She have a beautiful soul. I looked up and admire her strength. Her determinations to be a better person. Her sacrifices for her mother. Only Allah can reward her and Inshallah yes, Allah will reward her. The way plants and flowers excites her, I can't help smiling looking at her. It makes her smiles and pushes away all of her fears and worries. I felt relief. We can never know how one person's feeling is, but we can always lend a ear, the support and presence to let them know that we do care. The way she laughs and smiles, it hides a pain so deep I know how. All I can give is a little prayer, that Allah to give strength and hope for her for a better tomorrow.

We've all done something in our lives we're ashamed of. Some of us have fallen for the wrong man. Some have let go of the right women. Yes, we've all made mistakes that diminish us and those we love. But there is redemption if we try to learn from those mistakes, and grow.

- Mary Alice Young, Desperate Housewives

Allah (glorifies is He) tells us in a profound ayah (verse): "Verily with hardship comes ease." (Quran 94:5). Growing up I think I understood this ayah wrongly. I used to think it mean: after hardship comes ease. In other words, I thought life was made up of good times and bad times. After the bad times, come the good times. I thought this life was either all good or bad. But that is not the ayah is saying. The ayah is saying WITH hardship comes ease. The ease is at the same time as the hardship. This means that nothing in this life is ever all bad or all good. In every situation we're in, there is always something to be grateful for. With hardship, Allah also gives us the strength and patience to bear it.

If we study the difficult times in our lives, we will see that they were also filled with much good. The question is - which do we chose to focus on? I think the trap we fall into is rooted in this false belief that this life can be perfect - perfectly good or perfectly bad. However that's not the nature of dunya (this life). That's the nature of the hereafter. The hereafter is saved for the perfection of things. Jannah (Paradise) is perfectly and completely good. There is no bad in it. And the Jahannam (hell - may Allah protect us) is perfectly and completely bad. There is no good in it.

Reclaim Your Heart

By Yasmin Mogahed

(Page 25-26)

وَإِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ فَارْغَبْ

Waila rabbika fairghab

"And to your Lord alone turn all your intentions and hopes."

- Surah Al-Inshirah 94:8

Below is a story of Rabiatul Adawiyah who one day, sent Hasan al Basri three things—a piece of wax, a needle, and a hair.

“Be like wax, illumine the world, and yourself burn. Be like a needle, always be working naked. When you have done these two things, a thousand years will be for you as a hair.”, she said.

“Do you desire for us to get married?” Hasan asked Rabiatul Adawiyah.

“The tie of marriage applies to those who have being,” she replied. “Here being has disappeared, for I have become naughted to self and exist only through Him. I belong wholly to Him. I live in the shadow of His control. You must ask my hand of Him, not of me.”

“How did you find this secret, Rabiatul Adawiyah ” Hasan asked.

“I lost all ‘found’ things in Him,” She answered.

“How do you know Him?” Hasan enquired.

“You know the ‘how’; I know the ‘howless',” Rabiatul Adawiyah said.

Note to readers - During our journey to find our true self, once we have reach certain level-meaning of the words uttered by Rabiatul Adawiyah would become clear to us -  until then it will remain a mystery to be discovered, understood and hopefully experience.

Hassan al Basri was trying to ask Rabiatul Adawiyah about the secret. What he got is only an indirect answer from her. It is a secret that she wanted him to discover himself!

Reference: 

http://self-esteem4me.blogspot.sg/2009/12/story-of-rabiatul-adawiyah.html?m=1

Ductile Iron Pipe (DIP) is made of ductile cast iron which is commonly used for potable water transmission and distribution. It was known as cast iron pipe until which it was superseded. It is commonly used for sewer lines including challenging applications such as deep trenches, shallow cover, seismic activity, subsequent adjacent excavations, beam loading and ring crushing.

Vitrified Clay Pipe (VCP) dispose all waste water in sewage and drainage system. It is normally used for industrial purpose as well as domestic purposes and commonly used in sewer gravity collection. It is the most durable pipe and are able to survive hydraulic pressure just like cast iron pipes. It can also withstand chemicals and toxic sewage wastes.

Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride Pipe (UPVC) is used for the majority of plastic pipes as it is incredibly resistant to chemical erosion and has smoother inner walls that helps to encourage water flow. It also function well in different ranges of temperature and operating pressures. It is incredibly strong, stiff and cost-effective.

Reference:

https://www.dipra.org/ductile-iron-pipe-resources/technical-publications/applications?download=15:ductile-iron-pipe-for-wastewater-applications

http://www.plumberrandwick.com.au/pipe-relining/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-installing-vitrified-clay-pipes/?doing_wp_cron=1506926907.7268218994140625000000

http://www.diffen.com/difference/PVC_vs_uPVC

Al-'Aleem
The All Knowing

Subhanallah, only Allah Al-'Aleem knows.

Alhamdulillah.
All praise and thanks be to my Rabb,
Allah, The All Knowing,
For the precious love and kindness,
He made me feel.

When I do good, Al-'Aleem knows,
What lies in my heart?
Am I truly good inside?
Like I seem to be, outside.

I Wonder How Many
By Mainunah Hashim
Illustrated by Syafiqah Rosdi
(Page 21)

Being envious and jealous of others will rot your heart.

Ask Allah to increase His blessings upon them,

and you'll see your heart blossom.

- Saad Tasleem

Manners maketh man.

- Harry Hart

انا لله وانا اليه راجعون؛
 اللهم اجرني في مصيبتي واخلفلي خيرا منها

Innalillahi' wainna illahi' rohjiun.
Allaahumma'jurnee fee museebatee,

wakhluflee khairon minhaa.

"Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return. Oh Allah, please reward me for my tribulation. 

And replace for me something better than what I have lost."

Don't cry over the past, it's gone.

Don't stress about the future, it hasn't arrived.

But live in the present and make it beautiful.

=)

The other day, as I sat in the classroom with a few others while waiting for the crowd to fill in, a Malay lady came right up to the lecturer and asked if she can bring in her child into the classroom. The lecturer scornfully looked at her and told her if the other classmates doesn't mind, sure why not but still,it wasn't advisable to do so. So she made a pact with all of us that she would be sitting at the back of the classroom to minimise the faint sounds and if her child makes noise, she would bring him out of the classroom. Ok, fair enough and that works well for everyone. She then came into the classroom with the stroller and sat at the last row of the class. As the class commerce, the child was quite quiet until 45 minutes later, the child began to muffle which then turns into an abrupt cries. So the lady took her child and the pram out of the classroom. That's pretty considerate of her and I couldn't help thinking about this incident. 

I mean, I remembered reading somewhere in the social media regarding mothers bringing in their child into the classroom. And it has never ever occur to me that I would be experiencing something like this. I really applaud her bravery. I mean come on, honestly I wouldn't have the guts to do that. Well I managed to talk to her while I sneak out of the classroom for a while. I offered to share notes with her if she doesn't have any friends in the class as I would be glad to do so. After all, this is her Jihad. For being a part time student while working full time and juggling her kids and home. I respect that and I always believe the saying, "Empowered women empowers women." We should help each other and feel with Ihsan instead of competing and belittling each other. We should raise each other up and help each other when in need.

Often, we were so quick to judge people and criticise why people do things in a certain way without knowing the real reason why. May Allah forgives our sins. Who knows this lady was having trouble finding a replacement to if her husband had to work overtime at the very last minute, or to when her mother/mother-in-law falls sick or her helper who had to go to the agency to settle certain things, therefore she had no other choices but to bring her child to class. Yes, they were all assumptions. But I'd like to take this in a different light. Think positive in every event that happens, despite whatever circumstances faced. I find this whole experience refreshing. And this boils down to actually portrays we really are, what kind of person we are. Every events taught us a lesson. And every lessons gives us a reason to live. Not only in Duniya (World) but in Jannah (Hereafter).

