Changing the world from a girl perspective

Got a parking space?

2013-07-23T23:03:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been in a situation where you are late for work or class and then you found out that your favorite parking space is taken? The next thing you know is that you have to park far away from the rest of the cars, in a very secluded and dangerous place which is not recommendable and safe for your car.

Or have you been in a situation where you are late for a lecture and your favorite seat is taken? Not only you have to bear the shame of being late to class where every eyes in the hall stares at you, you also have to seat far behind in the lecture hall.

If you have been in either of these situations, bear in your mind that this situation also implies for jannah.

Allah clearly stated in the Quran in Surah Al-Waqiah verse 10-14:

And those foremost [(In Islamic faith of Monotheism and in performing righteous deeds) in the life of this world on the very first call for to embrace Islam] will be foremost in paradise. [Quran 56:10]

These will be the nearest to Allah [Quran 56:11]

In the Gardens of Delight (paradise) [Quran 56:12]

A multitude of those (foremost) will be from the first generations (who embrace Islam) [Quran 56:13]

And a few of those (foremost) will be from the later generation [Quran 56:14]

The verses above clearly indicated that Allah actually indicated the ratio or percentage of people who will enter jannah. A multitude which is the large number of people who will enter jannah will come from the first generations of people who embrace Islam. It will be the people who came during the Prophet’s and the Khulafa Al Rasyidin era. This is during the golden age of Islam whereby abundance of people converts into Islam.

Only a few of the people who enter jannah come from the later generation. It has been approximately 1400 years since our beloved Prophet Muhammad pbuh left us from this world. We are the later generations that is indicated in the Quran. Only a few of us will be able to make it to jannah.

WE ARE REMARKABLY LATE FOR A PARKING SPACE IN JANNAH SINCE THAT ALMOST ALL OF THE SPACE IS TAKEN.

It is time for us to move on. This is not the time for us to reminiscence on the past. This is the time for us to make changes and grab every opportunity possible in order to secure a place for us in jannah. Remember, jannah come with a high price and only those who Allah specifically chosen will be able to secure their place there.

Let us be one of the few people who are able to secure a parking space in jannah!

Love comes softly...

2013-04-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

There are many versions of a love story. To those who are lucky, they live their life, then meet up with their soul mate and fall in love, get married soon or later afterwards. To those who are a little bit unlucky, they fall in love many times before they finally meet their right match. Along the way they might be heartbroken more than once. There are also those who have been in love and yet later on in their life they are being tested by Allah and separated.

If I am being left with the freedom to write about the story of love, I think there will just never be an ending full stop to it. It is impossible to imply that anyone who is alive never ever been in love before. However, one unique thing is that love can come from various forms. It can be in the form of love between 2 lovers or it can be in the form of love of a mother’s towards her child. It can also be in the form of love towards our friends, family, animals and trees. That is one unique thing about love. It can come from various forms.

However, those form only use one medium which is the heart. Yes, without a heart a person will never be able to feel love. We will never be able to portray our love or convey it well. Therefore, a heart plays a fundamental role in portraying one’s love.

However, we all seem to forget one other thing that we need for love. The source of love itself. Which is from Allah. This is what we human choose to forget. We are being extra careful with whom we choose for a spouse and yet we do not even have the slightest care or gratitude to establish a good relationship with the power who gave us that love. After all, the feeling of love itself is a gift from Allah and being instilled into the hearts of anyone whom He wills. It is not within our power to control it. We will never be able to control with whom we fall in love with, or who will fall in love to us. We never failed to pray to Allah to provide us with a spouse who is a soleh/solehah and yet we never bother even for once to express our gratitude to the one who give us that love. When we manage to meet with our love ones, when there are trials and tribulations arises we never fail to pray to Allah to ask for His guidance.

True, it is good to constantly pray. But it will be much better if for once, in our life we express our gratitude as well. Remember, Allah never disappoint us. He is always by our side, while the people whom we love might leave our side any time soon.

