Snippets: Surah Al-Qadr

Assalamualaikum my lovelies,

Are you ready for the final 10 days of Ramadhan? I bet you are all anticipating this blessed period with increased acts of ibadah and perfecting yourself in your faith.

This may be the best time of the year for me to introduce The Little Girl to Surah 97 as we try to do our best for the last 10 days of Ramadhan, inshaAllah.

I know she is going to be in full wonderment of this grand night when angels and Jibrael descends, a night that is better than a thousand months' worth of worship. Night time story telling is going to be exciting!

Yesterday, she was thrilled to count 5 Surah into her nightly prayer. Alhamdulillah, she added Al-Falaq and Al-Khawthar to her routine.

On a separate note, her final exams results are trickling in. We are very pleased and proud of her effort thus far. Alhamdulillah, and inshaAllah she keeps up this great work. We "celebrated" by paying her school fees for the new academic year that is commencing this autumn *teehee* Reward work with more work concept, sort of. Like a promotion.

Ending this post with a sweet hope that you find your laylatul qadr this year and that you be blessed eternally with Jannah for your good deeds, good heart and perfect ibadah.

 

Amin.

Snippets: Surah Al-Falaq

The Little Girl has overcome her trouble memorising Surah An-Nas recently and last night, she eagerly asked to recite it as soon as she completed Surah Al-Fatihah and Surah Al-Ikhlas. SubhanAllah!

We went on to Surah Al-Falaq and after levelling with her on its tafseer, she happily recited this beautiful Surah on Protection, with cue and some help.

We then went on to Surah Al-Khawthar and talked about the beautiful river in Paradise. I will reserve the more serious portion of how Allah swt defeated His Unbelievers and how our beloved Prophet Muhammad saw is indeed His Last Messenger with an important task of spreading this beautiful way of life. InshaAllah, we will get down to it soon.

She went to bed with a smile on her face, and right there, I shed a tear inside as I wished her goodnight, gave her an extra tight cuddle and kissed her forehead; just in awe of His Greatness and Omnipresence. SubhanAllah! 

Her baby steps, and mine, are now fused on this journey. May Allah swt grant us Light and Love. Amin.

Ramadhan Challenge

Assalamualaikum my lovelies,

Do you set for yourselves any Ramadhan challenge(s)?

Some of us strive to complete proper fast, perform all 5 calls to solat, move towards hijab, khatam al-Quran for example. One at a time, a few per year or all at once - the choice is entirely personal.

The Other Half and I were chatting about how when a person is busy living positively/doing good deeds, the same person may have less time for dwelling in negativity/doing bad deeds. Simple virtue, SubhanAllah! Thank You for this revelation.

My personal challenge this year is to memorise some short Surah(s), which means reading al-Quran transliteration, translation comparison, summarising my understanding and listening to some concise tafseer via Nouman Ali Khan podcasts. So far, alhamdulillah. Baby steps and I am toddling along with The Little Girl in tow. She really motivates me to be a better mother, alhamdulillah. 

It would be a real bonus for me to completely master my "solo solat" meaning praying on my own without The Other Half as my imam. Those who follow my reversion journey as a young Muslimah will know by now that I am constantly pursuing kushyuk in my solat. It is a discipline of mind, body and soul, to me. This pursuit of my inner peace and  happiness also involves more or less the same learning process as mentioned. Please feel free to drop me tips on how to master solo solat, I would be eternally grateful!

Here is wishing you and I all the best in each of our Hijrah pursuits. Allah swt is so Merciful, He Grants Ease to those who put in effort in wanting to be closer to Him. May obstacles melt away and The Straight Path be clear to us.

 

Amin. 

ASTRO

Can you believe it, we have not subscribed to ASTRO for about 18 months now. 

Every now and then, The Little Girl and Bean will watch Channel 613 at The Flat Upstairs or The House with The Grandparents. During our holidays, they would sometimes catch a Disney movie on the hotel TV. What we do not like is how they can be glued to the TV and have no interest in playing, eating or communicating!

What we do have, are some DVDs from Disney productions and other independent producers. At least with these DVDs, we can set the limit as to how much they watch in a day, and still have time with interest for reading or playing.

Of late, I asked The Other Half if we should reconnect our ASTRO service. Whenever this request was presented, he would ask me to sleep over it. Bless him.

