Earthquake, volley, birthday and Espana.

In the name of Allah.

I slept at 7am this morning and woke up at 10-ish am because of a man-made Sendai-like earthquake and tsunami, thanks to F. He gets hyperactive when it comes to volleyball. So, yeah. Volley rocks! :)

I had fun. Can't remember when was the last time I had a great time like that. Worth the sleep I missed. LOL.

On another happy note. Yesterday was my beloved nenek's 81st birthday! May Allah bless her with great health and prosperity. I miss her, and her cooking. Listening to her voice just now made me want to cry. :( anyway, Happy Birthday nenek!

Off to Spain tomorrow. But, we're leaving for the airport tonight- just to make sure we don't miss the early morning flight. A bit excited really. I've been longing for a getaway with the people I care and love. Alhamdulillah, that's what Allah has blessed me with. I'll be away for a week ;)

I'm all excited! Let's hope that Allah will prosper Jaulah Spain KITA with His barakah. Amiin.


P/s: Hopefully I'll get preeettty pictures to upload here. :D

"I like squiggles."

In the name of Allah.

This is my first entry from iPhone. Why? No electricity. Probably we need to top up. *sigh* So, I decided to download iBlogger. :D

Anyway, A LOT happened yesterday - the good, the bad and the worst. Everything happens for a reason right? I believe it was to test my patience. I have to admit that emotions can cloud my judgements sometimes. Well, that's an understatement; most of the times.

I just can't believe that someone who's not involved in the things that you do could simply humiliate and launch personal attacks on you in public. I wish I could elaborate more on this but it just doesn't feel right. I remember Imam Ghazali once said:

"To control one's anger is a genuine strength."

Alhamdulillah. I managed to get a hold of myself. :)

That was the bad and the good. And the worst, I am a jerk. It reminds me of how imperfect I am in comparison with Rasulullah s.a.w.. Still a long long way to go.

"'O Allah, forgive me for I have sinned."

P/s : I'm sorry. You know who you are. :(

P/s/s : The title? Don't ask. It just feels right. :)

Kiss of Death.

In the name of Allah.

A really funny video I got from my lectures on Tumour Immunology just now.

Tumour cells are pervasive and deluding, just like jahiliyah. Now, let's see ourselves as "the nice white cells". And IgG2 as our unguided judgments. So, yeah, being misled and all, we're bound to be victims of the devious jahiliyah and its deceits.

Unfortunately for jahiliyah, al-haq will always prevail. IgG1 as His Guidance, the Holy Quran and the Prophet's s.a.w. sunnah give us a wake up call. So, we can now give a goodbye kiss to jahiliyah! :)

Funny and enlightening right? ;)

Because I care.

In the name of Allah.

A red-letter day. Both literally and figuratively. Period.

A symphony that makes no sense.

In the name of Allah.

I'm staying up late because I just completed my LAST coursework of the term! (yay, finally!) Instead of going to bed early, I decided to do some reading on Music and Western Civilisation. This is a "compulsory optional" subject mandatory to all 2nd years at Imperial. Why music? Don't ask. Possibly the worst decision I have ever made in my entire life. *sigh* Ah well, exam is next Friday. There's no turning back. ;)

If you have been reading my blog, you'll notice that the title does not really depict the content most of the times. Not entirely that is. Pretty much like the Noble Quran innit? :)

Well, this week has been a series of trials, one after another. Alhamdulillah, He never fails to answer to my prayers. Just when I'm trying to blame anything/anyone other than myself, Allah reminded me via this verse:

"Why [is it that] when a [single] disaster struck you [on the day of Uhud], although you had struck [the enemy in the battle of Badr] with one twice as great, you said, "From where is this?" Say, "It is from yourselves." Indeed, Allah is over all things competent." Ali Imran [3:165]

The verse just made a bull's eye out my heart ;)

All praise is to Him for He never abandons me in times of need. Never ever forget that He is always there for all of us.

Sandwiched blog with tutorial, lab write-up and music revision.

In the name of Allah.

Yes! Another update. Not at the most conducive time though. Hence, the title. I need a break. I want some sandwich.

Yummy!

I have been wanting to write some biochemistry related stuff. If I were to list them up, it's never-ending! But, there's just soooo little time to write. I have to keep my priorities straight.

So, it has been a busy start of the week and will be till my final exam next Friday. Then, it's going to be Easter! :) Espana here we come! Granada and Cordoba yipppee! Finally, the opportunity to see Our History (read: OH! the history of Islam) before my very eyes. OK, let's not go too much into the future.

Yikes! Please remind me to write a letter to PNB regarding my vacation to Spain! :)

On another note, I want to share this verse with all of you :

"Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while Allah has not yet made evident those of you who fight in His cause and made evident those who are steadfast?" Ali Imran [3:142]

It's just a reminder for me that Jannah is still far far away from my reach. Need to work my hardest! That's why we call it jihad. Which brings me to another point - we need to exploit all of our potentials for dakwah. Let it be singing, acting, video-making, blogging or whatever. Of course, never neglect usrah! :)

So, what are we waiting for? ^.^

Flight, fright and yeah right.

In the name of Allah.

Have I told you that I like to read things on sirah? Let me rephrase that; I LOVE sirah, despite History being my worst nightmare long long long time ago. You'll be surprised to see how you can relate the stories closely to your life.

When the muslims were sent out for an invasion or the likes of it, not all of them were granted the opportunity to join in the troop. Some had to stay back in Madinah. Now, I ask you - how did they feel looking at their comrades leaving for a battle?

