My Swansea Sheikh reminded us of our flight.. that we are now on a journey - we are on a plane taking off and perhaps now we are among the clouds - travelling to a final destination. How long and short the journey is... Allah knows best.
Not many have the chance to travel and being able to get away from all the hassle and bustle of life is a great blessing. However, it is not so good to do it during Ramadhan, but at time, you can't help it especially when you unintentionally booked. Well, everything happens for good reasons.
I had the chance to go to Bandung.. a very nice old town in Indonesia. I don't know what to expect.. I believe good and bad are everywhere - "Ebony and Ivory", the good old song of the 80’s, remember? How long ago was that - I don't know and who's counting the years? I love Bandung for its old sturdy trees - they look serene and very welcoming, Masya'Allah.
Tourism is highly recommended by Islam. Allah asked us to travel through the earth to take lessons from the other people that came before us. People travel to gain knowledge, learn about history of others and there are too many things that can be learnt from your travel and I have learnt a lot from this one. Oh.. how different people are and how Great Allah is for creating us and posting us to many different parts of the planet earth, experiencing different ways of life. Although we might look the same (being Asian), indeed we are different in many ways. Being there (Bandung & Jakarta) during the fasting month is an experience. Let me just write some lessons learnt and points to ponder upon and this mere sharing of knowledge and experience is a crucial thing in life.
(1) We have to be very grateful to Allah for his bounties and blessings.. how easy our lives are. When you look at how people have to struggle to get food on the table everyday..you just can't stop uttering "Alhamdulillah". You can see their struggle by looking at their faces and the various ways they get their pocket filled - they'll do just about anything.. like singing on the bus, helping drivers to park or turn, beg - one of the ways to beg is by just jumping on any stopped vehicle and beg people for money. The country is huge but perhaps, the corruption problem is also huge. Allah has promised victory for those who follow the religion well, and no religion teaches their followers to do bad – and indeed, Islam comes to perfect our conducts and if you deviate from Islam, you will indeed suffer. I hope those who are living comfortably over there are able to share part of their wealth with the needy. Being poor is one thing but being in poverty is another..and I saw serious poverty problem there!
(2) Be kind to travelers. The family that we stayed with - they are very good people. The husband built his own family business because he doesn't want to be involved with corruption. He is among the few who fear Allah, If only the rest of them realize..... or are they not strong enough to fight with their own nafs?? The family’s hospitability was incredible.. food was prepared for iftar and sahur right on the dot… I was not allowed to help. May Allah reward them with lots of Kindness and Mercy. Luckily I was there for only 3 days.. I really do not want to exhaust my host especially in the month of fasting when one has to increase his/her ibadah (like Quran reading, supplementary prayers etc.).
(3) Plan your shopping well... organize your money well. I did not! I put my money everywhere.. at last, I found unused Rpssss in another wallet when I am already home. Ahhhh! I sighed aloud! But then, I thought - perhaps Allah wanted to tell me that I had enough already. And not to spend too much on things I don't need. I might say they are my needs but Allah knows best and yes, indeed He knows! And I know it too that those are not what I need but what I desire ;-). In fact, when I was doing my chores, it struck my mind how lucky for those who live simple lives – with less clothes to manage, small area to clean and just a few worries in their head. Some of us have 3-story house to clean, 10 wardrobes of clothing to manage and a lot of wealth to worry about. Pity them!!! Well, I know they must have many servants ;-) Managing servants can be a headache too ;-0
(4) When you are there, you'll be tested with beggars - never chase them away or curse them cause Allah sent them to enable you to do good deeds and test you. You need to trust that Allah rewards in multi-folds when you give charity. If you don’t want to give them due to some reasons (perhaps security), go to a mosque and give your charity there instead to compensate – never miss the opportunity to give charity. You will see beggars from all walks of life.. old and young, healthy and unhealthy, able and disable… you name it. Well, we have beggars here too. May Allah help us to be more charitable and help them to find ways to help themselves too. Ameen.
(5) In all situation, when you travel.. keep yourself in good mood. If anything bad happen, have patience. Sometimes, impatience can kill.. kill your mood, I mean! So keep a positive mind and teach yourself to be more tolerant with difficulties. It is not easy to travel on foreign land.. with foreign money, eating foreign food, speaking foreign language.. but Allah creates people in different races/tribes so that you will get to know each other, right? So never look down on others.. .. only Allah knows who is better among us.
(6) Be careful.. keep your things safe. Don’t show others what you have or you might be in trouble – especially the highly valued items. You don’t know the place – so, it is better to play it safe. If you have an expensive camera, leave it. Just take an ordinary camera with you.
(7) Most importantly, watch your prayers and keep dua that you will be safe till you reach home. Prayers are the only thing that keeps you in touch with your Lord – you would love to have your celcom line to be available wherever you go.. so keep your line with Allah clear too! Don’t keep yourself busy with Dunia only.. (well,don’t think of it as a Dunia activity.. while you do shopping, you can buy presents for your family and friends) life should be a balance scale..remember? Also take your Quran with you.. if you can carry 2 or 3 loads of goodies, CAN you NOT carry a Quran… your life manual? Don’t leave home without it!!!
Let us all implore Allah to earnestly guide us all to the best and to reward us for whatever good deeds we do for His sake. Allah Almighty says: (Say (O Muhammad): Travel in the land and see how He originated creation, then Allah bringeth forth the later growth. Lo! Allah is Able to do all things)(Al-`Ankabut 29:20).
When we walk on planet earth now, we should be thinking of all the blessings that He bestowed upon us.. where are we heading and what we really need in life. We are travellers in a true sense - stopping for a while to collect some good things to carry along.. these good things that we have collected - how are we presenting them to Allah - with pride? If not, we better start being selective.. taking only the best with us.. as the plane cannot carry all the garbage you have - like I said, only the good ones. So when the pilot announce that we will be arriving soon, we all want to smile and say.. Yes, Allah - we are ready and eager to meet You!!! If only we ponder more and reflect. Wallahu'Alam. Allah knows best!
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