Of Butterflies [The Stroke, the Effect and the Monarch]

It's something I believe. That the world holds miraculous wonders, and in it intertwined relations, treasures and beauties. I don't know why they are there for sure, but I always feel like it is for us humans to learn and ponder.

Butterfly Stroke
When I was 8, I was playing in the pool at Ulu Yam with my brother Naim 6 at that time. We had a family day. Out of boredom for the shallow pool, we decided to switch to the higher ground, deeper pool. No one was watching us. The family day was too happening that no one expected us to climb up higher.

The pool we went then was murky. It's not like a swimming pool, it's just a ground digged filled with water. We did not see the real depth of the pool. We jumped straight away in it. Somehow, Naim stepped into the deeper side of the pool. He screamed for help as his feet weren't unable to feel the bottom of the pool. I at that time managed to stand up felt with my foot where the pool got deeper. Naim was screaming and drowning. I was so afraid at that time. I felt like crying. I later felt the steep part, I grabbed the side of the pool while Naim was slowly drifting away from the side and drowning. He struggled so much. I jumped to him with my hand still attached to the side and grabbed him. He was saved. Alhamdulillah.

Today, it's one of my initiatives to teach people how to swim. During a camping or a jaulah, whenever we are in water I often be asked or voluntarily teach people how to swim. Of course, I never have the coach certificate, but I do learn how to swim out of fear that one day when someone needs help as in Naim's case, I might not be able to save the person. And I could never forgive myself for that. Never.

I often ponder why Rasulullah told us to learn swimming(also riding horse and archery). In my opinion, there are a few important values people acquire along their journey to learn swimming. Adapting oneself, courage, freedom, focus and most importantly, appreciation.

Butterfly : Upper body strength is very important to perform this stroke beautifully.

In swimming, there are four main strokes. Freestyle, breastroke, back stroke, and butterfly. The hardest of all these strokes is butterfly and this stroke is usually learned the last of all four. Fluidity, power and rhythm as mentioned by Philip Toriello makes butterfly stroke the most majestic stroke. This stroke is considered the hardest because it requires both hands and legs to move together, not in alternating pattern of right and left like the freestyle, or leg and hand like the breast stroke. Butterfly requires you to move both simultaneously. And compared to other strokes, this stroke stresses the importance of rhytm, without it your butterfly will be inefficient and out of form. I've already started to learn this difficult stroke as the holiday started. A beautiful point I found on the net and deeply significant for me is when learning this stroke, we must learn to appreciate.

As this stroke is very difficult compared to other strokes, we must learn to appreciate every little part of movements involved in the stroke. The push, the pull, the recovery phase, the dolphin kick, the breathing, the energy management. We must learn to aware what movement contributes to what dynamics, what push moves you forward, how to recover effectively, how to dismiss unnecessary movements. The stroke is so tiring you need to really observe your energy management as your energy is limited. Your efficiency in managing your energy by performing the correct technique optimizes your speed and fluidity in water. Otherwise, you would just be splashing water.

If you observe the body performing butterfly from the side, you will see the rhythm of the body somehow mimics the shape of sine graph. If you perform it correctly, you'll understand why people say it's the most beautiful, majestic stroke ever. For butterfly to come to its shape is not easy, it requires hardwork, discipline, respect and appreciation for every minor and major details of the stroke - and from it comes the beauty, power and fluidity of this superb stroke.

From this stroke, I learn something to relate with my life. I hope I put it out well for you to understand. It's appreciation. Success comes when I acknowledge and appreciate minor and major things in my life, realizing that each of these contributes in my life, one way or another. And to move forward efficiently, dismiss any unneccessary movements that might slow you down or distract you from reaching your dreams. It's so significant for me.

Perhaps because this stroke is very hard and I could only go 25 meters with a nice form. Longer than that my upper body fails to execute the movement really well. And I would telan all the water as my effort to breath also fails. -.-

* It's unlike freestyle or breast stroke where you could go 1-2 kilometers without complete exhaustion, butterfly's a whole different thing. Perhaps it's me only lol. (Here's a video - Olympics Men 4 x 100m Medley Relay where all four strokes in one competition. Watch. It's amazing! Click )

Butterfly Effect

In 1972, Edward Lorenz a mathematician and meteorologist presented a paper titled, "Does the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?". As far-fetched as it sound however, the effect is real. The effect is also called sensitive dependence on initial conditions.

Butterfly effect describes how one small change in a system initially can result in a big difference in the end.  Opposed to common sense that small change would only compensate for small difference. Lorenz realized this when he was keying in data in his weather model. He encountered problems earlier and to save time and space, instead of entering 6 digits data he decided to round-off the decimals to 3 digits assuming that the rounding-off makes no significant change.

What he found was surprising. A very small change had altered the outcome by major difference in his model. Later he realized that long-term weather forecasting is impossible due to the nature of the weather. It's because of this butterfly effect that makes predicting space weather is far more easier than predicting our own weather.

While I am eager to share the mathematical aspect of this effect, I am afraid that what I'm trying to share might not get to you. Picture below is an example of butterfly effect. The instrument is called double pendulum. While it is fairly easy for us to predict the motion of a single pendulum swaying fro and forth, when we add another variable, in this case is another pendulum attached to the original pendulum, the predictability becomes significantly hard and the condition becomes haywire and chaotic it results in a fairly complex condition. Another example is like how Sun and Earth interacts ceteris peribus. You can predict the motion of these two bodies fairly easy if you have enough information. But if you add another body, let's say Mars, it becomes a completely different thing. Predicting it becomes hardly possible and hitherto the solutions aren't completely understood. (Read more : Three body problem)

Here, I am not trying to potray that our life is chaotic and frenzy, no. But I'm trying to show you, in life, every single thing small or big act you do, do have effects in your life. Being more serious, good deeds and sins do affect our life. As good deeds bring blessings and tranquility into life, sins make us less sensitive to people and to God. Although we do know that Allah is al Ghaffar and sins can be erased through repentance, we also should know once we do what we do, the effects are already rippling through life.

