Beautiful Baqarah - The importance of Suratul Baqarah

1. Rasulullah a.s said, "Recite the quran as it will come on the day of resurrection as a maker of case , it's pleading on your case for your behalf. The one who recites Al Quran , it will become its companion."
- Sahih Muslim.

2.Recite the "Zahrawen" , the two beautiful glowing and the glittering ones which is Surah Al Baqarah and Al Imran as they will both arrive as protection and shield on judgement day like a "hamam" . It comes like a white puffy and happy clouds shading upon you .The ideas of hamam if you studied Suratul Baqarah itself,  Allah sent "Hamam " , clouds that gives shades to rescue the Israelites that were dying under the scorching sun at the desserts. On the day of judgement there is no shades except for a small group of people. The sky will ripped open, meteor showering and people will scattered seek refuge.

3. After highlighting both surah, Prophet Muhammad specifically focus on Baqarah and said , "Recite Baqarah as it is barakah ."
Barakah is blessing on top of blessings, goodness that will continue to grow more than expected and will be there to stay. You'll regret on missing out the goodness if you don't have a relationship with Baqarah.

4. Evil eyes , liars try to spread lies , people who are falsified ,  people who are jealous or hurt somebody , sorcerers  even the devil & jins , non of these had a effect on you if your holding on to Baqarah. They are not capable to do any damage on you, except with Allah's will. Baqarah will protect you from any harm.

5. Sahih Muslim : On the day of judgement , the quran will be brought foward along with its people who act on it. The front of the caravan is Suratul Baqarah and Al Imran that will be leading the way in darkness as though they are two clouds  . It s like  flock of birds coming hovering and protecting the one and making a favor and case for them. Don't turn your homes into graves. Syaitan run from the homes that recited suratul Baqarah. Don't  let your heart and your home spiritually die with the absence of suratul Baqarah

6. Sahih Bukhari : One night the sahabi is reciting the Baqarah and his horses in the stable start acting up. So he stopped then the horse calm down but as soon he recited it the horse acting up again. The sahabi has a son , a little boy named Yahya is at the stable right by the horse and he got a little scared that the horse will strike up him. As he pulled out his son out, he noticed something in the sky and it went away until he couldn't see it anymore. The next morning came ,he talk to the Prophet Muhammad  a.s  and told that he when he looked up to the sky he saw shadows but there is a lamp inside the shadows , decescending from the sky but then it started leaving until he couldn't  see it anymore.

The Prophet asked , "Do you know what that was ? Those were actually the angels that came down because of the beauty of your voice . You are reciting Baqarah and attracting all sorts of angels . The horse started freaking out because it can't handle the sides of the Angels . If you have kept reciting the Baqarah, the angels will become visible .They left the world of unseen to join the world of the seen  ,just to enjoy your recitation of Baqarah. They will come down and there will no barrier left as people will then able to see the angels because of your recitations .

7. Whoever recited the last 2 verses of Baqarah in rhe night time is enough for that person and very beneficial to ponder its meaning. Allah doesn't want us just to chant and memories His words, He wants us to engage with the power of His words so it will melt and goes into our hearts. Recited it with a meaningful deep thought provoking relationship with the Quran, then it is when the benefits actually comes to life

8. Subject matter 9 logical parts , longest surah, 286 ayah :
Part 1 - Allah dividing the audience into 3 groups : Believer , Disbeliever and Hypocrites

Part 2 - Story of the Adam a.s & how he ended up on earth.

Part 3 - Story Adam of the Israelites who supposed to be the chosen one and how they failed Allah's expectations and rejected Prophet Muhammad as prophet because they couldn't accept that he is Arab, not from their

Part 4 -The story of how the Israelites should live up to their legacy of their father Ibrahim a.s  and the story of the nation . Allah takes half of the passage about the sons of Ibrahim a,s , Ismail and another half about grandson , Jacob.

Part 5 - Ibrahim a.s built the Kaabah ,his house in a middle of dessert , He prayed for a prophet to come and the Israelites were being told is that Prophet Muhammad the answer of your own father's Ibrahim prayers.

