Taman Itu

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it's winter gathering time all over again. it's my third time this year, commemorating my third year here in Ireland. alhamdulillah. i chose to go to PUISI again just like last year, for no specific reason though. there are a few others going on around. PMS in Lake District, JUMS in Manchester, FIGO, FUIYO you name it. but i see them all the same, they are all 'taman syurga'.

so here i am, fresh from a great 4 days and 3 nights stay at a place, overseeing the sea. subhanallah cantik. but i've made the mistake of not bringing Mr Olly with me. so i dont have any pictures of:

1. those beautiful waves that made me go 'aaahhhhh' everytime i see them that even Nasreen (my partner-in-crime there) gets annoyed; because when i say everytime, i MEAN every single time.

2. Giant Cosway. (finally sampai jugak). despite having to fight the strong wind that makes my face all numb because it was so cold.

3. me crossing a bridge aka jambatan gantung, crossing over 2 steep cliffs. Abah will kill me, but i already did it. hoyeah! (despite the shaky legs and the feeling of something stuck in your throat). it's a great achievement i must say, considering i'm one who's gayat (read: scared of heights) even when i'm on a 3rd floor building.

3. me having to meet my bestie from Galway, my Lyntot. though us three musketeers Me, Lyn and Sreen took a lot of pictures. and with Amal too!! :)

4. me having to meet great people in those group activities, listening to others' perspectives and experiences.

5. of the great speaker flown all the way from Malaysia, Ust Shaari. with his ever-so-sweet wife and their first baby, yang extra comel.

6. of the huge white marque we were in, that shakes terribly because of the wind; but was standing strong all the way till the very last day.

7. of that night me and nasreen went out with our pajamas, and had our 'UFO-talk', enjoying the dark night while talking about a lot of things. enjoying the breeze from the shore, the sight of the lighthouse from the island across us. (eventhough it might be creepy, with us in our dark winter-coats. talking while hoping to spot UFOs. on that note; we agreed that they are not extra-terrestrials, but may be either jin or syaitoon.hehe)

well basically, what i'm saying here is, i had a great time, Allah-willing. i went there to seek ilmu, to not waste my time, to learn new things; and like always, Allah will surely give us more than what we bargained for, way more. alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. and im sure that elsewhere in other programmes, everybody felt the same way too.

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on the last day, Nasreen kept on saying 'tak nak balik'. of how she wished she could spend more time in these kind of things. hating the fact that this feelings will go away in a few days time. naudzubillah. i didn't feel what she felt, and so i only gave her encouraging words. that it's normal, but we can always pray that Allah keep those feelings.

then later when we arrived at Dublin, we stopped by the mosque before heading home. i was preparing to make du'a after the prayers; that's when some things just flashed before my eyes.

remembering how great it has been, those 4 days and 3 nights. when what everybody talks about is Him. when all of us woke up early in the morning for qiam together. lari-lari anak kecil into that white cold marquee for our jemaah prayers. when all we listen to were great stories of those with firm beliefs in our Deen. at times we're seriously listening, at times we were discussing, at times we were laughing; but all those time, insyaAllah we were all rememebering Him.

then that scared feeling came. upon realizing that this taman syurga wont last. that i will eventually go back to reality, where taman-taman syurga has to be sought on my own. and i have to create them on my own. i prayed so much, that Allah would keep us in those taman syurga, for the rest of our lives. and that the next one will be The Jannah. it's definitely not easy, because of our iman yang turun naik, but it's not unattainable either. so prayers is all i have to offer at that time; praying whole-heartedly that Allah keep us safe and sound.

at that time; nasreen came and hugged me; 

"habis baru nak sedih."

T,T

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well ya Allah, it's saddening because we all are weak abid (read: hamba) of yours, but in You we put our trust. we will make the effort insyaAllah. because how much effort we put in seeking your taman-taman syurga in this Dunya, somehow reflect how much we want Your Jannah. so this question always comes to mind; 

kalau taman-taman syurga pun kita tak kejar, 

what makes us think that we all are eligible to enter His Jannah?

do we really want It?

so make the effort guys.

cari taman-taman syurga tu.

and we will find Him,

waiting for us in The Jannah that we all prayed for

insyaAllah.

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“Apabila kamu melalui Taman Syurga, maka ikutlah atau masuklah kamu padanya. Bertanya salah seorang sahabat: Apakah Taman Syurga itu, ya Rasulullah? Sabda Rasul: Yaitu Halqah-halqah dzikir (lingkaran orang berzikir)”. 

(HR. Imam Tarmizi).

“Apabila duduk suatu kaum mengucapkan dzikir ALLAH, maka melingkungi akan mereka malaikat-malaikat dan meliputi akan mereka Rahmat dan turut atas mereka SAKINAH (ketenangan jiwa) dan ALLAH menyebut mereka pada sisi-Nya”. 

(HR. Imam Muslim)

read more on taman syurga, here.

yours truly,

trying hard.