Bismillah.
Wow, it's been such a long time since I've stopped updating my blog. Actually, I didn't intend to stop blogging but I just can't promise you that I will blog regularly as my schedule for this semester is more packed and my life will be more hectic than before. Honestly, I won't just be busy with my studies but there are also some QYC works that are queuing up behind my back. They are waiting for my "call" to get everything done before the tenure ended. So, what to do. Responsibility is a responsibility and a good Muslim never abandons his responsibility to the people no matter how busy he might be.
Getting started
Alright people! Now we have come to the beginning of the new semester of studying. In my case, this is my sixth semester and I still have to go through a long journey before I end my life here (in IIUM) as an undergraduate student. Sounds tough though. I still got two more (long) semesters to accomplish until I say, "Farewell IIUM." Hmm... so much plannings to do but whatever it is I need to pay more attention to what I'm doing now. Just for the sake of sharing, I'm taking 18 credit hours this semester which is to me is quite a lot because I'm not used to take more than 20 credit hours in every semester. Well, I have personal reasons for that. A few days back, my friend, Iman, told me that the chance for me to graduate earlier, as early as in 2013, is bright since I'm doing a single major (I'm not minoring in any programmes). But I told her that it's okay for me to graduate in 2014 because I prefer not to rush in completing my degree. For me, it's better not to rush in seeking for knowledge. I prefer to finish my studies in Bachelor of English Language in four years time because I don't know but I just want to stay in IIUM a bit longer. There are still a few 'gems' that I want to collect from 'The Garden of Knowledge and Virtue' and another reason could be that I have some kind of instinct telling me that perhaps I'll not be able to meet IIUM again after this. Who knows, right?
However, that's not what I want to share with you here. Since many of us have started our classes in the first week, I think it's not too late for me to wish you all the best for this semester. Let's together set our new mission and goals to achieve by the end of this semester. Beforehand, you know my style, don't you? I like to remind about the same thing more than once. So, here in the first entry of the first semester session 2012/2013 will be about the four tips shared by my COMM 1010 lecturer, Mdm. Nury in the last two semesters. Actually, she gave us this tips when the final examination was just around the corner. But it is applicable as long as we are still university students, most importantly Muslims. This is because good Muslims always realize that they must give their best shot in every good thing they do in their lives.
The tips
Study hard and study smart. Many people misunderstand and misinterpret the meaning of this phrase. I guess it's because some people might have their own stands about it. Some claim that, achieving a success is not about study hard but it's about study smart. Only smart people know the better way of achieving their goals in life. I think they think this way because they have discovered many right and extraordinary techniques on how to learn knowledge quickly and efficiently whereby we don't even need to exhaust our body and mind. Because studying is about knowing the right techniques to trigger our mind in absorbing new things that we learn in classroom. On the other hand, there is also another party which believes that in order to become a successful person, we must study hard. Meaning, a success will not be worthy if we don't put as much efforts as possible to it. This is to show that how important it is to train ourselves to be a hardworking person. As we have been taught by our beloved religion, Islam, that Allah judges us according to our hard works or efforts, not the result. But personally speaking, I don't agree with the two branches of ideas. Don't you think that it'll be more beautiful if we can just be moderate? Islam is a moderate religion and to me, we need to do both; study hard and study smart in order to get the blessed success. They are actually complementing each other. Studying without knowing the proper techniques will make our brain inactive (or in other word, passive) or even ineffective and studying without struggling or putting some force within ourselves will be useless.
Pray to Allah sincerely. Maybe some might question, why doesn't this come first? Well, this point is actually trying to emphasize on the importance of solah and du'a. As Muslims who witness the true existence of Allah as our one and only Creator in the whole universe, we should always depend on Him in everything we do. Why? Because He's the one who brings things (or problems) into existence and He's also the one who will provide the solutions or remedies for them. Moreover, if we know our position as servants of Him, we are not supposed to take our duty to perform the five time daily solah (including the recommended solah, like Dhuha and Tahajjud) for granted, especially when it comes to the matter of seeking for knowledge. As a knowledge seeker, it's very crucial for us to only depend on Allah in everything as all the knowledge that we are learning actually come from Allah, either directly or indirectly. They are Allah's knowledge, in case we have forgotten. What more, if we are searching for a success by the end of our studies, we should only ask from Him because our success is not determined by our efforts only, yet it depends on Allah's will. That's why it is very important for us to recite Ummul Quran, Al-Fatihah every time before our lecturers start their lessons, like Mdm. Nury said, "We recite suratul Fatihah everyday because we want to gain barakah from Allah." Don't we want that? We do, right? One more thing that I want to stress on here is that if we have a good relationship with Allah, Allah will absolutely grant everything we ever wish for. Trust me. Just do whatever He commands, we shall not go astray. Oh, how loving He is.
Ask for our parents blessings especially our mother. Why do you think? Because paradise lies under mother's foot. Hmm... interesting right? But once again, why mother? What about father? Don't we have to ask for our father's blessing as well? Yes, no doubt that we should actually get the blessing from both our father and mother, yet we must give priority to our mother. This shows that how special the position of a mother is in the side of Allah. This is because mother is the one who carries us here and there in her womb for nine months, she's the one who gives birth to us, she's also the one who breastfeeds us, she's the one who nurtures us with a good care, she's the one who pours out her love and she's the one who wills to sacrifice a lot of things just to make us happy. Have we ever noticed how wonderful our mother is? It's very rare to find a father who will do anything for the sake of wanting to see his children happy nowadays, or I could say there are most probably none! I'm not being prejudice or sexist here but that's the fact that we have to 'swallow.' That's why Islam stresses on the importance of showing respect and Allah Himself have commanded us many times in the Quran to do good towards parents, especially to our mother. Even if we have struggled enough in our studies and perform our solah everyday but if we lack of our parents' blessings, the success will never be ours as Allah's blessing is depending on the parents' blessing.
Tawakkal 'alallah. Well, there's not so much to talk about this. Most probably everyone knows about this, true? Well, simply to put, after we have completed all the first three steps, last but not least and for sure we have to leave everything to Allah. Let Him decide what is the best result we should attain by the end of the journey. Only He knows what's best for us and when we apply the concept of tawakkal 'alallah, we'll be satisfied with anything granted by Allah later. We'll never upset about it because Allah is Just and He will only reward us with something according to our effort and sincerity. So, don't worry, be happy and just believe in Him as quoted by my friend, "A certain end will only lead to another new beginning and Allah will be the Light in guiding the journey. Trust in Him and good happenings will be seen in everything. ♥ Allah.. :)" and she's so true about this.
So, what are we waiting for? Let's start the engine and continues the journey. Although the success is too far away to reach, but just remember that there will always be a 'success' at every end of our efforts in seeking for knowledge of Allah or even so in every end of our good deeds.
May Allah bless us and the best of luck to all of us!
GANBATTE!