To me, the love of Allah towards us is a wondrous thing. It is a love that comes softly. Allah love towards us is like the overflowing water in the sea with no end to it. It is something that cannot be described. We were born into this world, live among His creations and felt His love later on in life. His love has always been with us. But we only realize it later on in life. His love unlike the normal human love, it come very softly. That is the very beauty of it.

Say (O Muhammad pbuh to mankind) : "If you really love Allah then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is oft forgiving, Most Merciful." [Quran 3: 31]

A professional daie is a marketer

2013-03-17T03:26:00.001-07:00

Daie is define as the concept of spreading out knowledge and encourage others to do good for Allah cause. Meanwhile, a marketer is define as the person who identify and meet the human and social needs for a profit.

How could two different professions from two different perspectives, can be categorized as the same scope and area? In other words, how could a daie become a marketer? The answer is relatively simple. Look at the current issues in the world. In United States alone, every 13.7 minutes someone will die due to suicide. The number of suicidal death in the year of 2010 is stated to be 38,364 people. You can refer the facts here. Other than that, in Malaysia the number of baby dumping has been increasing at a very frightening rate from the year 2005 until now. According to Royal Malaysian Police statistics, the number of baby dumping in Malaysia from year 2005 until 2010 is stated to be 407 cases. You can refer the facts here. This means that every year, on average there are 68 cases of baby dumping. These respective cases along with other cases and issues all around the world, such as homosexuality, corruptions, human trafficking and others indicated how much the world and morality have suffered in these recent years.

In a more simple terms, these recent cases indicated how much human is in desperate need for salvation.

This is when a professional daie plays its role. This is because, both the daie and marketer have one thing in common. They both identify and meet the human needs. It is the role of a professional daie to educate the public about this life and the hereafter. It is their roles to encourage others to do good. Meanwhile, it is the role of the marketer to identify and meet the human needs. Judging from the current issues, it is obvious that human needs salvation. Therefore, it is not wrong to say that a professional daie is a marketer since that a professional daie must be able to identify and meet the human needs and be able to provide solutions and guidelines for the public as a whole. However, the profit here that a daie will receive will not be in the term of monetary value like the normal marketer but will be the benefit that will be grant to them in the hereafter.

Therefore, it is truly important that a professional daie must be able to convey their message well, in kind words so that they are able to create a mutual understanding and concession towards their mad'u (the people they are preaching to).

" They (hypocrites) are those of whom Allah knows what is in their hearts; so turn aside from them (do not punish them) but admonish them, and speak to them an effective word (ie. to believe in Allah, worship Him, Obey Him, and be afraid of Him) to reach their innerselves" [Quran 4: 63]

The world is in desperate needs for a daie just as much as an organization is in desperate need for a marketer. Marketers play a vital role in an organization which is to identify the public needs and promote sales. Without sales, there will be no profit made, and without profit, organization will face with the problem of bankruptcy. It is the same with daie. Due to the arising cases or immorality in this world, it is only appropriate that a daie shall exist in order to educate the public on what is right and wrong. There are always solutions exist to all type of problems. Suicide, baby dumping, corruptions and many others immorality issues is not the solution to that problem. Turn to Allah. Believe in Him. After all, He is the ultimate creator of mankind.

" And to Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And all matters go back (for decision) to Allah" [Quran 3:109]

I am sorry. Please Forgive me.

2013-03-02T06:41:00.001-08:00

Today I read blog posted from another blogger who had just passed away. I had never known him throughout his life. But his death entered the news and somehow I have found an article that published about his blog. It was actually a very simple blog. But somehow, reading through his blog gave a profound impact towards me.

Death is something that is unavoidable.

