[::..Some kind of weird!..::]
Yesterday, I had my last 2 injections done. Oh dear! I have had many injections in my life, but those two from yesterday was just some kind of weird. I learnt two things. If you do not want your arm to be painful, when the nurse/doctor is injecting you, try to relax and soften your arm as much as you can. Wriggling your toe helps. Second thing I learnt was, if you want to feel sick, yes, do two at one shot. I did Typhoid and Hepatitis A yesterday. I was told to take a seat outside of the room for 5-10 minutes before leaving the clinic just in case I get any anaphalactic shock. I sat ok, so I left. As soon as I walked to the bus stop-woah....the world just spun ferociously everywhere. But I managed to stay on my dainty feet.
Got on the bus, felt a bit nauseous, got home, tried to use the computer, then...my body started getting a bit warm-ish, then my head was spinning. I was hungry and haven't done my Asr. But I can't manage anything but lay down and cover myself under my duvet. Then i set the alarm clock, and slept hoping that my alarm would wake me up in time to do my Asr. But when i woke up, i was still giddy, there was general weakness all over my body and I wanted to throw up. And I had diarrhoea as well. Come on, this can't be happening. So, i ended up in bed the whole night and occasionally sorting my diarrhoea out.
This morning, I woke up, still felt a bit crap. I texted my friend to ask him if he is still ok to be my next of kin. And told him to give me a call when he wakes up. So I spend the entire morning speaking to mum. And as time pass by, I felt better. But I still had a little diarrhoea. I thought Typhoid and Hep A vaccines was supposed to not give me diarrhoea. Well....
I woke up, showered, got out of bed to go to the tailor. Had to get my jubah re-invented. I didn't like them too lose. It was ridiculous. The length was ok. I will be wearing trousers anyway. But the arms and the sides were just excessive. Then I went to Sainsbury. And for some reason, I was looking for Vegemite. I am not even Australian. Nevertheless, I bought it. And I know, I am going to regret it.
I have a big day tomorrow. Lots of cleaning the flat, lots of laundry, lots of mopping, lots of cooking, and I have to meet the girls for Sunday Tea-so tai tai! And I want to make it in time to go to the mosque hopefully to welcome Ramadan! I am sooo busy. Two more weeks now. And I have a brand new Uncle! :) I can't wait. I really can't wait. Take me there now!
"My Lord! I am in absolute need of the good You send me."
Got on the bus, felt a bit nauseous, got home, tried to use the computer, then...my body started getting a bit warm-ish, then my head was spinning. I was hungry and haven't done my Asr. But I can't manage anything but lay down and cover myself under my duvet. Then i set the alarm clock, and slept hoping that my alarm would wake me up in time to do my Asr. But when i woke up, i was still giddy, there was general weakness all over my body and I wanted to throw up. And I had diarrhoea as well. Come on, this can't be happening. So, i ended up in bed the whole night and occasionally sorting my diarrhoea out.
This morning, I woke up, still felt a bit crap. I texted my friend to ask him if he is still ok to be my next of kin. And told him to give me a call when he wakes up. So I spend the entire morning speaking to mum. And as time pass by, I felt better. But I still had a little diarrhoea. I thought Typhoid and Hep A vaccines was supposed to not give me diarrhoea. Well....
I woke up, showered, got out of bed to go to the tailor. Had to get my jubah re-invented. I didn't like them too lose. It was ridiculous. The length was ok. I will be wearing trousers anyway. But the arms and the sides were just excessive. Then I went to Sainsbury. And for some reason, I was looking for Vegemite. I am not even Australian. Nevertheless, I bought it. And I know, I am going to regret it.
I have a big day tomorrow. Lots of cleaning the flat, lots of laundry, lots of mopping, lots of cooking, and I have to meet the girls for Sunday Tea-so tai tai! And I want to make it in time to go to the mosque hopefully to welcome Ramadan! I am sooo busy. Two more weeks now. And I have a brand new Uncle! :) I can't wait. I really can't wait. Take me there now!
"My Lord! I am in absolute need of the good You send me."
Monday, August 25, 2008
[::..JIMAS-The Adventure..::]
How many of us when encountering a series of bad incidents have thought that it is some kind of bad omen? Lots of us? Sad to say, it's true.
