Conquering Exams

This is especially dedicated to exam going students.

I got a msg from a sister who will be sitting for PIISI exam (final 4th year MBBS exam) in less than a month and it has triggered me to complete my unfinished article (which I have started composing after my PIISI exam). I hope this will be helpful to her and others in the same shoes.

The simplified version of what she wrote was ‘kak hani!!! cuak!!! Camne ni! Camne nak study during study break?’

Exams have always been terrifying, isn’t it? Those sitting for exams presented with a range of symptoms from palpitation, diarrhea, headache, insomnia to psychiatric symptoms such as mania & depression.

For me, life used to be so bad during exams but now I’ve found a way to conquer exams and I can go through exams without compromising my quality of life.

After trying for so many years to get pleasure from exams (since I think it is a waste of time to do something without enjoying it) I have finally come to realize that I was miserable during exams because I had the wrong mindset. Resetting my mind works wonders for me.

1. Intention for other than Allah -> Intention exclusively for Allah

Since we are here in this world to worship Allah and to call others to also worship Allah, we want everything that we do to be counted as Ibadah (act of worshipping Allah). In order for all our investment in exams to be Ibadah we have to always make sure that whatever we do is for Allah.

2. Exam is the most important thing in life -> Exam is important only to a certain extent

There is no doubt that exam is important but the importance is limited to a certain level and exceeding this level can be very devastating especially to our personal life. I feel that we should not give it too much space, up to the extent where it could affect our appetite, sleep, exercise, entertainment (the halal ones) and more importantly our solat (wajib or sunat), qiam, quran recitation & other ibadah that we usually perform.

Don’t forget that death can come anytime. We’ll be at loss if we die while we were so occupied by an exam. There’s no way we can prepare for exams without preparing for death. Just remember all the time that we are a servant of Allah not exams and act accordingly. So, let’s take control and never let exams control us.

3. Exam is all about luck -> Exam is not about luck but depends on individual rezeki (what Allah has determined for each of us)

We always hear people say that exam is all about luck. How can it be luck when Allah the Almighty is very precise? I believe that to excel in exams we have to please Allah up to the extent where He pities us and wants us to excel. Then only we can survive through difficult questions, mean examiner and other obstacles that may happen in exams.

Time is limited. Don’t waste time on forbidden thing that may hinder us from getting Allah’s blessings and help. Be sensitive about prayer times, aurat and the way we interact with the opposite sex. In the end what matters the most is ‘berkat’ not the amount we study.

Within the tension of exams, be it OSCE, viva or written exam, only Allah can help us. So why not turn to the One in power? He can open our hearts to study the topics that will be asked in exams, give us the idea to answer questions on topic that we did not study and soften nasty examiner. When we have no idea how to even start studying for an exam he can lead us to the most effective way of studying. We just have to ask him to guide us and for me the best time to ask is always during solat tahajud. Make du’a and cry, insyaallah He’ll guide us through this challenging time.

So the next time you feel down, turn to him. Don’t trouble your friends because they can’t really help you and you’ll be wasting their time. But this doesn’t mean that you can refuse when a friend needs someone to talk to or needs a shoulder to cry on.

4. Clueless on the practicality of Quran -> Quran teaches me how to study

I love the way Quran teaches me to study medicine. Medicine is too vast and everything is very much interrelated. Even though books divide the various subjects in medicine into chapters, a topic can never be studied within a chapter or a subject. In the beginning years of studying medicine when I was asked to study a subject matter I don’t know where to look up for it. On top of that different author may give different information and in exams there is only one right answer! So for exam purpose, studying medicine is not merely studying the various subjects in the course but also the books, the author, the exam as well as the examiner. Studying should be fun but this is not fun at all!

Then Al-Quran came into the picture because at the same time I was also trying to understand the translation of Quran. At first I found that it was difficult to understand the translation because it doesn’t go by organized topics as in other books and most topics were repeated everywhere. When I need to refer the Quran for something I don’t know where to get the suitable verse/s. This problem is very much similar to the problem I was facing in studying medicine. Later I realized that this book of wisdom is telling me that is how knowledge works. It is vast, there are always new discoveries and there is no one way to organize it. The most important thing is to be selective and focus on useful knowledge which can be applied in order to improve quality of life.

