ummi's blog

bismilllah, promoting my mom's blog,
her intellectual journey of views and thoughts,
sharing one of her post for ramadhan,
http://wanummi.blogspot.com/2010/08/ramadhan-menuju-ke-puncak-ruh-ibadah.html?spref=fb

.2010. - never give up

As salamualaikum, (peace be upon you,)
sharing a story taken frm an email,

One day I decided to quit...
I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality...  

I wanted to quit my life.
I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

"God", I said.  
"Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"
His answer surprised me...
"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"
"Yes", I replied.
When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, 
I took very good care of them.
I gave them light. I gave them water.
The fern quickly grew from the earth.
Its brilliant green covered the floor.
Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed.
But I did not quit on the bamboo.
In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.
And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed.
But I did not quit on the bamboo. He said.
"In the third year, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. 

But I would not quit. In the fourth year, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. 

"I would not quit." He said. "Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth.

Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant... 

But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.

It had spent the five years growing roots.

Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. 

I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle."

He said to me. "Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, 

you have actually been growing roots."

"I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you.  

"Don't compare yourself to others ..." He said.  

"The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern ... Yet, they both make the forest beautiful."

Your time will come, "God said to me. " You will rise high!  

"How high should I rise?" I asked.

How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.

"As high as it can? " I questioned.

"Yes. " He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can. "

I left the forest and bring back this story.

I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.

He will never give up on you.

Never regret a day in your life.

Good days give you happiness

Bad days give you experiences;

Both are essential to life.

A happy and meaningful life requires our continuous input and creativity.
It does not happen by chance. It happens because of our choices and actions. 

And each day we are given new opportunities to choose and act and, in doing so, 

we create our own unique journey." Keep going...(love this quote)

Happiness keeps you Sweet, Trials keep you Strong, 
Sorrows keep you Human, Failures keep you humble, 
Success keeps you glowing, but only God keeps you going!

- winter break, family trip
p/s sorry for nt updating for quite a long time, as I have lost
interest in blogging (writing tht is)..bt inshaAllah I will try
to push myself to write next time...even if tis just a quote...

NEVER GIVE UP, 

'' and those who strives in Our cause, We will certainly 
guide them to Our paths, for verily Allah is with those wo do right '' 

(al-ankabut :69)

exam is within a week..!!

.Independence Day.

taken from malaysiaharmoni.com,

Adakah kita generasi merdeka?

Roha Hassan

Setiap tahun tanggal 31 Ogos akan dinanti-nantikan oleh rakyat Malaysia. Tahun ini rakyat Malaysia akan menyambut Hari Kebangsaan yang ke-52. Pada dasarnya tempoh 52 tahun merupakan jangka masa yang sudah memadai untuk mematangkan setiap warga yang merdeka. Pastinya Hari Kebangsaan juga merupakan sesuatu yang sangat bermakna dan bernilai untuk golongan muda walaupun tidak terlibat secara langsung dengan perjuangan kemerdekaan oleh nenek moyang kita dahulu.

