Toward letting go . . .

Even when letting go of people hurts, face your heart towards Allah and run. Whatever is meant for you, will come after you. Whatever is not, will stay behind - Yasmin Mogahed

A piece of advice

If you could give advice to yourself right now, what will it be?!

Please please don't lose hope in ALLAH . . . Please please don't give up . . . Please please keep going . . . 

Yasmin Mogahed

Those who know me, know I love trees. I can’t help it! Aside from their beauty, think how compliant they are. They stand still until commanded to move. And when they move, their branches move only to the exact degree commanded. Not an inch more. Commanded to be firm, they are firm. Commanded to bend, they bend. Commanded to change, they transform from green to orange and red. And then when commanded to let go—even of what is a part of them—they hear and they obey. They don’t hold on for a second longer. The leaf falls. To the world, it looks like death. But what was given away, returns. Even more beautiful. What was dead, lives again! - Yasmin Mogahed

Michael Jordan

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."  - Michael Jordan

The sunnah is to be optimistic and opportunistic!

If Allah has put you in a difficult situation in this world, its a chance to earn ease in the hereafter through patience.

If falsehood and corruption are on the rise, its a chance to do more Dawah and spread the truth.

If you're being ridiculed for your faith by the creation, its a chance to earn the praise of the Creator.

Everything from Allah is good because even the "bad" in this world is in essence just a means of attaining good in the hereafter for the believer.

The sunnah is to be optimistic and opportunistic!

Omar Suleiman

Bersyukur Dan Perbanyaklah Doa

‎( HADIST ) BERSYUKUR DAN PERBANYAKLAH DOA - Seorang sahabat bertanya, "Ya Rasulullah, pesankan sesuatu kepadaku yang akan berguna bagiku dari sisi Allah." Nabi Saw lalu bersabda: "Perbanyaklah mengingat kematian maka kamu akan terhibur dari (kelelahan) dunia, dan hendaklah kamu bersyukur. Sesungguhnya bersyukur akan menambah kenikmatan Allah, dan perbanyaklah doa. Sesungguhnya kamu tidak mengetahui kapan doamu akan terkabul." (HR. Ath-Thabrani)

Source: Yusuf Mansur Network

There's a story behind every person

Somebody posted this picture on facebook, and I copied and paste it here. I thought why not share it.
I think it's very true. Each one of us has gone thorough a different life journey and the journey has shaped the way we think and behave. Those experiences have also affected our personality. It is also very important to understand where people are coming from and why they are acting they way they do. Therefore, let's think about that before we judge someone ;)

A student of life

At this point in time,

I'm learning about prioritizing,

I'm learning about time-management,

I'm learning about responsibility,

I'm learning about sacrifice,

I'm learning about letting go,
I'm learning about forgiveness,
I'm learning about patience,
I'm learning about perseverance,
I'm learning about gratitude,

Most importantly,
I'm learning about The One who created me, and myself, as one of His creations.

If this life is a place of learning,
then I'm a student of life . . .

We are not in control of our own hearts; He is

The fact that our heart cannot let go of things--despites the countless arguments our mind makes, despite the utter foolishness of the attachment, despite the impossible nature of the heart's wish--is a humbling reminder that we are not in control of our own hearts; He is - Yasmin Mogahed

English Writing -- How to Summarize

I've been writing articles summary for my environmental class these past couple days. It is quite challenging to be honest, but nothing is impossible. I found this video on English as Second Language website, I hope this will help you guys as well! ;)

Freedom from the desire - Yasmin Mogahed

When you're hungry, there are 2 things you can ask God for: You can either ask God for food--in which case you remain forever a slave to food. Or you can ask God to extinguish the hunger. In which case you become free. Dont despair when God doesnt give you what you desire. Perhaps He is giving you something greater: freedom from the desire - Yasmin Mogahed

Worry About Future? Watch This! by Imam Anwar Al Awlaki

When this test passes

When this test passes,
will you be able to tell it like a story?!

A bed time story you often read to the kids before they go to sleep?!

When this test passes,
will you be able to watch it like a movie?!

A drama you often watch because you want to be able to laugh and get your mind off something?!

When this test passes,
will you be able to remember what you have done, or you could have done to have a better ending?!

When this test passes,
will you have regret for having gone through it?!
or

Will it make you happier for the test has turned you into a better person than before?!

When this test passes,
will you be able to write stories like any types of stories you've read?!
Stories you will remember as your reference for future test.