We were supposed to leave from JIMAS on Monday, which was today. However, as a general consensus, we all agreed to go home early, and particularly, those in Mas Yopi's car, have requested for a 7.30pm departure. This would mean, we would miss the last talk. For me, I was just so tired, when we go home to London, it doesn't matter anymore. So, we managed to get dinner. I didn't want to eat, because quite frankly, i don't fancy another bowl of curry after 3 days of eating curry. (I seriously don't know how people can eat curry on a daily basis!) I felt so fat, so greasy and definitely so choked up with rice and curry everyday. But Alhamdullilah. So, i had 4 pizza instead. Which, would have been just as greasy but a little different taste. So, I gave my bowl of mince to Mas Yopi, which he enjoyed because he wasn't the one eating curry for the past few days. And he needed the energy so he could drive us all home safe and sound.
So, what happen next? I heard from afar that the car wouldn't start. Ooooo....as I approached the car, it still wasn't starting. Ya Allah! This is actually the beginning of the end! So, we packed Balqis and Kak Nizma to the remaining talks, while I kept Yopi company. One of the guys was with us. I shall call him S because I don't think S wants to be named. So, S was fast disappearing into the front of the passenger seat. he had his head underneath the dashboard and his legs up in the air. Which was quite funny actually. I was told it was a computer car, and so, S was trying to sort out the computer aspect of it. I thought, "Cool! This might just be it, we will be ok!" But no matter how hard S and Yopi tried, the car unfortunately had to be towed away.
Tow truck promised to come for us at midnight. So, I was starting to get hungry, and restless. Nizma made the boys some tea, and i took out some chocolates, which incidentally was bought by S. So, I hang out with the boys because i really couldn't be bothered to attend another talk. My tummy started to rumble. I got out of the car, went for a walk, and then returned to the car. The tow truck came. My God, it took ages just to tow the car. There was another car on the truck, and I thought, we are going to be sitting in that car up there. This is fun. Yes, in times of distress, Farah can still find the lighter side of it. Then I was quite disappointed when we had to jump in the back of the tow truck and sat like burly beer guzzling truckers. So, finally, after all the hardship of towing the car, we proceeded onto our journey. Yes, we went straight, and in 5 minutes, I heard S saying, "Subhanallah!" I opened my eyes and was thinking, what the hell is going on. In front of us, was a huge branch, which looked a bit like a tree, right across the road. So Yopi went down and pulled the branch away. And the truck driver happily drove. In 3 minutes, there were gasps from all around. Guess what? DEAD END! "This should be fun!" said the truck driver. I was frightened. The first thing I thought immediately as , "Is this Allah trying to tell us something?" Like an omen. But I remembered in an earlier talk, this constitutes as minor shirk. Never ever think something was bad luck or bad omen. So, i shush the thought away and texted Hilaal.
I texted him about what happened. And ask him for his doa so all of us could go home safe and sound. While texting him, the truck driver was trying to reverse his huge truck, with our car towed at the back, and another car on top. He unfortunately had to tow all the way back. And it seemed forever. I was getting a bit car sick but hey, that wasn't important. After 25 minutes or so, we were on the roads!
Kak Nizma, Balqis, Yopi, S and I managed to sleep on our 2 and a half hour journey back to London from Leicester. Initially i was quite stressed coz people when they sleep in cars, or in vehicles, their head will be swinging everywhere. Can be quite embarrassing. And I thought, "Damn, S would laugh at me. I will look really stupid!" But by this point, I was like, who cares mate! I want to sleep, and to hell what I look like! So I slept, and yes, I am sure my head was swinging everywhere, maybe snoring or breathing loudly. Whatever. We reached Walhamstow at about 3am. Took Mas Yopi's van. I let Kak Nizma and Balqis sit in front without thinking. Because I was just so tired. Then Yopi saw me and he asked, "You sitting here. I said yes, why?" I had forgotten all about S. That means he and me had to sit in the van, at the back, without a window in the dark. I was so stress, but I was thinking more about the older ladies, I can't make them rough it out at the back of the van. That is just not right. So, Yopi knew S was going to be super uncomfortable. Because S is such a god fearing man, and being with a girl at the back of a dark van. So unbecoming! And so, Yopi told S, it will just be 10 minutes. I smiled and thought, this is going to be interesting. I am just going to bury my head in my hands and try to sleep knowing that S would be real quiet. But we ended up speaking about various things. Which was nice. I suppose, if we didn't have bad intentions, and it was a good intention that put us both in such a place, there would not be anything to worry about.
