Monday, September 10, 2007


on the way back to the garden

Ramadhan is coming.

Maybe that's why the tears have been free-flowing tonight.

I've been mildly homesick for a while, but lately, it's for that Home of a different kind.

And it's been a while since I've cried; Sheera can testify to that (although our laughfest was not bad at all, eh?).

So tonight was surprising.

And I'm sure it's not due to the reading material either (Lehninger's Biochemistry on the Principles of Bioenergetics -- compelling stuff, and not really examinable, pity).

And these people made me cry:


BrotherhoodBand

Idris Phillips

Dawud Wharnsby

while this bloke (who's related to another really famous musician) makes me homesick:

Yoriyos

(Anyone guessed his musical lineage? Surprising, innit?)

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this has been a rant by Syazwina Saw at 10:27 pm

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Sunday, October 22, 2006


Disconcerting farewells.

There were many tears shed tonight.

There was a tone of muffled sadness from the evening onwards.

Laughter and tears took centrestage by turns.

We bid premature farewells to well-loved people -- we pray for the safeguarding of their hearts, of their souls, of their nafs. We pray for their Love to withstand Time.

We bid a premature farewell to a cherished month -- and prayed that it should be Written in our fate that this beloved and us should meet once again, one day soon.

Tonight we prayed for strength in going back and facing the reality we forgot we left behind.
Tonight we prayed for Love to bind our hearts together in our journey for our Homeland.
Tonight we prayed for safe returns, strong hearts, stronger wills.
Tonight we prayed for the souls that were to leave soon with memories and love, both shared.
Tonight we prayed for hearts to remain -- for straightness of the path, and the might to stay on it.

Tonight we prayed the Rabitah. We recited it over and again.

'Fawathiqillah humma rabithotahaa
Wa adim wuddaha
Wahdi haa
Subulaha
Wam la a haa
Binuurika lazhi laa yahbu
Washrah
Suduu rahaa
Bi faidhil imaani bik.'

'Therefore strengthen, O Allah, these bonds,
Retain the love of these hearts on Your path,
Fill these hearts with the light of Your Rabbani which shall never fade,
Free these hearts with the overflowing of faith.'

Amin.

P.S:- Any corrections in the translation or the romanization must be duly noted to blogger. Jazaks.

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this has been a rant by Syazwina Saw at 12:27 am

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Saturday, October 21, 2006


Ukhuwah fillah fil Melbourne...

We Stood in Lines
by Zakkiratul Syazwina :)

We stood in lines once.
Maybe you and I both know it
We awaited the world
And feared what would be
Resigned to fate
Faith held tightly
We entered the world.
And now
Here we are again in lines
We stand side by side, shoulder by shoulder
Our hands are crossed before us in resolve
Our hearts are linked; they become homes
To every other heart
As far as the eyes can see
And we stand in lines still.
Your tears prick my heart
And feed my soul
With hope
Because you –
they
– We still stand in lines.
And whence the next full moon arrives and bids its time
And call some to its fray
And the lines shift and fill and flip over and again
Shall there be a meeting of these hearts once more?
For maybe there will be some who lose the fight and resign…
Their hearts not ours to hold…
But new numbers
New souls and hearts will fill the ranks
‘Tis a promise made, tested true.
And once again, we prepare to move into the world.
We stand side by side, shoulder by shoulder
Hands crossed in resolve,
Hearts linked.
Because we begin in His Name
And part in His Name.

'Souls are like conscripted soldiers; those whom they recognize, they get along with, and those whom they do not recognize, they will not get along with.'
(Hadith from Usamah ibn Shurayk)

And (moreover) He hath put affection between their hearts. (Al-Anfal 8: 63)

Uhibbuki fillah, abadan abada, insyaAllah. <3

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this has been a rant by Syazwina Saw at 9:33 pm

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Monday, October 16, 2006


'Yay~! Raya is coming!'

Assalamualaikum wrh. wbt.

First of all, allow me to weep.

Time does fly so, doesn't it? And it seems that the first 2/3 of Ramadhan has just slipped through our fingers, hasn't it?

It sure does feel like it.

And now, people on my Yahoo! Messenger list (people who do MSN, I do not have ANY of your contact deets) are starting to rejoice over the end of Ramadhan, and the start of Syawal.