The One Who Was and Will Always Be - Omer Chaudhry

~The ONE Who Was and Will Always Be~

I wonder when I look above
With a sigh of love...
At the starry sky, with tears of joy
When will this life come to an end?
For I can’t wait and I want to see
The ONE who was and will always be

It’s true this life does have a reason
But the world for me is still a prison
So no wonder what I have in here
That void inside will always be
For I can’t wait and I want to see
The ONE who was and will always be

I try to avoid it but I end up sinning
My heart feels heavy and my head starts spinning
If this is the pain I feel in this world
Then how harsh would the hell fire be?
The thought of it makes me hate myself
But despair of HIS mercy I’ll never be
For I can’t wait and I want to see
The ONE who was and will always be

So I turn to HIM, put my head on the ground
My lost soul as if suddenly found
His remembrance puts my heart at peace
And brings a happy thought to mind
If this is the satisfaction of this world
How much pleasure one would in the Heaven find?
And then I can’t wait and I want to see
The ONE who was and will always be

Bro. Omer Chaudhry

;)

Let's try our very best, and let God do the rest . . . Fighting!!! :D

Reading Break

It's reading break people!!! It's time to read! Lol , obviously! :D

Sooo, I'm supposed to catch up with assignments and do some readings! Of course, that's always the plan. To do this and that, but what makes me nervous is that, I sometime screw up my own perfect plans. I often find myself discouraged as a result. I thought I was gonna watch movies for just few minutes, but then I ended up finishing the whole episodes.
***I sometime stay up all night to just finish the movie! :/

What makes me so nervous is that, it's a week long, and often time I find myself distracted. I want to do something else instead of doing what I'm supposed to be doing. If I happen to screw up my plans, I'll be devastated and losing hope. It's hard to get myself back up sometime :(

I know, I know, we are human, we make mistakes! We screw up! We're not perfect! :/
We have to forgive ourselves, and ask, "What can I learn from my mistakes?! How are these mistakes gonna make me a better person?!" and of course, this takes time and lots of practise to build the skill. But nothing's impossible ;)

Anyway, happy reading break people! I'll tell you how my break goes! I'll see you until then! ;D

Advice

If you could give advice to yourself right now, what would it be?!

"Please don't give up hope, because God do exist and He's the most merciful. You're not alone! He's always watching you and would never abandon you. He never sleeps, He takes care of all of us. Forgive the mistakes you've made, because you're just this human being with flaws. Ask God for help and ask yourself, "what can I learn from my mistakes so that it will make me a better person"?! Furthermore, keep going for this isn't the end . . .

Article summary - Environmental Log

Sooooo, I'm supposed to summarize an article that I've just read :D

It's about arctic melting. Why is it such an issue?! Well, as y'all now that the arctic is melting! It's global warming people!!!! And that's bad because our fresh water comes from the arctic. As you can imagine, if the arctic is melting, then how on earth will we be able to get fresh water?! If you live in developed countries (like Canada) you'll be fine because you pretty much hold the source of water. But what about the developing countries (like Indonesia for example?!). How will countries like Indonesia survive? Can Indonesia keeps asking fresh water from Canada?!
Well, yes to some extend. Most of Canadian are generous, but the source of fresh water will decrease eventually. So then what?! Where we all get the fresh water after that?!

Then the article also talks about the habitat that might have been affected due to arctic melting. The polar bears live in the arctic, sooo if the arctic is melting, then where will they go?! What about their foods, how will they get their foods?!

The article also talks about that snow absorbs the sun. Sooo, if the snow is melting, then what will absorb solar light?! The solar light, will be reflected back to the space, and reflect back to the earth. That's how the earth gets warmer.
***I'm sorry guys if this sounds confusing. This is how my thought processes :D This is just to test me if I understand what I'm reading :/

Hmmm, what else did the article talk about?!

Well, the scientist predicted that the earth is warmer faster now than decades ago. This is a bad sign. Because if the earth is melting, then this results in arctic melting. If the arctic is melting, where will we get our fresh water?! If we don't drink water, then how will we survive?! If you're like me who drink water excessively, Oh noooo, what should we do?!!

Report:

By the way, my friend and I got 26/30 which is pretty good mark. Alhamdulillah ;)

If you are grateful I will give you more - Nouman Ali Khan

My treat

I gave myself permission to eat this for dinner as a treat, after my hard work for my midterm! Yiay! :D

 I had my friend ordered it for me, so I don't really know what it's called. I just know that it tastes good. After all, I was really hungry and that probably explains why this tastes soooo goood :D

Karna kita tidak benar-benar tau apa yg benar-benar kita inginkan

Sebelom masuk kuliah, saya sempat galau karna saya pengen nya bisa masuk ke universitas A. Stelah memohon petunjuk pada ALLAH, juga karna beberapa alasan tertentu, akhirnya saya memilih untuk masuk universitas B. Saya kira, saya bakal bertambah galau dgn pilihan saya. Tapi, terntaya tidak!

