Prayers for Me Pa

It was 33 years ago to this day that me Pa passed on to the next world. Every year, on the 31st day of January, for the past 33 years, me have always made it a point to allocate a few moments to remember me Pa who died on this day back in '77 at the "tender" age of 58. He would have been 91 years this year, if he is still around.

Me was then just completing me matriculation year in Australia and was a week away from returning to Australia at the end of me summer vacation when he passed away.

The thing that me remember most about Pa was his simple and unassuming ways going through life. He was the one man that was never in a hurry even though the challenges that he was facing were many as life back in the '50s and '60s was very tough when you quit your job and living in the village. Nonetheless, despite the great odds, Pa had managed to move on and successfully brought up his 9 children until what we are today.

To say the least, me and me siblings owed much to Pa for the many sacrifices that he (and Ma) had made in bringing us up and for that me could never be able to repay them except to extend me prayers and utmost gratitude to Allah swt for His blessings and hope the souls of both me parents were with those who received eternal sustenance from Him...Al-Fatihah...Ameen.

When Thieves Come a-Calling

Today is that one day where me wish me could forget soonest possible and get on with me life. The day had started of normal enough as it was a weekend. Me was in Seremban together with me family enjoying the day doing sweet nothing at a shopping complex, browsing through things while waiting for me Along to come back from his "on-call" duty at the hospital.

At about noon, me received a phone call from me neighbor next door informing that me house may have been broken into the previous night as his wife had noticed that the back door's grille was ajar. Me wasn't panicky to hear the news, in fact, ironically, me was relieved as no one was at home and the worst that could happen was "things" in the house could get stolen and not me family members or meself got into some nasty fight or got injured or got into worse trouble with the intruders.

We managed to stay calm after the news but quickly bought some lunch and had our lunch at Along's house instead of at the Kenny Rogers' as planned before packing our things and scrambled back to Kuala Lunpur.

True enough, upon entering me home, the house was in shamble, on first count, four laptops and a Sony Bravia had vanished and "walked" away with the unwelcome visitors. The master bedroom and the other rooms upstairs were ransacked to the hilts, leaving clothing and other items strewn all over the place as if monkeys were having a wild party the night before.

Luckily, in their frenzy to find their bounties, the thieves had neglected to take our international passports and other important documents which were left untouched. They also missed the "jackpot" as me wife's jewelery was still safely tucked in its hiding place!

After making the customary police report at a nearby police station, some of the police inspectors came to the house to take some photos and take more notes of the situation before filing their investigation report. Obviously, typical of our neighbors, upon seeing some patrol cars in front of me house, they came out in drove looking aghast and alarmed not knowing what had had happened to me!. As usual, apart from the neighbor next door who first alerted me on the incident, others were dazzled in their ignorance and appeared surprised in not knowing that their neighbor had been robbed!

Such is the kind of society that we are having nowadays, things would have happened a lot worse before they even realized what had really happened!

Me not blaming anybody on what had befallen to me today except to ponder why it had happened in the first place. Of course, this is nothing new to me and the instances of houses being broken into were too numerous to even qualify me for a slot in the newspaper column.

Simply put, things happened for a reason, as far as me case is concerned, me don't have any reasons to put forth except to say that it has been fated and hopefully in future, steps were taken to avoid similar incidents by being more careful when leaving me home empty.

After all, the main thing is me family members are safe and sound and the "material" things that we lost today could easily be replaced in the coming days...InsyaAllah...

A Path Less Traveled

Ever wonder why the traffic going the opposite way is always clear when you are in a hurry and are caught in a jam? Ever wonder why when looking at the things we do in life, we had always seem to restrict our mind and be contented to follow what others are doing? Did we ever imagine that there could be so many other roads to take to avoid getting stuck in a jam? Maybe not many of us realize that we could simply avoid being stuck in a lot of tribulations in our life if we were to choose a path less traveled in the first place....

Looking at things from a different perspective, out of the norms, could be a good starting point before we choose which path to follow. The opposite would be following others blindly and worst still having a “herd mentality” and not knowing which direction to take - doing what the crowd is doing and being clueless of why it being so.

We have always been reminded by our elders not to follow others blindly if we want to avoid pitfalls and to succeed in life. We should be able to live our life to the fullest by doing what we love best. To enjoy life to the fullest could mean making sacrifices not many are willing to take.

