.Ingredients for a great Usrah.

Only Allah knows when was the last time I had an Usrah. Clearly Usrah means family, but it's not that kind of Usrah I'm talking about more like a formal Usrah meeting once a week. It was a norm when I was at my University. Usrah was my compulsory activity once a week.

It's been a year since I started working so it means I have spent a year without Usrah.

Just imagine how my Iman must have been.

.Disaster.

Alhamdulillah lately Allah keeps on popping the word Usrah in my mind.

I guess Allah is giving me the signal of urgency to begin it again a.s.a.p!

I'm now in a process of gathering sisters for my Usrah. InsyaAllah plan to have it at my home once a week. Alhamdulillah, My Imam is in full support of this. Meanwhile, I'm trying to carefully have the Usrah organized. I'm no expert in any of the knowledge field but whatever knowledge Allah has instill in me, insyaAllah I'm planning to share with others.

Fiqh? Sirah? Tauhid?

I'm clearly have no idea what to start with. InsyaAllah it all depends on who my Mad'u (s) will be. Then from our 1st meeting, InsyaAllah I'll decide what is the priority.

Anyway, I use this little book for my reference when I started Usrah of my own. Alhamdulillah it has been a great help (may Allah reward the author, amin). The important recipes are all well describe to begin a blessed Usrah of my own.

Last but not least, I want to thank deeply all of my solehah naqibah(s) for helping and guiding me through some part of my life journey. May Allah reward all of you with His Highest Jannah, amin.

Ukhti Safani, Ukhti Siti Aminah, Ukhti Aishah, Ukhti Syida, Ukhti Eqa, Ukhti Wan, Ukhti Wawa, Ukhti Muslihah, Ukhti Wani, Ukhti Norafiza, Ukhti Farhana.

We are physically separated in this temporary world. May Allah gather us eternally in the Jannah, amin.

FCR Workshop

Friendly Comparative Religion Workshop.

MasyaAllah! Alhamdulillah! A workshop, I'm so thankful to Allah for allowing me to join. It was at IIUM on 19th till 20th Nov. It's the same date as my school was organizing a seminar. After thinking deeply, I'm afraid I've to pass my school seminar. This workshop, is simply something I can't afford to miss.

This was the first time, I heard talk from Bro Shah Kirit. Alhamdulillah, he embrace Islam more than 10 years ago and now he is actively doing Da'wah and Islah. The 2 day workshop was overwhelming. I tried my best insyaAllah to cope, digest and grasp the pace and knowledge being shared.

Bro Daud from Canada began the ceremony by asking the audience :

" How many of you here have Non-Muslims family members?"

(Alhamdulillah, I don't have any and pray to Allah to NEVER have any, amin)

I saw 3 or 4 hands went up. Then he continued,

"How many of you here have Non-Muslims colleagues or friends or neighbors?"

Now, I can say all the hands went up including mine.

"You see, this is exactly why we all need to be here."

Bro Daud continued.

And so my journey begins.

To me, it was more like a roller-coaster ride. Lucky, I hold to my seat tightly. Otherwise, I'd simply fall.

2 days sessions include all listed in the tentative below.

Study the pic above?

MasyaAllah, tell you.

I was so excited when I first read the tentative.

I can now say I'm excited to new knowledge as much as I'm excited to try new things I just purchased :p

You know what, insyaAllah after learning all of the things in the itinerary above, I discover myself more as Allah's abd and khalifah. Truthfully, the aqidah differences simply is TERRIFYING. You see, we are so happy as Allah contain us with extra knowledge, but we all know - the more knowledge we acquire, the higher our responsibility will be. Now, that thought is also terrifying.

Da'wah is not easy but it has to be done ;- with wisdom and beautiful preaching (An-Nahl 16 : 125).

Bro Shah Kirit always remind us during his talk. Allah will ask us this obligation in the Hereafter, so we better get ourselves prepared insyaAllah.

-Lailaha Ilallah-

A 'simple' message but extremely huge in meaning. Khalifah, insyaAllah let's try our best in getting this message across to Muslims or Non-Muslims. Remember : recite, believe and practice Lailaha Ilallah [ is 3 different things] I hope you khalifah understand what I mean.

Anyway, the book is one of the gifts I received from joining this workshop.

