Surat Cinta Tentang Swolat

Bila engkau anggap swolat itu hanya penggugur kewajiban, maka kau akan terburu-buru  mengerjakannya. Bila engkau anggap swolat hanya sebuah kewajiban, maka engkau tak akan menikmati hadirnya Allah saat kau mengerjakannya. Anggaplah swolat itu pertemuan yang kau nanti dengan Tuhanmu. Anggaplah swolat itu sebagai cara terbaik kau bercerita dengan Allah SWT. Anggaplah swolat itu sebagai kondisi terbaik untuk kau berkeluh kesah dengan Allah SWT. Anggaplah swolat itu sebagai seriusnya kamu dalam bermimpi.

Bayangkan ketika "adzan berkumandang", tangan Allah SWT melambai ke depanmu untuk mengajak kau lebih dekat denganNya. Bayangkan ketika engkau bertakbir, Allah SWT melihatmu, Allah SWT senyum untukmu dan Allah SWT bangga terhadapmu. Bayangkanlah ketika "rukuk", Allah 'Azza wa Jalla menopang badanmu hingga kau tak terjatuh, hingga kau rasakan damai dalam sentuhanNya. Bayangkan ketika "sujud", Allah 'Azza wa Jalla mengelus kepalamu. Lalu Dia (SWT) berbisik lembut dikedua telingamu: "Aku Mencintaimu hambaKu". Bayangkan ketika kau "duduk di antara dua sujud", Allah 'Azza wa Jalla berdiri gagah di depanmu, lalu mengatakan, "Aku tak akan diam bila ada yang mengusikmu". Bayangkan ketika kau "salam", Allah 'Azza wa Jalla menjawabnya, lalu kau seperti manusia berhati bersih setelah itu...Subhaana-Allah sungguh nikmat ibadah swolat yang kita lakukan. Swolatku... Ragaku... - Umi Pipik Dian Irawati.

Wirid

AlhamdulilLah bi ni'matilLah! Wonderful reminder by Sheikh Hamzah Yusuf on the merits of awrad (plural for wirid). Indeed, istiqomah in dzikrulLah is a sign of an 'abid who is tawadhu', who knows his place in the scheme of things, who recognises and acknowledges Allah SWT as the One True God, the Oft-Powerful Creator and Sustainer whose mercy and pleasure should be the ultimate maqsud, insya-Allah!

Guidance

AlhamdulilLah bi ni’matilLah! Allah SWT really works in miraculous ways - I was struggling in my reflection of QS At-Tariq 86:3, and truth be told, Allah SWT sends a beautiful soul to share this video with me, to aid in my husul and wusul, (so timely) subhaan-Allah! An-najmuth-thaqib! (the piercing star!). Hamzah Yusuf beautifully expounds on the haqiqah (reality) of the mercy of Allah SWT. May we be guided by the stars, aamiin Allahumma aamiin!

Afterthought: It reminded of the time when I was in Australia, gazing at the stars at night - how big and bright they were that you could almost touch them with your hands! (something you can't experience in cosmopolitan Sg) and it dawned on me that my knowledge of the stars (astronomy) is very limited! I recall how our Muslim forefathers in the past would make great sacrifices to travel by land and sea to invite others to Islam (and how they are great navigators of the sea due to their knowledge of astronomy). May we be amongst them who support the Da'wah movement, directly or indirectly, aamiin Allahumma aamiin!

Raja'

On Raja’ (hope), the adab is to reject shirk in the hope that RasululLah SAAW will intercede for Muwahideen in Mahsyar. Also, to avoid the Iblisic trait of Ablasa (despair); instead we are to constantly seek forgiveness and repentance, renewal of our Tauheed since we are not maksum for Allah’s mercy prevails over His wrath (Hadith Qudsi).

Subhaan-Allah! Allah SWT is the object of our love (maqsud), yet we fear His ability to punish us and distance us from Him (our fear predominates in order to repel the inclinations towards sin). Yet we cannot fear him to such an extent that we turn to despair, forgetting His mercy; rather we must balance it with sufficient hope! May we be amongst the shakur who feel blessed for the bestowal of these quwwah in us and may we strive to put them in their proper place, aamiin ya Rabb!

Time

AlhamdulilLah bi ni'matilLah! Beautiful reminder on who is not a failure in the eyes of Allah SWT. Time - may Allah SWT bestow the barakah of time to all of us such that we be amongst those who bring much benefit to the Deen, our family and the Ummah and may we be amongst those who are successful, aamiin Allahumma aamiin!

DzikrulLah

Dzikrullah (remembrance of Allah SWT) is about manifesting the adab of the tongue-mind-heart. Subhaan-Allah! The whole teaching of Islam enables dzikrulLah! For example, our gratitude for Allah’s prescription of swolah for us - His remedy for us to avoid forgetfulness and heedlessness (QS Taha 20:14) and avoid having an evil one (Qoreen) appointed for us (QS Zukhruf 43:36-37). Other acts of dzikrulLah include tasbih, tahmid, tahlil, takbir, hasbiyallah, hauqalah, du’a, solawat, swolat nafilah, reciting Qur’an, Ta-‘ah (deeds of obedience), partaking in majlis ‘ilm/wird/aurad (Khil-Qudz-Dzikr), etc. The key to dzikr is istiqomah (consistency) even if it is little. 

Verily in dzikrulLah do hearts find their rest (QS Ar-Rad 13:27-28). Hadith reported by Tabrany came to mind – Iiman is preserved by one constantly in dzikrulLah (a remedy for those whose Iiman wavers. I’m reminded of the wise words of the elders – those who are in constant state of worry, confusion, who have unmet needs or unfulfilled dreams are usually those who lack dzikrulLah as the spiritual self is distracted with other than Allah SWT. May we strive to be amongst those consistent in dzikrulLah, aamiin ya Rabb!

Al-Andalus Part 2

AlhamdulilLah! This is the Islamic perspective of Al-Andalus. Indeed, the importance of Tasawwur Islam (Islamic Worldview) cannot be underestimated or underscored for Muslims must see the true reality as is, wa-Allahu a'lam :)

Al-Andalus

AlhamdulilLah! Ustazah, in her earnestness to encourage me to visit Spain with mum, shared a few good videos (this is just one of them). I'm now delving into authentic Islamic History especially the spread of Islam to Nusantara (South East Asia). These few years, I've been given small doses of information by the wise, subhaana-Allah!

And almost always, when I compare the stories against those produced by the West, much is being covered up in the West's representations of the truth about Islam and the civilisation it brings to the Dark Ages, wa-Allahu a'lam. Allahumma arinal haqqa haqqan war-zuqnat-tibaa wa arinal bathila bathilan war-zuqnaj-tinaba, aamiin Allahumma aamiin! 

Rabi' al-Awwal Mubarak

AlhamdulilLah! From the Islamic perspective, the most significant day in the history of mankind is the 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal - the answer to Prophet Ibrahim's supplication - the mercy to mankind. May the Ummah, stand in ranks, united in observing Eid Milad-un-Nabi, insya-Allah, aamiin ya Rabb!