"Everyone shall taste death. And only on the Day of Resurrection shall you be paid your wages in full. And whoever is removed away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is successful. The life of the world is only the enjoyment of deception" [ Quran 3:185]

" Wheresoever you may be,death will overtake you even if you are in fortress build up strong and high!" If some good befalls them, they say, “This is from Allah.; but if evil, they say, “This is from thee” (O Prophet). Say: “All things are from Allah.” But what hath come to these people, that they fail to understand a single fact?" [Quran 4:78]

Today other people, strangers, might be reading his blog due to his death but tomorrow it might be my own blog that people will be reading. It makes me think to the very first reason why I was totally dedicated a few months ago to establish this blog. I make a vow to myself many years ago that I will try to change the world. Many will probably agree with me that the world is a harsh place to live in, but to me living in this world is such a blessing granted to me by my Lord. I live in this world to contribute for the ummah. I saw many people who have many problems and they have no one to turn to. Years before, I had been facing similar experiences, abundance of problems and no one to turn to. Back then, I was wishing that someone will appear into my life and guide me. But no one ever did, and how much of a lonesome experience it was.

So I know. I know how it feels like to face it all alone. That was long before I learn the love towards my creator. Now if I find myself facing complicated problems I keep reminding myself:

“You are not alone. Allah is always by your side”

I wish and I will keep on praying that you will have this same mindset instill inside your mind. Please do not hate the world nor fear it because the world is a wonderful gift from Allah to us. Cherishes it. Be happy. Live your life happily and remember that at the end of this long, tiring journey, Allah will be waiting for you.

If it is finally the time for me to go to meet my creator, then from deep down inside my heart I sincerely apologized. I guess it is still not too late for me to apologize. I am sorry because I make a vow to change the world and to contribute to the ummah and yet I was never able to fulfill it. I am sorry that I could never be by your side helping you throughout your problems. I am sorry for all the wrongdoings that I have committed towards you whether it is intentionally or not. I am sorry if my words and actions have hurt you. I am sorry that I have become a failure to the ummah. I am truly sorry. You will always be in my prayers. My last wish is that whoever you are, on whichever part of the world you are, you will always remember, that Allah will always protect you and be by your side. You are never alone.

In the name of Allah the most Gracious, the Most Merciful

“By Al-Asr (the time). Verily, man is in loss. Except those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth which Allah has ordained, and abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which Allah has forbidden and recommend one another to patience” (Surah Al-‘Asr, The Holy Quran)

F.R.E.E.D.O.M

2013-02-21T07:10:00.001-08:00

There are many definitions of freedom. One of it is the quality or state of being free and the absence of necessity, coerce and constraint in choice or action. This is defined by the online dictionary Merriam Webster.

Yes, you are free to think and taking actions but to what extent? It is true that we are all born in this world with that type of freedom, however the consequences of that freedom that we have to take into account for.

But to me, the definition of freedom is relatively simple. Freedom here means we are free to think. Yes, definitely. This is because our inner thoughts are only private to ourselves. But are we free to voice it? Are we free to take any actions that we want? This is the time when we have to make choices. We do not have the freedom of making choices as many people will think so. This is because the choices that we will make might have a long everlasting consequences and may affect many individuals in the future.

Many people do not realize this. That is why they come up with the ideology "The Freedom of Speech" or "The Freedom of Expression". The fact is, we do not have that type of freedom. The moment of our birth in this world, we are abide by laws. Every single actions that we take, every errors that we make are abide by the human law.

This is because we are not born alone in this world. We are sharing this earth with another human beings, animals, trees and creatures. If we are born alone, then we might have that type of freedom. However, since that we are not alone in this world, there is no such thing as freedom. The freedom here is only the freedom to think. The choices that we have to make, the words that we utter, the words that we write, every single action that we intend to take do not come with the word "freedom" in it.

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others" ~Nelson Mandela~

Ignorance is not a bliss

2013-02-17T00:18:00.001-08:00

Read. Study. Knowledge.

3 simple words that mankind shall take heed of.

This is because knowledge is a powerful weapon that can change the course of mankind. History dictates that with great knowledge mankind evolved and civilization was build.

" Read! In the name of your lord who has created (all that exists)" [ Quran 96:1]

By reading, knowledge can be gained and through knowledge, light enlighten our path. Through knowledge we are able to be free from the current state of darkness.

But most of us choose to be ignorant. To us, ignorant is a bliss. We choose not knowing, we choose to be in the darkness, and we choose wrongly. This is because ignorant is not a bliss.

Without knowledge, we choose to be left behind, and without knowledge we choose not to grow.

