oh happy day

yesterday, a member of the W.R.I.T.E club, Shafinaz sent me a birthday gift - a Sheaffer Signature Pen & Pencil. wow. ok, so actually was quite surprised as i expected a card or something. but this is new. she came all the way from Serangoon North to my sister's school - Kranji Sec, with her mom of course. i was at Ba'alwi mosque studying that time for O'lvl E Maths. hmm. and guess what. my name was carved on it. hehes :) so i scanned through the surface to appreciate more..
so i wonder how many presents i'm getting this year. hehes. usually i dont have any from friends but i guess i dont mind that much (sacarstic ha...).
so now lets talk bout "Jalan Raya" or Raya Visits. ok, just got an sms by my primary school friend, Aliff saying that Lianhua 6C-ians are having Raya Visits on 24th Oct. and whats so special bout 24th Oct? say it with me - DZUL's 16th BIRTHDAY!!! hehes. and its my O'lvl e maths #.# and release of High School Musical 3 in cinemas ^.^ as usual, many thing happening on that special day. hohos! cant wait! Subhanallah... Alhamdulillah...
ok, so computer's still down.. keep updated ^.^

P.S. THANKS SHAFINAZ FOR THE SWEET GIFT (IN ADVANCED)

APPRECIATE IT =D

yo people!

hahas. happy mood today, not sure why... 10 more days to Hari Raya! but seriously, no mood to festive this year. i mean two days after hari raya is N' levels, then O' levels. who's not worried and pissed? lol. but i'm happy today maybe cause one of the last 10 nights of Ramadhan is the "Lailatul Qadr". check my previous post to know what's that.
so, in case nobody knows or realise, i've not been online these weekends. thats cause my laptop is spoilt. that thing has scratches on its cover and so on. i tried to turn it on but to no avail. it just gave a "zzzzzz" sound. i think something burnt from inside.
moving on, some of my non-muslim friends said "dzul! your blog is filled with religious things and they're long....." hahas. so not to worry, i'll try to mix them with whats happening to my life. its been so long since i've updated my blog. so here it is.
to all of my friends and readers, good luck with your N'levels and O'levels (good luck to me too) -tsk tsk.. and to all, SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI! speaking of fitri, its been so long since i've seen siti (hahas)...

(that bin was checking me out - LOL!)

(Jusco, Malaysia. something like VivoCity just that the food here is mostly Halal - hahas, no offence)

((awww, our natural CO2 - O2 converter)

[guess who (hehes)]

Last Friday's Khutbah (29 Aug) - Ramadhan

(In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Compassionate)

(Moon, Star. Found by Sultan Osman from Othmaniyyah, Turki. He got to know that moon and stars are spread throughout the globe. It has now bacome the symbol of Islam - just like moon and stars, found everywhere)
-picture taken from Ba'alwi Mosque

__________________________________________________________

By:Islamic Religious Council of Singapore
(Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura)

My dear brothers, may you all be blessed by Allah,
On this blessed Jumaah, from this mimbar, I remind myself and all brothers to increase our consciousness of Allah through taqwa. Let us do all that Allah has ordered, and refrain from all that He has forbidden. May we all be placed in His blessings and pleasure, Amin Ya Rabbal ‘Alamin.

My dear brothers,
In a few days time, we will meet a glorious and very blessed month. The Holy Prophet s.a.w. would break the good news to the companions when this month approaches:
Which means: It has come unto you the month of Ramadhan, a month full of blessings. Allah has ordered you to fast in this month. In this month, the doors of paradise are open wide, whilst the doors to hellfire are tightly closed, and the devils are locked up. There is one night in this month which is better than a thousand months. Whomever fails to reap its benefits and blessings, will never reap any kind of benefit and blessing. (Hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad)

I am sure we all know the benefits of the month of Ramadhan. But after knowing how special this month is, how do we benefit from it? Are we letting this Ramadhan pass by, as we normally treat it in the past? Or what should we do this time round?
My dear brothers,
If we truly want to reap the greatest benefits from this coming Ramadhan, we must make the appropriate preparations. Allow me to make a suggestion: Let us look at Ramadhan as a school or college. A school that nurtures us and strengthens our iman as Muslims. The question is, how do we prepare to step into the school of Ramadhan?

