Rihla here we go!

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

A few days ago, we were told that there are 32 sisters who have no mahram to go to Rihla Trip have not yet granted visa. I was very worried cos I don't have one according to other Schools of Fiqh. But according to Shafi'i Fiqh, 2 trustworthy women can be my mahram, so basically I have mahram, plenty on them, alhamdulillah. Well, at least there are 3 sisters which I definitely know them and can trust them inshaALLAH.

Today alhamdulillah I recieved this email from the Rihla Trip organiser:

Dear Rihla Students,

As-salamu'Alaykum & Jummah Greetings!

I pray this finds you in the best of health, strong Iman and high spirit, amin. I am writing to you on behalf of Zeshan; just to let you know that *ALL* the UK applicants have been granted a visa successfully, Alhumdulilah. Also, Zeshan will be sending a VERY important e-mail confirming details for your departure next Thursday. Please make sure you check your e-mail, and respond promptly if required.

Jazaka'llahu Khayran,

Wasalams,

Walillahilhamd.

So, yes, I'm going on the 5th July 2007 until 26th July 2007. In between this period, if I can't find any internet, I won't be able to update my blog. Please make dua for us so that ALLAH will grant us Umrah Mabrul. Will be in London on the 4th to get to Heathrow early in the morning of 5th. Can't wait to kiss the land where the Prophet Muhammad (saw) once kissed...

Wassalam.

May Week

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

The week after all the exams finish is called the May Week. Funny enough that this week isn't in MAY! This year, it's in mid June. This really prove that Cambridge is a place where thing is hard to change, even to change the name, don't talk about the system, etc. I enjoyed most of this year's May Week because Dina and Sarah came all the way from London to stay a few days here. Initially, Sarah just intended to stay for a night on Monday and go home the next morning for a lecture in London and not even thinking of going to the garden party at 5pm. Alhamdulillah, she changed her mind and stay another 2 days. She went home on Thursday early morning. Same to Dina. She came on Tuesday morning to attend the garden party and intended to go home Wednesday afternoon cos she didn't know that there is this ISOC Quiz at 5pm. So she stayed another day and went home Thursday morning too.

Since they are staying over my house, lots of sisters came to stay a night too! It's a girlie night, woohoo! I love the fact that everyone comes and enjoy the moment. Alhamdulillah Aunty Zohra, at last minute, sent lots of duvet and carpets and sleeping bags for us the night. Lord know what time the girls slept but I slept well before Fajr and they woke me up for Fajr and I slept after Fajr and cooked breakfast for them all.

There's nothing exciting about this year's garden party cos there's no water fight like last year and the brothers failed to submit any dessert for the brothers-vs.-sisters-annual-ISOC-garden-party-dessert-competition. So, officially the sisters won.

The exciting part is the ISOC quiz where my team wore the same shirt, my shirt. It's hilarious and I don't think I will ever forget this moment. I'm not going to describe it here and no picture to be posted here cause it's too funny to tell!

So, for the whole week:

Monday: Circle by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad on Tawakkul; then I went to Samira's house to help make some desserts

house to get the desserts for garden party; after the garden party, everyone came Tuesday: Fetched Dina to Alia's house for lunch with Sarah and Fadiya and then go to Samira'stp my house and stayed a night

Wednesday: Arabic class with Alia; lunch in Newnham with Amina and then ISOC Quiz; sisters' movie night in the MCR - we watched Nanny McPhee; then sleep-over at Alia's

Thursday: Sent Sarah to train station with Walaa' (Mohammad Mashaal's wife), then sent Dina from coach station; Arabic class with Alia and then went to circle by Omar Mahroo on the Life of Umar Al-Khattab (ra) - 3 hours circle but very very interesting, it's just that I didn't have enough sleep to concentrate; Dhikr at Nabila's house and then slept over at Alia's; Intissar and Sahra came!

Friday: Went around my faculty and town with Sahra, met up Asli, Leila and Alia; to AuntyZohra's house to discuss stuff for the mosque class the next day.

Saturday: Went to the mosque; after class, got on the train to Liverpool Street (cheapest and fastest to go to London) to meet Zahra, Sarah and Tabassum at Leicester Square (the important thing is to return Sarah's charger which she left in Cambridge and her mobile died for 1 whole day; another thing is to meet Zahra for her birthday), eat out in Beirut Express; and then went back to Cambridge. Was asleep until the train officer came and woke me up telling me that there's no one in the train!

Sunday: Went to the mosque and to Samira...

Today: WORK! No more fun

Wassalam.

Running a society

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

It's always not easy to run a society where there are many people with different opinions, backgrounds and needs. For the pass few weeks, I have been involved in setting-up a society in my faculty. This is due to the lack of sense of community in the faculty among the research students. This becomes a concern of one of the Professors in my faculty who has been trying to build a stronger research community in the faculty since 2001 but failed. He really wants to see all the research students in the faculty actively talking and discussing about research. Through a few meetings, we came to a decision to set up a society to meet that aim. We proposed an association called Faculty of Education Students' Association or FESA and held the first meeting last Wednesday. The turn-up was ok but everyone came with different idea of this society. Many think that this society is to cater the welfare of students hence want to make it as inclusive as possible, while some think that this should be an exclusive society and only PhD or MPhil student should be the chair. When we brought the minute of the meeting to the Professor, he wasn't quite happy about it because he wasn't aiming to take care of the welfare of the students unless it has to do with the research.

Having no support from him unless we change our direction to only cater research students in the faculty, we resorted to change the name of the society to Faculty of Education Research Students' Association or FERSA. Now, many people want to run for the chair (not me though, no time for this), so most of the work now is given to the Higher Degree Officer. Phew, a bit relief. So, we'll see what is going to happen next.

