Compassion

The sound of baby cat crying at the back alley of my house startled everyone. The pitch is high and penetrate through our ear drum. My kids ran to the back to see what was going on. A small kitten, barely a month old, was crying in the drain. It was drenched with dirt. Such a poor sight. My son rescued the kitten. Later on in the evening we heard the cry of another one. A second kitten was rescued. Now I found myself with two more pets beside the pair of Serama (minute/small) chicken and a pair of rabbit. Even the pet the Allah has sent to us comes in pair. Friends of my daughter saw a group of stray dogs killing a cat the day before. That must be the poor mother of the pitiful kittens.

For a muslim this is an obligation, a responsibility. I can't let the poor kitten on its own. Allah will question me what I have done to save them in the hereafter. That is the day when our mouth can't speak (therefore can't lie). Our hand, leg, skin and others will answer the question what it has done. The eyes will tell what it has seen. The legs will tell where they have gone to. Every part will testify what it has done. I have no excuse not to rescue the kittens.

I bought milk powder for baby animal. And a feeding bottle too. The bigger kitten will drink until it is full. The smaller one require some coaching and persuasion. No wonder it is smaller in size. Litle Aiman just love the kittens. So does his bigger brothers and sister. Thank you Allah for sending these kittens to us. It is a blessing. Rescuing and rearing lost kittens like this will make our rezeki or livelihood and luck to increase. It may not necessarily in term of dollar and cent but may come in term of happiness, serenity, peace of mind and the such. Alhamdulillah, thank you Allah for giving us this chance.

May Allah bless us all. Ameen.

Startled - cause (a person or animal) to feel sudden shock or alarm : a sudden soundin the doorway startled her.

Drenched - wet thoroughly; soak : I fell in the stream and got drenched.

Rahmatan lil a'lamin

I was quite early. Have to. Must make sure everything will go well. Today is one of the two days that I will carry out my experiment. With control group today.

An Indian girl peek inside the staff room searching for a teacher. Since I was nearest to the door, she asked me about Puan N. I asked around and said to her that Puan N was not in the staff room. She looked at me intently. The she asked me whether I have taught in this school before. Yes, until 2007. Then I further my study in 2008 and left the school. I came today to do my research. Then she excitedly said that she have been searching for me for a long time. I taught her Mathematics in 2007 and helped her to obtain B in PMR examination. She can still remember the advices that I have given her. Thank you teacher for making it all possible for her. Now she is taking account class and her maths now is A.

She was in form 3T in 2007. Not my class. But in my extra class, I invited all the form 3 classes. Not many from other class joint me. She's one of them. Form 3T was one of the poor class. To get B for maths, coming from such class, is quite an achievement. Fighting against social stigma and negative self image. All I did was to give my attention, coaching, and encouragement. The rest is up to them.

Islam comes as a blessing to all human kinds, plants and animals. Rahmatan lil a'lamin. Islam has an elaborate code of ethics. As a muslim teacher, I must be fair to all. Help everyone. Even students from other classes.

As I was climbing the stairs, a few boys were descending the stair. They recognize me. One even shout out loud "Teacher, I love you". That stunt me. But I remember saying the same line to my students back then. I'm getting back what I gave them. Love.

May Allah bless all my ex students. May Allah bless us all. Ameen.

Niat (intention)

A few sleepless nights already, preparing the paper. Once that is done, now to prepare the slide. My maid is still on holiday in Surabaya, Indonesia, which means tons of house work for me. This would be my first academic talk as a master student on an official university's platform, alongside lecturers. While watering the plants in my garden, I reminded myself. OK Ummu Ilman, this is a platform to share your findings. Not to show off how great or smart you are. Streak of bad thoughts always come across our mind. That's the work of satan. I reminded myself of the first hadith in Sahih Bukhari:

Umar b. al-Khattab narrated that the Prophet (S) said: Deeds are [a result] only of the intentions [of the actor], and an individual is [rewarded] only according to that which he intends. Therefore, whosoever has emigrated for the sake of Allah and His messenger, then his emigration was for Allah and His messenger. Whosoever emigrated for the sake of worldly gain, or a woman [whom he desires] to marry, then his emigration is for the sake of that which [moved him] to emigrate." Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim.

While moving from plant to plant to water them (and there's a lot of plants in my treasured garden), ideas just come across my mind on what aspect to touch on and how best to present my points to make a long lasting effect. Alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah, Allah always ease me in all my endeavors.

Every presenter is given only 15 minutes to present since there are 17 presentations. Everything went on quickly. After I finished mine, surprisingly the audience clapped their hands. The first presentation to receive such respond even though the event was already in the second half. One of the terminology that I coined in my presentation was repeated a few times by a later presenter which meant that I have made a long lasting effect that I wish for. Thank you Allah for enabling me to share a piece of knowledge. All the praises that I received I return it back to Allah by saying "Alhamdulillah, all praises are for Allah". Nothing is possible without your permission, ya Allah.

To have the right niat or intention is always a struggle. Good deeds doesn't always have good intentions. And intentions is paramount in Islam. As the hadith above say Allah will reward us based on out intentions. The fact that it is the first hadith in Sahih bukhari speaks of its upmost importance in Islam. Ya Allah, please help me to always have the righteous intention in all my actions. Ameen.

May Allah bless us all.