My dear brothers,
To become excellent students, we need to prepare ourselves before we go to school by reading the subject that will be taught at school. We are also encouraged to have a schedule or time-table to study or revise. Similarly, in order for us to be excellent students of Ramadhan, we need to prepare by having an effective scheduling or time-table for our activities in this month.

Part of our preparations to enter this school is to repent to Allah and ask for His forgiveness for all our wrongdoings. Indeed, this is the first step for us to prepare to enter Ramadhan. Allah s.w.t. says in the Holy Quran:
Which means: “and turn to Allah all of you, O believers! so that you may be successful.” (An-Nur verse 31)
But we need to stress here that when we talk about repent, it is not simply what we normally do; verbally saying Astaghfirullahal 'Aziim, but our minds not fully conscious of what we actually say. Let us repent to Allah truly and totally. Let us not repeat the wrong things that we have done, such as wasting our time and being lazy, or hurting others with our words, actions or our thoughts.
Secondly, we should prepare by training ourselves to be consistent and persistent in doing good. We should train ourselves to love Allah more than anything else and to rely fully on Allah s.w.t. Allah s.w.t. says in surah al-Anfaal verse 24:
Which means: “O you who believe! answer (the call of) Allah and His Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life; and know that Allah intervenes between man and his heart, and that to Him you shall be gathered.”

Thirdly, we should train all our senses that are endowed upon us by Allah, to do good at all times. We train our eyes to always look at the Holy Quran and read it, and we don’t allow our eyes to look at the forbidden things. We train our ears to listen to the Quran, to knowledge, and we don’t allow them to listen to lies and unworthy words or conversations. We train our tongue to always mention the names of Allah, to remember Him, to encourage people to do good, and to stop others from doing evil, and to speak the truth. We will be asked on our actions manifested in each of these senses. Allah s.w.t. says in the Holy Quran:
Which means : “And follow not that of which you have not the knowledge; surely the hearing and the sight and the heart, all of these, shall be questioned about that.”
(al-Israa' verse 36)

Fourthly, we should take care of our health. Good health will help us to perform our ibadah consistently and seamlessly. All these are part of our preparations before we enter into the school of Ramadhan.
My dear brothers,
In order to excel and be consistent in this Ramadhan, we need to prepare a daily time-table.
A time-table will help us immensely to organise our activities and to achieve our targets and objectives. When we draw up this time-table, we need to have both short and long term objectives.
For example, if our short term goal is to complete the recitation of the Holy Quran in Ramadhan, we should then divide the recitation across the whole month and on a daily basis. But we should also then have a long term objective, such as to continue to recite the Holy Quran after Ramadhan.

If for example, our objective is to strengthen family relationship, then we should identify and allocate certain days in Ramadhan to break fast, perform terawih or qiyamullail together with our families. But for the long term, we should also have plans to have activities together with our family after Ramadhan.
When our objective is to further improve and strengthen our iman, we should plan to fill the days of Ramadhan with specific ibadah, but for the long term, we must also plan that our ibadah will shape us into morally guided individuals.
These are just some of the examples to serve as a general guide. But there may be some differences between an individual and another, based on capabilities and needs. Thus, the plans can differ and be varied.

Hopefully, when we make adequate preparations, such as by repenting, being consistent, protecting our senses and our body, knowing our capabilities and scheduling our activities, Insya Allah, we will be able to graduate from the school of Ramadhan with great success.
Amin ya Rabbal ‘Alamin.