InsyaAllah am planning to get my mind to explore this book soon. May Allah make easy my plan, amin.

Again, I'll try my best to share with you what I've learn from the workshop with you brothers and sisters.

I don't want to promise but I'll try my best.

Fingers crossed!

I have 2 weeks of school holiday.

Excited? Unfortunately, NO. After a year of hectic schedule, spare time really terrify me.
Spending time on bed and couch do seems tempting but NO I don't have any plan on doing both of those.

First, I just want to make sure I spend some quality time with my family - especially My Abah and My Nenek.. The last time I met these two lovely human being was ages ago!

Then definitely pampering myself at a spa. I can't afford oversea holiday this time around, so I'm desperately hoping my spa would insyaAllah take my mind off to Italy or at least Bali.

;)

Then, I'm planning to have a quiet date with my favorite man - Edward Cullen.

;)

Afterwards, a buoyant date with Happy Feet and Puss In The Boots - might watch these 2 movies with my siblings.

;)

Catching up is definitely in my schedule during school holiday. (Strengthening ukhwah is a light and easy ibadah insyaAllah, every Muslim should spend our time on working Habbluminannas) I have a few girl friends in mind (& heart) I really want to meet. May Allah make easy my plan, amin.

Any physical activity? Oh, you bet! Intend on having my fingers on handling bowling ball.
Hope I can manage insyaAllah.
Taking my sisters for bowling soon.

Last but not least, I'm thinking of visiting as many 'Gardens' (Majlis Ilmu) as possible insyaAllah. I already have some seminar in my list to join.

Oh not to forget, I also want to get my Master application done.

Allahummayasir wa la tuasir, Rabbitamim bil khair.

Happy holiday Khalifah. Let's spend our time wisely insyaAllah. Remember how Allah stress the importance of time in Al-Asr.

Take care o our Iman and ourselves wisely insyaAllah.

Till then.

My Accompany :)

Unlike me, My Imam does not enjoy reading as mucho as I do. He prefers listening. So our laptop is filled with many Talks from different famous Ustaz. I have my laptop accompany me while I'm cooking. InsyaAllah am trying my best to never allow a moment leave by without me gaining knowledge.

(Khalifah) wives, let's gain knowledge!

;)

I guess..

it's my new habit, to take my students home once a week.

I enjoy having them not only at school but also at a place where I live in. Yesterday, I took another two little khalifah(s) for a sleepover. I am so attached with them, I honestly can't imagine my holiday without them. It was still considered early when we reached my home yesterday. Alhamdulillah I didn't 'meet' bad traffic. So I managed to take the girls for a quick swimming. Besides the weather was beautiful, no drop of rains dropping by.

;)

I was hesitate to take them swimming as I have chores need to be done at home and I planned for an early 'retirement' that night. However, on 2nd thought, I gave in. Honestly, I need a pause for myself. Hectic life has now been my new best friend. I miss reading. So when the girls were dipping deep in the pool, I enjoyed myself to a good evening and gaining knowledge from a book I stopped reading last week.

;)

Nuha and Syakirah - 2 little solehah khalifah(s).

Mother Warriors by Jenny McCarthy.

I seriously intend on finishing this book A.S.AP since InsyaAllah it's a very beneficial book.

It contains info all-you-need-to-know about autism kind of book.

Hopefully I can khatam it soon so I can share what's inside.

Brief intro -

vaccines triggers autism.

Mothers,

beware.

I hope I made myself good by recharging my mood yesterday. It was self-rewarding to me. Now, I can help others become good and make the physical world good, clean and beautiful pleasing to Allah insyaAllah.

Enjoy yourself, folks.

Thank you for reading.

May Allah bless you.

(*.*)

At-Tahrim:6

"O you who believe! Ward off from yourself and your families a Fire(Hell)".

Reminder from Allah, it's crystal clear. Easy to understand, digest and practice insyaAllah :)

Alhamdulillah, Allah's will : my sisters and I we gather at least once a week at my home.

We pray together, eat together then end our night with mini halaqah of our own.

Yesterday was merely a short topic about Qurban.

Since we are still in the mood of it, I might as well share Sirah related to it with my sisters.

The experience I had with my sisters are very rewarding ; reward from Allah.