Inshallah, Amin.

Where: E!Hub Pasir Ris

How to get there: Located outside the gate entering Wild Wild Wet where all the eateries are. Its beside Macdonald, from carpark straight to EHub entrance. The Musollah has a wudu' area and separated male and female area. Telekong and sejadah provided.

A person may break your heart and damage your pride.

But never ever give them the power to break your Imaan.

Allah gives us 3 types of friends: Friends for a reason, Friends for a season and Friends for a lifetime.

Everyone comes into our life for a reason. Some for good, some for bad, some may makes us happy, some may break us. But at the end they makes us who we are.

Fate decides who walks into your life. You decide who you let to stay, who you let to walk away and who you refuse to let to walk away.

A friend cannot be considered a friend until he is tested on three occasions - in time of need, behind your back and after your death.

- Taken from Facebook, Islam Practice

اللّهُمّ إلَيْك أَشْكُو ضَعْفَ قُوّتِي
 وَقِلّةَ حِيلَتِي ، وَهَوَانِي عَلَى النّاسِ

Allahuma inni ashku ilayka da'fa quwwati wa qillata hilati wa hawani' alan naas.

"Oh Allah, I say to you. I complain to you my weakness. And my lack of resources. And how the people treated me."

Forgive

Yes I have been told that holding a grudge hurts you more than the person you're holding the grudge against. And I have learned that we should forgive people in the same way we want to be forgiven. I truly do believe those things and I want to be forgiven. Yet it is so hard to really let things go.

First let's remind ourselves: your happiness level comes from you. Study after study has proven that a person's happiness has little correlation with how much power they have, or how much injustice have been done to them. I saw a news story about a lady whose home got blown up in Syria, yet now she is truly happy living in a refugee camp with an orphan baby she found injured in the streets. She's a good reminder for me that other people's mistakes aren't "making" me angry, unhappy or "making" me anything.

Although we hear it everywhere, it's still one of those lessons that's hard learned. Every parent will tell their own experience of hard-learning it to their children, and every child must learn it for themselves a hundred times before it finally registers as truth.

It's like how one day you grow up and realize that buying expensive chocolate really is worth it. There's years of eating those twice-as-big, dirt-cheap Easter "chocolate" bunnies until one day, as the flavorless wax coats your throat, you realize... this is not so good. This is not good at all.

Forgive selfishly if you must.

Forgive because you'd like to be one of those admirable people with extra patience and goodness to give, not one that has barely enough. Forgive so that you're the light in the situation and not the dark, and you can feel the difference. Forgive because your self-esteem need a boost. Forgive to prove to yourself that you're happy enough on your own and you don't need revenge. Forgive to end it on your terms. Forgive and then ask for no credit for the great thing you've done. Let it be the best thing you never bragged about. How wonderful, to be someone who can forgive. The happy kind of person that never buys crap chocolate and forgive easily.

Still. (A Bedtime Book for Adults)

By Brigitte Dale

11 years, this pain still stays around me. It has never go away but we all move on, somehow. We will lose the ones we love because Allah loves them more. And all we have is just memories that makes us smile, laugh and weeped. We should be thankful, even if it's just for a while. It's something to remember, that nothing last forever.

I will always remember this very day. 

And I don't know what sadden me more.
But to the people we love that we've lost, Al-Fateha.

It was nowhere far or cold, but being with my family makes me feel safe. Make me feel home. Where none of them would judge me for the mistakes I've done, or leave me behind (besides my parents who loves to travel all around). They would check up on me, support me, root for me. They are always there. It's not by choice. They are a gift for me that Allah gave.

Alhamdullilah.

Sitting in the ferry, feeling the wind brushes through my skin as I enjoyed looking at the sea. I breathe deep. Inhaling in and out, the smell of the saltiness of the sea, the sound of the waves crashing. I let go of my mind till it run blank. I smile, cherishing this moment. A moment where I felt peaceful and calm. I breathe in and out, looking at the great big ocean ahead of me.