And I'm thinking, "Well, yeah, Eid-ul-Fitr is coming. But lemme get this straight: You're rejoicing over the fact that in about a week from now, Iblis and his mafioso (The Syaitan Co.) are going to be let loose on the earth, and continue their pursuit on dragging us all to Hell (quite literally)?"

Get outta here.

Maybe my lack of feeling for Eid is due to the fact that I don't fancy being harangued by the Devil again. My fight with my nafs is hard enough, without having a multitude of other whispers ('was-was' = whispers of the Devil) in my heart, trying to pull me in the wrong direction.

But enough about that.
Let's talk about the Night of Nights.
The Big One.

And no. I do not mean the open house some people are thinking of holding on the first weekend of Syawal.

I'm talking about the Night of Decree, or Lailatul-Qadr.

What does the Qur'an say about Lailatul-Qadr?
Lemme check:

'Indeed, We sent it [i.e. the Qur'an] down during the Night of Decree.

And what can make you know what is the Night of Decree?

The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months.

The Angels and the Spirit [i.e. Gabriel] descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter*.

Peace it is** until the emergence of Dawn.'

{Suratul-Qadr, 97: 1-5}

*they bring down the decree for everything destined to occur in the coming year.
**Upon the believers.

Wow.
Wow.
Wow.

The Night of Decree.

And when is this Night of Decree going to occur?

Allah Ta'ala has promised those who search for it, with the purest of intention, in the last ten nights of Ramadhan. The Prophet [pbuh] himself said (and let me paraphrase this), "Search for it in the odd nights of the last ten nights of Ramadhan".

And the jumhur ulama', no matter which school of thought you belong to, agree that what is meant by 'searching for it' is by actually waking up for a vigil in the middle of the night - preferably the last 1/3 of the night, because this is when Allah descends into this realm - and doing ibadah i.e. solat sunnah such as the tahajjud and the witr, reciting the Qur'an and the sahur, purely for Allah.

As a sidenote, the Masjid known as the Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) has started their i'tiqaf activities. People (men, especially) are welcome to do their tarawih from 2am onwards, until Subuh. Harap maklum.

It's also amazing, how much more keen Australians are on making the most of Ramadhan, especially while they're in a non-Muslim country, and back in LITW, the 'Bazaar Ramadhan' gig heats up in the last ten days, instead.

And LITW is one of them 'Islamic nations'!
Indeed.

There was this hadith qudsi (relayed to the ummah via the Prophet, but describing Allah's exact Words) that mentioned about how proud Allah is of the believers who spend the last part of the night in supplication to Him, and that He mentions their name before the Angels. 'They have left their comfortable beds for Me'.

I want so much to make Allah proud.

Take note, ya ukhti fil Melbourne: Wake me up, especially for the odd nights!!

So.
It really never ceases to amaze me, how people can be so keen on Ramadhan ending.
Especially when it is the best of months.
Especially when Allah blesses us all with this best of months - and we're keen on it going away.

And especially when this is the 'training ground' for the believers.

Some people say that the reason for the saum i.e. the fast is for us to:

Well. I'd say that they're all somewhat right, but neither of the above is the main point of fasting.

Let's open the Qur'an, now, shall we (oh, how I love this part!)?

Chapter 2, verse 183 states:

'O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may acquire taqwa (piety).'

Wow.

Piety.

I want that.

Piety sounds pretty cool to me. Doesn't it?

And piety essentially means to fear Allah. Doing everything as if you could feel God's gaze on you. Doing everything for Him, and for Him only.

To Love Allah in the only way you know how, the only way you were taught how. Because no matter how much you love Allah back, it can never compare to His Love for us all.

Just a reminder for myself that I'd like to share with my blogging audience.

Ramadhan Mubarak, y'all. Here's to making the best of what is left.

And may we be blessed with meeting it again someday. InsyaAllah.

Any limitations are from my part, but they ultimately come from Allah, and surely, it has some meaning behind it.

Verifications on any hadith (sound, unsound?) are very much welcome. Share the knowledge, spread it around.

Wassalamualaikum.

P.S:- Sorry if you find my narrative voice this time around a little hard to swallow. I'm just influenced by Preacher Moss from the 'Allah Made Me Funny' comedy tour, hitting OZ and NZ this summer, the promo vid available for viewing here.

'Takbir, brother!'

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this has been a rant by Syazwina Saw at 2:21 pm

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