One of the advice left by Imam Syafie

"Gain knowledge as much as you can since that it is knowledge that will make you succeed in this world and the hereafter"

A little bit about Imam Syafie, to those who wish to know. He is one of the four great Imams existed in mankind. These four great imams were born years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w and his fellow companions. Imam Syafie came from the lineage of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w himself from his father side. His real name is Muhammad bin Idris bin Al-Abbas bin Uthman bin Syafie bin Sa'ib bin Abd Yazid bin Hasyim bin Abdul Mutalib bin Abd Manaf bin Qusai al-Quraisy. He was called Syafie since that his face bears a striking resemblance of his great grandfather Syafie who is also said to resembled the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w himself.

Imam Syafie memorizes the Holy Quran at the age of 9. Then, he went to further his studies in the field of Quran, poetry, hadith, fiqh and others. He went travelling many miles and many days to Medina, Iraq and Egypt in order to gain knowledge. He was born poor, with his father died when he was very young, yet, his dedication and thirst for knowledge was so strong that he was not willing to give up in his quest to search for knowledge.

I was touch and inspired when I read his bibliography. It was evident that back then, it is truly difficult for you to study or gain knowledge. In comparison to today in the modern age, knowledge can be gain at the power of our fingertips. We have internet, digital books and libraries.We can easily 'google' anything that we want to know. Furthermore, with the current advance of technology, we can read and browse online wherever we go through our smartphones, tabs, ipads and others. Wherever we are, we can gain access and read articles, books and journals from international authors that came from various parts of the world. We can watch their online videos and youtubes.

Nowadays, knowledge is not scarce and hard to find as it once used to be. We do not have to travel many miles to study. Everything is within our fingertips. Yet, we choose to be ignorant because to us, ignorant is such a bliss.

Hawthorne Effect

2013-02-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

A study conducted by a Harvard Business School professor, Elton Mayo in the year of 1927 to 1932 found out that a worker's productivity can be increased if there is a psychological stimulus arises from the need of being single out or feel important.

In a simple word it is described that a person will have the tendency to work harder and perform better when they were being watched or being given special attention. This study was conducted at the Hawthorne Plant in Western Electric Company of Cicero, Illianos. This study is called the Hawthorne Effect.

The findings in this study indicated that when the employees in this company were being singled out together, to be watched by the researchers, they tend to perform better than those who were not chosen for the research.

This proved that a person will work harder and perform better when they have this feeling that they were being watched.

When I first heard of this study, my first impression was this :- We are all being watched. Even when we are alone sitting by ourselves, we are actually being watched! By whom? Of course, by our creator.

"Therefore remember Me (by praying,glorifying), I will remember you, and be grateful to Me (for My countless Favors on you) and never be ungrateful to me" [ Quran 2:152]

The truth is, we are all being watch by our supreme Creator for every second, every hour, days, months and years in our life. If only we care to remember Him for every second of the day, then probably we will have choose to perform better in life.

Medical Doctors = POOR?

2013-01-31T15:40:00.000-08:00

"In the year of 1960 at the United States, when someone is excelling well academically, people will assume that this bright student will enroll in the medical school and becoming a doctor. This is because, back then, medical doctors is one of the profession with a promise of the greatest financial rewards. Today, doctors face financial challenges I wouldn't wish on my worse enemy: insurance companies taking control of the business,managed healthcare,government intervention and malpractice suits. Today, kids want to be famous athletes, movie stars, rock stars, beauty queens or CEOs because that is where the fame, money and prestige are" (Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad)

This is what happening in the United States where the profession of doctors is not consider as a great profession as it once used to be. Why is these things happening? Why do medical doctors faced financial challenges?

The answer is relatively simple. Medical doctors, just like any other profession, are lacking the financial literacy needed in order for them to survive and strive in the real world. These doctors do not realize the importance of financial education that eventually, will lead to their financial downfall later on in the future.