In a bigger picture, what we do affect other people. Family, friends, Ummah and humanity. The struggle to appreciate every small things we do, to pay attention to big things and observe the incoming ripples stemmed from our actions is tiring. I assure you. But, Rasulullah taught us to observe minor details, both good and bad. Every bit of positive energy injected in the system and vice versa, we are to observe that and not to take it for granted.

Abu Dzar, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Don’t underestimate any good deed, even meeting your brother with a cheerful face.” (Muslim).

To really realize that every action we make is indeed significant, if not in short-term it will be in a longer term, requires consistent effort. To fill in every little space and hole in our life with deeds, even the smallest of all deeds and to dismiss and consciously deal with bad behaviour or mistakes. Rasulullah also mentioned how we as Muslims should observe and avoid underestimating minor sins.

Rasulullah pbuh said: “Beware of sins which are treated as being minor, just like a people who encamp in the centre of a valley, so someone brings a stick of firewood and someone else brings a stick until they are, therefore, able to bake their bread. Likewise, sins which are treated as being minor, and for which the person is taken to account, will destroy him.” [Ahmad]

The realization of small things do bring significant effects in our life is important as it would allow us to be mindful of Allah, to deal with our own desire justly, to become aware of the cause-effect factor in every thing we do in life. I don't intend to depict that sinning is the end and then we are doomed, no. There is hope. If you have injected negative energy, reinject positive energy so that the net energy in your life is positive. As good deed erases sin :) May we be a servant of Allah who is observant and grateful.

Frodo is small yet he saves the world. Be the change.


Monarch Butterfly
At last, here comes the real living butterfly. I think the placement of this wonderful creature as the last of the butterflies is right. I suggest after you read my post, you do further readings on this butterfly. I am afraid that what I am going to share is not sufficient and don't do justice to the monarch butterfly. It's one of the most amazing creatures on Earth, and this is not exaggeration.



Dan Osipov

Why do I say it's an amazing creature? It's because they are the only insect that migrates up to 2500 miles to move to warmer areas! These monarchs migrate to overwintering areas because they could not stand the freezing of winter. Masya Allah. The migration is also caused by the availability of foods for their larvaes, in this case milkweed.

By October or sooner, millions of monarchs will migrate to their overwintering areas. They travel about 25-30 miles per day. Another amazing thing in their migration is, they somehow know where is their overwintering sites. They know where to go.

Apart from that, they also know how to come back when the strangest thing is, it's not the same butterflies that makes the first journey, they are the fourth generation, super grand children of the ones who arrive at the overwintering sites.

Not all of the monarchs are capable to migrate. The first, second, and third generation only live up to six weeks after their metamorphosis. Only the fourth generation live up to six or eight months to enable them to migrate. Allahu Akbar. This generation will embark upon a journey they have never gone before, following only God knows what direction to their away overwintering sites that are thousand miles away. Along with millions of other monarchs, they travel together, struggling through strong winds, bad weather, dangerous and poisonous air, and lastly to adapt when they arrive at their overwintering sites only to know that the sites have been demolished to make way for humans.

Scientists still cannot figure out how the monarchs were able to tell direction. Some postulate that they might have same mechanism as migrating bird, a sensor in their brain to align with the magnetic fields of earth. Some say that they follow the wind. Up till now, no one really knows how these wonderful creature know how to fly thousand miles and end up in the same places as their ancestors were. All Praise to Allah, al Khaliq.

Sadly, many of their sites are now gone. Due to inhuman human activities. The good thing is, citizens of U.S and Mexico are so amazing they decided to start the initiative long time ago, to tag the butterfly and plant milkweed so that these monarchs have a home when they come back.

I'll leave it to you to relate Monarch Butterfly to your life. We are the student of the world, we learn from every thing. And I learn a lot from them.

I am calling all readers to care for our environment. We as a khalifah in this world have a responsible to preserve and care for our forests, animals and other living creatures. I teach Biology and Science at Al-Amin as cikgu ganti, I told my students who are capable, to join a campaign by WWF. You can choose either to adopt a tiger, turtle, orang-utan or a panda. Not more than RM40 a month. You will also get free merchandises and updates of your beloved pet. Most importantly, you save a life. http://www.wwf.org.my/how_you_can_help/donate_main/adopt_a_tiger1.cfm

Start the initiative now! :)
Conclusion

Live your life, learn, and appreciate.

Chase your dreams.

Always be aware of other people's sufferings and hardships.

Have a nice day! :)

p/s Just have a very good night with my family at the Global March to Jerusalem. Pray for me that I'll die there one day, untuk syahid sebenar-benar syahid.

Beautiful - Euler's identity

Just arrived home this morning. Hoping to join the task force for PR in KL. Still waiting for further instruction.

Perspective.

In the midst of this intense political weather, men must not forget to attend the prayer at mosque and to maintain their akhlaq. It's easy to lose your cool head especially when you meet someone who is so irrational in front of hard evidence. Fanatics, or as we students prefer to call them, macai. But even I may be in the same spot as him in his view. Wallahu a'lam. May Allah guide us and free us from fanaticism and blind obedience.

My best friend, Asyraf Roslan showed me this identity. And hitherto, it is the most beautiful identity I've ever seen. It is known as Euler's Identity. Want to know more about Euler? Click

Why suddenly? Today is his birthday. He was an exceptional mathematician. I'm a student of science and math, so I think our Malaysian society should know more about these wonderful heroes of the world that have contributed so much to the world without us realizing it. So, check out the grand identity of Euler, as Richard Feynman(physicist) put it, 'the most remarkable formula in mathematics'.

Euler's Identity

Beautiful isn't it? Just simple, elegant, wonderful, and truly magnificent. Masya Allah.

Selamat berPRU dengan berakhlaq dan selamat.

Salam.

Flashmob Surprise!