I am relaxed.
And excited to what's about to come for me.

I thought I needed a break from you.

A moment away to get away from the noise and distractions.

But somehow, I got to know that things around me will remind me of you.

Yes, that's the test. The test that Allah gave.

And I also have to remember that it's a past that Allah made me go through it.

To overcome it, to be braver and stronger. Yet wiser.
And to look back, smiling.
And remembering the past is the past that I would never want to go back.
So march, forward.
Inshallah. =)

"Let this be our lesson in love

Let this be the way we remember us
I don't wanna be cruel or vicious
And I ain't asking for forgiveness
All I ask is

If this is my last night with you
Hold me like I'm more than just a friend
Give me a memory I can use
Take me by the hand while we do what lovers do
It matters how this ends
'Cause what if I never love again?"

- All I Ask by Adele

Today taught me a lesson about partners. Partners as in mean husband and wife. I've always wanted so much to be married and having someone to go through the rough and good times with. I've always think that team work is very important between spouses. And I always look excited and thrilled to having someone who have this same vision as me. Yet today, today taught me more than that.

Marriages takes a lot of sacrifices, compromising, understanding and not forgetting compassion. I remembered when ibu says to ayah, "Abang, you never kesian (pity) me? I kesian (pity) for you, you know. Go to work no food, that's why I woke up early morning cook for you. You never kesian (pity) me." My dad who was always patient, he just smile. I remembered during one of the Safinah's Talk when Ustazah Liyana asked what's love, and I couldn't answer. Because to me love is Allah, Nabi,  my parents, my siblings, those who matters, animals, society and not forgetting the beautiy of Allah's creations. My parents taught me what's the meaning of love. They show me how to love. Therefore I can't find my answers to what love is. There is no right answer to love, as it could be anything. Just anything.

So as my sister and I watch the old couple pack up the tentage, which was synchronise and rapid. I stood there watching them, with tears welled up my eyes. The sacrifices they make to earn a living which became one of the source of their necessities. What more overwhelm me was that, imagine doing it for every night. Setting up the tentage from scratch. Really, it require skills and effort to setting up a tentage. I mean imagine setting up a tent in the woods, I think I would do it for hours! But that couple, it became their forte. They were efficient and fast, Mashallah. May Allah bless them!

Watching them makes me believe in love deeper. For having someone to go through your life together, through thick and thin. That's somewhat amazing and beautiful. Compassion. And I'm not wrong to say and feel that love, is compassion.

I am someone who love fiercely. Then ends up getting hurt and disappointed. Then I find courage again to love, again and again and again. When I looked back at this, I learnt that I am brave to take chances and risks, and despite that, I always open up myself to love. It's not that I kept on searching, it's just that the wrong people keeps entering my life and I took chances on it. You can't blame fate, it's written. But importantly, I learnt that every time when things don't work out, I'll live, I'll forgive and I'll forget the pain, somehow.

I pint on hopes, hope after hope. Hoping that someday, that special someone who loves and accepts me, knows the value and meaning of what family is and what hurt and disappointment is. I know he is out there, praying and wishing for someone like me, vice verse, I am praying and hoping for someone like him. I don't know when will he ever appear in this life, but I know the time will come when Allah wills it. Trust in Allah, yes I will and I will try to believe in it. 

But for now, I shall fill my life with accomplishments and better improvement for myself and surround myself with positive people who actually cares about me. Because I don't know, who is coming to me first. Death or soulmate. But the real deal here, am I ready for any of these?

Start everyday with a new hope, 

leave bad memories behind and 

have faith for a better tomorrow.

- Issam Bayan

As I look back on life, I realize that every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being redirected to something better. You must convince your heart that whatever God has decreed for you is the most appropriate and beneficial to you.