N' & O' Levels made me WILD

YA ALLAH! OH GOD! YA RABBI!
oh my. ok, lets start from day 1 of my N' (tuesday). i had Malay Language (paper1&2). can't remember what i wrote about but i think i wrote something interesting. paper 2 is fine..
day 2: Malay Language Listening Comprehension and Social Studies. it stated on our Entry Proof that ML LC starts on 8 but Ria Station said it starts on 8:30 am. that meant 30 mins of music. it started with rock music, then a mixed rock and techno music, then soothing song. rock n techno, my most hated elememts found in songs. Social Studies is ok, "do-able".
day 3: English Language (paper 1&2). the only word i felt in my heart "DIE!" omg. actually it started ok. my composition i did question1 is something like "which is better, being e only child or have siblings?" AND I DIDN'T REALISE ITS AN ARGUEMENTATIVE COMPO! it just means i need to have a very strong, firm language to do such a compo. omg. but i did argue but didn't put much points =.= so shut up. question 6: Mistakes. it was what i wanted to do at first but it wasn't that easy cause a wanted to write about a mistake to befriend a stranger. but that's just 1 mistake. mistakeS needs more than 1 mistake. many of my classmates only wrote 1 mistake. Question 3 is easy: write about an occasion smth smth.. but its too dull and that it states "an occasion". so boring(hehes. no offense to those who wrote this). so ok. paper 2 is so omg.. its acceptable. so hope I can pass. with flying colours if possible.
YA Allah! ok. Ramadhan helps A-Lot... really. not sure how but it helps in everything. from my "healthy diet" to my examinations to the way I look at things. i became more patient. Alhamdulillah.

conflicts

ok, so i think i made a bad start in the 'apology'... actually i've forgave her long long time already. just that i think the guilt is not easily taken care of. she tried to start the ball rolling last few days by wanting to sit beside me during one of the lessons. but really, i was expecting a "sorry" or "are you ok" or something like that. but i think i turned her down by turning my head and giggled to myslef =.= lame, i know. and so she walked off. but i said "ok la, you can sit here" but it was too late. the door in her heart was shut tight for any mercy to be given. omg. should i regret? cause seriously, i study better away from THE GANG (no offence..). i concentrate better and got my troubles (distractions, etc) away.
but there was never something with no disadvantages. i'm currently sitting beside Zuhari. omg.. wonder how can his ** can tolerate him. i mean you know what he did with his bottle?.. firstly, ITS PINK(nothing wrong but someone like him holding a pink bottle?). secondly. he did disgusting things with it.
1) he put the tip of the nosel on his oily cheek. (as in litteraly ON his cheek) which he then sqeeze "spray" out. you know the bottle that you can spray out (nike).
2) he then put the nosel into his nostrill. (INTO his NOSTRILL) and SPRAY
3) he suck the bottle (nosel of course).
i was like "*vomit*" while Siti went "EEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"
4) he had nothing better to do so he sprayed everything around him. so i was considered "around" him.
ok. enough with his bottle. lets talk about how he communicate. everyone knows how sarcarstic he may be. maybe he has his own problems? but still, he can be a pain in my arse. really. but no matter what, he could shine the ray of light enough to bring in my sense of humour behind the dull school life. (actually i love school & find it colourful. but ya..)
so yup. since conflict still went on in class today(back to her), i would like to apolagise for my rudeness in class the other day. really. i am. call me whatever you want - not gentleman(apolagise in blog, dont dare say face to face), etc. whatever. i dont care. what i know is that i have readers whom read this blog and spread whatever message i put here like wildfire. so again,
im sorry

hope that our friendship doesn't have to end this way. hope that our friendship lasts. hope that we could still be friends.