My project this month was to direct a flashmob in UiTM. Aqsa Syarif was offered a slot during the expo, and we managed to pool resources from other groups like ABIM dan Pembina to help us. Alhamdulillah, it was done smoothly.

The second one was to co-direct a flashmob at Padang Kota Lama, a state event organized by Aqsa Syarif Penang and IKRAM Penang. Jeritan Gaza, Laungan Syria - was an event organized to raise funds for Palestine and Syria. Alhamdulillah, we managed to raise RM97,000 on that day. With the support of bikers convoy from various 'daerah'. From Timur Laut, SPT(Seberang Perai Tengah), SPU, Balik Pulau and many more. The convoy was joined by ikhwah and bikers from Penang. Sedikit terkilan tak dapat join sebab kena manage flashmob.

Our storyline for the second flashmob was a bit different. We planned to involve audience. The original story went like this. The first scene showed a peaceful sight in Palestine. Kids playing football, women sitting together, mom and son walking around. Then the Zionists entered. Punching and hitting Palestinians(we did the punch and hit for real - with less force). After few moments of struggle, they froze. Then, a speaker among the Palestinians would melt and started the reflection session. The speaker would try his best to convince the audience to come forward and detain the Zionists. From this moment, the storyline would split into two. If 1) the audience managed to come forward and hold all the Zionists, we decided it would be a 'win' storyline. And it would end with a nasyid - and an invitation to keep supporting the cause. We wanted the audience to feel that they were also part of the issue. If 2) no one came forward or the Zionists outnumbered the audience who came forward, it would be a 'lose' storyline. Zionists then would melt and kill all the Palestinians. By this time, a leader from the Zionists will come forward and provoke the audience. The provocation was meant to make the audience realized that this flashmob was not meant for show only, but also an iniative or a kick-start to do something about the issue. Then the leader will freeze again and the speaker will take his mic, did a muhasabah session, stressing on 'Silence is Betrayal', and doing nothing was actually an immoral act. Then we ended it with a du'a. That's the basic storyline.

But, things went so differently. Although the flashmob went so smoothly, but the storyline deviated so far. I congratulate all the actors and volunteering audience for the 'sporting' reaction.

The actual story went like this. Me in this flashmob acted as a Zionist. The storyline went as usual until the speaker's first session. I wore a snow mask. When I saw the audience when we froze, I was like 'Oh No'. I saw ikhwah from convoy were there. Ikhwah was not meant to be part of the crowd. We did dispatch a crowd control, just in case the audience got fueled up and screwed up the storyline. And when the speaker started his session, to convince audience to step up, the first one to step up was an ikhwah, my roommate! His action somehow motivated others to join in. Pakciks, and even sisters volunteered to hold and stop the Zionists. One sister even used her umbrella to push a Zionist away. Still, our leader was not detained. So, the story was set to 'lose'. The crowd control managed to tell the audience they were outnumbered, and they must step out from the scene. The Palestinians were all killed. So far, things went as planned. When our leader started the provoking session, I saw two persons came to stop him. I said with my mask on to my friend next to me, "Ini tak ada dalam skrip ini. Jom, tahan derang jangan bagi depa kaco Zul". The two persons held Zul(the leader) so tight, my friend and I had to throw them away. I kicked his knee to lock him down, while my friend held another person tightly. It was harsh and hard. But it was expected. Because the scene started so real. With real throwing and hittings, so it was okay. After we held two of them, I felt a bit relieved. Macam tak ada lah lari skrip sangat. Zul then proceeded with his script. Suddenly, one of them said, "Ikhwah semua, masuk lah!! Takkan tengok je!". At that time I looked around, I said, "Oh no, ini konfem dah lari skrip dah ini". I screamed slowly to one of them "Woi, ini bukan skrip dia lah!". By this time, all the Zionists behind us were already fighting so they would not be detained. Of course they were resisting, this thing was not in the script and not meant to happen. My friend and I were the last, we fought as hard as we could to keep the story in line. I pushed here and there, struggled here and there. So did my friend. But, the audience were too many. Dah lah di padang, baru lepas hujan. My face ended up kissing the mud. The speaker really succeeded in touching the audience, I saw even pakcik, akak dan entah siapa entah pun datang tahan kami. They were holding us down for real.

The good thing was, the crowd took it for real. They thought it was the storyline. Even the audience who were pinning us down also took it for real. I thought, at least the audience did something. So the speaker continued his muhasabah session. He decided to opt for the 'lose' story line. Zul were also doing well dalam memangkah muhasabah speaker (Alif). Zionists dah lenguh di pin down. Even I too. Lama kot. Jadi masa Alif mula berdoa, that's the key word for us Zionists to get up and retreat. Bila Alif baru mula berdoa, Zul terus pangkah, "Jangan DOA!" and he said lots of things about adab Muslimin dalam berdoa, hidup seharian kita dan very good things mengenai hubungan mustajabnya doa dengan kehidupan seharian. Ini semua tiada dalam skrip. In a few moments later then Zul started screaming "Berundur!".

The doa was really touching. I saw crowds everywhere with tears.

So, it ended nicely, although I dare say that the flashmob happened not in the way we expected. It was better! Alhamdulillah.

After the flashmob ended, while resting, I was approached by a guy. He came to the event, and asked many things about boycott and what could he do as a student. You know where did he work? He worked at McD and amazingly he had the initiative to help and contribute. I explained him the rational behind boycott, relations between McD and Zionists and many more. My last advice before we parted, resign.

My classmate laughed actually behind the mask. "What? An umbrella? Come on."

Excellent flashmob team. Dari IKRAM Siswa UiTMPP dan USM, plus Alif dari UPM.

So here's my classmate. Dia sekarang dalam proses berhenti merokok. Seorang daripada my friend dah berhenti completely, sekarang tinggal dia dan lagi seorang. Dua-dua sekarang tengah hadkan sebatang sehari. Doakan mereka dipermudahkan. InsyaAllah, nak ajak join usrah lepas ni. :)

Subhanallah. Astaghfirullah.


That's all.

Salam.

