Of the UK, my childhood dream and us.

One of my childhood dreams was to go back to the UK to experience going to school there. I was born in Scotland but my family returned to Malaysia when I was only 9 months (if I am not mistaken) coz Abah had completed his degree. 

When I was in primary school, I had quite a number of friends who came back from the UK and undoubtedly their English speaking & writing skills are profound. And that surely increased the desire in me to go there too, to improve my English proficiency as well as to 'balik kampung.' 

When I was 10, I kinda heard my mom said that there's possibility for Abah to pursue his master in the UK. Upon hearing that, I had an indescribable feeling inside. 🥹 

I vividly remember having beautiful dreams of waking up in a room with a snowy view from the window, touching down the Heathrow Airport, as well as spending the weekends with family in London. I prayed even harder since then, for Abah to fly there and bring the whole family with him.

Well, Allah knows best and that didn't happen. However on that particular year, Abah went to the UK for work matters for 2 weeks and he brought back luggages of gifts and chocolates! 😍 I still remember how wonderful I felt at that time to receive items from the UK. It kinda heal my yearning to visit my birthplace. 

I can say that, knowing the fact that I was born in the Scotland is a motivation for me to keep improving my English. It makes me fall in love with reading English books as well as talking to myself in English. 

Till today, I still long to be there, to walk on the quiet roads in Scotland, to experience raining season in lovely Edinburgh, as well as to spend time for bookstores-hopping. ♥️

Husband once said that it might be a great idea if we hijrah to the UK for a year or two, for him to pursue his study as well as to experience living abroad. Unfortunately it was kinda joke coz it's not in his mind (yet) to pursue his formal education to the next level. 

He was born in the UK too (many Malaysians my age were born there coz our parents studied there) and returned to Malaysia when he could barely remember anything about it, so he kinda had the same dream as mine about the UK. Fortunately he had the chance to visit England (his birthplace) a year before we got married, and I envy him. 🥲😂

Husband had the dream to pursue his degree in the UK but Allah knows Australia is the best for him at that time, so He sent him there for 2 and a half years. 

Fun fact; I had the opportunity to fly to the UK for degree in accounting but I chose to study in Malaysia instead (precisely UIA) because I don't want to be an accountant, I wanna learn Arabic, or anything related to Islam. And truth be told; at that time I was sure that I don't wanna go to the UK for years and leave my parents. I told myself that if I were to go there without family; it's for traveling and that's it. 

Whatever it is, when the time is right, we'll surely be there bi iznillah. Amin. 🥰 

Reader VS Book Lover

That night, when everyone else was asleep and I was at my working desk, reading (or I could say, busy deciding which books to read ), I suddenly came to the realization that there’s a difference between a person who loves reading and a person who loves books. 

For me, to love reading is: 

- to love the process of comprehending and understanding the written words (hence, a reader doesn’t really mind dog-earing or annotating their books) 

- to focus on the knowledge within the books - to be concerned about the impact of a book’s content on one’s life 

- to make sure to read daily 

- to have the goal of becoming a reader, instead of simply being a book buyer or a book lover. 

So, when it comes to being a reader, the yardstick isn’t how many books we have on our shelves, but rather how reading has helped us improve as a person and how it has become a daily habit. 

However, I can say that loving to buy books is one of the stages toward becoming a reader. We can’t really fall in love with books if we are far from them. And yes, there’s nothing wrong with reading for leisure. But it’s important not to get stuck at the stage of “reading ONLY for leisure” because reading is indeed a form of work — a deep work that we have to do in order to grow. 

When we read only for leisure, we tend to read only when we have free time, and only for comfort, not for growth or knowledge. But when we have the mindset of reading for growth, we’ll make time for it, and we’ll seek books that can help us grow. 

That’s why busy people (CEOs, stay-at-home mothers, working mothers, doctors, etc.) are still able to read many books in a year. Does that mean we can’t read for leisure or escapism? Of course we can. We do need books for those purposes. We are human beings, and we have various needs. Just make sure that we don’t label reading as merely a hobby. 

“Read, in the name of your Lord Who created...” (Al-‘Alaq: 1)

Of Coffee and Life Lessons

When I started drinking coffee last year, I learned a lot of precious life lessons revolving around it. It’s not simply about a well-known beverage; it goes far beyond that. 

And honestly, it’s kinda sad to think that some people have such a negative mentality regarding those who love sharing their coffee moments on social media. Let me list down a few negative connotations that people usually associate with coffee lovers: 

- showing-off attitude 

- unnecessary lavish lifestyle 

- bad for your health 

I’m not gonna say anything about the points above, but I do wanna write down some beautiful coffee-life lessons I’ve learned so far: 

1) People who enjoy their coffee moments in a coffeehouse are usually people who appreciate being alone and actually feel good about it. (And this is important.) 

