of Miracles and Hope

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I fell in love with this quote from a TV show that i watched, it was so true that the first time i heard it, it hit me hard. And i kept wondering when would be the best time to share it in here, and finally it's time. it's a long post. you've been warned.

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بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

"Some people say there are miracles, and some people say there's no such thing.

But in moments of urgency, people inevitably wait for a miracle. Thus, miracles need to exist - 

so that in all times of urgency there is a glimmer of hope for people to dwell on. 

Miracles need to exist..."

My beloved country, Malaysia. Seeing so much strain on you gives me a heartache really. I think it's been a while since I last earnestly prayed for you. So many tests Allah has given you at one time. And so many people involved; those who lost their family members or friends through the missing flight; those who are working around the clock trying to figure out what has happened to that plane; those who have to leave home for days now for the search and rescue missions; and not to mention how lives are becoming difficult with the worsening air and the drought taking place. Being a Malaysian -albeit not being there at the moment- it is heart-wrenching to read the never-ending news, bad ones piling up one after the other. 

And I pray for nothing more than a miracle. 

Cause being a Muslim, we all do believe in miracles.

surah al-Kahfi reminded us of miracles every so often;

and the story of Israk Mikraj does the same too. reminding us how miracles are never really impossible. 

Knowing that Allah is the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, 
we believe in "Kun fayakun";

بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَإِذَا قَضَىٰ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ

"Allah Pencipta langit dan bumi, dan bila Dia berkehendak (untuk menciptakan) sesuatu, 

maka (cukuplah) Dia hanya mengatakan kepadanya: "Jadilah!" Lalu jadilah ia."

[2:117]

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Hence, I pray for a miracle.

That the plane would just appear before us, safe and sound. Or whatever has happened in between - be it hijacked, or conspiracy theories, or just malfunctions - I wish all those innocent victims will come back safely into the arms of their loved ones. Because it's not just the 239 lives involved, the families who are anxiously waiting and hoping for them to come back are also included. The challenges that they have to face are totally beyond our imagination and comprehension. 

I pray for a miracle.

That all Malaysians and people around the world would come together and pray for the best. To give a hand whenever it is possible. To give encouragements to those who are doing their best. To support the family members and friends of those involved, keeping them in our thoughts and our prayers.

I pray for a miracle.

That we all realized how much these things are all tests given by Allah s.w.t. Reminding us that we are inevitably just His Creations; weak, small, and helpless without Him. Because whatever we do, no matter how advanced our technologies are, no matter how many countries and intelligence involved in this whole matter, no matter how much we have prepared things beforehand, nobody can stop the plane from going missing, nobody can stop the drought, nobody can stop anything if Allah Wills it.

But despite knowing how easy it is for Allah s.w.t to grant us miracles, 

somehow our actions seems to be pushing the miracles away.

so how can we hope for a miracle?

When all we do is treating the whole thing as just sensationalised news. Waking up everyday to see what's most controversial of all. Never once putting ourselves in the shoes of those involved. we were so easily distracted by things that entertained us, so much so that we loved talking about Raja Bomoh for days. I wondered, if it was my brother on the plane, would I even watch all those videos? would I make time to make parodies of the 3 guys on the 'magical' carpet? I felt sick to even laugh at the pictures posted. But sadly that was what most of us were doing. I don't really mind those who were raising the issue of aqidah and khurafat acts, but most were just enjoying ourselves, having some laugh over bomoh and buaya.

How can we hope for a miracle?

When all we do is condemn whatever that is being done. Bashing everything from the get-go. I couldn't care less whatever the medias outside Malaysia are saying, but I think the least that us Malaysians could do for our home-country is to encourage them. I am not saying they're the best at handling this - how can we even compare when none has ever faced it before? - but I do believe that they are doing their best. And for most of us who are just staring at the laptop day in day out, the least we could do is pray that Allah eases the paths for all those involved.

How can we hope for a miracle?

When we failed to realise that these are Allah's reminders of our status as His Creations. We failed so badly, that we ended up going further away from Allah s.w.t, deviated from the rightful path. The news of those concerts was just another eye-opener of why we're in this mess in the first place. That these kinds of things - concerts, zina, hedonism, secularism - are happening in Malaysia; saying we're a Muslim country but never really acting as one. Inevitably, we're just a country filled with Muslims - which is a very questionable status for each of us anyway;

are we truly Muslims? 
or are we those who said syahadah without truly understanding it, let alone act upon it. :'(

يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِى عَلَى دِينِكَ

“Oh Turner of Hearts, keep my heart firm on Your Deen.”