I'm beginning to understand how they felt. Jealousy. Yes, in a good way. How they wished that they could join in, and deliver the risalah hand-in-hand with the others.

This is where my life comes in. A few of my friends are going out and about doing lots of things for dakwah. Silly old me is stuck here because I have lab sessions to attend to! I was so tempted to buy flight tickets during the ever so many and long incubation periods I had during the experiment. Pfft.

Thiiiiisss closeee!! >.<

So yeah, I was thiiiiiiss close to abscond from my lab. But there are obligations that I'm bound to. Just like the Companions who had to stay back. I'm pretty sure opportunities like this will come in time.

Let's make the best of this weekend! After all, every second in your life is dakwah! ;)

A third of the sweetness.

In the name of Allah.

On the authority of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “There are three qualities whosoever has them, may taste the sweetness of Faith: firstly one who loves Allah and His Messenger (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) above all else; secondly one who loves someone simply for the sake of Allah, and thirdly, one who loathes return to disbelief, after Allah has rescued him from it, as he would loath being thrown into the Fire.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

All I can say is, I'm still too far away from attaining halawatul iman. In fact, I'm not even sure if I'm on the path which brings me closer to it. But, I'm not going to let the uncertainties bring my spirit down.

For the past week, a lot had been learnt. Even the littlest of signs taught me a valuable message. The second criterion mentioned in the hadith somewhat summarises the whole thing.

So, what I'm going to do now, is to give my best to everyone despite the way they have/had/will treat(ed) me. That's the spirit! ;)

All that is sweet.

And sometimes, the simplest of words like, "Are you okay?" makes your heart smile. They may not be as great as the men around the Prophet s.a.w.. But they do make great companions in this righteous path.

Thank you Allah.

Staying positive.

In the name of Allah.

The Friday khutbah at Imperial College on Ka'ab bin Malik and his non-participation in the battle of Tabuk teaches me not to procrastinate especially in the work that relates to our Syahadatul Haq. Slowly, all of us will be able to not do things at the eleventh hour. Just don't give up. In case you're wondering what happened, you can just google it since I'm not good at writing narratives. :)

But then, there is something else that I just realised. There has been a series of tests in my life, just like what Ka'ab had experienced. In fact, it's happening again. To most of you, the statement I made might be vague. But to certain people who I regard them as my best friends, they would understand. It was not until recently that I revealed the stories to them.

Well, like I said, 'I regard them as best friends', but from my past experience I might just be treated like Ka'ab bin Malik. 'Might' being the operative word. For his story, there was a glad tiding in the end:

"And [He also forgave] the three who were left behind [and regretted their error] to the point that the earth closed in on them in spite of its vastness and their souls confined them and they were certain that there is no refuge from Allah except in Him. Then He turned to them so they could repent. Indeed, Allah is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful." At-Taubah [9:118]

I hope that it will be the same to all of us inshAllah. I'm beginning to accept the fact that it's a kifarah for my sins. Alhamdulillah for Allah has given me the chance to repent.

"O' Allah, indeed we have believed, so forgive us our sins and protect us from the Fire." [3:16]

Let's all pray that He will always test us with great tribulations so that, we can be closer to him and of course, a step closer to Jannah each time. Amiin.

Sun that shines.

In the name of Allah.

These few days have been exceptionally cold. So much for spring. Today, it was sunny. Loving the weather to bits. All praise is to Allah.

I strolled along Gloucester Road. Alone. Thinking. Then, this awing glare caught my eyes. Owh, it's the sun. I felt the chill from the atmosphere yet, the celestial light gave me warmth and comfort.

*******

Conceal your sadness or stress and put on the mask of joy. It's just like a sunny day during winter - the sunlight makes you think that it's warm outside when the truth is exactly the opposite. One thing I learn from dakwah is, we need to stay positive physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Put a smile on your face and people around will smile back at you. It's contagious, in a good way.

Dakwah kasih sayang :)

And when you're happy, be yourself. The sun during a summer's day. Well, not the one which gives you heat stroke. Express yourself and it works wonders. It is amazing how you can actually alleviate the somberness around you.

Have a go with it. Share your feelings because you care. Yes, your positive ones! ;)

Interfaith interface?

In the name of Allah.

Lecture Hall, Friday 1.00pm

F : Are you staying for the seminar?

M : Nah, I need to go for the Friday prayer.

F : That's very pious of you.

M : It's my obligation.

Lecture Hall, Friday 2.00pm

F : How did the sermon go?

M : It was great! Quite revitalising especially when you sat there with others just like you.

F : *sigh* I wish I had the same thing with Catholic.

M : I thought you go to the church on Sundays to attend to the sermon as well?

F : Well, it's more of a tradition. Nothing spiritual about it. I just feel that sometimes God's there and some other times, He doesn't exist.

This incident made me realise how lucky I am born as a muslim. When my iman fluctuates, I still know, deep down, Allah is always there.

On another occasion :

ML : Are you going to the Science Talk tomorrow?

M: When's that?

ML: It's at 12pm.

M: Ahh, I'm booked for tomorrow, I'm afraid.

ML: I see. I have a gathering with my Catholic Society tomorrow. But, I'm definitely not going. Science is the thing for me.

If I have to choose between my studies and religion, I would refer to this verse in the Noble Quran:

"And believe in what I have sent down confirming that which is [already] with you, and be not the first to disbelieve in it. And do not exchange My signs for a small price, and fear [only] Me." Al-Baqarah [2:41]

Which one will you choose? ;)