CUL DE SAC

Sometimes those things you post online do nothing but challenging your values as Muslim.  Take care.

Human relationship can be complicated sometimes. We have done a lot of sacrifices and investments which in the end we ended up at the losing end. Life's like that. Allah has set us in such journey to make us realise that all that is bad is good. Being at the losing end in a complicated human relationship is a rahmah  because there is no way Allah wants anything bad for any of us. If we constantly, consistenly and sincerely keep our faith strong, rest assured brothers and sisters, Allah will grant us with more blessings, blessings which you could have never imagined you would get.

We are all hopefuls. Be it broken or not, we constantly hope for something to happen from someone rather than from Allah. To hope is good but if we put our hopes in wrong directions, we will become pointlessly hopeless. As long as we put our hopes to people who appear to be important in our lives, we can never truly be sure our hopes will be met. Hopefuls should hope from Allah. If Allah permits, what we hope for will surely happen. Sadly, many of us hope less from Allah. Rather, many of us put our faith way much stronger to a person than God. If this is so, we are nothing but sinners. What are we becoming? إِنَّمَا أَمْرُهُ إِذَا أَرَ ادَ شَيْئًا أَن يَقُولَ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ   "Whenever He decides to create something, He has only to say, "Exist," and it comes into existance."

"To know thyself is to know God." One of the greatest lessons pilgrimage has taught me and I would like to share is the power of letting go of yourself. Imagine you're jumping from a tall building with no parachute or even safety net to save you, you will surely be scared and panic. But I somehow experienced the opposite. Everything that happened to me, be it good or bad, they are all good. They are simply destined to me so that I could learn to survive. And I did.  To have an openess to life tests is not easy. But once you admit that you have no power to handle everything, and let God does the trick, you will eventually understand that God loves His servants greatly. Imagine the countless times God has saved us from troubles. He even gives us more time to do more deeds to cover up the sins that we have committed.  Pilgrimage has taught me that, I am nothing without God, I am nobody without the Prophet (SAW), I am lost without the Al-Quran and I am empty for as long as I ...

They say "change is good" and I agree. You can be yourself for as long as you could but the sense of contentment has to be there. Surely, everybody has different definitions of contentment. However, until you truly know what death is all about, you want nothing but to get close to God. I didn't really know what death is until one day I woke up and decided to change and when I was deeply determined to change, things around me automatically evolved on its own. I was tested and lost, but surprisingly, I held on to nothing else but God. For the first time in my life, I felt the sweetness of being tested. I was neither stress nor depressed at all. As a matter of fact, I had nothing to be worried about because I have God -- the greatest victory out of all the problems occurred as soon as I decided to change. Life is a journey. You can be happy and sad for whatever reasons but in the end you just can't deny that, all that you have, they are the blessings from God. Rather tha...

When things around you do not seem to evolve, it is time for you to make a move. If you know for a fact that there is a promising path ahead of you, a path that can make you a better person, you should not linger too long. After all, no one will save you other than your own self. 

Having life goals is good but having goals to balance out life with life goals is better. Stop focusing so much on working hard or having too much fun or not doing anything at all (as goals can come in many forms; not having any goals is also a goal). Start focusing on balancing out things in life because when things are in balance, we are moving accordingly with nature -- day and night, negative and positive, up and down. To go against nature is just WRONG.

By logic, non-racism can only be achieved through transparency, fairness and equality. As long as this country segregates the citizens racially through language, education, locality , economics and the likes, racism will be transmitted from one generation to another like a disease. The issue of racism today is not merely a spur-of-the-moment due to politics, but it has been a ticking bomb living in  every citizen of this country. And like every other ticking bombs, it's all about time! Nonetheless, on a positive note, Malaysians, regardless of our race, whatever thoughts that we have on this clearly reflect our sense of patriotism. We have a strong sense of belonging to this country, our roots and cultures. This shows that each and every one of us speaks for the right cause. In other words, we are all patriots. Racists but patriots. 

Everyone has his/her own views on patriotism. But it is no surprise if some people have no clue what patriotism is all about. Nevertheless, patriotism serves a purpose to us human, or rather countrymen. Living in a colorful country such as Malaysia, sometimes being a countryman seems a little too mono. Some leaders run shows to scare the people, while others create a sense of luxury by giving false hope. Either way, who are at the losing end? The answer is -- US, the countrymen.  Ideally, countrymen refer to the people who belong to the country. As for Malaysia, before the arrival of the Malays, there were the Orang Asli . They were the likes of Red Indians for the United States and Aborogins for the Australians. Known for its geographically strategic location, Malaysia has a unique history of becoming the hub for traders across the globe long time ago. And what do these traders brought to this country? Other than trading products, they brought themselves which came together in ...

