the shepherd

This story was told by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf from his own experience in one of his speeches during RIS. When he was studying in Mauritania, there was this one night that he and one of his friend need to go from let say point A to point B. His teacher reminded them that on their way, there will be a place named "isbir" (meaning: be patient). If they face any problem when reaching that place, fasbir (meaning: So be patient). There will be a tent if you walk to the right of the place, and a man will insyaAllah help you. So as Allah decreed, that night it was raining so heavily and their vehicle stuck in mud at the very place named Isbir. ("waAllahi, this is a true story brothers and sisters." he kept on repeating this). So then they did what their shaykh told them. They found a tent where a shepherd lived in it. The shepherd was so happy to see both of them that he slaughtered on of his goats and they ate from it. It was still raining so heavily and the tent keep on flipping. The shepherd somehow hold on the pillar of his tent to keep it from falling apart. After that Shaykh Hamza and his friend fell asleep and  guess what guys? when they woke up for fajr, that man was still holding that pillar. He masyaAllah did that all night so that the tent wont fall on them  as they were sleeping.(Shaykh Hamza Yusuf's voice became different in a way that he actually restraining himself from crying).

He is just a shepherd, brothers and sisters, that live in a tent, far away from this internet or ipod world that we are in now, yet he possess this amazing akhlaq. If we today still fight over small things, unwilling to sacrifice and put ourself first before others, it is really the time that we wake up. Good akhlaq is one of the thing that we need to enter jannah, apart from a sound relationship with Allah.

May Allah forgive and guide us.

Being 13 hours away from Vandy is super delicious. yummy yummyy!

Percaya dan Berjaya

Perlu berubah kerana kalau bukan syurga, nerakalah penggantinya. Kalau bukan syurga, nerakalah penggantinya. link.

Skies are blue. (so does my blog hehe)

Somewhere.. over the rainbow.. skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream,    really do come true.

Do they not look at the Camels, how they are made?

And at the Sky, how it is raised high?

And at the Mountains, how they are fixed firm?

And at the Earth, how it is spread out?

So remind them, for your mission is to give them the Reminder!

(O_o) subhanAllah I really miss the scenery. (o_O)

Economic systems help us make the choices, but do not solve the problem of scarcity. When we make choices, by definition, we forgo something

This is the only thing that I learn/agree/like/absorb from Econs 101 this semester. Thank you and wish me luck for the final tomorrow 6 hours from now. Gulp gila nak amek final otak kosong cani.

insyaAllah.

Sajdah M. Othman was delivered at five and a half weeks; she weighed 1 pound, 6 ounces. She was small and still. There was a peace about her. I held her for a little under fifteen minutes, and then she was whisked away by the midwife.

All the insha’Allahs in every other sentence. Every other thought. Muslims tend to sprinkle their conversation with religious words, but it wasn’t like that. I knew of the story in Surat Al-Kahf, when the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not say it, and revelation was withheld for a little while. The verse was sent down as a reminder to say “insha’Allah” so I was adamant on remembering to say it. I hadn’t, however, fully internalized what it meant. Not until now.

This was my reminder that Allah has ultimate control over our affairs. We can try and plan and make decisions to the best of our abilities. In the end, it is Allah that wills it or not. Insha’Allah isn’t some magic word, that when said, things have to occur. It means exactly what it says: “If Allah wills it.”

wake-up call. read more here.

Europe 2009: Day 4

Fussen, Germany

(you can ignore whatever i wrote in between pictures because sume tuu ngarot je cuk3 pictures will tell it all ceyyy)

The castle was build by King Ludwig(whoever he is haha tp they said that he owns many strange properties, sleep all day and wake up at night and finish a book per night. wah awesome seronok betol hidup die kan) and Neuchwanstein castle is said to be the fairiest of all the fairy castles, situated on top of a hill surrounded by mountains. and lake(kecewa tak sempat pegi lake). and Mr Disney yg buat Disneyland tu pon inspired by this castle. Inspired tuu means tiru ke? Okay this is the picture tapi dalam banyak2 hari yang ada, time saya pegi jugak la de nak buat construction. Sabar2. haha.

and I took this picture(eh jgn perasan, maybe Zed yg amek hehe) when I was on this bridge called Marienbrücke. Nama cam power kan tapi meaning de Mary's bridge je. haha.

Since the castle is up on a mountain, we decided to ride this horse-drawn carriage. Kesiaaan Mr Horse tauuu sbb cam penat je nak carry 10 org naik bukit? and bukti de penat is dkt tengah2 jln on the way naik bukit tu Mr. Horse suddenly stop and *ehem ehem*. We were like, "wat! berat sgt la kitorang niii". haha of course Mr. Horse tu jawab helo berat ah tu pon nak tanya. You know what make it worst? I sat like betol2 blakang Mr. Horse tu. Sampai hati kuda cuk3. hahahaa.

but anyway thanks lah en. kuda if not tak smpai la sy kat atas tu. Ni betol2 thanks ni bukan sarcastic ke apa walaupon anda *ehem ehem* tanpa segan silu di depan saya hesh tekanan betol. The scenery up on the hill was breathtaking masyaAllah. Rasa cam dlm fairy tale tuu yg ada putera hensem2 tuu.