Kemerdekaan bermaksud kebebasan dan kemampuan melakukan sesuatu tanpa sekatan atau halangan atau kongkongan belenggu oleh sesuatu (sila lihat Kamus Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka).
Mungkinkah tokoh kemerdekaan seperti almarhum Dr Burhanuddin al-Hilmi, Mat Kilau, Datuk Onn Jaafar dan ramai lagi dikenali dan dapat dijadikan contoh oleh generasi muda sebagai pejuang tanah air dan pada masa yang sama berjaya mencurah bakti kepada tanah air?
Setiap perjuangan menuntut kemerdekaan memerlukan kegigihan dan pengorbanan yang amat besar. Banyak sekali pengorbanan yang dicurahkan oleh ramai insan demi kemerdekaan. Air mata, darah, keringat, tenaga, wang ringgit, harta benda dan nyawa dikorbankan tanpa mengharapkan balasan melainkan kebebasan.
Namun, sejauh manakah generasi hari ini menghargai perjuangan nenek moyang kita membebaskan tanah air dari belenggu bangsa asing sehingga Malaysia akhirnya dimerdekakan pada 31 Ogos 1957? Setelah 52 tahun berlalu, apakah makna nikmat kemerdekaan itu dalam setiap tindakan generasi muda hari ini?
Hakikatnya, kemerdekaan bukanlah sesuatu yang cukup sekadar dilakarkan dalam lakaran sejarah atau diraikan tahun demi tahun tanpa penghayatan yang sebenar.
Sebagai generasi muda, remaja dan belia mesti dididik untuk menghargai nikmat kemerdekaan yang diperoleh ini. Di sini dikongsikan beberapa cadangan bagaimana golongan muda boleh menghargai kemerdekaan yang kita miliki hari ini.
Antaranya:
1. Merdekakan minda - Kemerdekaan tanah air tidak akan membawa makna yang mendalam sekiranya kita sebagai rakyat tidak memerdekakan minda kita daripada penjajahan budaya yang negatif dan merosakkan. Selaku bangsa yang berdaulat, rakyat Malaysia memiliki adab, nilai-nilai murni dan budaya tersendiri. Dengan membebaskan diri daripada belenggu jajahan budaya yang merosakkan, barulah kita menjadi generasi yang benar-benar bebas dan merdeka.
2. Bersyukur dan menghargai kemerdekaan - Bersyukur dan menghargai kemerdekaan boleh diterjemahkan oleh generasi muda melalui kesungguhan mereka menuntut ilmu dan belajar bersungguh-sungguh tidak kira di mana pun mereka berada. Hanya dengan ilmu, kita akan dipandang mulia dan mampu bersaing dalam dunia yang penuh mencabar ini.
3. Bersungguh-sungguh ke arah kemajuan - Memajukan diri dari segenap sudut setara dengan kemajuan material yang ada selepas Malaysia merdeka. Pembangunan setara yang dimaksudkan ialah pembangunan seimbang dari segenap aspek fizikal, emosi dan spiritual. Golongan muda mestilah bersungguh-sungguh memajukan diri dalam apa jua bidang yang mampu memajukan negara, bangsa dan agama. Sikap cukup dengan apa yang ada adalah sikap yang tidak akan membawa kita lebih jauh dan maju ke hadapan. Golongan muda mesti lebih bersungguh-sungguh memajukan diri, keluarga dan masyarakat.
4. Sentiasa bersedia menghadapi cabaran - Golongan muda mesti sentiasa bersiap siaga untuk mengharungi segala cabaran yang ada atau yang mendatang. Kelalaian dan keselesaan dengan perkara-perkara yang tidak membawa kebaikan akan menjadikan kita bangsa yang lemah dan mundur. Sepatutnya semakin lama kita merdeka semakin kita bersedia membawa Malaysia ke puncak persada antarabangsa.
5. Sejarah turun-temurun – Sejarah dan perjuangan nenek moyang kita untuk mendapatkan kemerdekaan mestilah disampaikan dengan tepat dan berterusan daripada generasi kepada generasi akan datang. Tujuannya agar mereka menghargai serta menghayati pengorbanan yang dilakukan oleh para pejuang kemerdekaan. Dengan ini mereka akan bertambah sayang pada tanah air dan bersedia mempertahankan nikmat kemerdekaan yang diperoleh.
N

.story.

bismillah,
sharing a true story of an ex roman catholic priest,
bro Idris Tawfiq in his interview with utusan malaysia

TAHUKAH anda, kedua-dua ayat surah al-Maidah itu
membuka pintu hati seorang paderi Gereja Katholik Roman

di Britain memeluk Islam! Bekas paderi itu, Idris Tawfik pada

mulanya sekadar membaca makna ayat kalam suci al-Quran itu

di hadapan anak-anak muridnya ketika bertugas sebagai Ketua

Pengajian Agama-agama di beberapa buah sekolah di England

dan Wales.

"Tetapi pada suatu hari, saya seolah-olah disedarkan oleh

ayat-ayat di atas ditujukan kepada saya. Bahawa tidak ada

bezanya kerana saya merupakan pendita dan ahli ibadat

(Nasrani) seperti yang disebut dalam ayat itu.

"Sejak itu saya sering tertanya-tanya, adakah saya orangnya

yang Allah maksudkan untuk akhirnya mengakui mengenai

kebenaran al-Quran dan menerima kerasulan

Nabi Muhammad?," ujarnya.

Seusai memeluk Islam, Idris akui tidak menyesal mengenang

masa silamnya yang pernah menjadi orang kepercayaan kuat

gereja. Termasuk menghabiskan lima tahun masa pengajian

beliau di Vatican City semata-mata untuk menjadi seorang

paderi yang berwibawa. "Untuk tempoh beberapa tahun, saya

gembira menjadi paderi terutama menolong mereka yang

memerlukan bantuan. Namun jauh di sudut hati, saya tidak

dapat menipu diri sendiri apabila akhirnyasaya merasakan

ada sesuatu yang tidak kena yang begitu menganggu hati dan

perasaan saya," katanya.
click here for th rest of th story

****************************

p/s I hereby confirm tht tis a true story,because I went to

one of his talk where he shares his own experience on how he

embrace Islam,and tis the exact story of wht he had told

utusan, (tiada tokok tambah)

he also mention in his talk tht he didn't like to use the

word convert to islam, he prefer embrace..

because we are all born as a muslim,

tis your parents/guardian tht mould you to become either muslim,

christian,jewish etc (based on ayah in the Qur'an).

What Invalidates the Fast :.

assalamualaikum,

found this article, do read for your understanding

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace
and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear brother in Islam, we commend your eagerness
to become well acquainted with Islam and its teachings,
which is the way Allah has chosen for the welfare of His servants.

In response to the question, Sheikh `Atiyyah Saqr, former
head of Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee, states:

As regards fasting, Allah, Exalted be He, says:

(So hold intercourse with them and seek that which
Allah hath ordained for you, and eat and drink until
the white thread becometh distinct to you from the
black thread of the dawn. Then strictly observe the fast
till nightfall.)
(Al-Baqarah: 187)

Also, it’s reported that one of the Prophet's Companions
told him: "I am ruined."
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
asked him: "Why?" The man replied: "
I had sexual intercourse with my wife in the day of Ramadan."
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) then
explained to him how to expiate it.