2) Making our own coffee at home teaches us that there are little things in our everyday lives that we can look forward to and be grateful for. 

3) To be able to find people who love coffee as much as we do is indeed a blessing. It’s kinda like an instant friendship, but with a deep connection. 

4) It’s important not to think badly of others who love doing something that we don’t. Just because we don’t understand why they love something (in this case, coffee), doesn’t mean it’s bad. Let people love what they love and enjoy life in their own way, as long as it’s halal. 

5) It’s okay if people misunderstand us (regarding coffee or any other aspect of our lives). Let them say we’re showing off or damaging our health. They’re accountable for what they say, and we don’t owe them any explanation. People should know better than to think that a picture or video truly reflects what actually happens in someone’s life.

A Beautiful Mind

Bismillah. 

Watched a beautiful and inspiring movie with my husband just now. The title is A beautiful Mind, based on a true story of a Professor named John Nash. I rarely watch movies but this movie is an exception. 

In brief, he was a genius student (then a professor and won Nobel prize on 1994- hey I was 7 at that time!) in the field of economics and mathematics and obviously numbers fascinate him a lot. To cut the story short, he suffered from scizophrenia and he found out about it shortly after he got married to his student; Alicia.

I don’t wanna write a lot about the story, so if you are interested to know, just head on to wikipedia and read the synopsis. What I wanna share here is about the lessons I learned from it;

1) mental illness can happen to anyone including genius and smart people. 

2) having a mental illness isn’t embarassing and it’s not a choice. 

3) Some mental illness patients might feel afraid or ashamed to let others know about their condition but it’s quite helpful if they let people aware about it. Those who aren’t afraid to share about their struggle to healing, are indeed strong and resilient. 

4) Mentall illness doesn’t only affect the patient, but the caretaker or the people living with them as well. So it’s of paramount importance for them to learn how to live with these patients, and more importantly, how to make them feel supported in their journey to recovery. 

5) The first brave thing to do for a person with mental illness is to admit they have it, and the second is; to seek help. 

6) Certain mental illness can’t be healed and the patient just have to live with it forever. And the only choice they have is to fight it and to learn how to control themselves whenever the illness strikes. 

7) Never give up to fight for our life, no matter what tests are being given. And it’s totally worth it to keep on doing the best that we can, with what we have, in the condition we are in. 

8) Love can make us strong, love can help us to heal.

9) To sacrifice for our beloved ones, is always worth it. 

10) No matter what we experience in our life, add meaning to it.  

Before I stop, I wanna leave you with this lyrics;

All Love Can Be (from the wife to her sick husband)

I will watch you in the darkness 
Show you love will see you through 
When the bad dreams wake you crying 
I'll show you all love can do 
All love can do 

I will watch through the night 
Hold you in my arms 
Give you dreams where no one will be 
I will watch through the dark 
Till the morning comes 

For the lights will take you 
Through the night to see 
All love, showing us all love can be 

I will guard you with my bright wings 
Stay till your heart learns to see 
All love can be.

Reviu Buku: Islam Itu Ramah Bukan Marah

Bismillah.

Buku ni walaupun kecil tapi ia bukan buku yang boleh dianggap santai. Penulisannya memang mudah dibaca dan difahami tapi ia bercerita tentang isu-isu penting serta realiti kehidupan sekarang, yang membuat kita berfikir apakah benar selama ini kita praktikkan ajaran Islam yang sebenar? 

Kita selalu kaitkan buku santai sebagai ciri-ciri buku yang baik. Ya ia tak salah tapi jangan sampai kita hanya mahu baca buku yang santai-santai sahaja. Hidup kita perlu diambil secara serius, dan ada perkara yang kita perlu tegas tentangnya. Jadi ada masanya kita sangat perlu untuk baca buku dengan konten sebegini. Realiti kehidupan bukanlah sentiasa sesuatu yang 'santai'. 

Saya suka bagaimana penulisnya @irfanamalee mampu membawa cerita benar kehidupan yang selama ni kita anggap remeh tetapi ia perkara besar dalam agama. Contohnya kisah seorang lelaki yang biasa mengelilingi kota Bandung dengan basikalnya semata-mata untuk memungut sampah yang ada. Dia berasa kecewa ketika dia pergi ke Mekah dan melihat ramai umat Islam di sana membuang sampah merata tempat, apatah lagi ia Tanah Suci. 😔 

Topik yang saya sangat-sangat suka dan membuat saya sangat teruja ketika membacanya ialah: 

1) Hati yang sakit, cenderung menyakiti. 

2) Memaafkan adalah pillihan. 

3) Lihat yang positif. 

4) Orang yang tidak memiliki kebaikan akan mencari-cari keburukan orang lain. 

5) Cukup hanya satu azam, hidup kita tahun depan akan berubah. 

