Summary -Don’t forward emails blindly

I again received this forwarded email yesterday. Actually, this has been around for quite a long time, and it is my belief that the email is very dangerous to muslim’s faith and it must stop. I will explain why. I have attached the full version of the email in the Additional Ideas section. (Why? because I want to keep the entry short, I was hoping you read my opinion on the matter first, I don’t want it to be further forwarded… blindly)

However, to sum the email up… There is this person who claim he had seen Rasulullah in his dream, and Rasulullah gave him a few points, asking him to convey them to all muslim around the world. And the emails are followed by a warning, that bad things will happen to those who choose not to forward and that good things will happen to those who did.

My explanation on why the email is very dangerous

• The last “wahyu” from Allah (Surah AlMaidah Ayat 3) generally translates – “Pada Hari ini telah Kusempurnakan untuk kamu agamamu, dan telah Ku cukupkan kepadamu nikmatKu, dan telah Ku redhai Islam itu sebagai cara hidup mu”. Saidina Abu Bakar actually cried after the verse is read. Because he knew that Rasulullah’s responsibility to teach Islam had been completed, and it is a sign that Rasulullah had reached the end of his life.

• So if Rasulullah appeared in the dream of this person, telling him to distribute the message, don’t you think that this shows that his work /responsibility is not yet finished?

• Even when he is still alive, obviously there are people who did not accept his teaching. Does it mention anywhere in the hadis or HOly Quran that these people were doomed with unfortunate events? No… so why is the email if not forwarded will then bring bad luck?

• The major portion of the email is actually describing the fate of those who received the email, whether good or bad. And I believe, those who forwarded it, did so not because he/she wanted to convey the message of Islam, but because of fear of being cursed. Am I right? Is that the foundation of Islamic teaching? “Berdakwah” out of fear or to gain rewards.

Conclusion – Don’t believe everything in emails. Most of the time there are hoaxes. Think first before you forward it to your friends. This particular email, actually is very dangerous to our faith.

Summary – A tribute to one great event in Islam, Israk Mikraj

This is a story derived from mere imagination.

One day I drove back to KL which is about 100 km from my place. The journey usually took me about 1 hour maximum,

Apparently I was not alone, there was an ant hitching a ride on my windscreen. I completely ignored it after a few attempt to knock it off with my wiper fail.

After I finished my task in KL, I drove back home. To my surprise, the ant was still there.

When I reached home, the ant (now known as ant A) somehow reunited with its friend (another ant B) and they started chatting

A – do you know where have I been?
B – Kitchen?

A – Wrong!! hehe I know you wouldn’t believe this, but I was in KL just now?
B – KL? that was like 10,000,000 cm away!!! You must be crazy

A – it’s true… And I was there about an hour ago, now I’m back..
B – you must be dehydrated. Go find yourself some water (still does not believe ant A).

/end story

Do you believe ant A? There’s no reason why not. Since we know the whole story, and it is not only possible for us to travel 100km in 1 hour, it is actually considered slow by some people.

The same question was raised over 1400 years ago. How could the Prophet Muhamad was taken on isra’ mi’raj journey. All the way to Sidratul Muntaha in one night.

Isra’ Mi’raj happened on the 27th of Rejab which was on last Saturday. This is a tribute to the great event.

Disclaimer – AT NO POINT, I’m referring the Prophet Muhamad as an ant, the story was just to describe how the travel is actually possible and that we just don’t have that level of technology or knowledge to even understand it yet.

Hopefully we will benefit from other great lesson from the event.

Summary – Charity is never about money

Today is the day. The charity at Darul Izzah Orphanage. It will be from 10.30am to 1pm. Again, if you can make it, let’s..

So why am I so excited about the event.

1) This is my first charity I joined. I have been on the receiving end for a long time already. I believe it is about time that I be on the giving end instead. I cannot offer a lot of money to these poor children, What I can do is to go there and help out the event. So that everyone will be as comfortable as possible, so that the children will be happy for at least today(I am quite good with children hehehe),

2) In Islam, You get “pahala” just by touching the orphan on the head, in other word, by giving a pat on the shoulder, or by any means to show that you care for them. Imagine, just by mere caring you will be appreciated by Him, what if you lighten up their day. I am not in any way looking for ways to get “pahala”. But, if Allah love the act, it must be something good, right?

3) In addition to all that, I will be able to get to make new friends. Strangers that actually connected via keyboard and monitor. Why? Don’t I have enough friends? No… I like to smile at people and have them smile at me back. 🙂

(Yerp like what you are doing there… 🙂 )

The point of this post…

• I am not trying to show off that I am a very noble person when I go tocharity. I highlighted it in this blog so many time to encourage other people joining in. One of the many small things I do to help out.

• Charity does not mean you will have to gather 100 friends, giving out money, etc… As long as you touch somebody else’s life, in any way… you will be appreciated (by HIM)

• So let’s be a better person. You and more importantly me. (A self advising post)

Summary – How Friday prayer highlighted the importance of listening.

Thanx for those who replied to my question in the previous entry. It is really a difficult question, I must say… to figure out what to say to the world. And the fact that the world is listening is not really helping.

If for example, you are asked to speak to thousands of people on a gathering, and you know for certain they will not be listening. Maybe you speak in another language, or that the microphone is faulty. I believe you will be able to kill the time effectively with your speech. Am I correct?

The fact is, listening to what people say is actually 40 times more important than giving the speech. Why 40? This is my personal opinion. If we look into the Friday prayer (for muslim), one of the condition that must be fulfilled for the prayer to be valid (sah) is to have 1 person delivering the “khutbah”, and 40 people actually listen and understand the “khutbah”. If only 39 people listen, then technically the whole group’s solat will not be valid.

There is no survey to check after the solat whether there is enough 40 people, or 40 people assigned to really listen. It really comes down to the individuals. They should know better that the “khutbah” is given to be listened and understood. Nobody should enforce you to listen.

Then there is a “hadis” always read before the “khutbah” saying that you must not speak during the khutbah, even with the intention to shh others. My personal interpretation on this is that, even if you are not listening, you must not interfere with other people who does. The message must always be respected. It took great courage to speak, advising and teaching people. If we disrespect the action, sooner or later, there will be no person to teach or advise. Think of the chaos that will do.

I’m not saying that we must be silent everytime other spoke. Both speaking and listening is important, that is without one of them, the Solat will not be valid. I’m just saying that listening really is 40 times more important.

Hopefully those who read this, will understand (listen to) the message.

————— Personal Note ————————–
I’m not trying to boast about what I do, but people do come to me asking my opinion on things, usually it’s relationship based. Not that I’m an expert. It’s just that I learnt from other people’s experience and make it a personal lesson for me.

The thing is, the people who I had previously advised on a problem, usually will come across the same problem over and over again. They just won’t listen. Yes, I completely understand that my opinion may not be the best, but he/she should at least listen and think about it. Not later come to me and say, “I should listen to you”.

Had this happened to you?