The same trend is repeating itself in Malaysia. For the past decade, most of the bright students in Malaysia choose to become medical doctors. It is a high demanding jobs that come along with the image of fame and money. However, these graduates failed to realize that medical doctors is one of the profession that are having great financial challenges in the future.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" (George Santayana)

True, they earned a lot. But the more they earn, the more they lose money. I will give one simple example. In order to become rich, you have to acquire asset. What is the definition of asset? In accounting we come across this equation Asset = Liabilities + Owner's Equity. Regardless of whatever the accounting concept is, to me the definition of asset is money that goes into your pocket. Liabilities is money that goes out of your pocket. Asset and liabilities could never be the same like the accounting equation above.

One of the mentality of the poor and middle income earners is that "study hard,work hard,get a good position and earn more". One thing they do not realize is that the more they earn, the more money they are losing paying taxes and liabilities such as house loans,car loans and others.

"Rich people acquire assets. The poor and middle class acquire liabilities that they think are assets" (Robert Kiyosaki)

I am not only implying this only to medical doctors. Even those who graduate with a business degree holder are facing financial problems. However, I am focusing more on medical doctors because they are the group of people that through Malaysian mentality considered as rich.

I am trying to change the society perception of "Rich Doctors" by writing this entry. Medical doctors are not rich. If they do not know how to manage their finance, they will never be rich.

I dream to be a shy person

2013-01-28T03:03:00.001-08:00

The prophet Muhammad s.a.w was a very shy person.

It is stated that all Prophets who ever lived in the world throughout the ages were shy and modest. It was said about the Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) that he was more shy than a celibate veiled-girl. Whenever he disliked anything, the companions could easily recognize his aversion on his face. (HR Bukhari & Muslim)

Shyness is said to be a part of the branch of iman.(HR Bukhari & Muslim)

It is said that the prophet Muhammad s.a.w was so shy, that when he speaks he will never gazed into the person eyes for a long time.

When I read the opinion of another muslim brother about muslimah conducting a vlog, I was having multiple and various doubts whether I am able to do it. You can read the article here.

Do not get me wrong. To me, it is a good opportunity for muslimah to go into public since that we will bring with us a positive message of Islam to the entire world. It is not because I am afraid to do it. But the prospect of exposing myself to the cyber world, oh well I just become too shy to do it.

To brother Aiman Azlan, I accept your invitation with an open heart. I sincerely agree with you that it is time for the muslimah to actively participate and contribute to the society. To all muslimah out there,as a humble servant of Allah, I am extending my hand of friendship towards you. May Allah bless us all.

I fear of becoming what I hate

2012-12-27T01:33:00.000-08:00

Stereotyping others based on their individual differences.Just like the red apple in the photo.

I hate people with arrogant attitude and I certainly fear of becoming one myself.

I hate people who loves to discriminate others thinking that they are on a higher level than everyone else,

I certainly fear of becoming like them.

I hate people who just loves to stereotyping others based on their individual differences.

I certainly fear of becoming like them.

I hate people who loves of becoming hypocrites and lies all the time.

I certainly fear of becoming like them.

There is just too many attitudes that I hate that I care to list down. Some of it even I have myself. However, one of the things that I fear the most is becoming something that I hate.

My lord is always by my side...

2012-12-26T18:20:00.001-08:00

My forever thanks goes to you, Ya Allah.I choose to win. As long as you are by my side, I am forever a winner. Alhamdulillah.

There are many things in this life that we are not satisfied about. If you are rich, does not necessarily means you are happy and if you are poor does not necessarily means you are unhappy. We are always constantly complain on the obstacles that we face on our daily lives, without even for once pause, and think, that despite all that happen we are still alive. Yes, Alive! We are still able to breath in this world.

"And He gave you of all that you asked for, and if you count the Blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them" Ibrahim [14] : 34

The blessings of our Lord are abundance, uncountable ever since the day of our birth, if given the chance, we will not be able to count it all. Therefore, it is not in the right place for us to complain, when we receive so many, and we are able to live freely in His Kingdom up till this day.

All that we need to do right now is not complaining, but say only the one word. Thank You Allah. Alhamdulillah.