6) Pahlawan sampah ziarah ke Mekah. 

7) Sejauh manakah membaca penting bagi kita? 

8) Empat musuh yang merampas kebahagiaan kita setiap hari. 

9) 95% waktu kita habis untuk memikirkan diri sendiri. 

10) Selain IQ, EQ, SQ, ada AQ iaitu kecerdasan dalam menghadapi kesusahan. Beli & baca & amalkanlah. Buku ini RM20 sahaja tetapi jika kita amalkan dalam kehidupan, InshaAllah sangat berbaloi. ❤️

Boleh dapatkan buku ini dari bookcafe.com.my

Reviu buku: Jangan Tunda Taubatmu.

 

Masa muda remaja dulu, saya pernah terfikir, kalau nak taubat, mesti kena tunggu waktu betul-betul yakin dah takkan ulang dosa tu. 

Sebab saya fikir, dosa akan berganda besar kalau dah taubat tapi terjebak lagi dengan dosa tu. Tapi sebenarnya itu sangat silap. Sebab benda tu tak termasuk pun dalam syarat taubat. 

Taubat ni syaratnya kita rasa menyesal, berhenti serta merta dari buat perkara tu & tekad taknak ulang lagi dosa tersebut. Solat taubat pun tak termasuk dalam syarat taubat, solat taubat tu adalah pelengkap kepada taubat.  Sebab ada orang yang solat taubat tapi hatinya tak betul-betul menyesal. 

Lepas tu bila tua sikit, saya tertanya, macam mana kalau ada orang yang berterusan buat dosa walau dah bertaubat, sebab dalam hati dia ada rasa Allah tu Maha Pengampun. Tapi perasaan tu pun salah. 

Memang betul Allah Maha Pengampun tak kira walau dosa kita tinggi melangit, tapi yakinkah kita masih hidup esok? Ada jaminan kah kita sempat bertaubat sebelum mati? 😔 

Sebab kita tak tahu bila kita mati, sebab kita tak tahu di mana kita mati, jadi kerana itu waktu terbaik untuk bertaubat ialah sekarang. Menunda taubat termasuk dosa yang perlu kita taubatkan. 

Terima kasih Buku PTS untuk buku yang sangat bermakna ni. Bahagian yang paling saya suka ialah yang ada dalam gambar terakhir. 💕 

Boleh dapatkan buku ini di www.bookcafe.com.my. RM15 sahaja. 

Reviu Buku: Tadabbur Surah Yusuf

Alhamdulillah selesai baca buku ni beberapa hari lepas. Semestinya highly recommended. Kisah-kisah dalam alquran, memang patut kita baca, kaji dan betul-betul fahami sebab di dalamnya ada panduan buat kita.

Apa yang saya sangat suka tentang buku ini? 👇🏻

1) Penulis menggunakan maklumat yang sahih dari Alquran & hadith sahaja. Kerana itu kalau anda baca buku ini, isteri al-Aziz yang menggoda Nabi Yusuf tidak langsung disebut sebagai Zulaikha. Kerana nama tersebut tidak ada dalam alquran mahupun hadith sahih. 

2) Buku ini membahagikan kisah nabi Yusuf kepada beberapa babak, jadi ia sangat memudahkan kita untuk faham kisahnya. Sekarang baru saya betul-betul faham tentang babak yang bermula setelah Nabi Yusuf dilantik menjadi Perdana Menteri, khususnya berkaitan adik beradik Nabi Yusuf yang datang ke istana untuk mendapatkan bekalan makanan. 

3) Presentation buku sangat cantik, menarik & mudah untuk dibaca. Material buku juga berkualiti. 👍🏻 

4) Penulis membincangkan juga tentang riwayat-riwayat israiliyat berkaitan Nabi Yusuf, dan ia membantu kita membezakan antara fakta sejarah yang sebenar dengan yang tiada asalnya. 

5) Penceritaan yang sangat kritis dan membuat kita fokus kepada isu yang penting dan tidak sibuk membincangkan perkara yang Allah tidak sebut tentangnya. Contoh; nama abang-abang Yusuf tidak disebut dan maknanya ia tiada keperluan untuk kita ambil tahu atau cuba meneka-neka. 

6) Pengajaran ayat serta isi tersiratnya diterangkan dengan baik oleh penulis. Membuatkan kita semakin kagum dengan kehebatan alquran serta kagum dengan peribadi Nabi Yusuf. 

Soalan cepu emas: Mengapa Nabi Yusuf dapat mengecam abang-abangnya setelah beberapa tahun tidak berjumpa, akan tetapi mereka tidak dapat mengecam Nabi Yusuf? 

Boleh dapatkan buku ini di pautan berikut: https://www.imanshoppe.com/products/tadabbur-surah-yusuf