just up

ok.. so sorry for the late post. guessed not to put the ice skating day thingy although its like one of THE best days of ice skating i've had. although I FELL a number of times. one that i could not forget is that I FELL CAUSE OF SOMEBODY.. give you a clue.. its a SHE. well, it started with me 'pulling' her as she 'glides' through the ice, grabbing my arm. she fell. i turned, startled, and fell. how i fell? i fell on my knees, then my palms(sharp ice btw, and slippery), slipped, and fell to my chin. alhamdulillah nothing happened to my face (and chin, that much). and after some days you know what she said? "why didnt you help me up to the bench?" and i was like "eh! its cause of u i fell hard (n she fell to her butt, thats it), nearly hurting my face and u have e guts to ask me to help you?.. i mean i was bruised because of you. of course i'll take some ice to decrease the bruise and to check on my palms and chin while she can wait for a friend to 'guide' her to the bench," in my heart la duh. puh-lease.. saying sorry works only to that moment, never to the moment where you bring it up, turning the story around, which made you sound like as if u hurt more than me. i fell on my butt like 5 times that day. changing the topic, never to repeat this incident..
ok. so i saw the high school musical 3 song "now or never" and liked it. and... guess what. ITS OUT ON MY BIRTHDAY! ok, i just love my birthday. something usually happens on my birthday. alhamdulillah. festivals like Deepavali and Hari Raya happens =D and this year, guess what. it falls on the day when i take my O'LEVEL ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS EXAMINATIONS! omg.. and also, HSM3 released on that day too =) lols. what i love is that HSM's primary colours are red, black n grey.. get it? red, black? its our school 'u' colour yo! wee!
Alhamdulillah..... Subhanallah.....
ok... so, nothing much to say exactly.. just that my youngest sis had a fighting fish for her birthday, bro has a toy motor car for his, and my youger sis has a digital camera n a photo printer for hers... mine?.. not sure this year.. (= smilezz!
photos soon :) stay updated always!

Muslims & non-muslims (not meant as an offence)

What does the Quran say about WAR?
“Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for God loves not transgressors.” - Chapter 2:190, Al-Baqara (The Cow).
“Thus, if they let you be, and do not make war on you, and offer you peace, God does not allow you to harm them.” - Chapter 4:90, An-Nisa (The Women).

What does the Al-Quran say about PEACE?
“And do not allow your oaths in the name of God to become an obstacle to virtue and God-consciousness and the promotion of peace between men.” - Chapter 2:224, Al-Baqara (The Cow).
“O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another.” - Chapter 49:13, Al-Hujurat (The Dwellings).

Muhammad and Non-Muslims
- In the Wathiqah Madaniyyah (Constitution of Medina) which Prophet Muhammad negotiated with the Ansar and Muhajirun tribes, as well as the Jews of Medina, Jews were included in the Community. They were allowed freedom of association and religion. This freedom forms up what is known today as Human Rights. Similar agreements and treaties were negotiated by Prophet Muhammad with the Jews of Tayma, and other cities in the Hijaz.

- Safwan bin Umaya, one of the chiefs of Mecca, was a great enemy of Muhammad and Islam. He promised a reward to Umair ibn Wahab if he managed to kill Muhammad. When Mecca was conquered, Safwan ran away to Jeddah in the hope of finding a berth that would take him to Yemen by sea. Umair ibn Wahab came to Muhammad and said, “O Messenger of God! Safwan ibn Umayya, a chief of his tribe, has run away from fear of what you might do to him and threatens to cast himself into the sea.” The Prophet sent him a guarantee of protection and, when he returned, Safwan requested Muhammad to give him two months to come to a decision. He was given four months, after which he became a Muslim by his own free will.

- The Prophet’s uncle, Hamzah, was one of the most beloved of people to the Prophet. Hamzah was one of the earliest to accept Islam. An Abyssinian slave of the wife of Abu Sufyan, Hind, sought out and killed Hamzah in the battle of Uhud. Hind then mutilated his body by cutting his chest and tearing his liver and heart into pieces. When she quietly came to the Prophet and accepted Islam, he recognized her but did not say anything. She was so impressed by his magnanimity and stature that she said, “O Messenger of God, no tent was more deserted in my eyes than yours; but today no tent is more lovely in my eyes than yours.”