Tunggangan baru, Alhamdulillah.

Hari tu, motor Xcite rosak, semput katanya. Bawak-bawak mati tiba-tiba. Motor yang dah accident dua tiga kali dengan aku sama-sama. Cabut itu ini, calar itu ini. Motor yang dah banyak sangat berjasa pada aku. Sayang sangat. Dah berapa kali hantar baiki, rosak juga. Sampai haritu nak pergi program, on the way, rosak. Tersadai tengah highway. Immobile lah jugak beberapa hari.

Ada kelmarin, ayah aku close deal dengan seorang abang ni. Beliau belikan motor baru. Taklah motor BARU, motor second hand jugak, maklumlah, orang bujang tak payah nak power sangat lah motor BARU. Cukup untuk keperluan. Ayah aku tahu aku minat motor besaq. Aku pernah minta RX-Z. Tapi motor tu panas sangat, sebab kawasan rumah ini banyak pencuri motor. Yamaha LC jiran aku yang pasang rantai dan alarm pun diangkut motor bawa lari naik lori. Motor SS aku pun kena curi tahun lepas. Jadi untuk tak ambil risiko, ambil motor kurang panas. Ingatkan motor cup biasa je. Tengok-tengok dapat motor ni, Alhamdulillah, seronok tak terkata. Motor ni tak panas di pasaran penjenayah (Ceh.. cakap macam kita ni penjenayah jugak ye dak? -.-)

Ayah aku[dalam gambar]  close deal malam tadi.

Jelita sungguh!! 

Kena banyak berlatih posture baru. Tak biasa. Sebab biasa motor kapcai dengan motor Jaguh je. Motor macam ini tak pernah lagi. Insya Allah, moga Allah berkati pembelian ini, berkati aku sebagai rider dia, dan bantu aku untuk menjadi rider yang bermanfaat untuk dakwah. Lepas ini boleh lah nak pergi daurah ke, jogging ke, sekolah ke naik motor ni. Tapi malu sikit lah, segan. Motor cantik, yang bawaknya tak berapa skillful. Takpe, pelan-pelan kayuh!

Moga Allah limpahkan berkat ke atas ayah aku, aku, dan motor ini. Terima kasih Baba!

Selamat tinggal Xcite! T_T

Askar Palestin Plastesin - [Global March to Jerusalem]

Salam.

Saya suka tunjuk pada adik-adik kecil saya, mengenai video-video Palestin, penindasan hak asasi manusia di seluruh dunia. Walaupun soalan yang ditanya ketika saya memasang video itu selalunya sukar untuk dijawab, contoh "Kereta kebal mana lagi kuat?, Askar ni baik ke jahat?, Kenapa orang Israel tembak budak?, Mana Allah tak tolong ke orang Palestin?, Pistol tu kalau kene tembak sakit ke?, Berdarah boleh mati ke?", tapi untuk kesedaran masa depan mereka, saya layan je. Ada satu hari, mereka beli Plastesin, saya tunjuk video-video Global March to Jerusalem, ini hasil karya saya dan mereka, Ayaz dan Saif. :D

Rumah orang Palestin

Adik-adik Palestin

Saja letak, nak tunjuk betapa keciknya model kami. Seni sungguh har har har..[poyo]

Adik-adik Palestin dengan pahlawan Palestin, dengan Bazuka dan roket mereka

Belakang tu macam mine, pijak meletup mati.

************************************************

Nak buat satu pengumuman. Ada event baru, nak anda semua sertai sama-sama. Samada di Malaysia, atau di luar negara. Yang lagi untung untuk mereka yang belajar di Timur Tengah.

Inisiatif baru dianjurkan, untuk mengajak semua citizen dunia yang mengambil berat terhadap hak asasi dan keadilan agar menyertai 'non-violent civil resistance' pada 30 Mac 2012 seluruh dunia. Event ini akan membawa mereka yang menyertai perarakan ini ke point terdekat tempat masing-masing dengan Jerusalem. Malah yang di Jordan, Syria, Mesir, point terdekat mereka ialah di gun-point Israeli soldiers. Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar.

Anda boleh baca mengenai Global March to Jerusalem di link di header blog saya di atas. Anda boleh baca About. Kalau anda ingin tahu mengenai objektifnya, anda boleh baca di Objectives. Kalau anda ingin tahu macam mana ia dilaksanakan, anda boleh klik Action Plan. Untuk website Gm2J Malaysia, anda boleh klik di sini.

Setakat ini sebanyak 23 NGO di Malaysia yang sudah mendaftar untuk terlibat bersama GM2J.

1. Al-Mustafa Foundation Malaysia
2. Aqsa Syarif Berhad
3. Dewan Pemuda Masjid Malaysia
4. Global Peace Mission
5. Islamic Relief Malaysia
6. Kelab Putera 1 Malaysia
7. Malaysian Medical Relief Society (MERCY Malaysia)
8. Malaysian Social Research Institute (MSRI)
9. Muslim Care Malaysia
10. Palestine Centre of Excellence (PACE)
11. Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM) 
12. Persatuan Bulan Sabit Merah (PBSM)
13. Pertubuhan IKRAM Malaysia (IKRAM)
14. Pertubuhan Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM)
15. Pertubuhan Mawaddah Malaysia
16. Sekretariat ABIM Pusat
17. Sekretariat HALUAN Palestin
18. Sekretariat MAPIM
19. Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM)
20. Yayasan Amal Malaysia
21. Yayasan Keamanan Sedunia Perdana (PGPF)
22. Yayasan Salam Malaysia
23. Yayasan Wanita Islam (YATI)

Tidak dipastikan andai ada lagi NGO lain yang ingin menyertai. Segalanya tertakluk pada keputusan mesyuarat. Anda boleh baca lanjut di sini Senarai NGO.

Wallahu a'lam. Segala usaha kita cuba, hasilnya kita serah pada Allah.

a place to rest

My friend introduced me a really nice place. 'the quiet place'. My close friend. Rest and break. Thanks to him.