I kept thinking over and over before we had this kind of gathering.. that I spent energy and time to help 'outsiders' saving themselves from Hellfire, but what have I done to help my family. When it comes to family wise, its never easy to preach especially when it is done with my family members who are a lot older than me. So dakwah bil-hal can take over insyaAllah.

But then, when it come to my sisters, I'm the eldest so insyaAllah it is easy insyaAllah to voice out directly certain things we want to share or to correct.

InsyaAllah I'm trying my best to have our own version of Islamic sleep over party once a week.

Muslimin Muslimat, have your own version with your family. It is our humble effort to fulfill our 1st and 2nd responsibility as Khalifah and saving ourselves from Hellfire.

InsyaAllah, amin.

Quotes..

I recently heard and help me a lot in muhasabah-ing.

Sis Bada : Khalifah of Allah Talk

"What is the use of our knowledge if it cannot save us and our family from Hellfire?"

Sis Azra : Objective of Understanding Right and Wrong Talk

"Everything under the sun is for us to learn from. We learn from everything, everyone, everywhere. The more knowledge we have the sharper our Aql will be. We are knowledge seeker for the rest of our life."

Sis Alla : conversation she had with her students.

"As your teacher, it is my responsibility to correct you if your behavior is unacceptable otherwise Allah will ask me later."

(no title)

Last night, a parent text me asking how was her son progress at school. A pang of guilt just came rushing in. I feel really bad when I called parents to talk about their children misbehave but when the children do behave I 'sort of' forget to update the parents.

At my school, we practice Khalifah Method. We teachers truly believe in the Law of Learning. One of it is, when you reward any good behavior done, insyaAllah it will reinforce and eventually it'll become a habit.

What happen today was - I was preparing the students to perform the Asr prayer. When some of the brothers were done with the ablution, a few of them chose to play around while waiting for the rest to finish however some of them chose to immediately sat within the saf and do zikr.

[Practicing Khalifah Method] : Instead of I addressed the brothers who were playing, I purposely reward the other brothers who doing zikr with beautiful words. I went like this :

"MasyaAllah! I'm so happy to find some of you choose to be good by doing zikr while waiting for others.

May Allah reward you tremendously."

Now there, the others who were playing definitely didn't stop abruptly but they did slow down.

When one of them finally sat down, I immediately praised the boy.

"Alhamdulillah, now Irfan also choose to be good by joing the zikr." (When the truth is, he was about to get up again to continue playing). Alhamdulillah, I managed to catch his good behavior and reward him on the spot. He sat down anyway and eventually the others joined him.

Keep in mind, when we deal with children, ALWAYS notice, appreciate and reward their good behavior. InsyaAllah no misbehave will appear. I'm saying this with my own experience. I'm so grateful Allah allows me to see some of my 'artwork' has turn to out to be magnificently beautiful.

I'm glad I know and learn Khalifah Method.

Alhamdulillah.

1st project done!

Alhamdulillah, finally!

Oath of a Khalifah Teacher

I am nurturing my students to be successful vicegerent (Khalifah) of Allah, who will help create a truly Islamic world.

Today I will try my best to know and understand all the influences upon my student’s development.

Today I will try my best to help my student understand the power of negative influences to take him/her away from Allah, and the power of positive influences to take him/her towards Allah.

Today I will try my best to shield my child from the power of negative influences to take him/her away from Allah.

Today I will try my best to enhance (increase) the power of the positive influences upon my students to take them towards Allah.

Today I will try my best to notice some positive things my students do or say, and tell them how much those things are appreciated by me and by Allah.

Today I will try my best to say nothing negative to my students. Even if I have to correct my student’s wrong behavior I will try my best to find some positive way to do so.

Today I will love my students unconditionally, but I will try my best to express that love at times that are most beneficial to my students.

Today I will try my best to be an example of a good and right human being (Muslim) for my students.

Today I will pray for Allah’s help that I can be a good teacher for my students.

Dear Khalifah :)

How are you? How's your journey so far? Has it been good? Hope so insyaAllah :)

Please allow me to re-explain the role as khalifah as I've learned what I wrote earlier is way too simple.