The 90/10 rule of money

2012-12-21T20:39:00.002-08:00

The first time I heard the words The 90/10 rule of money is from the book that I am currently reading which is "Why we want you to be rich" by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki. For those of you who have not read this book I strongly suggest that you do, since that this book explains a lot about the world events and the concept of investment that might be useful to you later in life.

From what I learned in this book is that the 90 percent of the nation asset is being owned by only 10 percent of the nation wealthiest billionaires. In other words, only 10 percent of a nation population owned the 90 percent wealth of a nation. Even though there is no empirical data or no specific studies dedicated to this principle, however this principle do make sense in lots of way.

This are the list of Malaysian top 10 wealthiest men who owned approximately $51,800 million worth of asset. So basically, the 90/10 rule of money does apply in Malaysia or in any other countries in this world. Only a selected few of the riches who owned the rest of the nation wealth, while the other 90 percent consist of the average government servants, public sector workers, small business owners and others.

WHERE ARE WE IN THIS RATIO? Well if you ask me, my answer will be we are definitely the 90 percent of the population who work hard and yet still does not owned the highest percentage of the nation wealth. You see, in this book, it is clearly stated that there is arising problems of the shrinking middle class. Soon, there will only be 2 classes exist in this world, the riches and the poor. The riches represent the 10 percent of the population while the poor represents 90 percent of the population. See the humongous difference? If we are not careful enough, this ratio will turn into 95/5 where only 5 percent of the population owned the other 95 percent of the nation wealth. In a simplified words the poor will increase to 95 percent while the riches become only 5 percent of a nation population.

That is why we need to be rich. If there are more of us who become rich, the ratio of the riches in the country will increase and the ratio of those who are poor will be reduce. Of course, it is easier said then done. The first step that you can take is to educate yourself with financial education as much as possible.

"Do not neglect your life skills, which should include a healthy dose of financial education. Your financial intelligence can have a profound impact on your quality of life,no matter what your interest are", Donald Trump.

Finally, always be prepared in order to cope with the changing world. As Louis Pasteur said, "Chance favors the prepared mind."

To me everyone is a warrior...

2012-12-20T03:48:00.000-08:00

According to Merriam Webster, a warrior is define as a person who engaged and experience in warfare broadly a person who engage in some struggle or conflict. To me everyone is a warrior. Why do I make such a statement? This is because, everyone wake up everyday fighting for their lives. Either you are poor or rich, a leader or follower, a manager or employee, father, mother, son or daughter, regardless of whoever you are, we all have to fight. By how extend? That I cannot decide. But I do know for sure that everyone face obstacles in their lives. Obstacles that they must somehow overcome in order for them to move on with their lives.

Well remember this. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. We all face obstacles some way or another. It is something that is unavoidable in this life.

We just need to keep on moving forward. The theme of the movie that I love to watch "Meet the Robinsons"

From failure we learn. Therefore, all that we need to do is brace ourselves and keep on moving forward.

Good luck and all the best to all of you. Wherever you are, and whoever you are, I pray to Allah that you will succeed in whatever you do. May Allah blessings be with you.

My first entry

2012-12-18T02:31:00.002-08:00

I remember when I first learned about blogs 5 years ago on my sophomores year of college. It was actually a class project, and I remember fully well what the lecturer made us to write. The first thing that I post on that particular blog are 5 or 6 poems about myself. I remember her encouragement for me to continue to write in my blog.

However, I did not continue to write in the future. I begin to think that a blog is such a drag and only those who are self conscious about themselves will write a blog. I keep thinking who in the world will read my blog?

How much of a fool I was back then. Now I begin to realize the importance of a blog. It is not about how many people will read your blog, it is about your ability to express your opinion well. If you can't express your voice publicly, then a blog is just a place for you.

As years goes by, I begin to think that there is just some things that need changes in this world. I have lots of ideas and this blog act as a medium for me to reach out to all of you.

A word of advice from a great man "Be the change that you wish to see in this world" ~Mahatma Gandhi~

This word somehow have a profound effects towards me. I have learned that if you want changes then you have to be making the changes yourself. This blog is a milestone for me to make changes in this world. Trust me I have lots of ideas. Stay tune for more.