I know then why I like so much to go camping. Why I like to go to places like that. I know why I love to be with nature so much. And I know why I like being alone.

A strong circle in the storm

Beautiful. Masya Allah.

I remember when I became AJK for Kem Asas(a very lasak camping for form 1 student). We arrived late at the campsite. The most important thing when you arrive at any campsite or anywhere, is to erect your tent. For protection and safety. That is the first and foremost task you must complete. To build where is another different thing. So, when we arrived, we helped the peserta to erect their tents. And ours to. Ours are simple. You put two pole, tie a rope or a long stick across, then you cover it with canvas. It started to rain then. So, we only managed to erect only one for us because almost all of us were too occupied to help participants build theirs. We did not expect much from them to do it ASAP because they were all new to it. Form 1 students, itulah rebungnya. Rain poured very heavily, unabated. At that time, we could not even start a fire to cook. And so did the participants. We took our roti and distributed it to participants. I was still form 3 at that time. So watching my seniors 'redah hujan' from tent to tent during a very heavy downpour to give foods and to make sure all participants were not hungry made my respect grew. And we did not eat that time. We made it sure participants had eaten. All of them. Because of only one tent we managed to erect for us, we made an express canopy by tying a piece of canvas to trees around us. And we managed to build a small unstable unggun api. The rain was so heavy, and each of us was shivering. While ustaz and other seniors were trying as hard as they could to keep the fire live, we decided to hug each other. Everyone in the circle hug each other. A huge lump of cold, shivering bodies near the fire under a very heavy rain. I will never forget that moment. I hug Amirul Arif, I hug 'Ammar Sahrim, I hug Chiman, and we hug each other very closely to keep each other warm. It was so nostalgic. In the midst of the heavy rain, I felt connected to them. What a memory. I miss them. One of them was arwah Abdul Hadi[a post dedicated to him], pengarah for the Kem Asas. He was the first person I had seen to cut a whole big bamboo in just three clean slash. 'Buluh tak pecah'. Rindu sungguhhh.. Ya Allah.

An apprentice not to be

I used to carry this every where I went. :)

I was absorbed into this circle of activity when I was in form 3 at first because I was to be trained by Abang Sarep. He was a certified participant of  'Kursus Perubatan Tentera' and wanted me to help him during Al Amin campings as AJK Keselamatan. 'Keselamatan' not only in physical sense. It included the unseen one. He trained me. Taught me steps in treating injuries, taught me not to be panic, taught me kinds of wounds and cuts, taught me how to pull duri dari daging peserta, taught me this and that. During camping, it is normal for people to be cut by their own parangs. Some deep and some shallow. Sadly, a lot I missed to learn from him. I managed to learn only few skills. So much to know and to learn. I don't know which plants to treat what. The only plants I know are daun kapal terbang in which you chew them, and you spit it on your wounds; and senduduk for 'perangsang'. The point is I could not become his apprentice as he wishes. Or once wished. So much we had gone through together. He took my hand when I was in form 3 and led the way until I finished my SPM. He IS my naqib, mentor and teacher. He was the one who summoned alumni of Al-Amin to come and work at Al-Amin. Some of us are already planning to teach there for a year or two. "Membina manusia ni makan masa bertahun-tahun, bukan sekejap". That's what he said. I will bear that in mind.

I remember during our expedition Merentasi Banjaran Titiwangsa, Muhammad also had his mentors. Along the expedition, Muhammad and Pak Long; a JPA sergeant will stop a while at places to talk about certain plants. Suits him, Muhammad is now in UiTM Medic. He was my boss when it came to uniform unit affairs.

One of the best mediums

Our usual tent. Just replace the pole in the pic with bamboo. :D

During a meeting, a senior said "Perkhemahan medium paling sesuai untuk terapkan muwasofat tarbiyah. Dalam camping ada qadirun 'ala kasbi(berdikari), ada munazzamun fi syu'unih(tersusun urusannya), ada harisun 'ala waqtih(menepati masa), macam-macam lagi. Masa ini kita boleh terapkan ukhuwah, 'aqidah, yang mana-mana kualiti-kualiti yang dapat diterapkan masa perkhemahan ini kita tak boleh nak terapkan di wasilah tarbiyah yang lain. Sebab itu walau macam mana aktif kita pun, dalam setahun paling kurang ada sekali mukhayyam dalam wasilah tarbiyah kita." Well-said.

We can see our true self when we are in hardship and desperation. Camping shaped most of myself. Although for a bit of times now, it has not yet shaped my physical body as the way I want it. But, for my inner self, yes. I thank Allah for that.

What is of the essence?

Why I like going into nature? I don't know. It feels different when you take your wudhu' from a river. It feels superb when you prostrate with your head touching the cold sand. When you sit and pray on the grass. You are not worried when insects creep on your hands or face when you are praying, because you know they know you are worshiping Allah. When your sleep is accompanied by sounds of the jungle. When you open your eyes, you look up, and you see stars very clear. You eat foods that you cook by yourself, even if it raw most of the times, you finish every bit of it. None wasted. You learn to share and to ration. Wherever your eyes go, it stops at the greenery of nature. You feel belonged. And you know, one day you will be back to where you come from. Reminiscent lends me a piece of old memory to describe this;

I want to heal, I want to feel
Like I'm close to something real
I want to find something I've wanted all along
Somewhere I belong


Victory
Ramadhan has left us. And now we can see whether we really win or lose. A sense of continuity. It is up to us to istiqamah. Live your life at your own pace. After Ramadhan ended, I regard some of the previously important things as less important now. I really do not care how much I will lose, because I have nothing to lose. Just do everything as best as you could. Itqan. And you have nothing to worry. Simple and clean heart leads to simple life. Make small deeds matter. So you will not miss the big deeds. Appreciate everyone around you, and around your heart. And do not chase something or someone which is not yours. Feel satisfied with what you have, and never forget your dream. Don't ever forget your dream.