The person in charge behind this Khalifah Role is (late) Prof. Muhammad Al-Mahdi. He was an atheist before he discovered Allah. He firmly believe there is no God, however things change when he was in the middle of his research about Theory of Relativity. I don't know him that well as I join Khalifah School a few years after he's gone. But MasyaAllah, I heard nothing but all good about him. So far Alhamdulillah, I have no regret working here in my school except for the fact I didn't get to learn directly from Prof.

Again, all thanks to Allah as He allows Prof. to leave us so many books written by himself about Khalifah. If any of you are interested, simply visit our website : islamic-world.net. InsyaAllah you can find his writings there.

What Prof. trying to do was, he wanted all Muslims to be aware, that we are so special in the eyes of Allah, that Allah make us all His Khalifah. I'm sure we all know we are khalifah, since it's a common knowledge between us Muslims, however we don't really have this role play an important part in our life.

While we were all in our mommy's tummy : there would be time when Allah breath in adequate amount of His attributes within us.

MasyaAllah, if we understand this truly, it means we : human/ khalifah/ servant we actually possess 'super power'. This - can make us become CONFIDENT because we know Allah's power is within us BUT at the same time HUMBLE because we know everything happen because of Allah's will.

As for our responsibilities :

1. To make myself good means ;-

carry out our roles excellently - as daughter, student, wife, niece, son, friend, sister etc.

It is not always easy, is always a struggle - need JIHAD to accompany us all the time.

:)

We are to be the BEST in role we are carrying.

2. To HELP others become good.

According to (one of my fave) Prof. (Prof. Dr. Alini) : whenever we encounter someone the 1st thing should come to mind is ;- "How can I help this person?"

Well, my own experience taught me is not that easy, honestly because I don't normally think that way (yet). Practice makes perfect insyaAllah. So I have this thought when I'm on the road. Rude drivers really get on my nerves so instead of cursing, I pray for them and for me. I believe it's my 1st step to help others be good.

KEEP IN MIND khalifah, we ONLY HELP others, we can NEVER make others because as human Allah equip us with free-will. We facilitate, we guide, we share, we look after but in the end it is up to them (our mad'u) to choose.

3. To make the physical world good , clean and beautiful [pleasing to Allah].

Khalifah, Allah has given us a perfect world, it is our responsibility to preserve it. Start small such as recycling, NO to polystyrene, NO to plastic bag. InsyaAllah our little effort can make difference, and hopefully our initiatives will gain Allah's pleasure, amin.

Let's enjoy being a khalifah. It is truly an honor that Allah chooses us.

Thank you for reading, may Allah bless us.

Start Small..

Remember my previous post?

To achieve certain target within day, week, month and year?

For day..

I decide to begin with very tiny step - to say Bismillah in every action I take.

InsyaAllah to include Allah in all activities done, so it is always within Allah's guidance and bless, amin.

So khalifah, think of your target too or you can start same as mine.

Happy istiqamah-ing khalifah!

I vow to myself :

starting this week my focus should be solely on my family.

My school is having exam this week. No preparation for lesson need as much.

I can now put my time to my family - especially my sisters. Little concern arise from my mother, she is worried about things, as the eldest I feel responsible to take away her worries insyaAllah.

I'm going to meet my sisters tonight. InsyaAllah there will be a lot to be celebrated about. Aida is having her convocation soon then Hajar is finally free from her PMR today. Taking them out for a quiet dinner and catching up.

I'm not sure about the other sisters , but since I got married I feel a little bit left out. Aida and Hajar sometimes plan things without involving me. Sulking? All the time, but I tried to (always) have my thought rationalize.

Alhamdulillah, so far I succeed. I'm sometimes tired you see to have things plan initiate by me. I feel as if I'm the only one who care about this sisterhood, but deep in my heart, I know it's not true = because every time, my sisters and I meet for any occasion, I can still sense their sincerity and warmth from their hugs.

With that, I simply melt and touched.

InsyaAllah, meeting up tonight is for me to strengthen ukhwah between me and the person who shared the same tummy to live in for at least 9 months.

Allahumma yasir wa la tuassir, Rabbi tamim bil khoir.

My role as khalifah daughter : I have to put my mother's concern as one of my priorities after My Imam. I'm trying my best insyaAllah, though I know I can't satisfy everybody's want and needs all the time. But I have to keep in mind, I should always try my best.

Big Bad Wolf!!!