Although taking the less traveled path can pose its own unique challenges, like being left alone and lonely, it can also be a rewarding experience for those who dare to thread its path. True enough, in reality not many of us dare to venture out of our comfort zone and worst to be labeled as "crazy" just to experience life beyond the norm.

Yes, following the less traveled path is a lonely journey not many are willing to take. But for those willing and crazy enough to risk their everything, they may find their pot of gold at the end of that grueling journey.

It has been said time and again, that those taking the less traveled path and able to survive at the end of the ordeal had lived their life to the fullest and achieved what others can only dream of - the pinnacle of their true potential.

It is a unique success story that can only be emulated by the dieharda and those willing to say "NO" to the crowd and take on the challenges throughout their epic journey to glory along the less beaten, less traveled path!

Don't Cry for Me Andalusia

Don’t cry for me Andalusia,
the truth is not too pleasing to tell.

You were once the apple of me eyes,
the crowning glory,
the manifestation of a magnanimous society,
the torch bearers of knowledge,
to enlighten your community,
at a time when your neighbors,
were still shrouded in darkness and ignorant,
living in abject poverty and callousness,
when yours were the shining light,
as beacons of learning and eternal Guidance,
with bountiful acquaintance to share,
with the might to expand,
to new frontiers,
making you the power of the day,
churning at your heights,
such luminaries as ibn Rushd and al-Qurtubi,
creating such marvels as the Alhambra,
and Medina Azzahra,
for the world to witness,
the grandiose of your civilization,
until to this present day.

But what had become of you?
after more than 800 years,
of glorious existence,
the magical you,
had suddenly vanished,
from the face of this earth,
dark clouds had descended once more,
no more harmony, no more magnanimity
only ruins and melancholy,
to witness your past splendors.

Don’t cry for me Andalusia,
the truth is bitter to swallow,
through nobody else’s faults,
except your own.

The chance of a permanent presence,
in the lands of the Castile and beyond,
was drowned in your worldly pursuits,
of power and decadent pleasures,
at the expense of your holy role,
as God’s Khalifah on this earth,
as the torch bearers,
until your weaknesses and corrupted existence,
were too glaring,
even for the enemies to ignore,
a heavy price to pay,
through annihilation and humiliation,
being banished from your homeland,
in utter disgrace,
through no faults of others,
but your own.

So, don’t cry for me Andalusia,
even your own descendents,
are asking now,
for the tragedy that befell,
as they have not even heard of you!

Me missing you oh Andalusia,
hoping your shining lights,
will once again shines bright,
as a testimony,
of your pristine glory,
at the behest of the Almighty.

Happy new year 1431H!
Happy new year 2010 AD!
May the new year spirits,
bring us closer together,
to the path of truth,
and peaceful way of life.

Life is full of Miracles

Ever wonder why we still survive on this planet? Still breathing the air that we breathe? Did we know that our existence is so fragile that the slightest wrong will see the end of us? But God in His infinite mercy has made it such that we human can still survive despite our own fragility and seeming helplessness - mostly without even us realizing it!

To see us through the days in our lifetime and to remain as "us" in the true sense of the word, we need to count on a lot of "unseen" miracles and blessings bestowed upon us by Allah the Almighty. We need only to be aware of it happening around us in order to be truly grateful - to know that we are always in His care as we can never be left alone if we are to survive even for a split second.

From the day before we were born, to the day we pass on to the next world, the miracles never stop. God has made it a point for us to go through this life in a cycle and has given His "gift of life" for us to continue doing so. This is being passed from one generation to the next, from parents to the children and so on, as part of the miracle of life, where we "come and go" when our "time" is up, in which all of us have to go through in order to sustain our temporary existence - until "Kiamah" or the end of this world.

One thing for sure, me can't avoid noticing this beautiful feeling not many of us could experience when the "baton" is being passed from one generation to the next - the very moment seeing a baby being born. Seeing this sweet little creature, not knowing anything, helpless to the end but who is destined to take our place on this earth, this is truly a moment, beyond words to describe the significance of it all other than to say that "this life is truly full miracles"!

Welcome to this world me grand daughter Nur AzZahra Binti Muhammad Rajaie!