- The tribe of Quraish were the archenemies of Islam and, for a period of thirteen years while Prophet Muhammad was still in Mecca, they would rebuke the Prophet, taunt and mock him, beat him and abuse him, both physically and mentally. They placed the afterbirth of a camel on his back while he prayed, and they boycotted him and his tribe until the social sanctions became unbearable. They plotted and attempted to kill him on more than one occasion, and when the Prophet escaped to Medina, they rallied the majority of the Arab tribes and waged many wars against him. Yet, when he entered Mecca victorious with an army of 10,000, he did not take revenge on anyone.
The Prophet said to the Quraish: “O people of Quraish! What do you think I will do to you?
Hoping for a good response, they said: “You will do good. You are a noble brother, son of a noble brother.”
The Prophet then said: “Then I say to you what Joseph said to his brothers: ‘There is no blame upon you.’ Go! For you are all free!”
- Habir ibn al-Aswad was a vicious enemy of Muhammad and Islam. He inflicted a serious injury to Zainab, daughter of the Prophet when she decided to migrate to Medina. She was pregnant when she started her migration, and the polytheists of Mecca tried to stop her from leaving. Habir physically assaulted her and intentionally caused her to fall down from her camel. Her fall caused her to miscarry her baby, and she herself was badly hurt. He had committed many other crimes against Muslims as well. He wanted flee to Persia but, when he decided to come to Muhammad instead, the Prophet forgave him.
- During the life of Muhammad, the Jews in Medina had a synagogue and an educational institute by the name of Bait-Al-Madras. He made sure it was preserved as well as all the Jews attending it were protected.

- Muhammad (Peace be upon him) made several treaties with the Jews. The following is an extract of a message that he wrote to form a treaty:
“In the name of God, Most Gracious, Ever Merciful. This message is from Muhammad, Messenger of God. Verily, whoever follows us from the Jews shall have the help and the aid; and shall neither be victim of injustice, nor taken vengeance upon. The Jews of the children of Awf are safe with the Faithful. They have their religion and the Muslims theirs and themselves, except those who oppress or sin, they will forfeit themselves and their families. The Jews of Bani Al-Najjar, of Bani Al-Harith, of Bani Saaedah, of Bani Aws and of Bani Belanah are Jews like the others.”

- There was an old woman who would collect thorns and twigs. She would wait until Prophet Muhammad was coming and she then threw them in the way hoping that Muhammad would step on them and get hurt. She would do this every day. One day, the prophet passed by as usual and saw that there were no thorns on the road. He asked people where she was. They told him that the old woman was ill and too sick to leave her bed. Muhammad went to visit her.
When he went to her house, he spoke to her in a respectful and kind manner. He spoke to her politely and said some kind words before he left her house.
The woman was so touched by his gesture that from that day on she never tried to hurt Muhammad again.
- The Prophet honored the Christians of Najran from Yemen who visited him in his own mosque in Madina. The Christians prayed according to Christian fashion inside the mosque, and the Prophet and his followers prayed in Muslim tradition.

- Muhammad selected a non-Muslim, Amr-ibn-Umaiyah-ad-Damri, as his ambassador to Negus, the king of Ethiopia.
- The Prophet respected the autonomy of the Christian churches. The nomination and the appointment of bishops and priests were left to the Christian community.

- Muhammad sent the following message to the Monks of Saint Catherine in Mount Sinai:
“This is a message written by Muhammad Ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, far and near, we are behind them. Verily, I defend them by myself, the servants, the helpers, and my followers, because Christians are citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be changed from their jobs, nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate who force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christians is married to a Muslim, this is not to take place without her own wish. She is not to be prevented from going to her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of the nation is to disobey this covenant till the Day of Judgment and the end of the world.”

ABU BAKAR ASSIDDIQUE - 1ST CALIPH OF ISLAM
In a letter written by Abu Bakar to the non-Muslims of Najran:

“In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful. This is the written statement of God’s slave Abu Bakar, the successor of Muhammad, the Prophet and Messenger of God. He affirms for you the rights of a protected neighbour, in yourselves, your lands, your religious community, your wealth, retainers, and servants, those of you who are present or abroad, your bishops and monks, and monasteries, and all that you own, be it great or small. You shall not be deprived of any of it, and shall have full control over it.”