Di awal2 saya menginjakkan kaki di universitas B (kali pertama), respon saya, "woaa, it's not bad" sambil tersenyum. Inti nya, saya langsung jatuh cinta pada universitas B :D

Benar2 ALLAH Maha pembolak-balik hati.
Saya tidak menyangka bahwa saya bakal secinta ini pada universitas B :D

Terkadang, kita g benar2 tau apa yg kita inginkan. Ilmu kita begitu sempit, sehingga kita hanya terfokus pada satu pilihan.
Bahkan saya tdak pernah menyangka kalo saya bakal secinta ini pada tempat kuliah saya sekarang :D

Saya juga merasa, ALLAH bukan saja memberi apa yg kita butuhkan, tapi bahkan Ia memberi apa yg benar2 kita inginkan. Hanya saja, karna pengetahuan kita begitu terbatas, kita tidak benar2 tau apa yg benar2 kita inginkan.

Ntahlah, ini hanya sebuah pendapat. Ilmu saya juga masih sangat sempit, mohon di koreksi :D

Forgiveness - Yasmin Mogahed

Sometimes the reason we can't forgive is that we don't see our own flaws. We spend our lives holding onto the wrongs others have done to us; but we don't see all the wrongs we have also done to others. No one is perfect. And we are all in desperate need of forgiveness--from God and from the people.  Forgive...so that you too may be forgiven.

Conversation

The voice inside: C'mon Eva, it's just one midterm. It's not the end of the world :)

Eva: I know, but why does it feel like it is the end of the world?! :(

The voice inside: But, ALLAH is with us. We just need to do our part, which is to try our best, and leave the rest to ALLAH. He's gonna take care of the result. Whatever it is, He's only gonna give the best result. We just need to trust Him ;)

Eva: Okay, I'll try my best. Please pray for me :)

The voice inside: Insya ALLAH, I will ;)

Feb/15/2013: I was so stressed out because of this midterm, and at the time it did feel like that's the end of the world :D Anyway, I tried my best so I didn't have any regret and I got 71/80, Alhamdulillah :D

Paradise is my home

I don't belong here,

I want to go home . . .

But where's my "home" anyway?!

The fact that in this dunia, there's no such thing as home,

Home is where we can feel at peace, serenity from within . . .

And I don't get that in this world . . .

That's when I realized, there's only one place I could call home,

And that place is paradise . . .

Put your trust and hope in The Most Merciful of all, and keep going ;)

Earlier today, I was really down because I couldn't really finish my short essay. I finished my body paragraphs, but that's only because my tutor was there to help me :(

I couldn't really think what the introduction and conclusion would be. But in the end, I wrote couple of words, for the sake of finishing it off. ***Finally, alhamdulillah, I handed in! ;)

Anyway, while I was at my "galau" point, I started to imagine what I would do if I get expelled from university. I'd probably going to go back to Aceh, and open a restaurant. I really want to learn how to cook, cuz I really want to be a good mother :D

And I was thinking, if I open a restaurant, then I could help out with some chefs who I might hire.

Or I could also save money so that I could buy some sort of an institution, just so that I could hire and give a place for those who want to teach.

As for me, I would just become a house-wife and take care of family :D

Anyway, back to my point. I really thought that was the end of my life. Like, that's it!

And I asked myself, why was I so down and gloomy? A believer shouldn't be like this. I believe in God, so why despair?! This is only a test from Him. He wants to see my faith in Him, that's the whole point of a test. I told myself, no more despair or worries. Let's be positive.

I told myself, ALLAH loves me and He's only testing me. I know the test might seem "cruel" on the outside, that you sometime feel He's abandoned you, but that's the whole point of a test.

It is ALLAH's way to see which are you among the true believer.