Ever heard of it?

It's one the biggest event of the year.

If you love books, then you should devote yourself there, at least 4 hours.

They sell books at very low price. I think the most expensive books is only rm25 and they are hard cover. InsyaAllah you can find almost any books there - cooking, art, home decoration, travel, memoirs etc.

So readers, go and indulge yourself.

It's at MAEPS, UPM lasts until this 16th.

Below are some of the books I purchased.

I couldn't buy more though I wanted to. 1st - my hands hurt from holding these heavy books around and so was my feet. 2nd, I was already at my 11th book then told myself I should stop. This may cost me over rm100. It turned out, it was only rm89. Heeeee....

I keep telling myself to find new hobby. It's either baking or gardening or something that involves art and craft. When I saw this book yesterday, I decide to go with art and craft first. I love how this mommy (her pic in the book below), keep her memories beautifully. The pictures are all kept in colorful and creative way, that I just keep on gazing and gazing again.

OK, now that I am officially engaged to cooking - I decide I better be loyal to it.

After all cooking is a fun partner, I'd say. It helps me to be creative and daring.

Anybody would stay in such relationship, yes?

;)

InsyaAllah, this recipe books would help us create more happy times together!

I am now spending my money more on my house than on myself. That is why ladies, you see me with no new handbags or dress for the past few months. Most of my salary goes to my home sweet home. I need ideas to adorn more of the spaces I have in my home. InsyaAllah hopefully this book would help. I haven't flipped it thoroughly yet, I spend my Sunday - qada' my sleep since my Saturday was very hectic.

;p

I've been longing to find this book (Mother Warriors) since it first appeared on Oprah. So when I saw it yesterday, I'd definitely grabbed it. I'm doing a little bit of counselling with my students here at my school. Therefore, any books related to counselling or children would of course caught my attention especially when it is super cheap.

:)

Any novels purchase? Of course.

You know me :)

The GG is only rm5. So I was thinking, why not? I 'grow up' - with Serena :)

Shopaholic? It's only rm8.

;)

I was excited the whole week before going.

I refrained myself from buying books at any bookstore I went. The waiting was worth.

Alhamdulillah.

Finally been there done that!

After long planning with famous Kak Huda Engku :)

So no more buying books for me for the next few months (or at least after I finish reading all these).

Khalifah, let's iqra'!

Inspiring Human Beings

Ok, apart from my family - I am grateful to Allah for letting me know such amazing characters in my life. These people aren't celebrity or any media figure (yet). They seems ordinary but they are very extra ordinary in their ideas, dedication, field and work. Looking or even just thinking of them put me into motivation to strive for excellence in my work.

May Allah bless all of them for all their deeds and good work.

Amin.

Suhaib Webb.

I believe everyone is familiar with this man.

Yes?

Well at least some of the Muslim population are aware of his existence.

I went to one of his talk last night @ KGPA. The crowd was definitely way beyond my expectation. It was so crowded, the chairs provided by the organizer was not enough. Half of the audiences had to sit on the floor and I was one of them.

I'm no observer. I'd normally let things pass by easily, don't pay attention to details as much. But yesterday, I was one. I mean I chose to be one. I observed the people who went to the talk. My brothers and sisters. Sisters for instance they were not all wrapped up in tudung labuh (some called tudung bulat) and jubah nor plain baju kurung. And brothers weren't in their kopiah(s) and baju raihan those kind.

No offend, but most Majlis Ilmu I went to - people dress like that. Sometimes it make me feel inadequate if I'm not wearing the tudung bulat. In fact, when I first made "Hijrah" the Muslimah I met, emphasized on wearing like 'them.' I honestly don't feel comfortable. It somehow felt like it's not me. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind at all how any Muslimah decide to cover her aurah : it's just that - we don't have to make it a dull fashion and we do not decide for others how a Muslimah should cover their aurah as long as it still goes along with the syariat - you know, your scarf covers your chest, the material of your scarf is not see through and not tabaruj. [Please correct me, if I'm wrong].

Ok, enough about the dress code.

The talk. Honestly, I was so desperate to go to toilet last night, but I just stayed to listen to Suhaib Webb. I really enjoy talk that helps me - to muhasabah. Alhamdulillah. Suhaib Webb did.