Both the above-mentioned verse and hadith indicate that
fasting means abstaining from food, drink and sexual intercourse.
Thus, eating, drinking or having sexual intercourse invalidates
one's fasting. Jurists have unanimously agreed that he who commits
any of those three acts must make up for the fast-day he missed,
since that would be a debt, and
" a debt owed to Allah merits even greater consideration "
as was stated in an authentic hadith. Additionally,
having sexual intercourse requires grand expiation, namely
freeing a slave. If a Muslim is unable to do so, he is to fast two
consecutive months. If he is still unable to, he is to feed sixty poor people.

Jurists differ on the exact definition of food and drink.
Some scholars maintain that eating and drinking involve
anything reaching the interior of one's body. Yet, they differ
as to whether "anything" is to be understood in a general sense
or is intended to mean something in particular, including food
and fulfilling one's lusts. They also differ on the meaning of
"interior" : does it mean one's stomach which receives food
and drink or the parts of the human body that cannot be seen
when looking at him or that organ which digests food and medicine?
Consequently, some hold that placing one's finger inside one's
ear invalidates fasting. Conversely, some of them are also of the
view that when food manages to find its way to the body,
not through an open tract, such as with the aid of needles,
one's fasting is not invalidated. Others point:
Should any substance reach the throat from beneath the hair,
through the pores, one's fasting is invalidated, despite the
fact that this is an unconventional channel? On the other hand,
some of them state: Inserting a syringe into the urethra does
not break one's fast, although the latter is an open tract.
Not taking into consideration the true significance of fasting and
relying on a generalized concept of food that included things distant
from the literal and customary meaning of the term, those jurists
issued such varied rulings.

However, of all the famous jurists' views, I select only the following:

1. Fasting is not invalidated on account of placing one's
finger inside one's ear, or because of cleaning it with a cotton
pad or a solution, since nothing can permeate the ear drum and
reach the head, which, in turn, is not an organ that receives food
which nourishes the body.

2. Fasting is not broken by vaginal examination, examination
of piles or tonsils using a spoon or things of the sort.

3. An enema does not invalidate fasting unless the tool
reaches the stomach.

4. Fasting is not invalidated by intravenous, intra-muscular or
subcutaneous injections, since they do not provide one with food
or drink that satisfies hunger or quenches thirst.

5. Nutritive injections, such as glucose injections and the like,
are conventionally regarded as food that does break one's fast.
Whoever takes nutritive injections can do without food for a long
time as they satisfy hunger the way food does. This is in effect
because when food is digested and absorbed, it is circulated in
the blood to the entire body to meet its needs. Alternatively,
nutrition could be directly injected into the blood without necessarily
passing through the alimentary canal.

6. Cooling off the body with cold water or the mouth by gargling
does not invalidate fasting since the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was seen pouring water
on his head in the blistering heat while he was fasting.
This was narrated by Ahmad, Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i.
This is because cooling off the body does not involve the water
reaching the stomach. It merely aims at stopping perspiration in
order to retain the water in the body so as to reduce thirst.

7.Vomiting: It is reported that the
Prophet(peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"Whoever is overcome and vomits, is not to make up for
the fast day, and whoever vomits intentionally must make
up for the fast day." Jurists maintain that vomiting is the coming
out of substances from the stomach through the mouth. If vomiting
takes place accidentally, it does not break fasting. If it is deliberate,
one's fasting is broken.

may Allah's guidance be with us !
insyaAllah

.Sleep : A Necessity,Not a Luxury.

Found this article at yahoo
Sleep: A necessity,not a luxury
by Dennis Thompson, Healthday Reporter

SUNDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- The pace of life gets faster and faster, and people try to cram more and more into every minute of the day.

As things get more hectic, sleep tends to get short shrift. It's seen as wasted time, lost forever.

"For healthy people, there's a big temptation to voluntarily restrict sleep, to stay up an hour or two or get up an hour or two earlier," said Dr. Greg Belenky, director of the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University Spokane.

"But you're really reducing your productivity and exposing yourself to risk," Belenky added.

That's a message doctors are trying to spread to Americans, including the estimated 40 million people who struggle with some type of sleep disorder each year.

Before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1880, people slept an average of 10 hours a night. These days, Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours a night on weekends, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

"The group of people getting optimal sleep is getting smaller and smaller," said Dr. Chris Drake, senior scientist at the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit. "When a person's sleep drops to six hours or less, that's when a lot of things become very problematic."

While experts recommend seven to eight hours of sleep each night, the amount needed for an individual can vary.

But lack of sleep affects a person in one of two ways, Belenky said. First, sleeplessness influences the day-to-day performance of tasks.

"The performance effects are seen immediately," he said. "You short-change yourself of sleep, and you see the effects immediately. You can make a bad decision. You can miss something. Have a moment's inattention, and you're off the road."

The longer-term effects of sleep deprivation involve a person's health. Doctors have linked lack of sleep to weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, depression and substance abuse.

click here for the report