So then I decided to take a deep breath, and said calming words like, "ALLAH is testing you. He loves you, He will never abandon you. As long as you try your best to be in His path, you'll be fine. All you have to do is to be patient with this test. And keep going. No more worries! We believe in ALLAH. He's the most merciful. He will help me"

That's how I continued my day. I came to class. I sat and listened to the lecture. It was really difficult, I didn't really understand what she was saying. Then I began to worry again. Then I asked myself, "Why do I let myself to worry?! I thought I believe in ALLAH?! No worries, He'll get me out of the situation in ways I could never imagine"

Then I began to be positive again. I realized that it's so easy to listen to syaitan's whispers and started to worry. But this time, I really want to practise "positivity". To really see beyond the illusion of this life, and see good in everything ALLAH gives to me. That's how a believer should be ;)

Anyway, when it's closed to the end, I started asking questions about the materials. Then I realized, there's really no point in worrying. TRUST is the key word for today.

You trust God who is the Most merciful, who will never abandon you, and keep going ;)

An analogy

Analogi nya mgkn seperti ini.

Misalnya kita kena penyakit kanker (naudzubillah, ini cuma misalnya). Trus kita ke dokter spesialist kanker. Dan mmg benar2 ahli, bahkan seluruh dunia mengakui.
Nah, di rumah sakit, dokter bakal nyuntik, atau kita bahkan sampai di operasi. Dan dokter itu bilang, apapun yg saya lakukan adalah demi kebaikan kamu.

Kita g benar2 ngerti prosedur pengobatannya. Kenapa kita harus di suntik, atau di kasih obat ini itu. Kita bisa nanya, apa kandungan dari obat2an tsb, tapi tetap saja kita gak benar2 ngerti. Karna kalo benar2 ngerti, kita yg bakal jdi pak/buk dokter nya :D
Inti nya, ada kepercayaan bahwa dokter ini bakal berusaha utk nyembuhin kita. Dan kita yakin sekali kalo dokter hanya melakukan ini semua demi kebaikan kita.

Kembali ke analogi di atas. Seolah2 ada rasa percaya bahwa dokter menyuruh/melarang sesuatu karna hal tersebut baik bagi kita. Walaupun terkadang, cara nya harus dgn di suntik atau dgn menelan pil2 yg tidak kita ketahui isi nya apa.

Sama halnya dgn ALLAH. Kita g benar2 ngerti cara kerja ALLAH karna mmg ilmu ALLAH sangatlah luas. Dan ALLAH menyuruh/melarang sesuatu karna Ia tau hal tsb yg baik bagi kita. Walau terkadang kita harus merasakan sakit. (Misalnya meninggalkan orang yg paling kita cintai).
***Sama seperti dokter yg harus menyuntik atau bahkan sampai mengoperasi utk menyembuhkan penyakit kita.

Mmg ALLAH tidak bisa di samakan dgn dokter manapun. Hanya saja, ini sbuah analogy. Semoga bisa membantu :)

My deepest admiration :)

Saya sangat-sangat salut pada teman-teman saya yang "berani" memilih jalan utk tidak pacaran demi hubungan yg lbih di ridhai oleh ALLAH SWT (baca: pernikahan).
Sama seperti di status saya sebelumnya, hal yg terberat menurut saya memanglah "melepaskan" hubungan yg sudah lama terjalin.

Akan tetapi, menurut saya, kata melepaskan kurang tepat. Yg sebenarnya, kita bukanlah melepaskan orang yg benar2 kita cintai, kita hanya "menyerahkan" mereka pada ALLAH.
Jika mmg seseorang tsb baik bagi kita, maka akan ALLAH kembalikan. Jika tidak, maka akan ALLAH ganti dgn yg lbih baik, di dunia atau bahkan di surga nanti. Kita hanya butuh meyakini, bahwa ALLAH hanya akan memberi yg terbaik bagi kita.

Ada sebuah argument dari seorang sahabat.
"Memang jodoh di tangan tuhan , tapi setiap sikap ,setiap langkah, kita yang menentukan. Setiap sikap dan langkah itulah yang menuntun kita kepda jodoh kita."

Mmg kita harus berikhitar, tapi bukankah dgn "menyerahkan" pada ALLAH sepenuhnya, juga merupakan bentuk dari ikhtiar kita?! Bukankah dgn tdak pacaran merupakan "sikap dan langkah" yg kita ambil yg jg akan menuntun kita kpada jodoh kita?!
Dan kalo sudah siap, kita juga bisa mengambil "sikap dan langkah" yaitu dgn cara lsg melamar dan menikahi org yg kita cintai tsb.

Tentu saja, saya tdak mencoba menghakimi siapa2. Saya hanya mencoba utk menyampaikan walau hanya satu ayat. Dan saya sendiri masih sangat jauh dari kesempurnaan. Jika ada yg salah, mohon di koreksi. Wasalam :)