Happily chatting, we didn't realise that it was more than 10 minutes. When we got out, we were both expecting to be in East London. But we were in Shoreland instead. Great. How did we end up there? Then I asked Yopi, did we even go to East London. He said we did, and we stopped for a long time, but Balqis realised she forgot her keys and left them in Leicester. I was smiling. I thought, after all that we all have been thru tonight, this i really funny. Because bless Balqis, she was offering Kak Nizma to stay at her house for the night, now it is Kak Nizma's turn to return the favour. So, we were in Shoreland because Kak Nizma parked her car there. So off the two ladies went, and S and I sat in front. My legs by this time were so weak coz I was really car sick. Earlier on, S and I resorted to eating dried plums at the back of the van coz I needed something saltish to kill the car sickness. Well, he ate 1, i ate lots! I was still stuffing my face with them when we were sitting in front. Then i asked S politely if he can wind the windows down a bit. And he asked me, "Why? I thought you were cold. Do I smell or something?" I just couldn't believe my ears. S is such a shy guy, for him to crack that joke, it was amazing! I hurriedly said, "No! I just wanted some fresh air!" And he asked me again, "Do I smell?" I said, "I couldn't believe you asked me that!" Then he answered, "I was just checking!" I know his homeboy-M. That is what he calls M. He said M is the only person who knows him inside out. And I thought that was so sweet. But two close buddies, with two different characters.
S said to me in the van. Have I ever heard of the saying that men are visual creatures? I felt like telling him, I know. I know it so well, and it is so funny he even had to bring it up. S said, men likes beauty. They like beautiful cars, flowers, scenaries, beautiful women. And I was almost annoyed by this time because I think, I had to live with his fact for 6-7mths with M. M was a super visual man. I suppose, M and I are such good example of "Men make love with their eyes, and women make love with their hearts!" Then S said, but women, they are listeners. They like hearing nice things. Which is true. Well, anyway, we sent S home, and then Yopi sent me home last. My poor brother was beat by the time he got to my flat. But he managed to pray his fajr prayers, and I am so happy for that.
What a little adventure. One day, I will know, why all those things happen in succession. But I know, because of all this things that happen, some hearts were healed amongst us in Yopi's car. It is just the beauty of how Allah swt completes such a beautiful puzzle.
Farah
"My Lord! I am in absolute need of the good You send me."
We were supposed to leave from JIMAS on Monday, which was today. However, as a general consensus, we all agreed to go home early, and particularly, those in Mas Yopi's car, have requested for a 7.30pm departure. This would mean, we would miss the last talk. For me, I was just so tired, when we go home to London, it doesn't matter anymore. So, we managed to get dinner. I didn't want to eat, because quite frankly, i don't fancy another bowl of curry after 3 days of eating curry. (I seriously don't know how people can eat curry on a daily basis!) I felt so fat, so greasy and definitely so choked up with rice and curry everyday. But Alhamdullilah. So, i had 4 pizza instead. Which, would have been just as greasy but a little different taste. So, I gave my bowl of mince to Mas Yopi, which he enjoyed because he wasn't the one eating curry for the past few days. And he needed the energy so he could drive us all home safe and sound.
So, what happen next? I heard from afar that the car wouldn't start. Ooooo....as I approached the car, it still wasn't starting. Ya Allah! This is actually the beginning of the end! So, we packed Balqis and Kak Nizma to the remaining talks, while I kept Yopi company. One of the guys was with us. I shall call him S because I don't think S wants to be named. So, S was fast disappearing into the front of the passenger seat. he had his head underneath the dashboard and his legs up in the air. Which was quite funny actually. I was told it was a computer car, and so, S was trying to sort out the computer aspect of it. I thought, "Cool! This might just be it, we will be ok!" But no matter how hard S and Yopi tried, the car unfortunately had to be towed away.