I would then pray for Signs of we should or otherwise. Miraculously, He always sends me the same answer.

NO.

Via lectures or khutbah, via opinions and studies. Detriments of screen time to our soul, the garbage that is being produced of late to perpetuate ideologies, and sadly we become subscribers to dogma that is incongruent with Islamic values.

"Be mindful of what we feed our soul."

Since the answer is consistently against screen time, I will gladly accept living without ASTRO at home. What we have is Wifi and with that, we are more selective in filtering what we feed our souls, inshaAllah.

Now, I just have to refresh those activities list of what the kids can do and enjoy while I prepare dinner. After all, that is the only crucial hour I seem to need something on the screen to prevent them from running laps around the sofa and dining table (read: noisy, crazy happy, top speed, potential falls). On the upside, they work up an appetite!

How do you keep your kids busy at dinner preparation time? Please do share!

 

An update: We have since then reconnected ASTRO "limited" service out of sheer desperation of not being able to take the kids out to the park or pool during hot, fasting days. Our bad. Wish us luck, ok?

Zakat Fitrah

Assalamualaikum my lovelies,

This is the time of the year in our Hijrah calendar to be settling our zakat fitrah. There is a booth at the corner of Uniqlo KLCC across Sephora/Cold Storage where we can conveniently do so, if not already fulfilled at our respective local mosques. It opens from 11am to 6pm this Ramadhan. In Kuala Lumpur, the zakat fitrah rate is RM7 per person. 

The officers stationed at this ad hoc collection centre do not accept zakat fidyah and/or qadar but we can easily do this online at Maybank2U, which I did and it was so convenient!

In both cases, as where applicable, do not forget our niyah.

May our sacrifices be accepted and pleasing to Him. Amin!

Snippets: Marriage

The Little Girl is one of the two Muslimahs in her class. There are about 6 other Muslim boys. Together, they form a small cluster for Religious Studies (Islam) guided by Puan I. It is a close knit and fun class so I am pretty sure the students know each other quite well.

One of the boys, M, has been asking The Little Girl to marry him for about a fortnight now.

Now, you see, we have a small glitch here. 

The Little Girl has had her eyes set on another boy from one year ahead of her class, a case of liking a senior, whose mother gets along with me like house on fire. They, the children, like one another since the beginning of the academic year, and this is long in the timeline of 5/6 year olds!

Two days ago, M's pick up line to The Little Girl in my presence was this, "Have you watched Jurassic World? Do you like it?"

The Little Girl did not even reply him, just shot him a blank look. She then politely said goodbye since it was home time anyways. I guess she did not tell M about her huge dislike for dinosaurs. Or her liking for Z.

The Little Girl spared no hesitation in telling M, truthfully and sincerely, during breakfast the following day, that she has no intention of marrying M, since that pick up line incident.

At the same time, she did not reveal to anyone in her class who she likes. In so doing, she has preserved a mystery?

Yesterday, at home time, M told me that The Little Girl does not want to marry him. Ever.

I was...speechless!

Mother of the intended bride. What am I to say? I do not support child marriages but that is not something I want to discuss with someone who has just lost his front tooth. So I smiled.

For now, let's just cherish this innocent phase/moment and stop at the big smile I beamed at M. Hopefully my smile can deflect him from seeing my concern. Oh, where do I even begin? 

I hope M finds his closure and remain friends with The Little Girl. After all, he has another 9.5 years to impress her while being in the same school, inshaAllah.

May The Little Girl remain steadfast and pure in her heart, and that Allah swt keeps her safe in His Protection. Amin! 

Snippets: Surah An-Nas

The Little Girl now recites 3 Surahs at night before sleeping. She starts with Surah Al-Fatihah and Surah Al-Ikhlas, both fluently without prompter. 

If you know and understand these 2 Surahs well, you will understand why it was a significant milestone when she first learnt to recite these wonderful Words from Allah swt, as most Muslim parents would.

Last night, she voluntarily asked us to guide her with Surah An-Nas. "An-Nas?" Her eyes were bright, with a sweet smile on her face. SubhanAllah! That memory is now etched into my life, such a gracious and immensely precious gift.

The Other Half of course gladly obliged her and together, they sounded like they had filled her room with Angels. It was a beautiful moment, SubhanAllah!

We will start her on Surah Al-Falaq after this, inshaAllah; and may His Guidance be upon us to be better parents. Amin.