What I can conclude from his talk:

1. A Muslim should love knowledge.

Knowledge helps us to succeed dunia wa akhirah. The most important knowledge : Al-Quran. Al-Quran is a miracle we should study and implement in our life. One of the important element explain by Allah in the Quran is about the Hereafter. Thinking of Jannah should be our purpose of working hard in this temporary dunya. Have confident and put trust in Allah - none of our pains, tears, hard work, struggle will go wasted. Allah will reward - it's a matter of believe in Allah and keep this believe in our mind to get us through days with a clear vision and niyah - Lailaha Ilallah.

2. Live an inspirational life.

We have to stop blaming if 'the others' are making fun of our religion. Be a being where people are simply inspired and amazed with our daily life, with the decision we choose to make, with the principal we pick to stand for.

3. Habbluminallah is VERY important and keep in mind - so is Habbluminannas.

What's the purpose of memorizing Quran when you don't even have a good relationship with your parents?

What's the purpose of praying when we keep talk bad things about our brothers and sisters?

4. Fear (Jahanam) and Hope (Jannah)?

Yes. Both need to be told to our brothers and sisters - but tell or dakwah in ways that make people longing for Jannah. That create spark in our mad'u hearts to apply fastabikhul khairat in their life. Don't terrify people. Don't make Islam sound complicated when we know it is not.

Wallahu'alam.

Please forgive me if any of you find my post offensive. This is purely my ignorance thought.

Dear Khalifah - let's us make ourselves good by going to Majlis Ilmu often. Then share with our brothers and sisters. InsyaAllah, we will help others become good and eventually turn our physical world good solely to gain Allah's pleasure.

Amin ya Rabbal Alamin.

On re-branding...me.

At 25?

For real?

Don't we all think it's a little too late?

No, not me.

Chances are given by Allah again and again before we 'return ourselves' to Him. So why give up? I have dreams. I want to do a lot of things but sometimes I realize I can't afford it just yet. Not financially nor in terms of time.

InsyaAllah going to spend this week to re-organize myself from top to toe.

Need to set targets (daily, weekly, monthly and annually).

Now there, the steps should be very tiny - just to keep me going and motivate myself I can istiqamah, insyaAllah :)

Remember our Prophet said:

The deeds most loved by Allah are those done regularly, even if they are small.

;)

The digraph below is meant to help me set my goals clearly, insyaAllah.

Khalifah of Allah plan his/her life accordingly to gain Allah's pleasure.

On cooking ~ ... again!

When nothing seems to work to motivate me to cook - I push myself into spending my time - imagining I'm doing nothing but cook and cook and cook. I do feel guilty = feeding my husband with restaurant food (almost) everyday. Then I met a few mothers ; they are working and have like 3 or more children and THEY STILL COOK! So I told myself - that's it! Why can these wives cook and I can't? Using Khalifah Method - applying the shaping process ,,,, I began with little baby step.

1st - create mood.

Seriously, before, I dragged my feet most of the time to the kitchen to cook. Not good, yes? I know.

My goal - to enjoy cooking and try (at least) one new meal one week)

After a few weeks : Alhamdulillah - target achieved!

Yes, I'm still not THAT good in cooking. The recipe book - it's an encouragement from My Imam, he waits patiently at the living hall while I cook (very extremely) slowly - because I (desperately) NEED to refer the steps accordingly.

*peace*

The "LOVE" is purposely bought to add extra decoration in my kitchen. I just feel like adorning it.

:)

Colorful mini bowls - colors can definitely create mood and excitement. These bowls do help. Heeee... to give me the mood and to have my cooking process more organized and clean.

To show his support (again & always insyaAllah) - My Imam present me a salad bowl.

Thank you Abang, may Allah bless you. I LOVE it!!

I feel complete, I mean I feel appropriate : now that I spend (purposely & happily) some part of my day in my (tiny & sweet) kitchen.

Cooking make me complete at least 2 khalifah responsibilities - make myself good and help others become good by preparing healthy, clean halalan toyyiban meals for my family.

InsyaAllah.

(khalifah) wives - let's cook! :)

Role of Khalifah

1. To make ourselves good.

2. To help others become good.

3. To make the physical world good

(clean and beautiful so it is pleasing to Allah).