Tow truck promised to come for us at midnight. So, I was starting to get hungry, and restless. Nizma made the boys some tea, and i took out some chocolates, which incidentally was bought by S. So, I hang out with the boys because i really couldn't be bothered to attend another talk. My tummy started to rumble. I got out of the car, went for a walk, and then returned to the car. The tow truck came. My God, it took ages just to tow the car. There was another car on the truck, and I thought, we are going to be sitting in that car up there. This is fun. Yes, in times of distress, Farah can still find the lighter side of it. Then I was quite disappointed when we had to jump in the back of the tow truck and sat like burly beer guzzling truckers. So, finally, after all the hardship of towing the car, we proceeded onto our journey. Yes, we went straight, and in 5 minutes, I heard S saying, "Subhanallah!" I opened my eyes and was thinking, what the hell is going on. In front of us, was a huge branch, which looked a bit like a tree, right across the road. So Yopi went down and pulled the branch away. And the truck driver happily drove. In 3 minutes, there were gasps from all around. Guess what? DEAD END! "This should be fun!" said the truck driver. I was frightened. The first thing I thought immediately as , "Is this Allah trying to tell us something?" Like an omen. But I remembered in an earlier talk, this constitutes as minor shirk. Never ever think something was bad luck or bad omen. So, i shush the thought away and texted Hilaal.
I texted him about what happened. And ask him for his doa so all of us could go home safe and sound. While texting him, the truck driver was trying to reverse his huge truck, with our car towed at the back, and another car on top. He unfortunately had to tow all the way back. And it seemed forever. I was getting a bit car sick but hey, that wasn't important. After 25 minutes or so, we were on the roads!
Kak Nizma, Balqis, Yopi, S and I managed to sleep on our 2 and a half hour journey back to London from Leicester. Initially i was quite stressed coz people when they sleep in cars, or in vehicles, their head will be swinging everywhere. Can be quite embarrassing. And I thought, "Damn, S would laugh at me. I will look really stupid!" But by this point, I was like, who cares mate! I want to sleep, and to hell what I look like! So I slept, and yes, I am sure my head was swinging everywhere, maybe snoring or breathing loudly. Whatever. We reached Walhamstow at about 3am. Took Mas Yopi's van. I let Kak Nizma and Balqis sit in front without thinking. Because I was just so tired. Then Yopi saw me and he asked, "You sitting here. I said yes, why?" I had forgotten all about S. That means he and me had to sit in the van, at the back, without a window in the dark. I was so stress, but I was thinking more about the older ladies, I can't make them rough it out at the back of the van. That is just not right. So, Yopi knew S was going to be super uncomfortable. Because S is such a god fearing man, and being with a girl at the back of a dark van. So unbecoming! And so, Yopi told S, it will just be 10 minutes. I smiled and thought, this is going to be interesting. I am just going to bury my head in my hands and try to sleep knowing that S would be real quiet. But we ended up speaking about various things. Which was nice. I suppose, if we didn't have bad intentions, and it was a good intention that put us both in such a place, there would not be anything to worry about.
Happily chatting, we didn't realise that it was more than 10 minutes. When we got out, we were both expecting to be in East London. But we were in Shoreland instead. Great. How did we end up there? Then I asked Yopi, did we even go to East London. He said we did, and we stopped for a long time, but Balqis realised she forgot her keys and left them in Leicester. I was smiling. I thought, after all that we all have been thru tonight, this i really funny. Because bless Balqis, she was offering Kak Nizma to stay at her house for the night, now it is Kak Nizma's turn to return the favour. So, we were in Shoreland because Kak Nizma parked her car there. So off the two ladies went, and S and I sat in front. My legs by this time were so weak coz I was really car sick. Earlier on, S and I resorted to eating dried plums at the back of the van coz I needed something saltish to kill the car sickness. Well, he ate 1, i ate lots! I was still stuffing my face with them when we were sitting in front. Then i asked S politely if he can wind the windows down a bit. And he asked me, "Why? I thought you were cold. Do I smell or something?" I just couldn't believe my ears. S is such a shy guy, for him to crack that joke, it was amazing! I hurriedly said, "No! I just wanted some fresh air!" And he asked me again, "Do I smell?" I said, "I couldn't believe you asked me that!" Then he answered, "I was just checking!" I know his homeboy-M. That is what he calls M. He said M is the only person who knows him inside out. And I thought that was so sweet. But two close buddies, with two different characters.
