The Pencil

I got this from an email. I thought I’d share it with you all...

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter.

At one point, he asked:

"Are you writing a story about what we've done? Is it a story about me?"

His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:

"I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I'm using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up."
Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn't seem very special.
"But it's just like any other pencil I've ever seen!"
"That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on to them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world."
"First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. It is Allah's hand, and He always guides us according to His will."

"Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he's much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person."

"Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice."

"Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you."

"Finally, the pencil's fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action."

Now I wonder... how in the world am I going to be able to do this to Alisha when she is older when I don’t use pencils to write my letters?

Blog adjourned.

The Wedding Speech

My bestfriend Yusuf, is now married to his beautiful wife Salwa, who is also the Bride's close friend. 

Small world eh??? Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu Betoi!

The bride and groom requested the Bride and I to deliver their wedding speech.

Drafting a wedding speech is no joke. It's certainly not like updating blog posts. 

It took us about a month to discuss the flow and Alhamdulillah, after a few email exchange and some brainstorming session, the speech was finally drafted to our satisfaction.

We didn't show the speech to Yusuf and Salwa so that it was kept as a surprise for them and the rest of the audience.

Just to be on the safe side, we did a practice session before my parents and they gave their greenlight to our draft.

The Bride and I were really excited to deliver the speech to Yusuf and Salwa. The whole Saturday saw us reading and re-reading the speech over and over again for the Big Night. During the wedding, we were all fidgeting at our seats waiting for our que. Although beautiful coloured rice was served as dinner, instead, we had butterflies and fireflies in our tummy the whole night.

Nervous giler!

But Alhamdulillah, the speech was delivered smoothly.

THE BRIDE WAS AWESOME!!!

Muka dia rilex and she was so cool and warm when she did her part. Lagi selamber than the time she overtook the estate runner during the Nike Run a few weeks ago. Yusuf's mom loved her pronunciation when she delivered her speech. :)

*High Five To The Bride*

Alhamdulillah, both Yusuf and Salwa seemed to have liked and enjoyed what we had to say about them. :)

From the pleasant comments that we recieved after the speech, Alhamdulillah, we can also say that the the audience enjoyed it too! We hope you would enjoy reading it too!

Speech for Salwa Mohd Jamil And Muhammad Yusuf Tajul Azwa’s Wedding Reception

Assalamualaikum and a very good evening to all. (pengantin pun belum tengok draft speech ni, so good luck to us)

The brain is a wonderful thing. It never stops functioning from the time you're born until the moment you stand up to make a speech.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am Raja Nor Liyana Raja Aznil, honored to be given the chance to say a word or two on behalf of all Salwa’s lovely friends.

 And I am her husband, Syed Adam Alhabshi. I am the bridegroom’s best friend… up to now. Three years ago, he literally broke my right leg in a futsal tournament. The best part is that we were in the SAME team!!! Be that as it may, we are still best friends. However, if I mess up this speech, the future would see me as someone who “was” the bridegroom’s best friend. So here I am, hoping to be successful in performing this difficult task.

  

Difficult task because it is not easy to say just a few words about Yusuf and Salwa. We had sleepless nights picking out the incidences that are worth mentioning. Too many were there to select from. None of them were appropriate for tonight’s occasion.

Salwa and I go back to the very first year of university, Multimedia Universtity. A student of SRK Convent Kajang and SMK Convent Kajang, she is now an esteemed manager at HSBC Bank after successfully completing her Degree in Marketing with Multimedia.

Although she would insist that she first saw me in a lift where I did not return her friendly smile, my memory of when I first met Salwa is at the grill of her apartment unit where she stood in her pyjamas grinning a huge hello and striking a conversation with me, someone she barely knew.

We ended up being housemates, course mates, classmates, group mates and yesterday, I was one of her bridesmaids.

  

And I have known Yusuf since we were nine years young. A professional student is what the boys regard him to be as he is always known to be studying. Intelligent and hungry for knowledge he went from SRK Damansara Jaya to MCKK. Upon obtaining his Electronic Engineering Degree from University of Southampton, he went on to complete his Masters in Operational Research at the London School of Economics. On top of that, Insha Allah, next year he will be graduating as Chartered Islamic Finance Professional from INCEIF. Not only hungry for knowledge, Yusuf is also always hungry. Alhamdulillah for the Bermuda Triangle located in his tummy that ensures he is always slim and sexy (Yes Yusuf, I know your secret!) he will always finish our food when we go out to eat. Bottomless pitt!