– Imam Al Ghazali

Birthdays is just a day that makes me a year older. I've stopped looking forward for birthdays ever since I've started working 8 years back. But I remembered that I love giving surprises to random people's mailbox. I love the fact making people surprised upon receiving goodies. Be it an acquaint, sellers whom I purchase from, friends and family members, I just love giving people surprises. It's just a gesture that I like to let these people know that I somehow think of them. And I just hope they found happiness, appreciation and joy to receiving item with a beautiful heart-to-heart card. It's not about how much it worth, it's just the feeling of making that person happy. And make yourself happy.

I have the bestest 2 single friend of mine whom I travel with. They have been very kind and patient with me and yes, hearing my rants. For the fact that they both are single, I personally thinks that they are the nicest people who are a good listener and a rooter. They were sensible, never judgemental. And that's what I called, friendship. They don't judge you when all you have is flaws, imperfections. They see me as a human being who is at times weak but strong, likewise. They reminds me a lot of my younger sister too. Single, but wises of words. They will always be my comfort zone, my safe net when I just needed someone.

Alhamdullilah.

May Allah blessed and grant their Dua's.

I stared at this ply card that Renna gave me when we were teens on Valentine's Day. I stared for so long that I began to weeped so badly. I was so blind. I was scared. I am hurt. I was stubborn. I need to wake up. I need to move on. Forgive. Forget. Just move on. Forgive. Forget. Forgive and forget. It is hard but I need to try. I know I tried and I am still trying so hard. But so hard hurts me. Therefore I need to let go of all the toxic, the noise, the pain. With a heavy heart I deleted everything, in order to move on. It's the hardest step I take but I have to. I really have to. Remember, the Safinah Talk that you attended, Siti Sarah? You're supposed to learnt and apply it. To forgive is to forget. Maybe I haven't forgive that's why it's hard for me to forget. Therefore I need jump ahead, I need to forget so that I can forgive. Inshallah. Allah knows best, and please guide me.

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."

- Hellen Keller

When they slept, He was awake. When they broke, He held you up. When every means failed, He saved you. When all the creation left you, He remained. He always remains. Never forget when the storms pushes you to your knees and there was no one else who could help you, He carried you. When you were broken and you swore this time it couldn't be fixed, never forget who fixed it. Never forget what He saved you from. Never forget how He put you back together. That moment when you felt helpless and alone, never forget who never left. To forget this is the greatest heedlessness. No matter who or what may be beside you now, never forget those moments when it was only Him. Only Him. That is loyalty.

____________________________________________

I loved. I lost. So I learned to love what is never lost.

Then what I loved that can be lost was through what cannot be lost... so it was never lost.

_____________________________________________

Hijab is not for angels. Hijab is for flawed, beautiful humans, who are saying everyday that they are trying.

And there is so much beauty in that struggle. God sees it. Never belittle any act of love and worship. It could be this act of obedience that God accepts. And it could be because of it, that God forgives your other flaws.

Love & Happiness

Yasmin Mogahed

(Page 58, 73, 118)

I know I am such a good friend because I always give my very best. 

Only ended up feeling unappreciated. But I will always remember this Hadith,

"People do not hurt us, 

Our hopes from them hurts us."
- Imam Ali

You may not feel what I feel. You may compared my life with yours. But, does it hurt to even let some of your Ihsan to actually feel what I feel instead of being selfish to always think of your own feelings? Your words may cut me so deep just like the fork cutting the slice of cake. Is it so hard to even listen, just listen? Because, listening is a skill which I doubt you have it. People grieve differently, and doesn't add more burden to a friend's shoulder. With you, I've finally realised what friendship is. And I thank Allah for these things to happen because I know Allah loves me that He have opened up my eyes to see clearly.

The most beautiful thing that I appreciate in Singapore is the tolerance that some of us have, in this multi racial society. Each year, Bukit Gombak open space is where my family would gathered among with other Muslims to perform our Hari Raya prayers. 

But this year, it is beautiful because this shows how kind hearted our Chinese community is. They were willing to share this tentage that used for their Hungry Ghost festivals for us to perform our Eid prayers. Alhamdullilah, may God bless their kind hearted souls. And may peace brings us closer and more understanding towards each other. Amin.