Category: Agama

Dear Heartbroken One

Bismillahirahmanirrahim.

Let’s just put it out there – I’m a hopeless romantic. When I was in kindergarten, an adorable boy told his mother that he wanted to marry me. From then on, I introduced him to everyone as my boyfriend. I love romantic movies so much that I’ve watched ‘A Walk to Remember’ more than 15 times. By the time I was 13, I had named all my 6 children. Pablo Neruda’s poems make me smile and cry. I used to joke with my best friends that I had my classy, white wedding with crystal chandeliers and chiavari chairs all planned out. All I needed was to plant a groom beside me. Then, we would live happily ever after.

And so I searched for my other half, the person who would complete me, the one who would make me whole.

Instead of finding ‘the one’, I went from one failed relationship to another. I wanted so much to be part of a magical couple that I started to lose myself. I allowed people to treat me like a mere option when they were my priority. I moulded myself to be more like what others wanted me to be. When someone commented, “Alia, you would be so pretty if only you were skinnier”, I ate almost nothing and ran up my 13-storey flat 10 times a day. As I lost weight, I started being showed off like a trophy girlfriend. I was never really happy. In fact, I felt lost and incomplete.

Then I realised that I had gotten it all wrong! Yes, marriage is wonderful and encouraged in Islam. However, when the same test (read: guys who were bad for me) keeps being given, it may be that I had not learnt the lesson I am supposed to learn. Allah is giving me a chance to make things right! In order to do that I needed to figure out how to improve myself for the sake of Allah. I had to ask myself some really tough questions. Did I want to get married for the sake of Allah or to gain acceptance and love from my partner? Had I prepared myself not only to bear children but to be the first madrasah to them? Was I knowledgeable enough to guide them to be khalifahs of Allah? Is marriage the only means to complete my faith?

Let’s take the example of Sayyidatina Maryam (‘alayhissalam), also known as Mary. Before Sayyidatina Maryam was even born, her purpose had been set. Her ageing mother had vowed that if her prayer to have a child was accepted, she would ensure that her child would be dedicated to serving Allah. Fulfil her promise, she did. Sayyidatina Maryam wasn’t left to grow up on her own; she was placed under the care of Prophet Zakariya (‘alayhissalam), also known as Zechariah. She was raised in a room in a mosque. She was religious, chaste and modest. She did not mix freely with the opposite sex and confined herself within her prayer chamber. Whenever Prophet Zakariya entered Sayyidatina Maryam’s room to check if she was alright, he would be surprised to find that food had already been served. During winter, there were summer fruits. During summer, he saw winter fruits.

“Where is the food from, Maryam?”

“Allah provides to whom He wills.”

Sayyidatina Maryam was so pure that she was picked to bear Prophet Isa (‘alayhissalaam), also known as Jesus, without being touched by any men. The angels reassured her that Allah had chosen her and purified her and selected her above the women of the worlds. Fearing the reaction of people around her, she fleed to deliver on her own in the middle of a scorching hot desert. Throughout her whole ordeal, she relied on no one other than Allah. She didn’t need anyone, not a husband or even her guardian, to be around.

Imagine how the people around you would react if you suddenly turned up with a newborn, without being married? Sayyidatina Maryam was given the difficult task of keeping quiet when she returned to her village. Naturally, everyone started criticising and cursing her. If you were in her position, would have remained speechless through the injustice that was being done?

Sayyidatina Maryam endured patiently and pointed to her baby. Then, Baby Isa stood up for his mother and informed the crowd that he was a Prophet. Subhanallah!

Without getting married, Sayyidatina Maryam was able to reach the pinnacle of piety. Her status was so high that she has a chapter in the Quran named after her. She showed us that she did not need a man; Allah Himself could defend her honour through His miracle.

How about me?

The purpose of my existence is to know, love and worship Allah. Every action, every step, every thought needs to be focused on Allah. To solve my problem, I had to go to the very root of it – my ever-widening distance from Allah. Am I looking for love because I am ready or because I am lonely? Am I praying on time? Am I conscious of Allah in everything that I do? Am I reading the Quran consistently? Do I perform taubah and istighfar constantly? What have I been doing to strengthen my relationship with Him? With each answer, it became more and more obvious that my Imaan was on the decline.