Al-Quran is a book of knowledge that is very concise. It tells us in the right amount of details the things that human minds cannot decide like the unseen, history and laws. As for the knowledge in which human minds are given the potential to explore and discover as in mathematics and science, it only states the principal part of the knowledge. These words of Allah are arranged in a way that readers can find out answers to a lot of issues by reading only a few verses or surah as one surah covers more than one fundamental issue of life.

In striving for knowledge, the Quran asks us to read and ask the people who know the matter that we are studying. The issues written inside have taught me to be selective, the way it was arranged has taught me to be thorough and the way it was sent down has given me the idea to advance gradually (in small stages). Understanding the Quran does not solve the complicatedness of studying medicine but it teaches me to accept it positively and put things into perspective

So, I hope you’ll refer the Quran at least once a day because not only it has the answer to your questions but it can also cheer you up.

5. People who have succeeded motivates me -> Rasulullah pbuh as a role model and motivator

For motivation, I used to look up to the people who have succeeded in the exam that I was sitting for. However, there are only a few people who can really be a source of motivation while the rest end up giving me more headaches.

At last I resort to Seerah (history) of Prophet Muhammad pbuh for motivation and it works. I always think of exams as the battles that Rasulullah pbuh has participated in and I’ll be inspired to study. I feel that his taqwa, patience, tolerance and tawakal are something that we have to follow to in order to conquer exams.

6. Exam is a problem -> Exam is a blessing

Allah loves us and always gives us chance to be close to him through trials and difficulties. However people often seek help in other than Allah. Exam is one condition in which no one can help us and we have no choice but to turn to Allah.

So make full use of the fear of exams to be closer to Allah. Turn to him wholeheartedly, ask for forgiveness, please him more by increasing the amount and quality of Ibadah and work harder to free ourselves from committing sins.

For daies who have been working hard to spread the deen, just remember and do believe that Allah has promised that He will help those who help Him. With His help, exams will be easy for you and that experience will strengthen your believe and inspire you to work more for him in future Insyaallah.

7. Exam is an excuse from other obligations -> Exam is not an excuse from other obligations

I used to excuse myself from other obligations during exams. Later I realized that is not the way to deal with life because in life all happen at once. I mean life doesn’t wait for us to finish the exam to give us problems or other life events. Sickness, accidents, death, birth, break ups, relationship problems, birthdays, weddings, reunion and other events that may affect us tremendously usually take place during exams. If we wait until an exam is over to please or help the important people in our lives we might end up regretting as we might not get the chance to do so afterwards.

So, our tight schedule during exams should not stop us from calling our parents or helping friends in need. Here I would like to also remind myself and others to help our brothers and sisters in Palestine by boycotting products that are known to give profit to Israel. Restraining ourselves from using or eating something is always better than killing our own brothers and sisters. Don’t forget that by helping others we can get Allah’s blessings and we really need that for exams.


8. Success is getting good grades -> Success is becoming a better person

Exam is a man-made tool to measure how much a student knows. As other man-made tools, it is very defective. It doesn’t accurately measure knowledge as there can be errors at every level – students memorizing instead of understanding the answer, copy other student’s answer, examiner giving answer or too strict, wrong level questions and the list is endless. Even though everybody knows this and continuously make fuss of the system, people still allow themselves to be affected by it.

Exam however is useful in the sense that it is an effective tool for character building if we deal with it correctly. Whatever result that we get is okay as long as after the exam we become a more humble servant and a more reliable person to others. We can always work on the grade later, right? But without righteous character, knowledge would be totally useless and even harmful for others.

What are the characters that should be built within us? I think it can be best summarized in 10 points:
1) Strong belief/ aqidah
2) Proper Ibadah
3) Good conduct (akhlak)
4) Knowlegeable
5) Physically fit
6) Value time
7) Having self control
8) Systematic
9) Independent
l0) Useful to others


After I change the way I think, I can deal with exam stress better. The fear and nervousness can be defeated immediately. At the end of the day it all boils down to one point – our result is ultimately determined by Allah and He’ll give us the best. I hope you’ll go through this exam happily and may this exam be a meaningful turning point for you insyaallah.