S said to me in the van. Have I ever heard of the saying that men are visual creatures? I felt like telling him, I know. I know it so well, and it is so funny he even had to bring it up. S said, men likes beauty. They like beautiful cars, flowers, scenaries, beautiful women. And I was almost annoyed by this time because I think, I had to live with his fact for 6-7mths with M. M was a super visual man. I suppose, M and I are such good example of "Men make love with their eyes, and women make love with their hearts!" Then S said, but women, they are listeners. They like hearing nice things. Which is true. Well, anyway, we sent S home, and then Yopi sent me home last. My poor brother was beat by the time he got to my flat. But he managed to pray his fajr prayers, and I am so happy for that.
What a little adventure. One day, I will know, why all those things happen in succession. But I know, because of all this things that happen, some hearts were healed amongst us in Yopi's car. It is just the beauty of how Allah swt completes such a beautiful puzzle.
Farah
"My Lord! I am in absolute need of the good You send me."
[::..JIMAS..::]
Salam everyone...
It has been such a long time since my last post. It has been such a hectic month with personal and work issues. Alhamdullilah, things are a bit perky now. Ramadhan is stumbling upon us really quickly. I'm very excited as usual. Such a blessed month. Some people out there might not like this post, as I am always accused of "Farah being in the Zone" whenever i post an Islamic post. However, as a blog, it is supposed to reflect my inner feelings. So, please bear with me, or just not read it.
I just returned from JIMAS which is an Islamic Conference held in Leicester. I have never been to one before, but hey, I'm open to new things. I must admit, my initial intention to go there was because it was such a long weekend and I really do not know what to do with myself. But as days go by, I was quite excited as I know there will be a lot of lessons to be learnt from the many different Shaykhs that will be delivering the talks.
Now, as usual, Islamic conferences are normally catered for everyone from all backgrounds. Accommodation, i must say was Alhamdullilah, food was Alhamdullilah, and everything else was Alhamdullilah! hehe...I shall not say any further. But what I will say was how one incident really touched my heart.
I have never ever ever seen anyone take their Shahadah before. But in JIMAS, i got to see three at one go. It was a couple with a child, and another lady. The ladies were already wearing hijabs, and they just took their shahadahs. I was in tears as I watch them enter into their new lives. It was wonderful. Religion is not an issue to be dealt with lightly, and if you put yourselves in their shoes, and had to take on another religion, I am sure you will never be able to make that choice. But they, they accepted Islam out of their own choice. And that makes them so wonderful. Many times we take our religion for granted just because we are born Muslims. But truly, we have a choice to honour Islam in our hearts and minds. After they took their shahadahs, there was Takbir from the men's side, and there were some shy Takbir's from the ladies' side as well. It was just too overwhelming that even Abu Muntassir was moved to tears.
I spent some time also observing people around me. The campus was divided into ladies and men only. Naturally, you will get some husbands straying into our corner. I am seriously not bothered. If I had a husband, i would probably have strayed into his area! But Islam comes in all shaped, sizes and colour. We have American, Canadian, Nigerian, African, Japanese, Chinese, Indonesians, Singaporean, Australian, Malaysian, Danish, English, Middle Eastern....and it was just global. Not to mention mix marriages. The chairman is a Bengali and his wife is a Chinese. I saw an Indonesian lady with her Nigerian husband. A Japanese lady with her African Husband, a German man with an Australian wife, an English lady with a Pakistani Husband. Masya Allah. They all looked happy with their little kids. I also saw elderly, real old English ladies wearing black abaiyas and khimar. Some were even in Niqabs. The men were in their thobes and jubahs, some had the arabic scarves embellishing their robes. Some white men with big beards. You will feel so happy seeing how diverse Islam is and how new Muslims proudly embrace their new religion in all aspects even in their dressings. I ought to be ashamed of myself. My outfits was rubbish, so I took upon myself to get some abaiyas and jubahs. Also as a preparation to go to a nice special place. Special mention to the little boys in miniature Islamic outfits to look like their dads, some even wearing an Islamic turban. When i saw little boys, I mean like 3 yrs old. And also to little toddler girls wearing miniature black abaiyas and hijabs. Soooo cute. And they are so used to it. They do not try to wriggle out of it. Amazing!