There's this saying that says "charity begins at home" but the question is where is home? Often, we succumb ourselves to the feeling of annoyed whenever some strangers come to our table and ask for money in the middle of our dinner moments. Some of us even feel a little guilty for not helping. Well, there is a proper channel for charity. Indeed, charity should start at home because that is where our lives began. Give more to your parents, family and children. Then, you should consider your obligations of taking care the society. Zakat for example, is the clearest channel any muslim should focus on. There a lot of types of zakat which many don't fulfill. Finally, you could spend some ringgits to the blinds who come to your table. There is no harm in giving. As a matter of fact, the more you give, the more you will get in return. God is watching and He is fair. 

Dealing with elderly is tough. However, if you understand what blessings in disguised means, you would understand that your patience will be paid of in many ways. If it's not for you, it would be to your family or children. It's not hard to be kind and it's not hard to be patient with elderly people if you align your faith in god and in yourself. You can do more. You always can.

Women. When you make yourself so cheap, guys have no desire for you. Self-guard yourself with dignity. It helps you go a long way to a better future. If you think chasing a man who has rejected you once is a sweet move, you got wrong. Once a man said no, he will forever say no to you. Move on.

Remember the times we laughed at those people whom we thought were sad because they didn't have this and that, such as up-to-date gadgets, fancy cars, and cool fashion sense? We looked down on them because they appeared to be such a pity or a laughing stock. Having these people to look down upon has somehow made us feel better and complete. This is wrong. This is arrogance, which should not be nurtured. Whatever that we have, be it beauty, happy family, fancy materials; they are not ours. They are simply gifts from god which can be taken away from us in just a matter of time. God doesn't condone arrogance hence why should we. Humility is a perfect fit for everyone. Try it!

Aren't you tired of chasing things in order to ensure that you're on track with the trend? Materialistically speaking, it is exhausting to work hard and spend hard and claiming that "I am fulfilled" when the next thing you know, you are in many ways still inadequate. Why are we enslaving ourselves to meet up the never ending expectations that we put to ourselves? Life is a matter of our choices. If you choose to be yourself by dressing up your mind rather than dressing up the trend, you will end up way much happier. I know you beg to differ, somehow.

No parent is perfect. So, stop blaming them. Take care.

You could have everything in the world but you still feel lonely. It saddens me when I learned that some people whom I would consider have a sense of completion in terms of materials, family values etc. but they still feel very much empty and lonely inside. I believe that the richest value that one should have is the value of accepting. Feeling alone and empty is terrible but you should accept the fact that you are alone and empty and move on. When you reach to a dead end, there is no point of being stuck for a very long time.

Different people have different perceptions on the idea of respect. Some people have the mentality of "you respect me, I respect you". Well, there is nothing wrong to believe as such, I think. Some people demand others to respect them while some feel that respect is to be earned not asked. Here, we generally can see that what I feel about respect may or may not be the same as you. So, how do we find tune in this? Simple! The key to respect is to be nice. Regardless who starts it first, we should bound ourselves with rule of "being nice to people". Whether we are at work or on the road, we should simply allow ourselves to be nice to others. Really! If everybody is nice, respect is etablished naturally. After all, the only good deed is any good deed. There is no harm in being nice to people.

Fairness and equality seem irrelevant these days. You work hard putting people you matter most as your priority but only to realise that you are nothing but just another option to them. Fret not, as much as people do this to you, you do the same to others too. Think of those moments when you put your friends or even your family members as an option when they needed you the most. Therefore, when shall this end? Its cyclical effect has made it apparent that as long as this earth spins, this situation will endlessly continue. How can we change?

To worry is human. Indeed, we just can't help ourselves to feel worried about certain things. Nevertheless, when we are worried too much, it does nothing but trouble to our minds and hearts. Look, living in this world, if we go back to the root of all beliefs, we know that the only belief that we should hold onto is God. Leave everything to God and stop worrying. Trust me, things will settle naturally. If it doesn't, surely God has better plans for you.

Tragically speaking, you buy things you don't need to make you happy only to realise that you are still sad.

How far would you go to be honest to your very own best friend? The truth is, no one can truly be honest to you. As a person, there is a need for us to have our little secrets - those secrets that we hide from everyone. When you are not transparent to people who are important to you, does this make you hypocrite? Nonetheless, it hurts when your own best friend lies to you. It's either they are hypocrite or you have to realise that you are not as important as you think you were. Hence, how far would go to be honest to your very own best friend?

Fire symbolises anger. This is due to its nature -- hot and destructive. A fire can burn down a house. A small fire lit on a candle if not monitored well can grow big. All it takes is a burning point, for example, fabric. Anger and fire are alike. We have the anger in us. It is just a matter of the turning point that would make us become destructive. Anger needs to be controlled. You don't simply let your anger takes away all the positive energy in you and waste all the good things you've built. It takes a small fire to burn a house; so does anger.

We waste our time trusting at things we shouldn't. What happened to our trust in God? It is the basis of all trust. You trust God and the rest will make its way.

I have seen love. It's beautiful, just like the rainbow. But just like the rainbow, it fades away. Love, I have seen it and it's gone.

I walked and stumbled upon souls, which were filled with emptiness, only to find out mine was very much alike. Thus, this is a quest of contentment. I am here not to write tragedies but to share my experience in finding a (more) meaningful life. So, sit back and enjoy.