IKRAM - What a Blessing!

IKRAM is an NGO for dakwah. it is a new organization which was launched today, 20th June 2010. it is now in 14 states n 69 districts. Even though it's a new organization, it doesn't start from zero as the important people behind it have been working in dakwah n tarbiyah since the last 3 decades under different forms of organizations which have now united under IKRAM. This is proven by the number of people attending the remarkable ceremony. roughly, there were about 5500 people there.

>>>heading to MIECC (Malaysia International Exhibition n Convention Centre), The Mines.


>>> inside the hall,
akhawat in front of me


akhawat behind me, tak nampak hujung



>>>Outside the hall,
during break - it was really crowded. byk bende menarik di jual, tp nak tgk pun susah sbb sgt ramai, nak beli lgla ssh.



nice t-shirts



i tried the aqsa syarif chocolate-almond, not bad. hehe


Alhamdulillah i managed to buy a few books that i need.
tak pyh bc yg photostat or pinjam dah bile kene present mase usrah :)
- Sirah Nabi Muhammad saw - Dr Mustafa as-Syibaie
- Kitab Tauhid - Abdul Majid Aziz Az-Zindani
- Al-Adab
- Himpunan Risalah Hasan Al-Banna


Points to note:
>>>kita bukan kerdil,
1. kekuatan rohani
2. kekuatan ahli IKRAM
>>>Banna: Jika anda tidak bersama jemaah org lain akan bersama jemaah tetapi tiada orang yang akan bersama anda.
>>>NGO mampu mempengaruhi pemerintah eg: NGO in Mavi Marmara

For me IKRAM is a great blessing as it shows that i'm not alone n now i have an effective vehicle for me to function as a caliph. So, let's make full use of IKRAM :)

Lastly, do listen to IKRAM song here--> it's the best nasyid i've ever heard bcoz of the combination of the meaningful lyric and rentak yg menaikkan semangat.

Mavi & MYvi Marmara

I hope it's not too much for me to name my car 'MYvi Marmara' after what it went through on June 17,2010. I was driving the car after a small group session with a Mavi Marmara survivor to a talk by this heroic man in another place when the accident happened. Yet, by the grace of Allah I managed to drive the car to that place and back to my college for a meeting on 'Mavi Marmara' pantomime that will be performed during a talentime in less than 2 weeks, insyaallah. The name MYvi Marmara was in fact coined by my close buddy in a joke a day before the incident.



The volunteers of Aqsa Syarif were privileged to have a separate session with the survivior, Ust Hasanuddin who is also the president of NGO Aqsa syarif. We were supposed to start at 5.15pm that day. However because he had some program with Melaka radio station, we started at around 6.15 and ended around 6.45 pm. We were briefed on what we can do for the Palestinians and how to do it.




After that I had to pick my 3 friends and go to Masjid Al-Alami, MITC, Melaka where the talk was held. i was supposed to meet one of them, who came by a scooter in front of Melaka GH and guide her to a house where the other 2 friends live so that she could leave her scooter there and we all could go to MITC by car.

Unfortunately, while i was trying to make a turn in front of Melaka GH, when i was already close to the 'longkang', i stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake, full force and so i went right into the drain... it happened so fast. i didn't know what to do. i stepped on the gas pedal, the car's not moving. i looked out the window, giving sign to a driver on the opposite site of the road that i need help.

I got off the car, and guess what i saw? the back tyre on my side was hanging in the air. i walked to the other side, the front tyre was hanging in the square 'longkang, still moving. This is the square longkang...



The passersby started to crowd to give a hand. I was asked to neutral the gear. I did so and turned off the engine. This time my friend already arrived. she was so shocked to see the the car hanging there but relieved once she saw me.

Then i was asked to reverse the car. i refused to do so as i was shaking. i asked one of them to help me. A few people push the front part and a man stood and jumped on the back seat with the back door opened.

i was about to call the other 2 friends to cancel our plan because i don't think the car could function well. Luckily in a few minutes the car was on the ground and it was functioning just as previously. I thanked those who had helped me and we continued with our plan.

