Tawassalna Bibismillah

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
In the name of Allah The Most Merciful and The Most Beneficent.

Selawat Pelindung Diri

Tawassalna bi bismillah

Wa bil hadi rasulillah [2x]

Wa kulli 'arifin billah

Wa ahlillahi ya allah [2x]

Ya Allah..

Syumusil huda

Shuyukhil waraa

Nujuu min nada [2x]

Bihinn naslamu min kulli aza

Bi qadrillahi Ya Allah..

Sami Yusuf - My ummah - Make a Prayer

O people

In a hut made of tin and clay

A small boy dreams away

Of clean water and a meal a day

And not to fear mines as he plays each day

O people

Somewhere dark and out of the way

Aids has found yet another prey

To save his life he just couldn’t pay

Tell me what we’re going to do

For our brothers in Durban

For our sisters in Darfur

Show me what we’re going to do

Are we just going to sit there?

Nice and cosy on our armchairs

Will we not even make a prayer?

You might ask yourself

Why should I help these people?

They’ll tell you why

We’re not so different from you

We have dreams just like you

But they were buried with the

bodies of our loved ones

O people

Are we deaf, dumb, and blind?

What is going through our minds?

Don’t we care for the rest of mankind?

O people

We claim to love peace and justice

Why do we preach what we don’t practice?

Let’s help them out of this darkness

Tell me what we’re going to do

For our brothers in Ethiopia

For our sisters in Rwanda

Show me what we’re going to do

Are we just going to sit there?

Nice and cosy on our armchairs

Will we not even make a prayer?

Jannah: Muslim's Ultimate Destination

لُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ ۖ ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ

Every soul shall taste death, then to Us you shall all return

[29:57]

Death is inevitable. When Allah says your time is out, and your time is out, no matter when or where. Every single being will reach this inescapable fate, regardless of their age, health, background, social status or piety. However, death is also a reality which also most of us try to not keep in mind. As a Muslim, we believe death is not the end of our existence, but as a passage which takes us from this world to the hereafter that last forever. Speaking about death, most of us has that sense of impending doom, but it depend on how many goods that one has made during his lifetime. Everyone knows death is beyond escapable, then I have a question in mind, have I prepared? Imam Ali bin Abu Talib (a.s.) has beautifully described the preparation for death as follows:

 “Fulfilling the obligations, refraining from forbidden things, and acquiring noble character.”

Death shouldn't be a disaster. We need it, who want to live forever in this world btw? Immortality is OK but not here in this cruel world we're living. Death should make us reflect and ponder about the purpose of life, and what will become of us after death. Then here Allah has stated what is our real purpose of life in Quran:

“And I did not create the Jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” 

[51:56]

I was so busy with the world and death is something that I forgot to prepare for. Faith there's ups and downs, Answer to that question. no I am not yet prepared. 

Let listen to these beautiful bytes of lyrics, a nasheed song from Nirwana:

Aku Tanpa CintaMu
Mirwana bersama Jay Jay
Lagu/Lirik : Mujahid Abdul Wahab


Telah ku mungkiri janjiku lagi
Walau seribu kali
Ku ulang sendiri
Aku takkan tempuh lagi

Apakah Kau terima cintaku lagi
Setelah ku berpaling
Dari pandanganMu
Yang kabur kerna jahilnya aku


Mengapa cintaMu tak pernah hadir
Subur dalam jiwaku
Agarku tetap bahagia
Tanpa cintaku tetaplah Kau di sana
Aku tanpa cintaMu
Bagai layang-layang terputus talinya

Telah ku mungkiri janjiku lagi

Walau seribu kali
Ku ulang sendiri
Aku takkan tempuh lagi
Apakah Kau terima cintaku lagi
Setelah ku berpaling
Dari pandanganMu
Yang kabur kerna jahilnya aku

Masihkah ada sekelumit belas
Mengemis kasihMu Tuhan
Untukku berpaut dan bersandar
Aku di sini kan tetap terus mencuba
Untuk beroleh cintaMu
Walau ranjaunya menusuk pedih

Wassalam wrt.

Yesterday in Simunjan

Sarawak, known as Bumi Kenyalang (Land of the Hornbills) is one of the two Malaysian states on the Island of Borneo, Kuching is the state administrative capital which has population of 700,000 and Miri is the second largest city in Sarawak wich has population of 350,000. 

Sarawak is unique, a melting pot to almost 40 sub-ethnic groups, each with its own distinct language, cultures and lifestyle. Generally, Sarawak has seven major ethnic groups namely Iban, Chinese, Malay, Melanau, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu and "others". Several more minor ethnics which do not belong to any of these seven major ethnic groups are Kedayan, Javanese, Bugis, Murut and Indian.. Unlike Indonesia, the term Dayak is not officially used to address Sarawakian's native ethnicity.

It took about one and half hour flight from KLIA to Kuching International Airport, the heart of Sarawak. I should say the most boring two hours, no view, only sea through out the route. One night in Kuching, well I would suggest Waterfront is the best place to lepak, Surprisingly beer is cheaper here! Don't worry about where to stay in Kuching, they have variety choices of hotel from budget inn to grand Hilton.

DAY 1

We routed to Sri Aman by car. Sri Aman is also called Bandar Sri Aman, and was formerly known as Simanggang. Sri Aman means "town of peace" in the Malay Language. Located on the Lupar River, it is 193 kilometers, a three-hour drive, from Kuching. Sri Aman is famous with benak, or tidal bores, of the Batang Lupar River. It's like a midnight party, people hangout by the river to watch this phenomenon. 

DAY 2

We routed to Betong, another 3 hours drive deep down the state. Betong division is located between three main rivers, Batang Lupar, Batang Saribas and Batang Kelaka, covering an area of 4,180 km2. We spend one night here.

DAY 3

From Betong we headed to Simunjan, and here was the reason why we visited Sarawak. It's for Gawai Dayak, the closure day. Simunjan is a small district and town in the Simunjan division, located between Serian and Sri Aman. It borders Sebuyau and Samatahan and lies approximately 51.4 kilometres (32 mi) east-south-east of the state capital Kuching. Most of its inhabitants are made up of the Malay and the Iban people.

We stayed at long house in Kg Keniung, Our friend, Steele Coalson is staying here, The best thing about Iban People, they are happy-go-lucky and warming their guest with full hospitality. My advised, DO NOT DRINK LANGKAU TOO MUCH if you don't familiar with it because you'll end up getting wasted and you'll gain your memories back the next morning when you see pictures of you were dancing poco-poco with long house aunties. Steele also remind me not to mix langkau with tuak. Well I did both.

DAY 4

Back to Kuching and we have to greet sayonara to Sarawak. There are interesting places to be visited in Sarawak, but masa tidak mnegizinkan. Gayu guru gerai Nyamai,