"...But miracles are miracles because they are not common. There are far more misfortunes we don't think of, than miracles that we don't expect. And miracles in the end are a matter of probability. And life is cruel with its absolute and overwhelming probability. But still miracle is needed.
Rather than the despair of zero probability that will never come to pass, a ten-million-to-one chance is better. That is how hope exist."

and we're back to praying for those miracles.

And knowing that miracles only come from Allah s.w.t, 

let's remind one another to play our side of the bargain as His hamba, 

because as much as miracles are rare, it is never impossible, 

when we truly believe in Allah s.w.t.

and quoting Cinderella; "even miracles take a little time."

.. and effort. insyaAllah. May Allah eases.

Pray4MH370.

Pray4Malaysia.

Pray4Muslims.

 prayers for you and me.

Love Confession

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I have this guy that I love. And I wanted to show him how much I love him, that I decided to look up for things that I can do for just that. I read magazines, articles, watch movies and shows to look for all these romantic tips and tricks about love. Those tips tell me that i should try to give presents, to cook awesome food, to say sweet and encouraging words all the time, to do this and that. I was so into all of them, that I spent my time picking up the best gifts, wrapping them carefully with my own two hands; I looked up for recipes for all his favourite dishes and spent hours making them etc. things went on like this for a while until one day, when I met him, I realised that I don't actually love him, for I have been in love with the act of showing him that I love him.

And that I, have fallen out of love.

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Yes people, this is just an analogy and purely fictional.

I'm not yet married so i am nowhere near to having a lovey-dovey relationship at the moment, thanks. 

But it was something that I realized had happened in my relationship with my Creator. We have so much things that we were told we can do to gain His Love. Reciting the Quran, listening to Islamic talks, waking up for Qiam, performing those extra solat sunnah. But I realized that without the right mind and intention, these efforts can really easily turn into just another day's routine. When we'd stand up after our obligatory prayers for our Rawatib, out of reflex. When we're lifting our hands for some du'a but what's coming out is just a well-rehearsed du'a that we've been reciting for the past months, them having lost their meaning to us; and what's worse is that sometimes we don't even lift our hands anymore. When we'd wake up for Qiam, we performed our prayers,  but by the end of our night, all we ended up doing was asking for those worldly things that we wanted so bad; never once stopping to appreciate His Presence or His Closeness. And sometimes, we'd just woken up for that 2 rakaat of Qiam, to be able to tick the boxes for our 'good deeds I've done' list. 

We no longer talk to Him. 

We no longer have tears with our du'a.

We no longer pour things out from our hearts.

Because our hearts has become hardened enough, 

that it no longer seeks Allah s.w.t.

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I guess this saying suits my not-so-much love confession for today, 

"We often mix between what is for Allah's sake 

and what is for our own sake". 

Hence, we need reminders to get us back on the rightful track;

To renew our intentions;

To love Allah, for the sake of Allah;

To do all those extra ibadah, for Him, and not just because we have this worldly gain that we want;

To be sincere, and work hard trying to be one, despite knowing that it's the most difficult thing of all.

And perhaps only then we'd be able to get our hearts back; 

to love Him unconditionally, and have our beautiful ending, which is to gain Allah's Redha.

Let's pray together for just that shall we?

InsyaAllah wa Aamiin.

Dari Abu Hurairah –radhiyallahu ‘anhu-, ia berkata bahwa Nabi s.a.w bersabda, 

“Allah Ta’ala berfirman: Aku sesuai persangkaan hamba-Ku. Aku bersamanya ketika ia mengingat-Ku.

 Jika ia mengingat-Ku saat bersendirian, Aku akan mengingatnya dalam diri-Ku. 

Jika ia mengingat-Ku di suatu kumpulan, Aku akan mengingatnya di kumpulan yang lebih baik daripada pada itu . 

Jika ia mendekat kepada-Ku sejengkal, Aku mendekat kepadanya sehasta. 

Jika ia mendekat kepada-Ku sehasta, Aku mendekat kepadanya sedepa. 

Jika ia datang kepada-Ku dengan berjalan (biasa), maka Aku mendatanginya dengan berjalan cepat.” 

[Hadith Bukhari dan Muslim]