Frankly speaking, while driving to the talk, i was still traumatized. i was worried about so many things but my priority that time was to get my 3 friends there. Alhamdulillah we reached Masjid Al-Alami safely and we performed solat Maghrib. I felt much better after the prayer. Then the talk started. The sharing really touched my heart that it washed away all the unpleasant feelings.





The following are some points from the talk that i would like to share here:
> Israel is a threat to the world community
> 3 main obj of Flotilla Gaza Aid
1. sending food and medical supply
2. To end the siege on Gaza
3. To expose israel's deception to the world
> The third objective is achieved
> the attack on mavi marmara was a blessing
- pemerintah suka/tidak bersatu dalam isu palestin
- Parti bukan pemerintah bersatu dgn parti pemerintah
> Mavi marmara taught the activist to strengthen their bonding with Allah s.w.t.
Solat jemaah, baca quran,bacaan matsurat pagi n petang, puasa, solat tahajud,
tazkirah
> Mavi marmara also taught the activists to deal with the people of other religion
Ust menceritakan pengalaman membantu seorg paderi yg berumur sekitar 80 thn yg
menghidap diabetes - tolong bagi ubat, suap makanan n ke bilik air
> Mavi marmara taught the activists to treat the enemy kindly
A doctor help to treat an israeli army who was accidently shot by another israeli
army.They did not tie the army but he himself jumped into the sea.
> Allah's help
- put fear inside the hearts of the israeli army
- remove fear in the hearts of muslim
- send wind when the israeli army fired volleys of tear gas at the activist
> Show the power of iman. the speaker told us - atas tarbiyah yg diterima, dia mampu
menumpukan minda kepada Allah sehingga hilang rasa sakit semasa diikat dan dipijak
oleh tentera israel krn dia percaya kaki yg memijak milik Allah, badan yg sakit
milik Allah dan peristiwa yang berlaku juga milik Allah.
He also said -setengah jam dipijak, peluang habluminallah n habluminannas sgt enak
> The beauty of ukhuwwah
How they help each other to open a drinking bottle with tied hands. 1st, it was
painful enough to open the bottle. 2nd when the bottle was open it was painful and
difficult to pour into each other's mouth by bending backward.
> keperluan membawa suasana n ukhuwwah di atas Mavi Marmara ke dunia kita.
> A dr that attended to a jenazah seorg turki dpt menghidu bau harum pd jenazah
tersebut
> Mereka diuji utk bersabar, kita diuji utk bersyukur


Let's keep on doing what we can for Palestine. This battle will not be a smooth one. It demands our hearts, minds, money,time and and we'll be tested along the way. It's the price that we have to pay to be on the right path and it will be worth it. Remembering As-Syahid Hassan Al-Banna - the founder of ikwanul muslimin who was shot to death and Sheikh Ahmad Yassin - the founder of Hamas who was killed by missiles, they both had died but their spirit live in the hearts of those continuing the same battle.

I hope with my sharing, the spirit of mavi marmara remains and this flame will keep on burning deep inside our hearts.

Doing my part - Solidarity Demonstration for LL4G

When i first read about the demonstration, i straight away told myself that it's impossible coz i have class,it was 2 days prior to the demo. That night i read the news on MV Rachel Corrie, the ship that continued to sail to Gaza in spite of Israel's attack on Gaza aid flotilla. That ship is named after a 23-year-old U.S. peace activist who was crushed to death in 2003 by an American-built bulldozer operated by the Israeli army. I clicked on a link to an interview with Rachel Corrie
2 days b4 she was murdered. After watching that video i was like... what am i doing here, looking around my comfortable room feeling totally useless. i should do more for Palestine.

The day before the demo, further details of the demo was published on fb. This time there's a strong desire inside me wanting to join it. I always condemn the Arabs for not doing enough for Palestine. Now there's sth that i can do and not doing it makes me feel like the Arabs. Alhamdulillah i have a friend with similar thought to accompany me. we decided to go. it was a difficult decision to make.

We had to consider a lot of things. Attendance, missing class, our parents, giving others the wrong idea that we care less about our studies, the risk of getting caught and losing our scholarships and bla... bla...bla...Even after considering all that i was still with my stand to go coz solidarity seems to be a more important issue at the moment.

we asked permission from our parents late that evening. i had a difficult time getting the permission but i got it in the end, not a solid one though. we adjusted a few things with related friends so that everything can be done as scheduled in our absence.