The next society is ISOC. Yesterday, we have an OGM just to ratify 7 amendments of the ISOC members due to the worry of the Sunni that guideline which goes along with the constitution. Wow, it took more than 2 hours just to make everyone happy with the corrections. Why? As I said in the beginning, it's not easy to fulfill the needs of everyone, the most prominent issue here is between the Sunni and Shiah. This is not to say that Sunni and Shiah in Cambridge ISOC have any serious crisis, it is in fact among the best model in many ISOC in UK that Cambridge doesn't have separate society for Shiah like many other universities in UK. ISOC here tries to accept as many Muslim members as possible despite the belief, level of practice and view. Recently, there is a tension between the Sunni and Shiah due to the worry among the Sunni that the Shiah's teaching of the belief in infallible imams will 'poison' the Sunni members who do not have much knowledge about this. ALLAHU'alam. It was a hot debate but not many were transparent enough to open up the issue that lies behind the whole evening.

Anyway, alhamdulillah it's through and I pray that we can all be united in just one name of ALLAH, in one qiblah, in one same prayer and Prophet. It is not right to divide people but who are we to say who is right and who is wrong?

"And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make His Signs clear to you: That ye may be guided."

~ The Holy Qur'an: Surah Ali Imran (Chapter 3: The Family of Imran): verse 103

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Busy week

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Sorry for not updating for a quite a while. Things just come and go so fast. Last weekend, when I went pass Parker's Piece, I saw this huge bouncy castle. Really massive! I've always wanted to play bouncy castle when I saw it in a few occasions but couldn't do so cause they are only for children. Last month, when sister Sheridan was having her birthday party, I get to play a tiny one, feeling a bit dizzy after a few jumps, maybe cause my gravitational centre is quite high, compared to a little kid. But that was my first experience. Looking at this huge one, I was thinking if I should go for it, but nay, too old for it and it's in the public.

Giant bouncy castle

Now as most of the sisters have finished their exams, it's time for party! Friends and relatives came down to Cambridge for a visit. So we have this sisters' partying, punting, touring & dining for a few days.

Touring around Cambridge

Also the ISOC activity has resumed. There was a circle yesterday and there will be burdah singing today, then a few garden parties, inshaALLAH. But I'm too busy to get involved in all these. Got a paper to write for the conference I'm going in September inshaALLAH and all these crazy unsorted data that needs to be analysed before I'm off to Rihla. So, have to be selective. Might skip some of these ISOC stuff but definitely will go for the ISOC Garden Party, inshaALLAH.

Circle yesterday

Alright, back to work.

Wassalam.

Life

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

I think this topic is very common but what can I say, it's sunnatullah. ALLAH has made our lives this way and remembering death is always the wisest thing to do, no doubt, as the life in this World is just like a drop of water compare to the life in the Hereafter which is like never-ending ocean. Does that make sense to you? Think about it.

Yesterday I phoned home to Malaysia and talked to my father that inshaALLAH I'm going to this Rihla Trip. He gave me the permission to go and asked me to take care of myself. And I also said I plan to go back home at the end of August, inshaALLAH. This opportunity for me to go home came to me when my paper is accepted by a conference in Malaysia in early September. With this, I can apply funding from my college and faculty. This can subsidise my travel expenses, at least. I hope my family will be happy about this too. My father, my youngest brother and sister were in Sibu to visit my eldest sister who has just gave birth of her second daughter, alhamdulillah. Now she has 2 daughter, I mean I have 2 nieces now, but I've never seen them before, only pictures. Hopefully when I go back this August, I will be able to hug them.

Later yesterday, I received a text from my sister in Klang that my maternal grandfather has just passed away. The saddest news is that there was no one with him when he breathed his last! I'm so angry about this because I didn't know that he was sent to Old Folk House. I thought he was with my maternal uncle. This was because after my mother passed away 6 years ago, we kind of not so much contact with my maternal side. Occasionally my grandfather stayed at our house and then to my uncle's house. The last time I heard about was that he was in my uncle's house. I just can't believe that he was sent to an Old Folk House. Yes, he may be grumpy and annoying, but do we not think that we were also very annoying and fussy for our parents when we were little? I pray that I won't do this to my father, inshaALLAH. I was very angry but I know I can do nothing about it. The saddest thing yet to come is that I can do nothing not because I'm in UK but the fact that he is not a Muslim! There are different opinions about making prayer for non-Muslim decease. Some said the Prophet Muhammad (saw) has done it once for the Euthopians but then there are narration that the Euthopians are Muslims. Some said it's sinful to do so because of the example of Propher Ibrahim (as) who were asking for forgiveness for his idol-worshipping father. After jumaah today, I asked Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad or Timothy Winter about this. He gave me these 2 opinions and then I asked him which one will he follow as he himself is a revert too. He said he would go for ALLAH's attribute of the Most Merciful, that ALLAH's mercy is so vast that HE can accept his servant's prayer, in anyway, no matter how HIS servant has forsaken HIM. I wish someone can tell me what does ALLAH think about this! Anyway, whatever it is, there is always wisdom behind it. I just pray for the best for everyone and most importantly O ALLAH, please give YOUR guidance to my family who is still alive. Amin.

Life is a test, no doubt, if not why there is a Judgement Day, Hell and Paradise? You get what I'm saying? I will write about this more in the future, inshaALLAH.

Wassalam.

Kaleidoscope 2007

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah... All praises be to ALLAH, the Most Merciful and the Most Beneficient. It was a good presentation today in the Kaleidoscope 2007. Being the presenter and the organiser at the same time, it's quite challenging but fun and exciting. The presentation recieved a few good feedbacks and the whole seminar is running quite well. It's half way through now. Hope it will be great until the end.

Wassalam.