Al Fatihah for arwah Noramfaizul. May Allah bless his soul. He becomes my motivation instantly. He died before he could make his wish comes true. He wanted to go to Baitul Maqdis. So do I.

Do you want to go to 'the quiet place'? Click 'Rest my friend :)'

And do you know how to rest taught by our prophet?

Solat. It is a form of istirahah for mu'min.

Rest.. :)

Level of life

My cousin and I, Ahmed Nasrul Asyraf in my previous house compound. When I was little, I always told my mum that it must be feeling great to be an adult. When I was in secondary school, I thought that university life must be relaxing. Because I saw most of them were like that.

My friends and I have a chat last week. One of them said, "I thought college life would be easier. But this is sh@t, we don't even have time to eat our lunch". And I somehow agreed with him. We don't have time to eat our lunch most of the week. Our classes are arranged so pack. Like solid. Little room to move.

Heh. Susahlah kalau nak fikir semua susah kan? Kenapa tak fikir senang? Ha.. NLP. Leverage season 3 bagi sangat terbaik. By the way, nak hidup senang, di syurga la kan? :) Sebelum itu kena susah dulu. Dengan susah la kita menjadi lebih baik. Berlian ditempa dalam persekitaran yang sangat 'perit' dan 'pedih'. Di mantel, yang sangat-sangat panas suhu dan tinggi tekanan. Keluar ke permukaan, ia menjadi khazanah bumi yang paling keras di bumi dan paling cantik. Worth the challenge.

p/s - tahniah untuk achievers di Takrim Al-Amin. Tahniah juga kepada Fawwaz dan Diyanah yang menjadi pelajar mithali. Moga kalian dapat menjadi duta Islam di luar sana....

Interfaith Dialogue

Assalamu'alaikum.

Saya nak berkongsi mengenai 'interfaith dialogue' baru-baru ini. Cadangnya nak berkongsi hari selepasnya, namun, tuntutan akademik tidak membenarkan lagi untuk duduk dengan aman di hadapan komputer.

Secara peribadi, saya amat menyokong berdakwah melalui cara ini. Kita Muslim dapat bersama-sama dengan penganut agama lain, berbincang secara terbuka dan berlapang dada. Ia sedikit sebanyak dapat mengikis ideologi pluralisme agama di peringkat individu, bukan politik, yang sememangnya secara asasnya adalah sama dengan kehilangan identiti sesebuah agama. Alhamdulillah, bertambah ilmu mengenai agama Islam dan agama lain, juga bertambah sayang pada agama sendiri.

Juga dapat membuang sangka buruk, pada masa yang sama menyedari keperluan berdakwah pada mereka, dengan cara melengkapi diri dengan ilmu Islam juga mengamalkannya. Sanatana Dharma - membawa konotasi agama sebagai cara hidup, walaupun maksudnya agak berbeza sedikit.

Ini sedikit perkongsian catatan saya..

__________________________________________________________________

Mr Chew, a lawyer. 

[Christian] Mr Chew Phye Kiat
1. Christian worship 3 gods. -confusion of the doctrine Trinity.
2. The Bible today contains errors and not reliable.
3. Jesus was a prophet
4. Christians dont have to be responsible for sins because Jesus had died for their sins.
5. Christianity has been the cause of war and oppression.
6. We cant really know God - thats why Jesus was sent

Cikgu Raguna, a friendly teacher, a modern Hindu.

[Hinduism] Cikgu Raguna
1. Hindu is not the name, the name of this religion is 'Sanatana Dharma'
2. Too many holy texts - no absolute to refer except the Vedas.
3. Ignorance about Vedas. konsep kasta tak ada dalam hindu, hanya level macam ulama', pahlawan dan hamba. jadi,, buat tugas masing2 masuk syurga. takde lagi tinggi dari anyone
4. Hinduism is polytheistic - actually, Hinduism is monotheistic, I guess a strong one, for real. Ekam Evadvitiyam, (He is one without a second, Chandogya Upanishad, 6;1;2) - Sebab ramai dewa, misunderstood. Hindus ada kebebasan pilih untuk potray image Brahmin. sama ada dalam bentuk laki, ayah, mak, boyfriend etc
5. Women's place
6. Culture and religion - cakap pasal jgn judge agama dari pemakaian.
* Dia minta kerajaan buat hindu council, fungsi sama macam fatwa council, untuk standardize kan hindu punye fatwa.

Dr Phar, a psychologist. 

[Buddhism] Dr Phar Cheng Kar
1. Are buddhist idol worshipper?
2. Buddhism is all about Shaolin Kungfu
3. Buddhist burns money, jocks and sticks for the 'departed'.
4. Are all Buddhists vegetarians?
5. Buddhism is for the old and the uneducated ones.
6. Buddhists are superstitious and unscientific.
7. Is the Buddha fat and has many hands?
8. Do monks ask for food and money?
9. Do buddhist priest gives 'yellow papers' to chase ghost away?

Bro Shah, a very objective person. 

[Islam] Bro Shah Kirit
1. Meaning of Islam
2. Is Islam = Malay?
3. Causes of misconceptions
- Media
-Prejudice - Culture and religion - macam di barat, nampak jambang je terrorist. sedangkan tu Sunnah mulia nabi, dan dia cakap, jambang tak boleh bunuhh lalat pun, nak jadi terrorist macam mana.
-Muslim - muslim sendiri tak faham Islam, dan buat sesuatu guna nama Islam, fitnah. - Islam tu susah - Islam mundur - Allah kejam - Semua agama sama
4. Surah al ikhlas as closing speech, pendek tapi padat - makan dalam semua panelis agama lain.

Q&A Session

Brother Muhammad..terbaik soalan dia.

