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Today, I would like to talk about that piece of cloth that covers my head, the hijaab (or tudung or shawl as some may call it). As some of you may know, I started wearing the hijaab back in 2011. A decision that I made just randomly and suddenly. And then, I removed it that same year.

I wore it again, after getting married to Mr. and Alhamdulillah, now I feel ashamed of even thinking of removing it again. Now, I'm on a journey of really covering my aurat, not just by putting a piece of cloth over my head, but trying my best to dress modestly and decently.

Mr. on the other hand, has been keeping his beard ever since we got married, to practice following the sunnah of our beloved Prophet (PBUH).

Both, the beard and the hijaab, is more like an identity we carry as Muslims. Like a uniform.
We both noticed how when we meet another brother or sister with a beard or in a hijaab, we can gladly give our salams - like a secret code to say - hey, we're the same!

Image: https://blogofthebeardedone.files.wordpress.com


Little did I know, Mr. confessed to me a few days ago, "Do you know that I have thought of shaving off my beard a few times before? Especially when the beard is in the growing stage, when it looks all scruffy and messy? Teringin jugak nak rasa macam dulu, looking young and good without the beard,"

It hit me that the same thing happened to me during that first attempt of wearing the hijaab. Teringin rasa macam nak stylo mylo dengan rambut balik, takdalah rasa macam makcik sangat....

My mom confessed the same thing too! Bila I tengok kawan-kawan I semua bergaya dengan rambut, I memang terpikir nak bukak tudung masa baru pakai dulu....

Oh, the challenge you go through when you want to change!

And then when you've conquered your mind, magically, the hijaab and the beard just fits you, and just be apart of you. And then you move on to improving yourself in other areas.

So you know what? Just. Stop. Criticizing. Others. Who. Wants. To. Change.

That self-battle that they have to go through. And even if they fail, keep making doa for them. We all wanna be a better person everyday.

My point here is that both men and women have their own versions of hijaab.

So ladies, lets start dressing up modestly, and men, stop judging the ladies and criticizing them about not covering up properly, and start growing your beard please! That's YOUR hijaab!

May Allah reward us for our intentions and for our istiqomahs in strenghtening our imaan!


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With Aisya, we managed to follow the practice of our Prophet PBUH on the 7th day but not all of them. This time around, with the advice and guidance of Sheikh Zoubir and also my father-in-law, Pawan Chik, we decided to follow all of them, as follows:

1. Aqeeqah

On the morning of the 7th day, Mr. left after Fajr with Aisya, to a slaughter house in Klang. This is the usual place my father-in-law will handle any qurban/aqiqah for his friends. Since our child is a boy, 2 lambs are required to be slaughtered. According to Sheikh, it is even better that the father of the child slaughters the lambs, and so Mr. took the challenge. 

Mr. is the type of person who is scared of reptiles and cicaks and dark places - not really a macho man - and so I knew that for him to be slaughtering the lambs, is a really big deal. Thank you, for being brave enough to do so for our son, dear! I heard about how nervous you were before the event, hihi. 




2. Tahneek 

It is narrated about the Prophet (PBUH) that when a child was born and brought to him soon afterward, he would moisten a small piece of a date with his mouth and then place it on the palate of the newborn. [Bukhari, Muslim and others]

That afternoon, we had a simple tahneek session with our immediate family; my family and Mr's family. Together with Ajwa dates, we also had honey and some zam zam water. 

Tahneek was firstly done by Mr. as the father of the child, followed by the grandfathers and then the rest of the family. Of course with someone pious like my father-in-law, tahneek was done together with some du'a and hope that the child will also be as pious insyaAllah.



3. Shaving the Head (Potong Jambul)

Started with everyone cutting some hair off his head with scissors, and then with Mr. shaving them all off using a shaver. Of course, it was not as easy as it sounds. Baby was asleep (alhamdulillah!) but his head is soooo fragile so we had to be extra careful! We only shaved off as much as we can, and then continued on during bath times the next few days. 

The amount of hair shaved off is then weighed and then compared to the price of silver. We then gave out the amount in Ringgit, out for charity. In our case, we gave the orphanage from Baitul Hidayah Puchong. 


4. Naming the Child

After all that, we ended the ceremony with naming Baby L. Mr. started with Bismillah, and then said "Kami sebagai bapa dan ibu kepada anak ini, menamakan anak ini Luqman bin Anas. Semoga dia dapat menjadi seorang yang bijaksana dan mempunyai ciri-ciri seperti nama Luqman di dalam Al-Quran,"

And so, we introduce to you, Luqman bin Anas. 









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The last time I've completed reading the whole book of Quran (khatam) was when I was 11 years old. After that, I read the Yasin every week (due to weekly school religious activities) and randomly the Quran (maybe 3 times a year?).

