Demi matahari, dan cahayanya di pagi hari,
Demi bulan bila ia mengiringi,
Demi siang bila ia menampakkannya.
Demi malam bila ia menutupinya.
Demi langit serta pembinaannya.
Demi bumi serta penghamparannya.
Demi sukma dan penyempurnaannya,
maka Allah Mengilhamkan kepada jiwa itu jalan kefasikan dan ketakwaannya,
sesungguhnya beruntunglah orang yang menyucikan jiwa itu,
dan sesungguhnya merugilah orang yang mengotorinya.
- QS Asy Syams (Matahari) 91:1-15
Let me ask you a personal question. How many times do you pray each day? How many times, each day do you really, really
pray? How many times do you pray with all your heart, at the most sincerest, and sense of submission in a day? How many times?
I will use myself as the subject of victimisation. I honestly only pray occasionally. In times when life is too hard too handle, when only I have time, when somebody invited me to pray together, when my mom or dad asked whether or not i have prayed, then i will pray. I lack discipline, responsibility and gratitude. I was not aware of the fact that I too often ignore or put Him on the sidetrack, and not as the main purpose of my life. I always forget the little detail that He is always, always, all the time, every single nanosecond with me and taking care of me and being not just by my side, but
within me. He essentializes me. I forgot. Being human, that's what we all are - forgetful.
I have gone through many 'realization' phases concurrently. I recently came about a thorough expose of the ESQ program in the April 2009 edition of 'Majalah I' whereby Dr. Ary Ginanjar was interviewed and the ESQ program was reviewed. I know a lot of people who would die to participate in the program, and i was truly lucky to be able to join although for the short course (cheaper!). The articles in the magazine of Dr. Ary Ginanjar definitely moved me to reread the books that i got from the program and those that my dad bought:
The Islamic Guide to Developing ESQ: Emotional Spiritual Quotient, Rahasia Sukses Membangun Kecerdasan Emosi dan Spiritual and other related books. Quoting from Allah's Manual (the Holy Quran), the books definitely affected me in a whole new level.
I felt very far. It's unexplainable, but i feel very far, from wherever I am supposed to be. I know I am not going to be donning the hijab any time soon, but who knows, with his Hidayah, i might. they say never say never. but what is clear, i will try my best to right all the wrongs and try to be the better version of me everytime i have the choice.
A second 'realization' incident. my dad recently brought home the script for a soon-to-be released drama series for this Ramadhan, titled Fitrah (but may be changed to Cinta Sempurna). So i read the script to give a review to my dad about the series. and i have to say, it is one moving tale! definitely one to watch out for in Ramadhan (August)! It is based on a true story of a brother and a sister who is 'far' from the truth of Islam and trying to find their way back through a young Ustaz who uses not Sunnahs and Hadiths, but Facebook, blogs and YouTube to explain the meaning of human life in the eyes of Allah. Very, very interesting, huh? And so from there, i learned a lot myself, and imagined myself in the shoes of the siblings. the line-up of casts is interesting too: Ashraf Muslim, Tungku Tiara, Fizow, Siti Fazurina, Ellie Suriaty, Akhil Hayy, Akbar Azmi, Maria Farida, Jalil Hamid and etc. The most interesting part of the story is of course, there will be love. But will the love between humans defy the love of the Almighty? We'll have to wait and see! (note: even the scriptwriter hasleft the ending hanging as it is based on true story, so they still dont know whats about to happen). It will be aired on
Astro Oasis channel 106.
I have yet to read a book called 'Mother of the Believers: A novel of the birth of Islam' by Kamran Pasha which i will have to borrow from a friend,
Baiti, as it is not released yet in Malaysia. We saw it at the Singapore Kinokuniya and i had to save some money, so I couldnt buy it. but not to fret, I will get my hands on those! :) I have to say, the book caught my eye from the very first page. The first sentence of the prologue is this:
What is faith?
How cool. the words Kamran Pasha uses definitely pulled the strings of my heart, comparing memories to the wind and etc. of course, he is a well-known cowriter for NBC's Bionic Woman amongst many others. You can
check him out at his website.
So again, i would say that this past few weeks have been very very
testing and i am glad that i have great support from all these books and resources to keep me strong ang going. But one that is constantly there to help is definitely Him :) I wish that the days to come will be better for me and for you.
Take care everyone.