Recipe for Success: Ramadhan Edition

Bismillah....

This afternoon I was surprised to see one of my ex classmate in University posted a status,

"Tonight is the beginning of the last 10 nights of Ramadhan. Are you ready?" 

I was like, "Really?" and started to count with my fingers the days that have passed. Wow~ That was really fast.... I should have done this sharing earlier, I feel. But then it'll never be too late to start. By the way this is something that can be done continuously even after Ramadhan is over.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

"O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous" Al-Baqarah, 183

At the beginning of Ramadhan I shared a tadabbur reference that I found very informative at several Whatsapp groups. I'm not used to learn religion in Malay, but that document, I feel, will be useful to many people because it is in Malay, the content is concise and clear and it is linked to short videos that will further expound the juz' in discussion. I was shocked when one of the group member labeled me as being riya' (ostentatious)

I didn't really take it seriously and assumed that he probably was just joking hahaha then it dawned on me, what if that was said to someone who would find it hurtful or what if this kind of thought, afraid of being labeled as riya', becomes a wrong reason that prevent someone from sharing beneficial information?

لَا حَسَدَ إِلَّا فِي اثْنَتَيْنِ رَجُلٌ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ مَالًا فَسُلِّطَ عَلَى هَلَكَتِهِ فِي الْحَقِّ وَرَجُلٌ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ  

 الْحِكْمَةَ فَهُوَ يَقْضِي بِهَا وَيُعَلِّمُهَا

"There are no envy but in two cases: a man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it rightly, and a man whom Allah has given wisdom and he judges and teaches with it" Sahih al-Bukhari

I believe sharing knowledge or useful materials of knowledge is healthy and is also a form of worship to Allah. Who knows, who else would benefit the sharing or perhaps there might also be someone out there who is  in dire need of the input. By the way, I actually wanted to share about Ramadhan journal hahaha

Alhamdulillah, I already started with mine. What instigated me was, I do had my random sessions of tadabbur and also been listening to my favourite scholars' talk every now and then... But I will easily and most of the time almost immediately forget the points hahaha I've been thinking of making my own notes, but having called it a  journal makes it sound more personal and warm hahaha

This is a blog post in Have Halal Will Travel on Quran journaling. And another one that inspired me to start this book was Neelofa's doa book that she shared during one of her IG live. 

This page that I shared with you is the notes I'd taken while listening to the tadabbur video in Yaqeen institute webpage. It is my most preferred site because one, it's FREE hahaha and the level of discussion suits my understanding capacity. There are also Bayyinah institute and Al Maghrib institute that offer both paid courses and some free materials. But most of the time, outside Ramadhan, it's easier to access the scholars talk from their personal facebook page and twitter. 

The page on the left is a hadith on kindness that was shared by Aida Azlin. So I'll also be writing down hadiths that resonate with me in this book.

This is the last few pages of the book where I wrote the 99 names of Allah for the exercise I shared on facebook. I made several realizations while putting my notes in. The first one being, I haven't been attentive to the meanings of asmaul husna in spite of having sang it since, I don't know, perhaps kindergarten. I just realized there's Al Maajid and Al Majeeed! Secondly, I have been 'shallow reading' the tafseer! Well, I did go into the asbab al-nuzul (the reasons behind the revelation) and the stories, but I've been for years taking it all in as it is rather than reflect on the deeper message. I was utterly amazed at how these scholars dissect the verses by kalimah, explained why that particular kalimah is chosen to convey the message, who was that message initially delivered to and finally how does it relate to our daily living in the modern days....

Okay I think that's all for now because I have something else to do... May the remaining days of Ramadhan this year brings us one step close to Allah, inshaAllah...