Oh tanpa diduga cewah kitorang berdua terjumpa Malaysian di atas castle itu. Relax laa bukan putera raja pon, malaysian je. haha. He was on vacation too with his friends. So dia pon meng"offer" utk take some pictures for us alhamdulillah lalu kami tidaklah boleh melepaskan peluang keemasan itu. Lalu muncullah gambar kami berduet kerana selalunya kami mengambil giliran utk bergambar hihi.

After settle dgn segala bnda kat atas seperti berangan ada putera raja (again?), kitorang pon turun la with an intention to find ice cream yg telah diusha time nak naik. Time tgh separa selok deciding on what to buy, tiba tibaa, "JIHA ZED, meh minum uncle blanja." Lalu walaupon dengan lemah lembut dan bersopan santun menolak namun apalah daya kami hanya manusia biasa. Hancur lebur la harapan utk ke Hohenschwangau Castle and lake haha. Lepas berborak with uncle and family, kami berdua pon turun la dengan kaki kami walaupon sudah penat berjalan konon2nya nak menikmati scenery indah (eleh padahal tade duit da nak bagi kuda haa kantoi!)

and here is Hohenschwangau Castle dari jauh(Oh noooo maybe prince tinggal kat sini kan?)

Ok dah la membebel. Why do I have so much to say about this place? sebab saya igt dapat jumpa putera raja. Hik just because I need to do something other than reading Econs. just because.

He knows.

I still remember how I initially talked to my dad and he passed the phone to my uncle during 2nd semester of freshman year(wah igt detail tuu).

Uncle macho: Ganow blaja nor? (or dalam bahasa kg saya how's school?)

Freshie cute:   Susooooh. Test sume Nor tok score pong Ayoh Cik. (and I with the speed of light whining about school and how hard it was back then kah3)

Uncle macho: Its okay Nor, kito key adow Allah. Mat saleh tu sume manow adow.

Freshie cute:  Tu lah Ayoh Cik... (da tak mampuuu den nak ckp, sobs why whyyy kena buat ayat camtuuu ni nak nanges ni tp control macho laa kan as always hihi)

Moralnya dont be sad or never ever eveeer be sad over something yang "tak patut" because Allah is always there. Bak kata Zain Bhikha in his song, “When you carrying a monster load, And you wonder how far you can go, With every step on that road that you take, Allah knows, Allah knows”. Haih tak ke malu diri sndri dok whining tak hengat cuk3? and it is actually pretty sweet to remember all this stuff when I was only two or a final away from my final semester. I did it, right Ayoh Cik? Yeahh one eighth to go babyy. Okok apa2 pon pointnyaaa nak menunjuk nunjuk sila tengok email ni hihi:

Dear Prospective Graduate:

According to our records, you are scheduled to graduate during the 2009-2010 school year. We strongly encourage you to submit a response to us online to verify that your information is correct for your impending graduation. This will ensure that the information listed on your diploma and in the Commencement program is accurate.

and I keep on smiling like never before. (atas ni gmbar one of senior feveret sy yang time tengok dia grad saya happy macam saya yang grad haha.)

Semoga semua dipermudah Allah. Allahumma ameen.

of Maher Zain and DSP?

OMG OMG OMG kawan kawannnnkuu!! (bajet ada kawan bace ah ni? kesian2.)
I just found out that Maher Zain is going to be at RIS 09!!

10:00PM - 11:15PM - SESSION 8 

Benammi / Abu Ratib / Junaid Jamshed / Maher Zain / Isam Bachiri (Lead Singer - Outlandish)
Reviving the Islamic Arts - Entertainment Session (Nasheeds)

How exciting is that? I mean really, how exciting is that? Oh I love surprises. (literally jumping up and down, forgetting all about chebyshev and elliptic filter hahaha =D =D)

I cant ask You no more ya Allah, for all the blessings You have bestowed upon me all my life, alhamdulillah.

29 years of love

Happy anniversary dearest abah and maa!

i'm yours baby, lololol

lama lama agaknya boleh buat blog youtube. solely and purely youtube. but whatever I just can't resist to share this. 

Sungguh messed up budak kecik ini. Cute gila tapi aww dgn gaya sungguh bersemangat waja. Org yang record video dia ni pon haha mmg tak ley blah. link here.

and lesson from it, kita semua mungkin sebenarnya ada buat bnda yg kita pon sbenarnya tak faham apalah yg kita buat(ayat cam keling). mungkin sbb terbiasa buat(sbb dari kecik parents da suruh buat so I just do it till now perhaps?) or mungkin sbb we're just too lazy to think(pikir pon malas cuk3, oh saya paham masalah ni, totally feel you on this one haha) but watever it is berhati-hatilah kamu(ayat khutbah jumaat: baca ngn serius okay kawan2) kalau it is involving our religion - ibadah, akidah dan sewaktu dengannya. jeng jeng jeng. Renung2kan dan selamat beramal!(ayat tazkirah radio mana ntah). 

Credit to Kak Anum. 