Through the awful scrapes and burns and agonizing heartbreaks, I was moved to comprehend that, like Sayyidatina Maryam, I had to turn to none except Allah. I came to realise that my relationship with Him is the most important relationship of all. Only Allah can grant me strength, courage, love, guidance, protection and patience. Only Allah is capable of making me whole. When I feel whole, I won’t rush to find a partner to complete me. When I feel whole, with Allah by my side, I would be able to bravely walk away from those who try to pry me away from Him. When I am whole, I would be better able to choose someone to share my completeness with and whom can accompany me on my path to Allah.

I’m not saying that I am perfect and that my level of Imaan is anywhere near Sayyidatina Maryam’s. However, things have picked up for me, alhamdulillah. This year, I got married to a man, whom I trust, is able to guide me to be a better Muslim. A man who was brave enough to walk up to my parents and ask for my hand in marriage. A man who made me realize why it never worked out with anyone else. Only when I was brave enough to let go and be the best version of me did Allah grant me someone so gentlemanly that part of me still can’t believe that he exists.

So don’t you worry, my fellow seeker. Allah knows when you’re hurt. Allah knows when you are bereaved. Allah knows when you struggle to get up because all you want to do is curl up in bed and hide from the world. Be sure, that when Allah takes away something from you, He’s only making space for something better. We just have to keep striving…

“Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. Recognize and acknowledge Allah in times of ease and prosperity, and He will remember you in times of adversity. And know that what has passed you by [and you have failed to attain] was not going to befall you, and what has befallen you was not going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship.”

Wallahu a’lam.

Source: http://aliaabdullah.com

June 12, 2015
786 Halal Char Kway Teow Is Halal, Managed By Chinese-Muslim Convert

Just to share..

A lot have been said about e talked about 786 CKT at Bukit Merah managed by our bro Anis Ang..

There are members here who mocked our bro if he is a true Muslim. Some even asked for his Identity Cards.. MUIS Conversion Papers.. Asked him to recite e Al Fatehah.. Saying tt e stall is not fully cleansed .. Questioned him why he don’t hv a Halal Certificate from MUIS.. etc..

Tday I wuld like to clarify e situation of his predicament as a Convert Muslim trying to make a living and survive (though he felt like he is being treated as a second class Muslim) in and by e Muslim Community here in Singapore.

The stall have been fully cleansed in accordance to Islamic way.. All equipments are new since he started e bisnes. He has been a Muslim Convert since 21 June 2011. All ingredients tt he ordered are fm a Muslim Supplier..

I hope this answers to some queries tt some members here in HCR have about him and his Bisnes…

Dear All.. I apologise if I cannot reply to Ur queries earlier and thank U all for your overwhelming support on this.. As requested by all I will have to remove his I.C that he is a Muslim cos due to security reasons.. Thanks and Wasallam..

Source: Hady Jay in Halal Cafe & Restaurants in Singapore

June 12, 2015
Will Lee Hsien Loong Attend Pink Dot This Saturday?

Pink Dot, the annual gay celebratory event of “the freedom to love”, will take place this Saturday at Hong Lim Park for the seventh time since its inauguration in 2009.

Each year, the event is headlined by celebrities and has attracted global brands as sponsors. It has also seen an increasing number of people turning up to give it support. Last year’s event reportedly attracted 25,000 people.

“Pink is the colour of our ICs,” the group’s Facebook page says. “It is also the colour when you mix red and white – the colours of our national flag. Pink Dot stands for an open, inclusive society within our Red Dot, where sexual orientation represents a feature, not a barrier.”

An inclusive society is also the aim of the Lee Hsien Loong Government which has repeatedly urged Singaporeans to see one another as one people, and has boasted of its inclusive policies.

Mr Lee, however, raised recently some ire among those in the gay community for comments he made about same-sex marriage and the gay community.

In an interview with ASEAN journalists in Singapore earlier in June, he said Singapore society “is still conservative although it is changing gradually” and that it is “not ready” for same-sex marriage, as the Straits Times reported.