During my recent Umrah trip, I felt some calmness when reading the Quran and ever since that, I've been trying to make it a habit to read it everyday here back home. However, I fail miserably. Up till today, I still haven't completed the first surah.

An aunty of mine told me this: "Try reading the Quran everyday for 2 weeks, and then notice the differences. After that, try stopping for a week...you'll notice the effects of reading the Quran. Ada mukjizatnya..."

I have never given that a try. I should. I really should.

Today, I read somewhere on Tumblr that during this month of Rejab and Syaaban, we should try reading the Quran, at least a page a day, or even half-a-page a day...and take it as a practice towards the Ramadhan month. Come Ramadhan, try reading 1 Juzu' (chapter) per day..and by 30 days, you can then khatam the Quran, insyaAllah..."

Hmmm. Maybe I should try that....JOM? JOM!

via Zamzammee

“Allahumma bariklana fi Rajab, wa Syaaban, wa ballighnia Ramadhan.”
—“O Allah bless us in Rajab and Sha`bān and enable us to reach Ramadan!”




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A few nights back, I told Mr...

"Lets both try our very best to be the best muslim and muslimah, so that when any one of us leave the world first, we will be sad because of the longing feeling for each other and because we will miss each other very much BUT we will be happy and calm because we know, insyaAllah, we will see each other again in Jannah..and by then, it will be for eternity.."

If you love your family and you want to be with them till eternity, love Allah, and remind them to love Allah too.

Remember. Dunya is temporary. 
Our weakness? Love for the World & Fear of Death (Cinta Dunia & Takut Mati)

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) once said (predicted).. 


 “The People will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others to share their food.” Someone asked, “Will that be because of our small numbers at that time?” He replied, “No, you will be numerous at that time: but you will be froth and scum like that carried down by a torrent (of water), and Allah will take the fear of you from the breasts (hearts) of your enemy and cast al-wahn (weakness) into your hearts.” Someone asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what is al-wahn?” He replied, “Love of the world and dislike of death.” 


                                                                     An authentic hadith recorded by Abu Dawud and Ahmad



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As I walked slowly into the mosque, with my husband by my side, my heart was beating faster and faster, with the words of my father-in-law in my head:

“Whoever sees the Kaabah for the first time, the prayers said right at that moment will be granted, insyaAllah..”

And the minute I saw it, I just stood there. As I read my prayers quietly in my heart while looking at it, I cried…and cried..I’m not too sure if it’s the feeling of surreal-ness of if it’s the prayers that I said in my heart, which something that I deeply desire from Allah - but I cried uncontrollably.

I looked at my husband next to me, who said his prayers aloud, and then we both said “Amin…” and smiled each other. Syukur Alhamdulillah..I’m finally here at your house O Allah.

--------------------------------------------------------------

I was also told that honest prayers (du’a) carried out at Hijr Ismail will also be answered, insyaAllah. Hijr Ismail is a small horse-shoe shaped area – cramped with people praying. I carried out a solat hajat, asking Allah to please please please give me a chance to pray there.

I walked towards Hijr Ismail, all the while praising Allah through Zikr, and then with confidence I walked towards it, and all the way, the journey was smooth, Alhamdulillah! Somehow, the crowd magically let me pass through and I even managed to conduct 2 rakaat sunnah prayer without any obstruction of people kicking me or pushing me..masyaAllah. At that moment, I cried..cried even harder.. because at that moment, I felt something that I’ve heard many times before and THOUGHT that I understood it. At that particular moment, I felt FAITH.

As a Muslim, we are taught that Faith is believing the existence of Allah and that the last Messenger of Allah is Nabi Muhammad (PBUH) – which is our kalimah syahadah. Yes I’ve always believed that and never doubt it.. but what I felt at that particular moment, was just unexplainable – it was a feeling of satisfaction – of contentment- of greatness! – masyaAllah. I just couldn’t stop crying, I was crying like a baby! Alhamdulillah – thank you Allah for letting me find YOU there.

Lets try putting this in words – FAITH – is believing and feeling the existence of Allah, and then we conduct our daily action or we pray with confidence that HE will assist us here in this world and that HE will reward (or punish) us for the options we make here. With confidence of Allah, the world will crawl under us, trust me it will. BUT you need to have the confidence, the faith…and the approval (redha) that if it doesn’t happen, there will always be a GOOD reason why – you may see it here in this world or in the hereafter. Have faith, and you will be satisfied and happy, insyaAllah.

I may have travelled all over the world but in Makkah, I found something that I’ve been looking for.. and I pray that this feeling will stay on.. and that the Kaabah will always be in my heart..to remind of of that precious moment.

Allahu Akbar.

Me and Mr. upon arrival at Jeddah Hajj airport. 