UMAR AL-KHATTAB - 2ND CALIPH OF ISLAM
- Under Umar’s rule, the Muslims were forbidden to interfere with the religious freedom of the Dhimmis, a rule first set by Prophet Muhammad. Umar also issued strict instructions that all assessments in the case of Dhimmis should be fair.

- Umar al-Khattab gave the Dhimmis the freedom to follow their religious practices which were not offensive to the Muslims. The Christians were free to ring bells in their churches outside of the time when Muslims were offering prayers. The Christians were allowed to take out their crosses in processions but they were advised that such processions should avoid routes passing through settlements populated by Muslims.

- Jerusalem and its surrounding territory were and remain holy to Muslims, Christians and Jews. It was during Umar’s rule that Muslims first gained leadership of this territory. At one point in Jerusalem, the Christians asked him to pray in their church but he declined. He said he was afraid that in the future Muslims could use this as an excuse to take over the Church to build a mosque. The Christians gave the key of the Church of Resurrection to Muslims to be responsible for its safety. This key is still with the Muslims today as a sign and symbol of the mutual trust.
- When any non-Muslim was too poor to pay Jizyah, he was exempted from the levy, an exemption which also applies in the case of Zakat.
- On his death bed, in his bequest to his successor Umar said:
“My bequest to my successor is that covenants with the Dhimmis should be observed faithfully. They should be defended against all invasions. No injustice should be done to them. They should be treated as full fledged citizens and should enjoy equality before law. Their taxes should be fair, and no burden should be imposed on them which they cannot bear.”
- When Jerusalem was submitted to Caliph Umar, an agreement was made between Umar and the local Christians. The agreement goes as follows:
“In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate! This is the security which grants to the people of Elia. He grants to all, whether sick or sound, security for their lives, their possessions, their churches and their crosses, and for all that concerns their religion. Their churches shall not be changed into dwelling places, nor destroyed, neither shall they nor their appurtenances be in any way diminished, nor the crosses of the inhabitants nor aught of their possessions, nor shall any constraints be put upon them in the matter of their faith, nor shall any one of them be harmed.”
- The Second Caliph Umar, asked his Governor in Syria to recruit a Greek person who could put the accounts of their revenues in order. He also appointed a Christian to head his Administration.
During the Umayyad (first Islamic dynasty (661–750) and Abbasid caliphates (from 749 to 1258)
- Non-Muslims were holding the rank of Political, Ministerial and Administrative positions in Executive Councils.
- Non-Muslims were given judicial autonomy, not only for personal status, but for all affairs of their life: civil, penal and others.
- During the Abbasid Caliphate, Christian Patriarchs and Jewish Hakhams (Rabbis) held the highest positions in the Islamic state. They held the position of advisors in the cabinet of the Caliph himself.
- When the Muslim army reached the valley of the Jordan and Abu Ubaydah pitched his camp at Fihl, the Christian inhabitants of the country wrote:
“O Muslims, we prefer you to the Byzantines though they are of our faith, because you keep better faith with us and are more merciful to us and refrain from doing us injustice and your rule over us is better than theirs, for they have robbed us of our goods and our homes.”
- The people of Emessa closed the gates of their city against the army of Heraclius and told the Muslims that they preferred Muslim government and justice to the injustice and oppression of the Greeks.
- Mu’awiyah (661-680) employed Christians very heavily in his service, and the other members of the reigning house followed his example. Christians frequently held high posts at court.
- During the days of Umar Ibn Abd-al-Aziz (an Umayyad Caliph), some Muslims took a church to enlarge the Grand Mosque of Damascus (Al-Masjid Al-Umawee). Caliph Umar ordered the demolition of that part of the mosque and to restore the church. The Christians opted for a monetary settlement.
- Non-Muslims were given the citizenship of the Muslim country in which they lived including the right to vote for the election of the Muslim state. However, they were exempted from being drafted in the Muslim army.
- During the days of Caliph Harun Al-Rashid, Dr. Gabriel, the personal physician of the Caliph, was a Nestorian Christian.