Part 6 - The muslim ummah is now the new nation and going to be tested with e.g new laws that we have to abide with. The change of qiblah shifted from Jurusalem to Mecca, symbolize a new nation the Ummah . As a new nation , we require new direction , new capital Kaabah , new laws  sharia and independence month , ~Quran month , Ramadhan.

Part 7 - Implementation of new laws and detail regulations for the new nation such as fasting, divorce , inheritance  laws , zakat , taking care of orphans etc.

Part 8 - Money matter and Greed will be a big problem : how you should spend your money, how you do bussiness & the don't .

Part 9 - The 3 last ayah is the profound prayers in the entire Quran .
It's actually ties up entire surah & wraps up where we began. Basically we are asking Allah not to put burden on us as the previous nation that couldn't bear with the burden and ended up being hypocritical  about it. Secure our faith , we believe , don't let us fall to hipocracy and hate against the disbelievers.

So, now you know the power of surah Al Baqarah and why it is the longest surah in the Quran . I hope this info will benefited  you and do let me know if you would like another notes like this for other surah. Or you may google my favourite ustadh , Nouman Ali Khan and watch many of his elaborate tafseer on his YouTube channel. I enjoy listening to his podcast and linguistic approach very much.

Hikmah Reciting Duaa before leaving the house .

True story , #Ukhti .

Being #OCD , I had this habit of checking & re-doing things twice or more sometimes (just to be safe) . I'm pretty much sure I'd locked my door house & the grill . I recited #AyatulKursi , #surahAlIkhlas & #duaabeforeleavinghouse but skipped surah #yassin verse 9 because I was in a rush.

However after a long holiday , I was surprised to see the door was wide opened but there was no sign of entry or things being stolen as the grill lock is still intact & locked. #Alhamdulillah.

So today ...
before you rush to go out either to work , school or appointments , please recite this simple #duaa before leaving the house or any premises. Never underestimate the #powerofduaa .

" I put my trust in Allah, there is neither might nor strength, except by Allah, the Most High "

When you recite it , you've been sufficed, protected, and guided by #Allah, and the shaytan would move aside from him, then say to another shaytan : "What access do you have to a man that has been guided, sufficed, and protected?”
- Reported by Abu Dawood,
An-Nisã’ee , and At-Tirmithi .

Share this or tag someone who you think may benefit this or your #ocdfriends. Baarakallaah Feekum!

“One who guides to something good has a reward similar to that of its doer”

#SaheehMuslim vol.3, no.466

Travel Tips

I'm always curious.
I wanted to see the world as much asI can and experience it for myself
... what's it like to travel in foreign country for such a long period of time , before I make drastic decision on selling everything I owned , leave my steady 9-5 job at Hewlett Packard and travel for good. Yeah, that was my original plan few years ago... To travel for one whole year either by volunteering ,  hitchiking, house sitting or couchsurfing .

I've covered few Asean countries like Singapore , Indonesia , Thailand & Cambodia but usually it was a short trip , less than 1-2 weeks vacation.

Back then (Year 2010 to be exact) ,
I heard so much about couchsurfing & woofing, so I travelled the whole South Island of NZ for 3 weeks. From Kaikoura , I make my way down south to Dunedin & then fly to Sydney from Christchurch and a lil bit of solo travelling in South Yarra & Melbourne for 5 days before transit to Singapore and return back home. So, I did one month of travelling with paid leaves, instead of one year.

I can say that I learnt a lot.
Here are the things I learnt from my travels, that have changed my perspective :

1) No pain no gain

Lots of cash for a traveller means explosion of rainbows and unicorns :)

It means heaven !
It means , you can live another day in another city , ride that hot air baloon that you always wanted without worrying how much the $ RM conversion will be charged on your credit card , eat what you want , shop till you drop and pray that you'll live like this forever and never go back to your old apartment , job & life . Well..sorry to break your bubble of dreams ... you first gotta work hard to earn that cash. In translations :  OT, long hours, extra income or jobs for a huge lump sump of savings.