We clicked even before we could remember when. Yusuf is open enough to accept criticism and wise enough to reciprocate advises when needed. There is nothing that I would not do for Yusuf, likewise there is nothing that Yusuf would not do for me. In fact, we spent most of the time doing nothing for each other.

Both Salwa and Yusuf are completely unique individuals. They’re even more amazing as a couple. The one thing about Salwa which all her friends unanimously agree (and I’m sure her family would agree as well), SALWA SANGAT SUKA MENYAKAT ORANG. Sangat sangat sangat. EVERYONE falls victim to her pranks. She just loves to pull jokes and watch as we struggle to comprehend the fact that we’ve just been duped. But the thing is, she does it with such humour that you can’t help but end up laughing at yourself along with her. That’s Salwa through and through. Friendly, funny, gedik, sweet, she is the life of every party. Or in the words of her bestfriends, LEGEND.

Last night the Tok Kadi mistakenly said that her name was Siti Salwa, after which he corrected himself by removing Siti. For the first three years that I knew Salwa, I thought her name was Sharifah Salwa, as that was how she introduced herself to me simply because I was a Syed.

In combining all of the SMS that I gathered from our gang, Yusuf is described as follows:

Helpful, dedicated, determined, passionate, humble, loyal, extraordinarily cheerful, mysteriously funny and a friendly Australian kangaroo (he was born in Australia), who moves like a butterfly, stings like a bee in futsal. He is also Tall dark and handsome who is as sweet as chocolate. (Ni diorang cakap tau!)

Now here’s another thing you should know about Salwa, Yusuf, although I believe you would have figured this out by now. NEVER underestimate this cili padi. She may look all dainty and gentle but there’s that other side of her that can pack a serious punch. I’ve seen her jump, climb and wrestle a person to the ground, literally. Trust me, she can mean serious business. She’s a determined little lady who will go all out to get what she’s set her mind to. You know, she first laid eyes on you (or rather your picture) in 2001 and today, 9 years later, she’s got you for life.

As the saying goes; “Biar lambat… Asal Dapat”! Actually, their real courting and dating, arguing and loving phases began only a few years ago but we can humbly say that it appears to have been… very Shariah compliant.

As they say, marriage is made in heaven but solemnized on earth. Our advice is to praise Allah for every single thing that makes you happy especially the fact that you two are now legally known as one entity, as He has promised when He said in the Qur’an in Surah Ibrahim verse 7:

(Waiz ta’azzana rabbukum la’in shakartum la’azidannakum. Wala’in kafartum inna ‘azabi lashadid.)

وَإِذۡ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمۡ لَٮِٕن شَڪَرۡتُمۡ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمۡ‌ۖ وَلَٮِٕن ڪَفَرۡتُمۡ إِنَّ عَذَابِى لَشَدِيدٌ۬ (٧)

And when your Lord proclaimed: If ye give thanks, I will give you more; but if ye are thankless, lo! My punishment is dire. (7)

In other words, if you are grateful to Him, He will add more “satisfaction” and favours unto you… This mentality is very much appropriate for all purposes, open or hidden.

Salwa, Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction. That direction is sometimes fuzzy, blurry and unclear. Rely on Yusuf to pave the right way and prevent him from going astray.

I’m sure both of you would see many Salwa and Yusuf juniors in the future so you can start getting busy.

Before we bore everyone to sleep, we have here the following conclusion to make.

To Salwa, keep in mind that a good wife always forgives her husband when she’s wrong.

And to Yusuf, my dear friend, remember, Marriage is a bilateral relationship where one person SHALL be right, and the other is the husband.

Jokes aside, we really want to share these two hadiths with you all. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said:

"Take my advice with regard to women: Act kindly towards women, for they were created from a rib, and the most crooked part of a rib is its uppermost. If you attempt to straighten it; you will break it, and if you leave it alone it will remain crooked; so act kindly toward women".[by Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

And to Salwa, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) also said:

"The world is but a (quick passing) enjoyment; and the best enjoyment of the world is a pious and virtuous woman". [by Muslim]

I’m sure that you are, and I pray that you will forever be Yusuf’s best enjoyment!