Some of the topics were interested, some to me were just plain boring. I particularly enjoyed topics like Ramadan, things on Paradise, Good Manners, Youth and Islam and Gender Interactions. However, when it comes to Islam and Politics, it is just something that irritates me. True, we have to think about Islamic oppressions in other parts of the world, and Islamophobia. But it is really not my cup of tea. I think of them in my hearts. One Shaykh that i really really enjoyed was Mohammad AlShareef. By Allah, he was so charismatic, engaging and interesting. His Quranic recitation was to die for. And his topic was Good Manners. He touched on some subjects like how to treat your guest well, how mother-in-laws and daughter-in-law realations can be imporved, proper adab during greeting, how not to hurt people's feeling. It was wonderful. And yes, i woke up early for that lecture without even expecting to learn anything out of it. Farah and conferences, normally doesn't work. I am mostly either half asleep or comatose amongst the audience.
So, I went to Shaykh Mohammad AlShareef's organisation's website, to listen to his Ramadhan talk, and i really enjoyed it. Then i went on to listen to another talk and was pleasantly surprised. Mars and Venus? Hmmm....we don't normally get that kind of thing in an Islamic Talk. But stay tuned, Insya Allah we all can benefit from my next post.
I attached some pictures of Izza and I.
Farah
"My Lord! I am in absolute need of the good You send me."
Sunday, August 10, 2008
[::..I've resorted to singing!..::]
Shalala Lala lyrics
There's a boy in my mind and he knows I'm thinkin' of him
All my way to the day and the night the stars shine above me.
He's been gone for some time but I know I truly love him.
And I'm singing a song, hoping he'll be back when he hears it.
[Chorus]
My heart goes shalala lala, shalala in the morning.
Oh oh oh shalala lala, shalala in the sunshine.
Shalala lala, shalala lala in the evening.
Shalala lala shalala lala just for you.
If your love's gone away just like mine you feel like crying.
Sing along maybe once maybe twice, let's try it together.
Some sweet day no one knows he'll return and you'll be happy.
Shout it sweet in a song, listen to your heart it is singin'
[Chorus]
My heart goes shalala lala, shalala in the morning.
Oh oh oh shalala lala, shalala in the sunshine.
Shalala lala, shalala lala in the evening.
Shalala lala shalala lala just for you.
If your love's gone away just like mine you feel like crying.
Sing along maybe once maybe twice, let's try it together.
Some sweet day no one knows he'll return and you'll be happy.
Shout it sweet in a song, listen to your heart it is singin'
[Chorus]
My heart goes shalala lala, shalala in the morning.
Oh oh oh shalala lala, shalala in the sunshine.
Shalala lala, shalala lala in the evening.
Shalala lala shalala lala just for you.
(A perfectly timed song!)
"My Lord! I am in absolute need of the good You send me."
There's a boy in my mind and he knows I'm thinkin' of him
All my way to the day and the night the stars shine above me.
He's been gone for some time but I know I truly love him.
And I'm singing a song, hoping he'll be back when he hears it.
[Chorus]
My heart goes shalala lala, shalala in the morning.
Oh oh oh shalala lala, shalala in the sunshine.
Shalala lala, shalala lala in the evening.
Shalala lala shalala lala just for you.
If your love's gone away just like mine you feel like crying.
Sing along maybe once maybe twice, let's try it together.
Some sweet day no one knows he'll return and you'll be happy.
Shout it sweet in a song, listen to your heart it is singin'
[Chorus]
My heart goes shalala lala, shalala in the morning.
Oh oh oh shalala lala, shalala in the sunshine.
Shalala lala, shalala lala in the evening.
Shalala lala shalala lala just for you.
If your love's gone away just like mine you feel like crying.
Sing along maybe once maybe twice, let's try it together.
Some sweet day no one knows he'll return and you'll be happy.
Shout it sweet in a song, listen to your heart it is singin'
[Chorus]
My heart goes shalala lala, shalala in the morning.
Oh oh oh shalala lala, shalala in the sunshine.
Shalala lala, shalala lala in the evening.
Shalala lala shalala lala just for you.
(A perfectly timed song!)
"My Lord! I am in absolute need of the good You send me."