You still can travel with less money or no money at all but you gotta sacrifice certain things like time, energy, comfortness, luxurious lifestyle over necessity,  wants vs needs  & be extra cautious on spending habits & even people on what's their motives & intentions , coz you wouldn't want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere when they robbed & leave you with nothing.

So, it is all up to you..
Some people are willing to do whatever it takes to be on a fully sponsored holiday cruise ship-all expenses paid, if they can lock that 2 million insurance target sales & some are just happy to stay in a budget hotel , eat cheap buffet food, less shopping & lots of selfies just to get a glimpse of sunrise at the peak of Mt Kilimanjaro.

Though, it doesn't mean no money, no fun. You still can enjoy life with the simplest thing like making your own picnic sandwhich or dinner using mini rice cooker that you bought from Lazada or borrowed iron . It'a just a matter of choosing what makes you feel good and most importantly you enjoying the process.

2) Not everything you see , hear or think is the truth . Certain things are far fetched from the truth.

In Malays there's a saying; "Indah khabar dari rupa".  In TED video  "How to travel with no money , the happy go lucky Croatian guy , Tomislav Perko quoted ; Don't believe in everything you hear or read  ...

Especially blogs nowdays with all contents specifically built for traffics , likes , instant popularity and gratification & tailored for targeted audience. And that's one of the main reason I wanna see it myself before I signed up for any WOOF,volunteering or tutoring. The reality ,  it's not that super awesome as it may sound .

Some days were amazing ,
some days aren't smooth sailing & dangerous too especially if you're a women and travelling alone. So, my advice just be careful whenever you are. There's a lot of scams and dirty tactics out there. Better be safe than sorry.

3) 3 Rules of travelling :

1- Plan your itinerary.
Always plan, ask, do research & survey.

2- Plan the unexpected.
-Back up plans .
-Save emergence cash &
phone numbers too like the embassy's , overseas bank hotline number in case of stolen /lost credit cards & atm cards, contacts on local police & your insurance company in case of accident and evacuations.
- Know your way in and out.

3- Enjoy the ride , even the plans doesn't work out the way you want it to be. It's all about the journey, not the destination.

Hijrah & Hijab

Make the change today. Take the leap of faith now before it is too late, though it might not be for the fainted heart but at least give it a try and try to do it the very best you can for the sake of Allah.

I remembered when I first started to wear hijab & decided to change my lifestyle 360°, my dad sat down with me about four hours during our vacation trip at Bangkok. We had this heavy  & heated discussions about Islam , the Quran , laws and Ideology in our hotel room .He even called me an extremist because I took few radical steps such as shaving my head bald (because I used to coloured my hair blond), donated all my sexy dresses and short skirts and bought myself long abayas and hijabs instead of making small baby steps.

However , Alhamdulillah my hijrah ,(transition) from wearing long hijabs (the Malays described as tudung labuh aka Ustazah) to niqab was very easy because he already understood my purpose, faith and persepective. He understood that this makes me happy because I felt closer to Allah and I am willingly doing it not because of any influences, pressure , fanatic ideologies etc.

Change is never easy but you still need to be patient, make duaa always and respect others especially parents and family. Even till today some of my friends didn't understand why I am wearing niqab.  Certain things you can explain but some things are better left as it is, & not talk about. Not because taboo or confrontation but it is better to remain silent and say nothing rather than debating and say hurtful things. Off course when we are passionate or serious about what we truly believe , we tend to be very judgemental, strict and see others are not following the word of Allah and everything is haraaaaam and they should repent !!!!
Well my sister in Islam, we tend to forget that we also need to treat our family,friends and especially parents with leniency, poise and respect.

Insha Allah, some day they will understand and Allah will give them hidayah and knowledge like He did to me & the rest of us who decided to change for Allah. Purify your intentions and Insha Allah , Allah shall make it easy for you too.

Hikmah Bujang Trang trang...

Alhamdulillah di waktu sengang begini dapat membaca tanpa gangguan mesej whatsapp bertalu-talu , kesibukan melayan pertanyaan pelanggan, pertanyaan orang ramai  & urusan kerja kesukarelawanan. Almaklum semua sibuk beraya dengan ketupat dan rendang.