The both of you are like brother and sister to both of us, and yesterday we shared the utmost joy in witnessing your solemnization as husband and wife. We love you very much.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Yusuf is a truly lucky guy to have spotted Salwa and Salwa is as truly lucky to be stuck with him forever.

And finally to everyone, on behalf of the bride and groom, we would like to thank you for your presence and for your presents.

Jazakallahu Khair and Thank you.

Yusuf, does this mean you won’t be joining us for futsal tonight?

You better not!

****

Tahniah again to Yusuf & Salwa :)

Blog adjourned.

(Psst... At the time I was editting this post just now after lunch, Yusuf was just beside me at Mandarin Oriental, trying to figure out how to use his BlackBerry. Haha)

(Psst psst... The Bride posted our speech in her blog too! Click here!)

:) 

Thirteen Months And Walking Away Happily

*Alisha playing Peek-a-Boo**

Alisha is now about 13 months.

She is quite steady on her feet and is able to walk around confidently. Usually she does not swing her hands when she walks and she also put her shoulders up for balancing puposes. She loves walking as it allows her to reach everywhere. She can reach her toys by herself, explore new territories and make her feel as though she is already a big girl as she can walk by herself. Sometimes, she would push your hand away so that she can have her own independence.

*Alisha walking confidently*

*Alisha exploring my ex-boss' house*

Once we were at the new Jaya building (opposite the demolished old Jaya) for dinner. After dinner I brought her to the lobby where there was a huge space and just left her there. You should see her excitement as she was walking non-stop all around the open area. She was seriously enjoying it. From one end to the other, she would smile at passerby and sometimes even wave at them.

One old man came to me and said:

You should not restrict her. Let her have space to play and roam about.

Will do that sir.

You have a very beautiful baby there.

Thank you sir. (smiling)

No wonder lah. The father also handsome!

Hehehe.

My my my, what a beautiful baby. You are going to get a headache when she turns 16!

Hahaha! Good one sir!

Another thiing about Alisha is that when she sees anyone on a praying mat, she would surely come to say hello or to greet you. It’s like she knows that when you are praying, you cannot move to stop her and she gets to do whatever that she likes in front of you.

Once I was praying in the room and the Bride was using the laptop. Alisha was left to roam about in the room minding her own business. Then she saw me praying and came to me.

As I got up from my ruku’, she sat on my praying mat doing her own sujud. Then she got up and looked at me and gave me the i-am-so-adorable-when-i-smile look and just sat down in front of me.

At this point, I remembered a hadith of the Prophet (saw) about when he was praying and doing a sujud and two of his grandsons, Hassan and Hussein (ra) jumped up onto his back and started to play around with their grandfather. The Prophet was very patient and he just didn’t move fearing that one of them might fall and get hurt. That was how loving the Prophet is with children.

So I just stood there and waited patiently for Alisha to move away. Eventually she did.

The problem is…

I forgot which raka’at I was doing!

Remembering the hadith and relating that incident to me made me forget which raka’at I was at! Hehe.

Blog adjourned!

Be Grateful And He Will Give You Even More...

Accumulating wealth is indeed a noble thing to do. Islam teaches us to accumulate wealth and to spend it in accordance to the Shariah. The Prophet encourages us to be able to provide for our family when we are alive and to leave our beneficiaries wealthy when we move on to meet our Maker.

Wealth is something that most of us would love to have. However, wealth is a relative thing. To value wealth, some other point of reference is needed. Someone once said that having a huge bathroom means that we are wealthy. One very knowledgeable and humble Professor at INCEIF once said that having many children is a form of good investment. Good investment will lead to a wealthy life.

Speaking of life, I went to Shah Alam to pay my last respect to one of my grandaunt last week. (May Allah forgive her, be merciful to her soul and grant her Jannah Insha Allah). She was bedridden for more than 10 years. I think and hope and pray that Allah has washed away all of her sins together with her illness as how the Prophet has mentioned in his hadith that sickness or illness washes away the sin. Anyhow, as I was driving towards the Muslim burial ground in Shah Alam I got a shock of my life due to one amazing surprise.

