.: Enlightened n saddened at the same time :.

I am thankful to Allah swt that I am blessed to sit through 3 wonderful lectures/syarahan which has done so much to widen my view on miself n others n my responsbility to do da'wah..

First up was the monthly kuliah ilmu organised by saff and done by Ustaz Haniff Hassan at perdaus hongkah..it was an enriching and heartening experience as well bec sumhow, Ustaz Haniff was very much jovial but still objective-minded in his delivery. The topic was the lessons that we cud obtain from Rasulullah s.a.w life in the post-Uhud era..the lessons for me were many though I didnt jot down a lot...among them was the fact that Rasulullah himself did make mistakes but the difference was, he had Allah swt to personally guide him n correct him while we, as normal human beings didnt..which was why UStaz stressed of the need for us to be objective-minded wen we assess ourselves..rational n obj analysis.."Jgn tgk yg salah saja..sampai kau nafikan kebaikan." he was givin this e.g of a "breakdance" incident wich happened at a hijrah walk..(oftwhich the audience cudnt stop laughing bec he was impersonating it..hehe)..mite not necessarily condemn the hijrah walk to b a failure altogether..12 hrs of "good" will b duly rewarded while that ".5 hrs" of breakdance will be "rewarded" as well..He stressed "Takkan Allah swt tk adil atas korang ni sumer?"

And i looked at it on miself..n realised that it was true..the need as leaders to assess things objectively not emotionally..oftwhich can only be done oni wen a leader is prepared to continually upgrade himself thru the equippin of skills n knowledge..A Jihad which can oni go thru its true nature n purpose with proper analysis..n to go thru the proper processes n makin the best decisions as appropriate wif the right amt of tawakkal..n jus because sumone does sthing bad to u, DOES NOT JUSTIFY u to do similarly to that person..nvr ever forget ure a Muslim no matter wat ur role is..

The 2nd kuliah was this one organised by Darul Arqam..Topic was "Playing God : Who speaks for Islam today?" by Prof Khaled Abou Fadl..a foreign Muslim scholar..a prof of law n syari'ah..the topic itself was intriguing..n the fact that i was in company w/Nizar n Wan Suri sumhow ensured that my brain was thinkin continually..one of the interesting points that was brought up..Is it possible by the Grand Design that it is by HIS will that 99.99% of the issues in the Holy Book was crystal clear while the remaining is left for humans to decide? And that was where the issue of diversity of opinions, syura, n perhaps the Divine Wisdom to allow diff ppl to converse w/one another, share n understand differences, not to eradicate another..And the point that since Nature is constantly changing, the law itself has to be dynamic as well..to adapt to different situations in diff countries..and that the legitimacy of one's speech to be as good as one's evidence..not his acts or backgrd..the question that was raised: "Is Allah's Design able to be summed up in what we call as laws?"..Which is why where he stressed it was very very impt for us to practise humility in the face of Allah swt in wateva we do, n in his case..esp in our eagerness to judge others easily..Humility,patience and reason above self..wif the correct niat of course :)

the 3rd kuliah today..was "The Good, the Bad & the Ugly : Search 4 Beauty In Islam"..the reluctance to speak frankly & openly to oneself, speaking from one's heart truly..the issue of wat is the role of intellect w/o the proper iman/aqidah..then isnt such intellect jus data n nothin more? Ultimately, the same speaker stressed on the need for every Muslim to be transparent to onself..and to understand not jus wif one's mind but w/the heart as well..The need for us to continually reviewing ourselves and improving ourselves..in continual search of the beauty in ourselves and in Islam..which is no easy task..the qn he posed was most interestin "Is our representation of Islam as beautiful as that Allah has created for us?"...a very intriguing one indeed..

the many lessons i learnt frm this eventful 3 days..i hope that i can use it in the future..as n wen its needed..i had a personal incident which very much hurt me in more ways..but i pray that Allah swt grants me strength to get thru dis..n to forgive miself for mi own imperfections..so that I can find it in my heart to forgive...n forget..I ask for peace..as alwaez