On the day of the demo, i got sms fr my parents. that morning asking me to change plan bcoz the demonstration is illegal, no permit. I just couldn't be bothered by the sms, i was so determined to go. I called my mom, telling her that we'll act smart, we'll go away if 'ade bende2 pelik jadi' and how important joining this to me and bla...bla...bla... My mom mmg tak bagi, she was very upset but i told her that we're going, pray for us. frankly speaking i don't know whether it's ok to go against my mom like that but continuing wit da plan made me feel better.

we set off from our college in melaka at around 8 am ,reached kl around 10.30, had breakfast, parked the car at my house and walk to lrt taman melati.At around 12.15 we
were already wandering around lrt ampang park looking for tabung haji. At first we were like nape xde org pun kat tabung haji ni. rupenye kitorg kat bahagian belakang. kat depan org boleh kira ramaila. we each bought a mafla and enjoy tgk macam2 org kat situ.







Around 12.45 akhawat started to walk to surau PNB for solat zohor. time ni dah mule bermesra dgn akhawat lain. saya amat terharu dgn sorg makcik ni yang pegi toilet sekali. dia tunggu sume org sudah n gerak sekali back to surau smbl taaruf dgn semua. mane nak cari situation camni? dahla tak kenal. this is the power of ukhuwwah. i love it.

i'd been feeling a little unwell since reaching kl. mase kat surau makin teruk pulak. after solat, we walked back to tabung haji, on da way ade kedai, i bought myself potato bun n panadol. kat tabung haji, org tgh dgr khutbah. i ate my bun and took 2 tablets of panadol hoping i'd be fine for da demo. around 1.50 org mula solat.





At around 2, the crowds started to gather in front of tabung haji. at first takut jugak, dah la ade polis. tp tgk ramai2 turun jd semangat balik and so i joined the crowd.









while the crowds were gathering in front of tabung haji fliers on list of things to boycott was distributed. drinking water were also being passed around. then we started walking. Ikhwah first followed by akhawat. i was so scared of being separated from my friend. dah la kitorg berdua je. other people mostly datang ramai2.




i was so happy to see many people around. it felt great to be a part of the demonstration.


creative demonstrators made their own stuff for the demonstration. i like this one. mini mavi marmara


the policemen near the US embassy were equipped with shield and long stick.



Si comel pun boleh tahan mase demo ni. duk tgh jln tu tibe2 dgr dis one cute little gal said "ala tak aci", sebab banner org lain besar, tenggelamkan bendera palestin yg die lukis atas some paper that if i'm not mistaken smaller than A4 paper. then the girl membebel apetah, sgt cute. the mother pujuk die saying ' takpe2, Allah nampak. nak ambil her pic tp tak sempat. these r few pics of si comel lain yg smpt amik. saya termalu sendiri tgk kanak2 ni sbb diorg lg semangat. saya tak wat poster pun... dahla nak dtg pun fikir byk kali...








There was also a helicopter flying around. take pics kot...


alhamdulillah i was fine throughout the procession. another wonderful experience there was jumpe org yg dah kenal as well as kenal org baru.

we took lrt back to tmn melati around 3.30. i called my mom to tell her that we r safe. she's no longer upset,alhamdulillah. traffic was congested while driving out of kl n to seremban. We reached our college around 8pm. so 8am-8pm-almost 12hrs. The journey was really tiring n risky too not forgetting i took another 2 tab of panadol on the way back coz my temperature went up again. but it's nothing compared to what the palestinians r facing. all in all, it was absolutely a worthwhile experience.

A Reminder from Langkawi

It was a long journey back to Melaka from Langkawi. We reached our hostel around 4.30 a.m. I had a class at 8 a.m. and guess what? I overslept. I remembered hearing the alarm but I was too tired to wake up and the next thing I knew was it was already 7.53 a.m.! To cut the long story short, the lecturer had pharyngitis and so the class was canceled. We were just given tasks to be completed by the evening. After a long weekend I thought I deserve some rest, so even though I have a lot to do I decided to take a long nap. I woke up a few hours later refreshed yet still feeling lazy to do the things that I should be doing.

