times change

I don't want to be stuck in the same old, same old
so .. I've changed my blog template. It only took an hour and a half to edit cause I'm not too keen on making those complex tutorials and blahblahblah. And I'm satisfied with it, despite the fact that it's just plain white and featureless and basically blah. ( i like the word blah. ehehehe )
Anyway, that's it, I guess.
Hmm .. tomorrow my sister's coming back from war ( aka SPM ). To be honest, I did miss her but I won't tell her exactly that cause she'll get all smug about it. Anyway can't wait for her to come home! ^___^
Oh and tomorrow's December 1. PMR results are coming out at the last week of the month. Let's pray for our success, PMR candidates .. there's still time. Insya-Allah we'll get astoundingly excellent results.

Congratulations, Bahrain!

Yeah they won. I watched the match. Thought it wasn't going to be much, but whoaaaaaaa, wasn't it unexpected! ( I seem to be catching the football fever. Ah well, probably for now kut. ) At first we were going oh-so-smoothly, like .. Nazmi Faiz, youngest on the team--and probably the most talented kot, besides Khairul Fahmi?--scoring a particularly oh-so-awesome goal, yeah? Everyone was cheering about that, declaring he was Malaysia's new sweetheart and stuff, lol.

And then one of the guys from Bahrain scored his own goal, so that's good for us. 2-0. Things were getting brighter--but wait! The game ain't over yet.

And so, the miracles came by the last 10 minutes of the game.

Suddenly, derrr red jersey whoever he is but he is handsome hahahaha ( yup, I've mentioned this a lot of times before, but again, I have a thing for them Middle Eastern guys. teehee ) scored one goal. Another goal. In approx. 2 MINUTES! And whamBAM, another goal, totally and definitely literally off guard. Miraculous. All in the span of 6 minutes, I think. Not sure about the timing and stuff, so don't believe me when it comes to this. hehe.

That just shows us we'll never know what destiny has in stock for us. Life is full of the unexpected. Whatever we do, Allah can do anything to twist our expectations to shame, and He is powerful to do absolutely anything He wants. 

Don't blame our loss on our players. We weren't in their shoes, literally. Every cloud has a silver lining, and we can't expect to win all the time. Riak la nanti, nauzubillah.

But hey, if you're still a little low in spirits, pause the song playing on my blog and listen to this. Quran always helps to calm the heart :)

p.s.

this qari is from Bahrain ( do you have a problem with that? ) and he's one of my favourite qaris EVER. He's only seventeen, actually :)

محرّم ١٤٣٣

...بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

اَللّهُمَّ اَنْتَ الاِْلهُ الْقَديمُ وَهذِهِ سَنَةٌ جَديدَةُ فَاَسْئَلُكَ فيهَاالْعِصْمَةَ مِنَالشَّيْطانِ وَالْقُوَّةَ عَلى هذِهِ النَّفْسِ الاْمّارَةِ بِالسّوَّءِ وَالاِْشْتِغالَ بِما يُقَرِّبُنى اِلَيْكَ [ياكَريمُ] يا ذَاالْجَلالِ وَالاِْكْرامِ يا عِمادَ مَنْ لا عِمادَ لَهُ يا ذَخيرَةَ مَنْ لا ذَخيرَةَ لَهُ يا حِرْزَ مَنْ لا حِرْزَ لَهُ يا غِياثَ مَنْ لا غِياثَ لَهُ يا سَنَدَ مَنْ لا سَنَدَ لَهُ يا كَنْزَ مَنْ لا كَنْزَ لَهُ يا حَسَنَ الْبَلاَّءِ ي ا عَظيمَ الرَّج اَّءِ ي ا عِزَّ الضُّعَف آءِ ي ا مُنْقِذَ الْغَرْقى يا مُنْجِىَ الْهَلْكى يا مُنْعِمُ يا مُجْمِلُ يا مُفْضِلُ يا مُحْسِنُ اَنْتَ الَّذى سَجَدَ لَكَ سَوادُ اللَّيْلِ وَنُورُ النَّهارِ وَضَوْءُ الْقَمَرِ وَشُعاعُ الشَّمْسِ وَدَوِىُّ الْمآءِ وَحَفيفُ الشَّجَرِ يا اَللّهُ لا شَريكَ لَكَ اَللّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنا خَيْراً مِمّا يَظُنُّونَ وَاغْفِرْ لَنا ما لا يَعْلَمُونَ وَلا تُؤ اخِذْنا بِما يَقُولُونَ حَسْبِىَ اللّهُ لا اِلهَ اِلاّ هُوَ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَهُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظيمِ امَنّا بِهِ كُلُّ مِنْ عِنْدِ رَبِّنا وَما يَذَّكَّرُ اِلاّ اُولُوا 
الاْلْبابِ رَبَّنا لاتُزِغْ قُلُوبَنا بَعْدَ اِذْ هَدَيْتَنا وَهَبْ لَنا مِنْ لَدُنْكَ رَحْمَةً اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْوَهّابُ


In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious & Most Merciful,
My Allah, Thou art the eternal God, this is the beginning of another new year; I, therefore, request Thee, in this hour, to keep off Satan, to give me control over my "self" inclined to sin and deviation, so that it brings me near Thee, O Compassionate! O the Owner of majesty and kindness! O Supporter of him who has no supporter! 
O Provider of him who has no provision! O He who watches over him who has no protection! O He who comes to help him who has no hope of help! O Reliance for him who has no one to lean upon! O Treasure of him who has nothing in the purse! 
O He who knows well how to put to test and trial! O the Ultimate Hope! O the Strength of the weak! O the Rescuer of the drowning! O He who saves from destruction! O He who bestows bounties! O He who shows courtesy and treats with benevolence! 
O he who treats with kindness and generosity! O He who does favours! Thou art he before whom prostrate in adoration the blackness of the night and the brightness of the day, the moonlight of the moon, the sunlight of the sun, the ripple of the water, the trunks of the trees! O Allah, There is no associate with Thee! 
O Allah make us generous, good and high-minded, more than that which they can imagine or speculate, cover and escort us with that which they know not, and do not (even) associate us with that which they say. Sufficient is Allah (for me), there is no god save He, on Him I rely, and He is the Lord of the Great Arsh. 
We believe that all is from our Lord, and do not say (this) save those who have sincere hearts and intelligent minds. Our Lord! Cause not our hearts to stray after Thou has guided us, and bestow upon us mercy from Thy Presence. Verily Thou art the Bestower.


Salam Maal Hijrah, dear Muslimin & Muslimat! :)
Above here is the du'a we are recommended to read, may Allah bless the new year, the years before us and also the coming years. And of course, let this year be better than the last, and let us be better Muslims for the sake of Allah SWT, Insya-Allah ...

sickness is a blessing :)

Ahh, today I'm feeling under the weather.
This morning .. as in 5 something a.m. I was throwing up on undigested dinner. And my face was paler than Edward Cullen--okay, that's totally hyperbole. I hardly feel nausea kicking in my stomach most of the time, only during long sleepless journeys--that's cause I'm roadsick. So actually I don't even know why I vomited.
now I'm in bed with a sickly face and a queasy stomach that won't accept any food, and only a little water.
But well, maybe God wants to tell me something. I mean, I've read that sickness is a sort of hidden blessing, and we shouldn't complain that much.


"Sickness wakes people up from heedlessness, guides them to give up their sins, makes them think about the Hereafter, leads them to pious foundations; makes them more thankful to Allah, and teaches them the necessity of taking better care of their health and making better use of their life - something they didn't realize before, teaches them to understand other sick and pained people better, to feel sorry for them and to help them; and rises their ranks and degrees higher in the Hereafter."


And anyway, a little queasiness couldn't compare to all the dangerous, chronic diseases out there--cancer? leukemia? stroke? AIDS? Heart failure? Nauzubillah. We should be grateful that we are granted with succulent health, and if we do get a little sick, there are always others that suffer more (may Allah bless them, and heal their pain so that they could lead a happy, healthy life).
So hmmm, let's not complain when we are befallen with sickness and pain. Okay? :)

seeking answers .

Why is it that I don't get what I want?

Warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, ye know not. (al-Baqarah:216)


Why are the obstacles in life are so difficult to overcome?

Allah does not impose upon any soul a duty but to the extent of its ability; for it is (the benefit of) what it has earned and upon it (the evil of) what it has wrought: Our Lord! do not punish us if we forget or make a mistake; Our Lord! do not lay on us a burden as Thou didst lay on those before us, Our Lord do not impose upon us that which we have not the strength to bear; and pardon us and grant us protection and have mercy on us, Thou art our Patron, so help us against the unbelieving people. (al-Baqarah:286)


I feel devastated, frustrated, and low in spirits :(

And do not feel feeble nor grieve; and you are the most exalted in case you are believers. (al-Imran:139)


Is there a way to overcome this?

O you who believe! be patient and excel in patience and remain steadfast, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, that you may be successful. (al-Imran:200)

And seek help through patience and prayer, and indeed, it is difficult except for the humbly submissive (to Allah). (al-Baqarah:45)


What is the reward, the aftermath of performing all of this?

Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah , so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah ? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment. (at-Taubah:111)


I can't take it anymore! I'm bored! >.<

O my sons, go and inquire about Yusuf and his brother, and do not despair of relief from Allah; surely none despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people. (Yusuf:87)


To whom can I rely on?

But if they turn back, say: Allah is sufficient for me, there is no god but He; on Him do I rely, and He is the Lord of mighty power. (at-Taubah:129)


This post is translated in English. The original one is, from Izzatul Inawzah's Notes.
And so, we should conclude that Allah has given all the answers to our insecurities, in the Quran. It just takes us to read the Quran, know the meaning of His words, understand & perform what He has commanded to all of his believers. This is a message and reminder to me, as also to all of you who choose to read this. May our prayers and our good deeds be in His acceptance, may our hearts be blessed with His guidance, and may we be granted with Paradise in the Hereafter. Amin. :)
p.s. The translations & verses are provided from here