SOMETHING GREAT IS COMING THIS WAY ;-)

I wanted to continue with my series of lecture on THE GLORY OF ISLAM - ISLAM IS REVIVING when they asked me to talk about RAMADHAN instead. So last night I looked through the books, browsing the internet to get legitimate facts from reliable references so that I won't be blamed for incorrect teaching. Early this morning, I felt energetic when I was delivering although I was feeling quite anxious before that. I felt like I wanted to talk about everything that had been researched but alas, time was so short. I can only brief them about the preparations of the great month of Ramadhan.


It is really true that when you deliver your messages, you are the one who benefit the most. I feel different today.. so scared that I cannot do what i had preached. Good eh? This is why we have to talk about Islam all the time.. to revive the spirit in our hearts so that our iman will not decrease. I learn from my Hadith class that truly Iman can decrease with the decrease of AMAL, your acts of worship. How good it is to feel that we are close to God. I hope in the month of Ramadhan, I can feel closer to Him. Oh..how I long for Ramadhan but at the same time, I am not sure whether or not I am ready for it. I don't want Ramadhan to go without Allah forgiving me. Please Allah.. do help me!!!

The analogy of the coming and going of Ramadhan is like going to Mecca - the holy land where one is so fortunate to be able to get multi-folds of rewards for any good deeds. So when you are in Mecca, you do lots of acts of worship because you know this is the holy land and you have to maximize or optimize your time. Such a lovely place where you concentrate only in your worship, very little concern of the dunia, Masya'Allah. I remember when I was in the bus leaving the holy land.. my eyes cannot stop looking at the direction of Kaaba while my heart was crying - longing and longing to be there again. It is like departing with your lover and not knowing when you will see each other again.. Subhanallah, such a blessed land that took my heart away. I remember once I wrote an article.. "I left my heart in San Francisco"... sorry, no more San Francisco. My heart was there.. at the very holy land. You just can't describe how beautiful it is to be there. The first time I laid my eyes on the Kaaba, I was.... there is no word to describe. It was so different. It was not like those great glamorous building that people build to impress others - not at all. It was just a normal square thing.. but masya'Allah, when you look at it, all your emotions come together.. you feel the longing, the love, the pleasure, the mercy, the compassion.. aah!!! There is no one word but only SUBHANALLAH - praise be to Allah, lord of the worlds.

Ramadhan is like that.. to be in Ramadhan is fortunate. There is no counting how much reward Allah is preparing for us.. but are we prepared? Are we ready to collect the points? We all want to be victorious when Ramadhan leaves us.. ya, it is not us leaving Ramadhan..but Ramadhan will come and leaves us. But don't let it go without getting mercy, forgiveness and release from the hellfire. Indeed, if we want to be victorious.. we need to be serious about it like increasing our voluntary prayers, charity and protecting ourself from doing maksiat (bad deeds). Evil or bad deeds darken the hearts. How unfortunate if our hearts are dark.. na'uzubillah. O Allah, please help us to purify ourselves..to strengthen our hearts in piety. O Allah please help us to help ourselves. Help us to help others too.

One interesting thing that I had experience recently was meeting with my new Sheikh. I have a new Sheikh now.. I feel happy that Allah is sending someone to us. O Allah, You are great and I am so grateful to you. We met at a nearby mosque, he gave a talk on IKHLAS. I wanted to meet him and I waited until only selected few remained. We gathered around him and everyone took their turns to take pictures and to hug him. Of course, I had to keep my distance as they were all men there. But I stayed with them. Then when I had the chance, I introduce myself.. he called me DR. Such a polite and well-mannered man. He reminds me of Sheikh Abdullah Yassin.. the way he speaks - very proper and careful, Subhanallah.

Then I was thinking.. it is not easy to be them.. the knowledgeable people, especially when you are really well-known and having lots of fan. I make doa that he will not change.. May Allah keep him on His straight path... let him deliver his knowledge with humbleness like he always does, let him be merciful too - aproachable and respectable. O Allah, these are the people who can help us.. to guide us, to set an example for us..please O Allah. We need them.. and please ease our path in seeking the knowledge of the religion. Help us to increase our piety and forgive us for what we know not.

Talking about having fans. I read about Saidina Ali r.a. who would say this when he was praised "O Allah, please forgive me for what they know not, please make me better than what they said about me, and please don't blame me for their thoughts on me". This doa is beautiful and I believe those people who are knowledgeble, they are wise people too. They are only seeking Allah's mercy and compassion. So praises don't leave marks in their hearts. May Allah help them in their effort to revive Islam, ameen.

Rasulullah said, "O Muslims! Fear Allah and obey Him. I give you glad tidings as the month of Ramadhan is approaching. This is the month in which the Qur’aan was revealed as a guidance for mankind, as well as a clarification and differentiation between truth and falsehood".

And as Ramadhan is approaching, I am feeling hopeful - as if I am going to Macca when I think of the bounties. I will be there, insya'Allah and the reward is tremendous.. and I am smiling because something great is coming this way...... Subhanallah, YOU ARE GREAT!!!