After I had my breakfast (or should I say brunch as it was already noon), I checked my phone and to my surprise there was the following message in my inbox, ‘ Askm. Alfatihah utk mohd firdaus b yusof yg tlh kmbali ke rahmatlh ptg semalam. kmpln 1 d bgkel kemhrn hdup. Tolong mklmkn rakan2. drp:sek keb k.teriang’.

KUMPULAN 1? BENGKEL KEMAHIRAN HIDUP? My cerebrum was trying to process those words. Only then I realized that the deceased was among the participants in a talk that our team organized as a part of our program in Langkawi (BISMI 2010). From the sources that I have, he drowned while playing with his friends at the beach the same day we had the program

The news somehow affected me. Death per se is nothing new but how often do we have the chance to be with a person on the day he took his last breath? Receiving the news when I was loafing around is like getting a direct reminder from Him to value life and prepare for death.

It is well known that we can die anytime and anywhere and we should prepare for it but most of the time that knowledge remains just that - knowledge - without any practical impact. When I reflect on myself, I remember the times I make mistakes deliberately thinking I’ll correct them in the future. We always hear people say ‘mude2 ni enjoyla dah tua nanti taubat’. But what if we die while doing those sins? What if we die young? It’s not like death will wait for us to be ready.

For me, knowing death alone is not enough. That knowledge only becomes significant when it touches our hearts and is reflected through the way we live our lives. That’s why I really need this kind of reminder as it touches my heart and motivates me to live life right. However the enlightenment can fade. I’m sure everybody has experienced this. One day we are enlightened to do something right and the next day we repeat the same mistakes. Alhamdulillah, The Aware Al Halim, The Forbearing keeps on reminding us again and again by various signs in every possible way. May our hearts be clean enough to see these signs.

I personally think that death is the third best reminder or even motivator after Al-Quran, the words of our Lord and the story of our beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. However, in spite of having those powerful reminders we can still be absurdly forgetful. We’ve been enlightened countless times on life and death yet it takes us only a while to forget and again act as if we will surely live tomorrow. We allow ourselves to be carried away by worldly pleasures and succumb to laziness and procrastination. I believe it is so because we humans are not holding on to our promise to bear witness that Allah is our Lord (Al-A’raf, 7:172) while the satan is strongly holding on to the promise to mislead us (Al-A’raf, 7:16-17).

Nowadays it is very sad to see many people are caught up in matters which have no value at all in the Eyes of Allah. It is often said that we only live once and therefore we should enjoy life to the fullest. Is it true that we only live once? The truth is we die once but live twice. We have one life here in this world and another in the hereafter. Since we have only one chance in this world to prepare for our death and next life, we ought to make full use of our time here. There is so much to do in so little time. If we are still not clear of our purpose here, we are likely to be led astray and die unprepared.

We are here for two main reasons; to worship Allah (Adz-Dzaariyaat, 51:56) and to be a caliph (Al-Baqarah, 2:30). Playing our roles as a servant and caliph can be extremely tiring and hectic but if we do it right our death can be a satisfying rest. So brothers and sisters, let’s not waste time on anything that has no contribution to these two.

And call not those who are slain in the way of Allah "dead". Nay, they
are alive, only you perceive not. (Al-Baqarah,2:154)

al-Fatihah for the late Mohd Firdaus b Yusof who passed away on 4^th April 2010

Reaching a Solution

My post on Aug 29 has raised some other issues that might harm our unity if it is not dealt with properly. Since this post has opened a room for discussion, let’s try to reach to some degree of solution.

As a Muslim who had noticed that other Muslims were making an obvious mistake, I felt the need to point it out with a verse from the Quran itself that clearly prohibited such actions. My main intention in writing the post was so that Muslims won’t repeat the same shameful act next time. I also thought that this verse could make the Hindus feel better.

As a sister I feel that I have to always support my 3 little brothers in whatever they do. If they did something wrong I’d first try to understand why they did it and then try to correct them wisely. The protesters, no matter how uncivilized their action was, are my brothers and sisters bonded in the name of Allah. Before pointing out their mistake, I had put myself in their shoes and I came to understand why they protested.