The crowd pushing in to enter Gua Hira' at Jabar Nur.

The view from Abraj tower - thanks to my aunty for one night there

The different types of Kurma sold at the markets.

Mr. met his long lost brother. 


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Once in a while, IslamicThinking publish stories in their twitter timeline. Their latest #storytime session really touches my heart tonight and I would like to take this chance to share with you and hopefully be a good reminder to all of us.

A professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see and asked the students, 
Prof: How much do you think this glass weighs?  
Student: 50 grams! 100 grams! 125 grams! 
Prof: What will happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes? 
Student: Nothing
Prof: Ok.What would happen if I held it for an hour?
          Student: Your arm would begin to ache
Prof: You're right! Then what would happen if I held this for the whole day?
Student: Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress & paralysis & may have to go to the hospital! 
Prof: Very good! Now did the weight of the glass changed while I was holding it? 
Student: No.
Prof: Then what should I do?
Student: Put the glass DOWN!
Prof: Exactly! That's the same with life problems. Hold it for a few minutes in your head, they seem okay. Think of them for a long time and they begin to ache. Hold it even longer and they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything. 
It's important to think of the challenges (problems) in your life, but EVEN MORE IMPORTANT to have trust in Allah S.W.T. To 'put them down' at the end of every day before you go to sleep. 
That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh and strong and can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!
So at the end of the day, remember to PUT THE GLASS DOWN and put trust in Almighty Allah SWT. 
Tranquility is the sign of strong faith while worries and stress is the sign of weak faith. 
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Last Friday,  me and Mr went to a talk by Shaykh Abdulbary Yahya in Taylor's University. The title of the talk was "The Shepherd's Path'. It was about the story of our beloved Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.


This was our second time attending an Islamic talk together, the first was Imam Suhaib Webb's talk about 8 months back. Its always a good feeling, attending Islamic talks with him. Like for an hour or so, we were both on the same page, gaining the same knowledge on Islam, telling each other "Eh write that!" or giving eye contact or signs that say "Hah! Listen to that!"... and I love the follow up discussions we have in the car later after the talks.. (although it may sometimes turn out to debates and fights haha)

I notice that most of the attendees came in groups, probably a usual thing for them, to attend these seminars with a group of friends who share the same interests. I'm sure they often get invites to attend these seminars to improve their knowledge in Islam, how lucky!

As for me and Mr, I have to say that it has never really been our top priority, but I'm glad that we remind each other, that sometimes, we need to attend Islamic talks, in order to remind ourselves too. "Eh jom! There's this talk on... yadda...yadda...yadda..."

We can be a bit picky and bias though. Honestly, we love it when the foreigners talk. First of all, its because its conducted in English. Secondly, because they're easier to relate to our modern practices and it really gets to the heart. We don't get reminders on how we'll be punished if we disobey, instead we're being taught and reminded on how we can improve ourselves and purify our hearts - a more overall positive approach.

There was a moment during the talk, Shaykh talked about the day of the death of our Prophet S.A.W, and while he was telling the story, he teared. I looked around and I saw another 5-6 others, bringing out tissues from their pockets/bags, and wiped their tears too. Me and about 50 others in the hall just listened to his story, just like it was another story.

At that moment, I felt ashamed. Ashamed that I didn't love our Prophet as much as these people did. If we love someone, when we talk about them or their deaths, we can feel the sadness in our hearts. But how can we love someone, if we don't know the person well enough? I was ashamed.

Here we are in this modern world, trying our best to know every single thing about Beyonce's life and her pregnancy, go hysteria over Justin Bieber, and mourn on the death of Steve Jobs, and we read books of top international footballers, and we don't even bother to know our Prophet a little better? Other than stories being told by our Ustaz/Ustazah?

In order to love someone, we need to know and understand the person well. What have we done to understand and know our Prophet Muhammad S.A.W well?

Oh. What a reminder.



To keep updates on other related seminars/talks in Malaysia, you may check out:
1. Al-Kauthar Institute
2. Al-Maghrib Institute
3. Young Muslims Project


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Something to ponder....

  1. Everyone seems to work hard for life but how many of us really take the time to invest in life after?
  2. No matter how rich or poor we are, when we die, we will be wrapped in the white cloth with is known as 'kain kafan'and placed in the the ground.
  3. Life is too short for us to brag. Everyone should be treated the same. Respect each others and you'll be respected and loved.
  4. Forgive and forget is one of the best attitude.
  5. Don't judge someone based on what you see or you heard. Judge base on the heart. We never know how a person is till we know the real he or she.
  6. Always pray for each other. InsyaAllah God will bless you.
  7. The best charity is when the left hand doesn't know that the right hand had given out the money.

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Erina Ellias

Muslim mom-preneur of 2 kids. Co-Founder of zaahara.com.

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