim
Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,
Ramadhan Karim. May you get the best out of this holy month.
Thought I have entered a new phase of my life, I should start a new blog. I don't actually have much time to write but I miss writing this a lot from my previous blog. I hope to maintain this a much as I can.
I miss my friends in the UK very much. Not just that they are my friends, but sisters who care for me and share all my ups and downs together while I was alone there. My life would not be as colourful and fulfilling without all these sisters who are always there. Now that I am in Malaysia, I miss them not because I want to have the same life again in the UK. I miss them because they are people who meant a lot for me. It is worthy to always remember them and I pray that this friendship or rather this sisterhood will stay as long as I can keep it. Every time I remember them, I make dua for them. Every time I miss them, I tell myself, I should miss ALLAH and Prophet Muhammad (saw) more. These sisters always remind me of ALLAH. I miss them because of ALLAH.
This blog is named 'Knowledge is light' from a famous poem written by Imam ash-Shafi'i (ra) who was one of the four main Imams in the Fiqh schools of thought. When he was a student, he complained to his teacher - Waki' Ibn al-Jarrah that he had poor memory. His teacher told him to leave disobedience in order to attain good memory in his study. In the poem it says:
Here is a song about this poem:
Again, Ramadhan Karim. May ALLAH accept all our fasts, good deeds, repentance and prayers. Please keep me in your prayer.
ALLAHU'alam.
Wassalam.
Ramadhan Karim. May you get the best out of this holy month.
Thought I have entered a new phase of my life, I should start a new blog. I don't actually have much time to write but I miss writing this a lot from my previous blog. I hope to maintain this a much as I can.
I miss my friends in the UK very much. Not just that they are my friends, but sisters who care for me and share all my ups and downs together while I was alone there. My life would not be as colourful and fulfilling without all these sisters who are always there. Now that I am in Malaysia, I miss them not because I want to have the same life again in the UK. I miss them because they are people who meant a lot for me. It is worthy to always remember them and I pray that this friendship or rather this sisterhood will stay as long as I can keep it. Every time I remember them, I make dua for them. Every time I miss them, I tell myself, I should miss ALLAH and Prophet Muhammad (saw) more. These sisters always remind me of ALLAH. I miss them because of ALLAH.
This blog is named 'Knowledge is light' from a famous poem written by Imam ash-Shafi'i (ra) who was one of the four main Imams in the Fiqh schools of thought. When he was a student, he complained to his teacher - Waki' Ibn al-Jarrah that he had poor memory. His teacher told him to leave disobedience in order to attain good memory in his study. In the poem it says:
I complained to Waki's about my poor memories
So he advised me to abandon disobedience, and he said
Know that knowledge is light
And the light of ALLAH is not bestowed upon a disobedient
Here is a song about this poem:
Again, Ramadhan Karim. May ALLAH accept all our fasts, good deeds, repentance and prayers. Please keep me in your prayer.
ALLAHU'alam.
Wassalam.
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