That’s why when Veno asked me (does it matter if the majority of the people there were Muslims?), I mentioned about my personal preference to live in a neighborhood far from places of worship of other faith. I was trying to rationalize their action with my personal opinion, based on what I really feel. I feel that this personal preference of mine can make my friends of other faith feel bad. Even I feel bad while writing the statement but isn’t that’s how faith works? Faith is something that is well blended with the soul. If there is something externally that is somehow against our faith, of course the soul will feel bad otherwise it means that the faith is not strong enough. It’s a good indicator that all of us are still holding tightly to our faith. Since we have different beliefs, we view the same issue differently. We disagree over things and most of the time there will be no solution that can satisfy everyone. Often, we end up with a constant struggle inside in an effort to be at peace with our Lord and with other humans and that’s the challenge of having a faith. We just have to keep on fighting for what we belief in.

Humans are very prone to making mistakes. But that’s how we learn things and become a better person, right? So let’s forgive others for making mistakes. I always feel that whenever a mistake is being done, the doer still deserves some credit for at least trying. It’s unfair for those who simply observe (not involved at all in the process of making the mistakes) to simply condemn others. We are all brothers and sisters at least on the basis of humanity. So if one of us makes a mistake, try to correct it in a nice way.

Actually I was hurt by some of the comments. It’s pretty funny actually. I was in a way backing up the Hindus with a verse from the Quran but then I was criticized. Forgive me for any mistake I made in my previous post and for those which I’ll be making in my future posts.

Try to understand the situation of the Muslims. We Muslims are just servants of our Lord who are so afraid of unintentionally admitting the existence of other Gods since Islam is very strict about the Oneness of Allah. We are also afraid of not being counted as the followers of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) if we are not sensitive enough about other Muslims, if we don’t feel what other Muslims are feeling.

Forgive the Malays for making mistakes. Not every Malay has a chance to mix well with the non Malays for various reasons. A friend admitted to me that she has problems dealing with other races at work because she has never been exposed to a multiracial environment. Even for me, this is the first time being in a batch in which there is almost equal distribution of the Malay, Chinese and Indian. I had a hard time adapting at first but I think I manage to adapt myself well and I seem to be enjoying it now. The bottom line is that I know myself and at the same time I respect and try to understand others. I’m very grateful to be in Batch 19 and to be in MMMC. I feel that it is the best miniature of Malaysia where we can unite in spite of our differences.

Lastly, I just want to say that for 1 Malaysia to be a reality, it starts from you and me, from our batch, our college and the subsequent levels of the society. For us to unite, let us focus on our common grounds rather than our differences. Making a big fuss over differences are the dirty tricks played by corrupt leaders. I’m sure we are much better than that. Let’s not bother about the things that we have no control over. We cannot change the history but we can create better future generations who are ‘color blind’ without affecting the purity of our faith.

Is it right to protest with a cow’s head?

This morning a friend in facebook posted a video with a heading 'morons in action'. Apparently a few men wearing ‘kopiah’ and ‘songkok’ among others were shouting some slogans (amidst a small group of malays in the background) and were seen later to join in a procession. I wondered what was it that they did which justified them to be labeled as ‘morons’. It was then that I found out that the protest occurred yesterday.

‘Some 50 residents enraged with the proposed relocation of a Hindu temple to their area staged a noisy protest with a severed cow's head this afternoon. The residents from Section 23 in Shah Alam who gathered after the Friday prayers, placed the head outside the gates of the state secretariat building for a short period before removing it’

After watching throughout the whole length of the video I also realised something else. The cow’s head was an unplanned part of the protest. A resident said that it was brought out by someone in anger.

I personally think the protest was appropriate in a way if almost 80% of Section 23 residents are Muslims (as claimed by a resident). However, this is an extremely sensitive issue and since Muslims should defend their rights, they must also keep in mind that their conduct should be as diplomatic as possible, and as peaceful as possible (considering the current condition of our country). I salute the residents’ effort in fighting for their rights. However the cow’s head part was wrong and such action should never take place anywhere ever again. I say it is wrong based on Surah Al- An’aam verse 108.