But, Mr Lee said, the gay community have the space to live their lives in Singapore.

“We do not harass them or discriminate against them,” he explained.

This seemingly more conciliatory position of the Government first came into the spotlight in 2003, when then-prime minister Goh Chok Tong caused a bit of an uproar among conservative circles when he said the government was employing openly gay people in the civil service.

Mr Goh famously said then: “In the past, if we know you’re gay, we would not employ you. But we just changed this quietly.”

“Expecting much indignant resistance from conservative quarters, Goh attempted to placate angry citizens by resorting to essentialist notions of sexuality. He added ‘we are born this way and [gay people] are born that way, but they are like you and me’.” – [“But They are Like You and Me”: Gay Civil Servants and Citizenship in a Cosmopolitanizing Singapore.”]

Critics, however, point to the presence and retention of Singapore’s anti-gay law, section 377a of the Penal Code. The law criminalises sex between adult males.

Mr Lee said that the gay community “should not push the agenda too hard because if they push the agenda too hard, there will be a very strong pushback.”

“And this is not an issue where there is a possibility that the two sides can discuss and eventually come to a consensus. Now, these are very entrenched views and the more you discuss, the angrier people get,” he said.

Pink Dot, in response to Mr Lee’s remarks, said that while it acknowledged Mr Lee’s concerns – given Singapore’s unique position as a multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-religious society, there will be a plurality of viewpoints, some deeply entrenched – it nonetheless feels that “it is not a topic that can be swept under the carpet and allowed to fester.”

Lee

“We firmly believe that dialogue is our best way forward,” Pink Dot said. “As such, we would like to invite Prime Minister Lee to join us in celebrating the Freedom to Love, this Saturday, June 13, at Hong Lim Park, and meet with the individuals, families, and loving couples who form a vibrant part of Singapore’s social fabric.”

Mr Lee’s office has not responded to the invitation publicly.

Pink Dot also noted that racial and religious minorities are protected under the constitution.

“Whether Singapore will eventually abolish Section 377a and create a society truly based on justice and equality, that values all contributing citizens regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity; a lot will depend on fostering goodwill and encouraging respect among groups and individuals.”

Will Mr Lee accept Pink Dot’s invitation and turn up at Hong Lim Park on Saturday, in the name of inclusiveness or fostering an inclusive society? Should he?

Well, if we go by what his government itself has said – that it wants to build an inclusive society – and what is declared in our National Pledge – that we “pledge ourselves as one united people… to build a democratic society based on justice and equality” – then there is no reason for Mr Lee to decline the invitation.

But of course if Mr Lee accepts the invite, it will be seen by the conservatives as a sign of support, or at least of tacit endorsement of the gay community.

Indeed, Pink Dot’s invitation could also be seen as putting Mr Lee on the spot, perhaps nudging him to take a stand, instead of the fence-sitting one he currently adopts when it comes to gay issues.

Whatever it is, it will an interesting Saturday indeed.

Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com

June 12, 2015
Obama Orders More Troops Into Iraq To Guide Fight Back Against Islamic State

President Barack Obama on Wednesday ordered the deployment of 450 more U.S. troops to Iraq’s Sunni heartland to advise and assist fragile Iraqi forces being built up to try to retake territory lost to Islamic State.

The plan to expand the 3,100-strong U.S. contingent in Iraq and open a new operations center closer to the fighting in Anbar province marks an adjustment in strategy for Obama, who has faced mounting pressure to do more to blunt the momentum of the insurgents.

But with Obama sticking to his refusal to send troops into combat or to the front lines, the White House announcement failed to silence critics who say the limited U.S. military role in the conflict is not enough to turn the tide of battle.

U.S. officials hope that a strengthened American presence on the ground in Anbar will help the Iraqi military devise and carry out a counter-attack to retake the provincial capital Ramadi, which insurgents seized last month in an onslaught that further exposed the shortcomings of the Iraqi army.

The U.S. advisers, who will be injected into the heart of one of the most hotly contested areas of the Islamic State campaign, will offer tactical advice to Iraqi officers on how to conduct their operations, the Pentagon said.