You see, when muslims are buried, the deceased’s survivor would usually ensure that there will be two nisan stones or a tomb stone to indicate the deceased’s grave. On it will be his name, date of birth and date of death.There should not be anything else built around the grave as it would be meaningless for the deceased. But the Muslim burial ground in Shah Alam was full of all sorts of marble seats and marble surrounding the grave. I think that it is a waste of space having that marble around the grave. You could easily fit another two Muslims beside the deceased. On top of that it is also a waste of money to do so. The family should have used the money for charity in the name of the deceased so that at least he will be able to benefit from it too as the Prophet (saw) said that everything else stops between the deceased and the world except for three things. 1. Offspring who makes supplication and dua for the deceased, 2. Knowledge that he has passed on to which others had benefited and continue to pass on and 3. Charity deeds that is continued to be benefitted.

Actually, the marble seats and surrounding is nothing. Check out the picture below.

Yes ladies and gentlemen! This picture was taken at the Muslim burial ground in Shah Alam. The deceased is a Datuk. Not that it matters whether he is a Datuk or not in his grave but the deceased’s survivor decided to have his Datukship enscribed on his batu nisan and to built the above for him as well. 

I would like to apologise to that Datuk's relative for posting his grave picture here but to my humble opinion, this is certainly not a good way to spend wealth...

This is one example why it is important to leave your family wealthy AND EDUCATED about the Shariah.

Anyway, I noticed that when we are too comfortable with our good lifestyle, we tend to forget the blessings that we have received from the Most Wealthy. This is when we look at other people’s blessings and start to compare it with what we do not have. Unfortunately, sometimes, I myself am to be blamed here. I know you are a guilty party too.

Some check and balance would be beneficial to ensure that we do not always bitch about our blessings and start thanking Allah for the blessings that He has given.

Take some time to think about the smallest blessings that He has given to us. Like how well our fingers are functioning to be able to type work, assignments and blog post. How well our eyesight is to be able to browse Facebook. The lists just go on and on and on.

I heard someone saying that Muslims have been taught the art of begging from Allah that we become professional beggars. We have perfected the art of begging that we have books of dua or prayers that could make our begging procedures perfect. However, we always seem to forget to thank Allah for the things that He has given to us either because we have begged from Him for it but also for the things which He has given out of His mercy to us.

I think we should start thanking Him as much as we beg Him. Be grateful of His blessings and He will grant you even more. But if you are thankless, Lo! His punishment is indeed dire! (Ibrahim:7).

Blog adjourned.

Effective Communication

As long as we are living in this world, the need to communicate is certainly crucial. Effective communication is even more important.

With the advance of technology, it is so much easier to communicate these days. A simple text message could ensure a two way communication even when one is in a meeting with some other group of people.

Since there are so many ways to communicate, communication can now be done in various interesting methods.

The best way to know how one is currently feeling is to check their Facebook status or Twitter! 

If your friend do not update their Facebook or Twitter, then that’s just too bad for you. I find Facebook as one of the best way to communicate ever since Friendster and Myspace became sort of obsolete.

Blogs are a good way to communicate too.

Even a random “hello” message to a complete stranger is not considered as trespassing one’s own personal space. The Bride told me how Facebook reconnected her with her long lost pen pal. (Actually, when she told me that her pen pal found her through Facebook, I thought to myself… “gile nerdy minah ni tulis-tulis surat kat random stangers in Italy!” hehehe)

Although sometimes, you may assume that a particular post is about you but that may not be true at all. Human lives are lived through different stories. Some may be entangled with yours whilst some may appear to show similar plots but the castings have nothing to do with us.

Sometimes, you know that a particular “ambiguous” status or post is directed to you as your friend purposely did not tag you to it to avoid some embarrassing and awkward moments in your relationship. My advice is to read it, take note of it and do something positive about it. Maybe you are at fault and your friend was just expressing his point of view. You could then try to change for the better.

Be professional. Don’t be emotional. You cannot control how people act but you can certainly control how you react to things happening before you.

Then again, if what your friend said is utterly rubbish, tembakla dia balik!

Hahaha.

Blog adjourned.