1. What does Christianity have to offer me when I love Jesus very much, and I havent found any verse in the Bible be it in Matthew, Luke and in the Old testament that states Jesus claims to be God? So, now, what does Christianity have to offer me? [Foreigner, Bro Muhammad]

2. Fate pasal parents nabi Muhammad, Syurga atau neraka.
3. Ayt Quran pasal semua non Muslims masuk neraka, macam mana kita nk jawab kalau ada non muslim tanya.
4. Expain trinity.
5. Kenapa tuhan kristian pilih untuk reveal agama dia 2000 years ago? apa jadi dengan sulaiman daud dan ezekiel nabi2 sebelum Isa alaihissalam. Islam dr adam lagi, kenapa kristian baru? tak adil la.
6. Apa method dakwah hindu kepada org lain.

__________________________________________________________________

Alhamdulillah, kali ini punya dialog sangat tenang, gembira, dan aman. Tak rasa sangat 'intense' dia, dan semua pun macam faham. Alhamdulillah, rasa macam nak minta MCS buat macam ini di kolej pula. Insya Allah.. doa-doa.

Moga program sebegini dapat menjadi penenang dalam kalangan Muslim yang sibuk menyesatkan orang dan siapa salah siapa betul. Argue, not to win, but to search for the truth.

Tahniah IYC atas program yang cemerlang, cuma, mula lewat. Moderator sangat pandai menjaga masa, juga menghiburkan suasana. Terbaik. Untuk MC, lain sikit. Haha. Masa moderator cakap, ''Thanks Puan Raihana", kedengaran suara-suara "Alah..Puan ke? Melepas.." lebih kurang macam tu. That is a very 'what the heck' response from male audience.

p/s - hujung minggu lepas, gathering dengan rakan-rakan Al-Amin. BerCOD dan DoTA. Seronok bangat. Insya Allah boleh buat lagi lepas ni. Pagi sikit, berukhuwwah dengan keluarga. Sampai ke petang, diakhiri dengan basketball dengan mak dan adik-adik. Seronok. Alhamdulillah.

Assalamu'alaikum/ :)

Picturesque 3 - Of B-2 Spirit and MQ-9 Reaper

Assalamu'alaikum.

In our life, when we seem to be drifting away from our cause of life, Allah reminds us. Sometimes, with a very simple reminder. It's not delusional, your heart can verify it for you. Only you know when the reminder comes. It happened to me, when I was watching 'Skyline'. An epic scene took over my heart for a while. A very deep reminder. Wake up! Before the real story starts, let me tell you a little bit about something. As an Ikhwah had reminded me, we need to know everything about something, and something about everything.

B-2 Spirit

This unique and 'stealth' plane is a bomber. She is known as 'Stealth Bomber'. The bomber's stealth comes from a combination of reduced acoustic, infrared, visual and radar signatures, making it difficult for opposition defenses to detect, track and engage the aircraft. She can penetrate even the densest anti-aircraft defenses and in the same time deploy a large numbers of bombs - conventional and nuclear - to destroy the most defended targets, Biiznillah. Why? She moves at maximum 972 km/h in air and in the same time she can make herself technically invisible to radars and detectors. If Marine Sniper leads the foot army, Abram tank leads the vehicle, this elegant bird conquers the sky. 

Her engines are buried in her wings. Source

She has 52 meter wingspan to protect her sophisticated radar absorbent materials and coatings. Source

She can carry 80 bombs of conventional or 16's of nuke. Source

How I wish this technology be in the right hand. It's so sad to see this beautiful bird kills more citizens than soldiers :(

MQ-9 Reaper

This aircraft is a UAV. Unmanned Air Vehicle. She is more known as Predator. This drone has no pilot in the plane. You can control this drone from a station. This drone is very-very useful. She carries the duty of surveillance, intelligence, and eliminating targets air and ground. This small drone brings with her during flights few powerful sensors including thermal imaging and can stay for 14 hours in the air with full munitions, and 42 hours without. This drone can be a very persistent and dangerous hunter as it can fire air-to-air deadly missiles, and also air-to-ground missiles - plus this drone eliminates most human errors as the controller of the drone can be changed at the Ground Control Station.

If a pilot didn't pass the sight test, he can be in this squad. :) Source

The most expensive aircraft toy ever made. Toy means without the missile. Source

He who shoots and run, lives to shoot another day. Source

And sadly still, this drone isn't yet in the right hand, and right now, they are killing hundreds and thousands of people with this thing. So sad :(

So, the climax. Aha.. While I was watching, this scene, that I'm about to show you, somehow I felt that I want to be the pilot one day. The unknown one. Am I fantasizing? Oh yes.. But, I want to be like that pilot. I want, and I want. And I pray to Allah, hope I will be given the opportunity. The reminder? That's just between me and Allah la.. :) Sit back and watch. And pray for me. Thanks! 

Picturesque 2 - Memorabilia of Al-Amin and DQ

This is just an effort to collect some pictures to keep the memories awake. Ha.. Tengok jelah ye. Credit to Amirul 'Arif, Al Hasan, Anas Asnawi, Amirul Aizat and Nidzam Yatimi, Ibnu Dan, Rashid - I collect all these pictures from their sites. Syukran..


Sekolah Rendah Islam Al-Amin (1998 - 2003)

When this picture (1 Zaid) was tagged, within a day the comments were unbelievable. All of us started reminiscing. In this picture was Muallimah Ruslina Mustafa - a great teacher. Until now, when I meet her, she always says her prayer to me. Alhamdulilah.

This picture is the only picture I can find online. I got some in my album. Physically.


Sekolah Menengah Islam Al-Amin (2004 - 2008)
This place had served as my memory pool. I learned and experienced all sort of feelings here more than I could describe. Ineffable.

In the middle was Ustaz Ayub. I miss him very much. This class have been through Cikgu Wasitah's torment (Jalan itik naik tangga empat tingkat) together-gether, and my hand was red and swell sebab kena rotan dalam bilik pengetua when I was in this class too.

In this picture, yang sama batch yang group tiga orang di kanan gambar - Amirul, Muhammad, dan Farhan. Yang berbaju merah Ustaz dan juga bapa angkat yang amat dirindui - Ustaz Idris.