A complex challenge for the U.S. troops, who will establish a training hub at the Taqaddum military base only about 15 miles (25 km) from Ramadi, will be their outreach to Sunni tribal fighters, many of whom do not trust the Shi’ite-led government in Baghdad.

U.S. officials want to integrate them into the Iraqi army and reduce its reliance on Iran-backed Shi’ite militias who have also joined the fight against Islamic State.

Obama decided on the new troop deployment in response to a request from Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, the White House said. The two leaders met while attending the G7 summit in Germany earlier this week.

“To improve the capabilities and effectiveness of partners on the ground, the president authorized the deployment of up to 450 additional U.S. military personnel to train, advise and assist Iraqi Security Forces,” the White House said in a statement.

Obama also ordered “the expedited delivery of essential equipment and materiel” to Iraqi forces, including Kurdish peshmerga troops and Sunni fighters operating under Iraqi command, the White House said.

It made the announcement two days after Obama said the United States did not yet have a complete strategy for training Iraqi security forces to regain land lost to Islamic State fighters, who have seized a third of Iraq over the past year in a campaign marked by mass killings and beheadings.

The fall of Ramadi last month drew harsh U.S. criticism of the Iraqi military’s retreat from the city. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said that Iraqi forces showed “no will to fight”.

SEEKING TO SPEED UP FLOW OF TRAINEES

U.S. forces have already conducted training at the al-Asad military base in western Anbar, and the new site will focus more on advising Iraqi forces on operations in what one U.S. official described as an effort to “buck up the ranks”.The Pentagon said the first of the new troops will arrive at Taqaddum, in eastern Anbar, within a few days from forces already in the country. The base will also be used to help guide Iraqi efforts to reclaim Fallujah, a nearby city the militants have held for more than a year, U.S. officials said.

Still, Obama’s new plan stops short of some of the more assertive steps demanded by his conservative critics at home, such as putting U.S. spotters in forward positions to call in air strikes or embedding American advisers with Iraqi forces in combat.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said Obama’s plan to send additional U.S. military personnel to train Iraqi forces was a “step in the right direction,” but not a sufficient strategy to defeat Islamic State.

“It’s clear that our training mission alone has not been enough,” the Republican lawmaker said.

John McCain, Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: “I remain deeply concerned that this new deployment is disconnected from any coherent strategy to defeat ISIL.”

With the latest adjustments, Obama is deviating only slightly from his policy of relying on a bombing campaign and local forces without committing large-scale U.S. troops. His options are hemmed in by a deep aversion to seeing America drawn back into Iraq after pulling out U.S. forces in 2011.

Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said the president recognized the “inherent risk” of attack that the new U.S. contingent could face in volatile Anbar and insisted that security precautions were being taken.

U.S. officials took pains to insist that Wednesday’s announcement did not amount to an overhaul of Obama’s anti-Islamic State strategy, but they left open the possibility of further unspecified steps.

“The president hasn’t ruled out any additional steps,” Rhodes told reporters on a conference call. “He’s always open to considering refinements.”

(Additional reporting by David Alexander, Jeff Mason, Warren Strobel, David Lawder andPatricia Zengerle in Washington, Phil Stewart in Jerusalem; Editing by Alan Crosby and Grant McCool)

Source: www.reuters.com

June 11, 2015
Mohd Khair: IS Kumpulan Iblis Dan Syaitan Yang Bertujuan Untuk Menghancurkan Islam

IS ni memang kumpulan Iblis dan Syaitan yang misi sebenarnya adalah menghancurkan Islam dari dalam.

IS sekarang sengaja buat kacau di Gaza agar Palestin terus diserang Israel.

Dan banyak pula lapuran-lapuran lain yang mengaitkan IS dengan regim kejam Zionis yang memerintah Israel sekarang ini.

Jadi, tidak hairanlah sekarang IS adalah juga kuncu-kuncu regim Zionis di Gaza untuk menimbulkan huruhara di sana dan untuk dengan sengaja menimbulkan alasan untuk Israel menyerang dan menghacurkan Gaza sekali lagi.

IS ni memang tentera Iblis dan Syaitan!

Source: Mohd Khair

June 11, 2015