Dont worry.. the worst thing that can happen is you ONLY need to repeat the final. I enjoyed having you in the class.

Prof. Ken Pence, 2009

apakah itu "you only need to repeat the final" haaaa??. Hmphf nightmare2. Engineering economics and me really didnt match well. The interest just depreciate over time(Oh ni linear depreciation or MACRS  haa jawab2.) Crossing my fingers that it's over tho I have a strong feeling ececeeceyy that it's not.  (o__O)

lol

I tried hard not to burst out laughing but FAILED.

Both of them struggled dengan comel sekali oh. just too cute hahahhahahaha. link here.

ini namanya molten chocolate cake. ada dekat chili's. gulp sedapnya. sedaapnyaa. 

memang terbaik lah! chili's anyone oh blanjaaaaaa pls? 

ok finelah terpaksa tidur dlm keadaan perut buat concert. 

oh ada cerita pasal sebiji kurma tp nantilah. tak janji tapi hehe. :)

Then you will be questioned, on that day, about the blessings you had enjoyed. [102:8]

cam menggunung je yg takbley jwb? 

hek eleh kecoh kan padahal finals bape keping je. A is badly needed sbb sy da screwed up my lab oh kecewa kecewa. faktor rakan se-lab yang disukai hihi tak mempengaruhi grade anda ye kawan kawan sekalian. and yay first time finals less than four papers and habes cepat compare to others. I feel so blessed...I feel like a senior, well, yeah for now. because panas tak semestinya smpai ke petang, snow mungkin akan turun bila bila je. ok that sounds weird. (Read: Sem depan sepanjang sem la saya snow mungkin tahniah jiha.)
Other than that, sape nak dtg commencement sy? Awatif da ada 13 org ni. hahahahaha.

Happy birthday Aliaa and Zul! Last birthday in Nashville oh hooo.
KB mall? engineering failed = death. oh tanak jadik engineer lah. tapii kalo jadik tukang masak pon kalo salah masak org sakit perot gak. kalo jadik cikgu, tak ajar betol2 nanti minda pewaris dunia cewaaah hancuss. camne? haa lu pikir la sndri. 
updated: ajal tu boleh di mana2 je kawan2 sekalian. sungguh nervous. may Allah grant them Firdausil Jannat, make the questioning easy for them and make things easy for them and their family. sekali lagi ulang dalam diri, ajal tu di mana mana je, bila bila masa. readykah anda seperti anda ready utk exam engm 216 this tuesday?

world cup 2010

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana,
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

berangan sedang baring2 di depan tv sambil tgk bola bersama keluarga aww. Haha yeah I know nothing about soccer football but I do watch world cup atau mungkin terpaksa tengok kerana tak mungkin la saya menang rebut channel dgn abang2 yang err baik hati? cuk3. So football is... sekumpulan lelaki hensem mengejar sebiji benda bulat? and.. Côte d'Ivoire tuuuu kat mana haa err and nak baca camne?

open your eyes? gulp.

revisited.

finelaa cakap asyik2 nak letak youtube. but i dont deny it that youtube contributed a huge portion in my spiritual life tak tipuu.

1. ada gambar2 yang lawa2 dlm ni. one of my obsessions is spending time looking at pictures taken by famous photographer cam Oya haha and gambar2 lawa random kat mana2. too bad i'm a photographer yang fail secara obvious sekali.
2. ada florence. dalam new moon pon ada florence. haha. and ada gondola jugak. asal tak penah perasan pon tempat2 ni before pegi dlu? kalo tak surely I will appreciate it more :p
3. lagu best "open your eyes" by Maher Zain. tiba2 tersuka la pulak singer ni sbb lagu de best and hensem, byk la pulak terjumpa mlm ni ngn dia. Omigod adakah ini jodoh namanya hahahhahaha. and cerita ruben (abu bakr) mmg strike to heart lah. Ini pon antara cerita yang saya tengok berkali2 jugak zaman muda2 dulu. 

ok bye jumpa whenever. i mean whenever yg jauh punya whenever. skali tiba2 esok ada post baru opps cacat.

Reviving the Islamic Spirit 2009

Last year -->  "Canada? Forget it"

This year -->  Jom! Even tak betol2 pegi lagi, I'm exceedingly happy by just planning to go. See? We will never know what awaits us in the future. Last year saya tgk trailer RIS berkali-kali, not even have a hope to go because it seems impossible. Canada beb, pe cer nak pegi tiba2. Lesson: lepas ni nak put high hopes la mcm nak g bulan ke, nak kawen anak raja ke, oh downgrade sket la nak pegi spain ke, mana tau kalau2 betol2 boleh pegi haha. If everything run smoothly, alhamdulillah, if not, also alhamdulillah. Indeed Allah is the best planner.

"Fear the day when you will be returned to God. 

Every soul will get what it earns"

oi oi final dulu jangan berangan cepat sgt. 
eh eh duit mana nak cari haa lupa la plak?

Excited tahap dewa walaupon sem depan bz je macam. Oh well, cepatlaaa nak balik goreng fries ngn ajik jual kat pasar malam haha.

Allahumma yassir Allahumma yassir Allahumma yassir.