One aspect that stays strong in my mind about Al-Amin - its camping. Lasak. It taught me a lot of things. Kalau masa tingkatan 1, hidupkan unggun api guna berketul-ketul lilin askar, bila tingkatan 5, 1/8 daripada ketulan atau tak ada langsung. Kalau masa tingkatan 1, bina khemah pasang siap je, tingkatan lima tinggal bawak kain kanvas, tali, parang - yang lain buat sendiri. Kalau masa tingkatan 1, masak boleh, roti pun boleh - tapi masa challenge tingkatan lima, semua raw, masak pakai buluh, dapur pun kene dari sumber-sumber hutan. Aha..banyak lagi. Abu Dzar sempat belajar buat perangkap lagi dengan ustaz. Cuma, agak menyesal tak hadam betul-betul macam mana nak ikat tali untuk abseiling dan jambatan tali tu..huh. Menyesal-nyesal. Banyak sangat main dulu..

Time ni dah jadi AJK dah..lagi best.

Perkara yang best masa camping - boleh gelak tengok gelagat peserta, kongsi ilmu, dan hantu!!! Haha.. Masa Uji Cekap ni, memang ada yang kena kacau - siap kena rasuk jin jadi macam harimau lagi. Masa dengan Anas tengah nak buat pagar - lampu tiba-tiba kelip-kelip dekat pokok besar, lepas tu ramai-ramai nampak lembaga putih jatuh dari pokok. Hoho.. Memori enak. Kalau Allah takdirkan satu hari nanti tersesat dalam hutan, dengan mereka nilah aku nak bersama.

Masa KONSIS Nasional dengan senior. Ni orang-orang sama dekat gambar atas. Dua belah kanan tu senior, sampai sekarang ada kem atau prog kitorang jumpa. Yang dua belah kiri, sebaya - Mirol dan Anas, masing-masing sekarang sibuk dengan pengajian.. Insya ALLAH ada masa dapat jumpa dan spend masa betul2.

Hormat dan respek pada orang-orang macam kat atas. Ada agama dan prinsip. Campak mana-mana derang jalan. Ada yang on the way ke Oxford boleh lead halaqah lagi - bila lah aku nak jadi macam tu ye? (Moga ALLAH mudahkan..).

Kawan-kawan - beberapa ketika sebelum nak menempuh SPM '08. Batch kebudak-budakan. Ada sindrom childish kot.

Fius dah putus dek kehangatan SPM.. dianggap udara sebagai air.. ha, rindu kelas Fizik malam.

EXPLORACE! Here we go..

Untuk pengetahuan pembaca, sekolah Al-Amin setiap tahun mengadakan program terakhir untuk tingkatan lima, Xplorace. Kami berlumba dari KL ke tempat-tempat tertentu, batch kami dapat Perlis. Kami mendapat tugasan untuk diselesaikan di samping berlumba dan menang - aha 1. Menjual buku di tempat awam macam KLCC. 2. Buat tugasan dan dapatkan sign macam bersihkan masjid. erk..banyak lagi. Tapi serius best dan penat.

Kami juara..alhamdulillah.

Abang Sarep tersayang.. sori, masa die buat halaqah dlu, kitorang kuat tido.. aku je kot. besor2 ni baru nak minta balik tajuk2 dlu..

Jutaan terima kasih buat guru-guru SRIAAG dan SMIAAG serta naqib tersayang kerna mendidik kami.. Barakallahu fiikum.


Darul Quran (2009 -2010)
Di sini - aku datang untuk menghafal Al Quran alhamdulillah 30 juz. Namun, di tempat ini jugalah, segala yang aku pelajari di Al Amin - di upscale kan platform pemikiran ku di sini. Aku melihatnya dengan kaca mata baru.. Mungkin berkat Quran, siapa tahu..

Halaqah Quran.. sepanjang tiga sem menghafal Quran ni, dengan diorang ni la.. Jamuan berpuluh2, prank bday byk2, dan menghafal-kalau-lupa-kena-sound-dengan-ustaz sama-sama. Ustaz Abu Bakar dan Ustaz Saiful Nizam. Ini jamuan second last kot.

Di Darul Quran, kami ada kelas Quran, English, Tajwid dan Understanding Islam.

Ini class English kami. Ini kelas nombor satu - tapi bukan nombor satu - as we strongly believed at that time, there are still many people kena masuk kelas tu - cuma mungkin rezeki masa exam, tak dapat.

Amazingly, these people are bright people (me to be excluded seriously..). Bukan sikit yang tolak tawaran biasiswa. Cara mereka present dan tulis essay - exceptional. IELTS punya silibus macam pejam mata bagi derang. Aha..Banat sure ada, tapi tak masuk dalam gambar. We even planned to build Transformers - which they initially appointed me as the energy division director (ada kaitan dengan fizik? haha..).

Lepas liga bola sepak.. macam biasa - ana penonton bola sepak, pemain bola keranjang.. cuma, basketball sana sikit sgt orang main.. :(

Jamuan halaqah Quran kami. Aha.. ramai dah khatam Quran - jadi kami buat sikit makan-makan.

Mana-mana pun di AL AMIN dan DQ, kami masih budak-budak yang serius(?)

Hari terakhir untuk semester 3. Kereta masing-masing dah bukak enjin dah kat bawah tu.. tinggal tuan badan je nak drive. Sohaib buat bola terapung. Akan rindu kawan-kawan.

Alhamdulillah.. konvo. Perhatian - gambar ditangkap semasa tengah berkhayal. Credit to Nidzam Yatimi.

DQians - I hope we will meet in the line of pejuang ALLAH one day. Most will be in the field of science, some in the special line of religion. Apa-apa pun, selamat berjuang. Darul Quran, tempat aku merevolusikan pemikiran aku.

************************************

Mood 'girang'. Sebarang kepelikan dalam penceritaan harap abaikan. Antara usaha untuk menghidupkan memori - supaya dapat memotivasikan diri. Allahu Akbar. Di akhir hari, kita bertemu diri sendiri sebelum cahaya. Terima kasih..

Salam.