Soalan favourite time raya, "Bila nak kawen?" dapat aku hindarkan buat sementara waktu dalam sehari dua ini kerana bercuti di rumah dan akan makan angin tanpa kehadiran paparazzi dan wartawan .

Paling tidak pun jawapanku, standard macam artis , " Belum ada jodoh.Tolong doakan saya" (Ahaks macam Shahiezy Sam lah plak kan!) Kalau yang tak paham masih propa lagi dengan soalan "probing question" , lazimnya jawapan pun sekerek soalanlah. "Achik , redha kerr dimadukan? ". Amboi !

Bila baca Hamka Kereta Mayat pasti aku akan ketawa berdekah-dekah seorang diri dan membuat aku berfikir tentang kehidupan. Dunia ini lucu dan aneh.

Kehidupan ini bukan sekadar perkahwinan , anak -anak dan kerjaya tetapi peranan kita sebagai khalifah di muka bumi. Banyak yang salah anggap harta kekayaan, zuriat , perkahwinan , pangkat itu segala-galanya dan kunci kebahagian. Kebahagiaan bukan terletak pada materialis.

Bujang bukan bererti kita tidak dapat meraih pahala seperti laki bini yang boleh berjemaah dirumah atau isteri yang melahirkan anak ,menjaga makan minum dan sebagainya. Allah itu Adil dan Maha Mengetahui.

Allah beri kelapangan waktu ,kebebasan serta kemudahan & keringanan pada yang solo seperti kita ini tanpa tanggungjawab berat untuk beribadat seperti dapat pergi ke masjid  & majlis ilmu mengikut kesukaan kita , boleh menuntut ilmu ,mengembara ke mana saja kita suka tanpa izin suami  & keluar rumah berjihad ke jalan Allah dan berbakti pada masyarakat kerana diri kita belum tertahkluk dan kepunyaan si suami. Daya fokus dan khusyuk juga lebih berkualiti dan tidak terbeban dengan perkara remeh.

Adakala Allah tidak memakbulkan sesuatu permintaan untuk memelihara dari dosa dan terleka dengan keasyikan dan kesibukan dunia. Adakala Dia melambatkan sesuatu perkara untuk kita jadi lebih bersedia, matang dan memperlengkapkan diri dengan ilmu yang secukupnya. Dan adakala Dia ingin menghadiahkan sesuatu yang lebih baik dan paling aku suka ganjaran akhirat yang tidak bisa dihadam otak atau mana mana manusia , Rasulullah the ultimate man menunggu kita di pintu surga buat mereka yang bersabar. What more could you ask for?

Bak kata Hamka Kereta Mayat , "Jadi waktu bujang, cuba habiskan masa membuat perkara yang tak boleh kongsi dengan bini, contohnya mengembara panjat gunung, pergi ke negara miskin macam india, duduk berjam jam membaca sejarah dunia di perpustakaan awam, memancing ikan sorang sorang dalam hutan, menonton 100 filem terbaik dunia yang bercorak berat, berdakwah masuk hutan jumpa orang asli, membaca kitab tafsir Al quran di masjid berjam jam, bergaul dengan ustaz ulamak dan sebagainya.., tempat peranginan seperti cameron higland, genting higland, unversal stadio, disneyland, pulau peranginan dan lain lain tempat romantik, tunggu lepas kahwin baru pergi dengan bini."

As for me , enjoy life while you still can.You don't need  someone special to make you happy. START LIVING NOW.
Bermusafir sepuasnya sampai kaki lebam tumit melecet. Mengembara ke seluruh pelusuk negeri walaupun hanya Jalan Georgetown mencari nasi kandar terbaik kerana di setiap perjalanan yang kau tempuhi dikau akan belajar sesuatu yang menarik dan mengenal perit jerih manusia mencari rezeki justeru baru kita lebih menghargai kehidupan. Dan bilamana kau telah menjelajah banyak negeri dan daerah asing ,  merasai setiap pengalaman unik dan berbahaya (young & dangerous gittew)  menyelusuri jeram sungai ,mendaki bukit bukau dan menikmati permandangan indah ciptaanNya , hatimu akan membisik untuk mengenali Tuhanmu setelah kau mengenali kehidupan.