The following is taken from ‘TAFSIR IBNU KATSIR, JILID 3, PUSTAKA IMAM ASY-SYAFI’I, page 272-273’.

(6:108)Dan janganlah kamu memaki ilah-ilah mereka yang kamu ibadahi selain Allah, kerana mereka nanti akan memaki Allah dengan melampaui batas tanpa pengetahuan. Demikianlah Kami jadikan setiap ummat menganggap baik pekerjaan mereka. Kemudian kepada Rabb merekalah kembali mereka, lalu Allah memberitakan kepada mereka apa yang dahulu mereka kerjakan.

Allah s.w.t. melarang Rasul-Nya, Muhammad dan orang-orang yang beriman mencaci, ilah-ilah kaum musyrikin meskipun cacian itu mengandungi kemaslahatan, hal itu menimbulkan kerosakan yang lebih besar daripada kemaslahatan itu sendiri, yaitu balasan orang-orang musyrik dengan cacian terhadap Ilah orang-orang Mukmin, padahal Allah sw.t. adalah ‘Rabb, yang tiada Ilah (yang berhak diibadahi) selain Dia’.

Sebagaimana yang dikatakan oleh Ali Bin Abi Thalhah, dari Ibnu Abbas, mengenai ayat ini: Orang-orang musyrik itu berkata: ‘Hai Muhammad, engkau hentikan makianmu itu terhadap ilah-ilah kami, atau kami akan mencaci-maki Rabbmu.’ Lalu Allah melarang Rasulullah s.a.w. dan orang-orang Mukmin mencaci patung-patung mereka. “Kerana mereka nanti akan memaki Allah dengan melampaui batas tanpa pengetahuan”.

Abdurrazzaq mengatakan dari Ma’mar, dari Qatadah: “Dahulu kaum Muslimin mencaci berhala-berhala orang kafir, lalu orang-orang kafir mencaci-maki Allah Ta’ala secara berlebihan dan tanpa didasari dengan ilmu pengetahuan, lalu Allah menurunkan ayat : “Dan janganlah kamu memaki ilah-ilah mereka yang kamu ibadahi selain Allah, kerana mereka nanti akan memaki Allah dengan melampaui batas tanpa pengetahuan”

Hal ini menunjukkan bahawa meninggalkan kemaslahatan untuk menghindari kerosakan yang lebih parah adalah lebih diutamakan. Hal itu didasarkan pada hadith sahih bahawasanya Rasulullah bersabda:

“Dilaknat orang yang mencaci-maki orang tuanya.” Para sahabat bertanya: “Ya Rasulullah, bagaimana seseorang mencaci-maki orang tuanya?” Beliau menjawab: “Ia mencaci ayah seseorang, maka orang itu pun mencaci ayahnya. Ia mencaci ibu seseorang maka orang itu pun mencaci ibunya (atau sebagaimana yang dikatakan oleh Rasulullah s.a.w.

Firman Allah: “Demikianlah Kami jadikan setiap ummat menganggap baik pekerjaan mereka.” Maksudnya , sebagaimana Kami telah hiasi bagi orang-orang itu cinta kepada berhala-berhala mereka, fanatik terhadapnya, serta mendukungnya. Demikian pula kami hiasi setiap ummat-ummat yang sesat amal perbuatan mereka yang mereka kerjakan. Allah mempunyai hujah yang kuat dan hikmah yang sempurna atas semua yang dikehendaki dan dipilih-Nya.

“Kemudian kepada Rabb merekalah kembali mereka, lalu Allah memberitakan kepada mereka apa yang dahulu mereka kerjakan.” Maksudnya, mereka akan diberi balasan sesuai dengan amalan perbuatan tersebut, jika baik, kebaikan pula balasannya, jika buruk, keburukan pula balasanya.

In conclusion with the above information I hope it is clear that we cannot insult other religions under any circumstances. Cows are sacred to the Hindus so it is very wrong to resort to such an action. I think those involved with the protest should apologize to the Hindus and the authority should make an effort to find a better location for the temple to be built.

Finally I would like to remind myself and others that in effort to stand for Islam we have to base every single action on true knowledge otherwise we might end up causing embarrassment to Islam rather than actually fighting for it.