Family outing

We went out together. The whole family. My three boys came home from their various universities and this is an occasion to be celebrated. The request to buy shampoo took the whole family to a shopping complex and we had dinner there.

A family that go out together stays together. Even though my kids are grown up already, we are still like we were 15 years ago. Quality time is a good idea but it still cannot compensate quantity time. Soon they will be married one by one. Hopefully when we go out in the future there will be more people in our team (with our daughters/son in law and grand kids) instead of lesser (just me and my husband). The more the merrier. May Allah bless my family with happiness.

May Allah bless us all.

Extra classes

Some teachers have paid tuition classes. They make quite a hefty amount. Some even earn more than their salary. But for me I just offer extra class after school voluntarily.

I can see the pattern. Teachers who have tuition classes rarely, if ever, give extra classes after school hours. On the other hand, teachers who give a lot of extra classes are not really interested in tuition classes. Just extra classes for the sake of their students' success. Of course there are those that give both extra classes and paid tuition classes but this group is small.

I believe my reward is that Allah will take care of my kids in their study. Allah will make it easy for them in one way or another. I have seen my kids suddenly excel in their study before. And it will happen again. With Allah's will.

May Allah bless us all.

Praise versus scold

A Malay proverb says that if we follow our heart we will die. But American always say follow your heart. I think both sayings apply to two completely different situations.

If somebody makes us mad and we become angry, then to me we are no better than that somebody since we are doing exactly the same thing - being mad. If somebody do something bad to us and that makes us having no qualm to do the same to him/her, then are we any better than that person?

When I was young I was highly spirited and always try to fight back. Now I silently accept all the negative remarks or angry words directed towards me. If we think about it, angry words might contain more truth in it than praises that we received. When people are mad at us they will say the negative aspects of us that we might not notice before. On the other hand, a praise may be overboard or insincere. As we aged we will have more wisdom to see through things.

1. Have We not opened your breast for you (O Muhammad (peace be upon him))?

2. And removed from you your burden,

3. And removed from you your burden,

4. And raised high your fame?

5. So verily, with the hardship, there is relief,

6. Verily, with the hardship, there is relief ,

7. So when you have finished, then stand up for Allah worship,

8. And to your Lord (alone) turn (all intentions and hopes and) your invocations.

Al Insyirah

In the above chapter, Allah stresses twice that in every hardship actually there is relief. What more do I need than Allah's promise that in every hardship I faced thare's something good waiting for me around the corner. So much so that almost every time that I faced hardship I will try to think of the good things Allah has in store for me.

So the next time people scolded you, after the heat is over try to think of what that person said to you. Maybe there's a lot of truth that you need to know.

May Allah bless us all.

qualm - an uneasy feeling of doubt, worry, or fear, esp. about one's own conduct;a misgiving : military regimes generally have no qualms about controlling the press.

The simple meaning of happiness

We had our dinner outside tonight at a restaurant that my two kids chose. Eating out is a luxury that my kids enjoy very much. Little Aiman ordered his favourite - chips and nugget. My girl tried mocca coffee. My girl and I ordered fried noodle and my husband ordered fried rice. There's a lot of prawns on our plate. Finishing my noodle, suddenly my husband put his prawn on my plate. He had already peeled off its skin. He knows that I love prawn. I ate the prawn with chilly sauce. Then he put a second peeled off prawn. I finished that too.

Source of happiness doesn't have to come from money or materials. The simple acts of love speaks a thousand more words than a love letter. Just open our heart to every small act of love that our loved ones show to us. Concentrate on the positive sides. Forget short comings. Nobody is perfect for we are just human and human err.

Choose to be happy. Don't choose to be dissatisfied. The choice is ours. For Hooi Ching, I hope you can practice this.

May Allah bless us all.

err - be mistaken or incorrect; make a mistake : the judge had erred in ruling that the evidence was inadmissible.

Missing Ramadhan

Back from the Eid Mubarak celebration and starting to teach today, I miss Ramadhan so much. Like losing a dear friend. I miss doing every routine in Ramadhan. Busy preparing meals in the evening for breaking the fast, preparing the meal for sahur at around 4.30 in the morning before waking up every one, finding time to read the Holy Qur'an, going to the musolla at night for Terawih prayer, stealing time while preparing sahur to perform Tahajjud prayer, I miss everything about Ramadhan.

Will I live long enough to see Ramadhan next year? I don't know. Everyday I try to be a better person than yesterday. And everyday I hope to be a better muslim tomorrow compared to today. Just like what Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him (p.b.u.h) wants us to be.

Today I'm fasting. To complete the six day fast that Allah promise us the reward is equal to a year of fasting. I'm fasting in order to be a good servant of Allah. May Allah accept all our good deeds for only Allah knows the value of each of our deed.

I'm looking forward to the day when I can see Allah and Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h). May Allah grant my wish.

May Allah bless us all.

Eid Al Mubarak Celebration

We shook hands and exchange greetings. We asked forgiveness from each other. We met relatives that we get to see once every two years or so. We exchanged news and stories. It's a time to rekindle old friendship, old ties. A time to revive old memories. A time to introduce our kids to their distant relatives.

In the happiness of celebrating Eid Al Mubarak, I deeply miss the holy month of Ramadhan. The solat Terawih or Terawih prayer performed every night. The solat tahajjud or Tahajjud prayer performed in the middle of the night especially during the last ten nights of Ramadhan. Will I live long enough to meet the next Ramadhan?

The celebration of Eid Al Mubarak reminds me to be sincere in forgiving people. And among the sign of sincerity is not to mention again the mistakes that people had done to me in the past. Easier said than done but I am determine to do it. Just as I want people to forget the mistakes I have done to them, I must do the same thing for them. Sometimes we forget that we are no better than others. Only Allah knows who is better and closer to Him. May Allah forgives all my sins and yours.

May Allah bless us all.

rekindle - revive (something that has been lost) : he tried to rekindle their friendship| the photos rekindled memories.