Semua itu telah aku lalui.
Setiap episod kembara itu ...
Aku mencari sesuatu untuk menutup ruang kosong..
Mencari definisi kebahagiaan.
Tetapi rupanya bahagia itu bukan di jalanan , di karaoke & panggung wayang , di Eiffel Tower atau di celah keramaian anak-anak, sanak saudara dan cucu cicit.

Tetapi di dalam hati kita.
Hati yang tenang MengingatiNya.
Rupanya, selama ini Allah duduk dekat dengan kita.

Ramadhan Reminder - Juz 2

8 or 20 rakaah taraweeh?
Quality over quantity ?
Are we  Slave of Ramadhan or Slave of Allah ?
Do you worship Allah or #Ramadhan?

While we busy arguing & forgot to mind our tongue and purify our hearts , our brothers and sisters in Tahrim ,Yemen performed 100 rakaahs of taraweeh till Fajr Prayers . Subhanallah!

Witr before sleep like Saidina Abu Bakar r.a or finish witr after qiam like Saidina Umar Al Khattab r a? It doesn't matter as long you prayed and do not perform it twice in one night (twice as in only perform witir once in odd rakaah e.g 1, 3 )

Sometimes we only see what is #khilaf (differences) that we tend to forget that this religion, Islam is all about unity and sincerity. Of course with ilm especially fiqh , we will able to perform better in our ibadah according to syarie and prioritize what's important between fardhu (obligatory) & sunat (complimentary).

In you look at this ayah 2: 185
Juzuk 2.

" Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire for you difficulty, and (He desires) that you should complete the number and that you should exalt the greatness of Allah for His having guided you and that you may give thanks."

Thru this ayah , Allah reminded us to be grateful & follow his guidance.
How many of us being grateful?
How do you give your thanks to Allah?

Some aren't that fortunate like us, you know. Our brothers and sisters in Gaza , Yarmouk, Aleppo ,& Arakian might not have the luxury & freedom like us to pray taraweeh and iftar with family and friends at #mosque. Their mosque burn down to ashes , their loved ones being killed and tortured and some died because of starvation, dehydration and malnutrition.

So remember , Allah bestowed us with Ramadhan Al Kareem & #Lailatul Qard for us to be grateful and within that act of worship , Insha Allah you'll find Allah and the rest does not matter anymore because you now had Allah with you

#Juz2 #AlBaqarah #Quran #RamadhanReminder

Ramadhan Reminder - Juz 1

JUZ 1 -Surah Al Baqarah Ayah 67 (Incident of a cow.)

In this ayah , Allah commanded to slaughter a cow but the people of #Musa a.s first response was , "Are you kidding me? A murdered just happened and now God response that we should slaughtered a cow ?"

"Qoluuuu At tahizuna huzwaa "
This is ridiculous, they said.
 

Why this is mentioned & what we could we learn from this incident?  #Allah make a point  to mention what their reaction was to Allah's instruction. They questioned Allah's command and mocked His words. Whether it is logical or not , it is God command & validated thru his messenger Prophet Musa a.s.

This is mentioned because it is a timeless problem. To this date, people questioned #AlQuran , #hadith , #sunnah and make fun of it & still disbelieved

These kind of reactions would make Musa a.s extremely upset, so within the same ayah  He makes duaa to seek refuge from becoming " jahilin" .
The opposite of Jahil is Aqil. Aqil is someone who control his emotions while Jahil is someone who loses them.

This ayah isn't just about warning mockery to Allah's command but also a reminder to us not to lose our cool & temper when being mocked. (especially those who deliver  Allah 's message & try to do the work of Prophets e.g  ) .

May Allah protect us from being the people who make fun of His command and able to control our emotions and akhlak.

#ameen
#Juz1 #ramadhanreminder
#Surah #albaqarah #baqarah #ramadhan