Wednesday 17 September 2014

Time is less!

Firstly, I would like to thank and appreciate all the wishes and prayers from my family and friends, yesterday 16th of September. Your wishes and prayers have truly made my day and will go a long way to remind me of being strong; to face the tough journey ahead. Indeed, being far away from home, made me learn to appreciate them more. Yes, time flies and yesterday means, I am adding another digit to what we called 'age', of course. 

But yes, age is just a measurement, a tool to measure how much time have you spent in this life, in this world since you were born. And the funny thing is, we celebrate birthdays, with our beloveds because it signifies a special day for us. Nevertheless, it is also maybe to celebrate the maturity that we are getting because of longer, and more experiences gained than before.

On the other hand, age could also mean the opposite. It means, you probably have longer time to live than your birthday age, or most probably, not. We never know. We will never ever know it. And that is why, for me, birthday is one way I like to remind myself, that when my age are added by another year, it means I have less time to prepare myself. Prepare for what the real life is, in the hereafter.

To be prepared in becoming a true servant to Allah, to become an abid and khalifah, who is always conscious of what he or she is doing in this world, to have taqwa and to meet our Creator in jannah, inshaAllah. And because the world is coming to an end, although we never know when, but it will. And thus, for ourselves, one thing is definitely sure, we are going to leave this world.

And so, for myself, use your time well. Treasure the people around you, be significant to others by giving and enjoy the joy of giving. Even if it is just a piece of advice. Give anything within your capacity, to benefit others. Because time, is now becoming less and it is moving, fast.

Finally, Happy Malaysia Day; am proud to be part of you and share a birthday with you, Malaysia!!  (Yesterday) :)






Monday 15 September 2014

Pilihan

sungguh terlalu lama tidak menukilkan bicara dan untaian fikiran di ruang yang kerdil, namun cukup memberi erti di sini. Kerana tidak semua kata-kata itu, layaknya lahir daripada sang lidah. Dan terkadang ada banyak kata indah dari minda, yang lebih cantik tertafsir melalui pena. Hari ini, aku cuba mencari inspirasi itu, inspirasi yang jarang-jarang dapat aku nukilkan dengan tulisan....

Sudah tentu apa yang ditakdirkan Tuhan itu punya seribu hikmah yang tersimpan, tetapi kerana diri yang lemah mengatur perjalanan, diri ini teraba-raba mencari hikmah dalam perjalanan hidup yang cukup menguji kesabaran. Dan diri ini juga terkadang alpa, mendoakan kekuatan dari Allah yang Maha Mendengar, Maha Mengetahui apa yang terbisik dalam setiap hati hamba milik-Nya. Ahh, kamu yang terlalu suka melayan perasaan! terlalu banyak masa yang telah dibazirkan; biarlah ada usaha yang dicipta, tatkala dirimu cuba merenung kesalahan, memperbaiki kesalahan, bukannya sekadar merintih kosong, dihanyut kesedihan. Masih, dan masih lagi aku ulang nasihat itu pada diri. Namun itulah, manusia yang terlalu cepat alpanya kerana merasakan dirinya serba cukup, apabila ditimpa kesusahan, mulalah merintih seolah tiada kesudahan.

Merintih kamu biar pada yang sudi mendengar. Merintih kamu, biarlah ada juga doa dan sisi harapan yang membangkitkan, membangunkan jiwa yang kepenatan kerana alpanya mengikut godaan dunia. Merintih kamu, biarlah diiringi usaha untuk menambah daya dan merintih kamu bukan kosong semata. Merintih kamu dalam sujud, adalah semata-mata untuk mencari rahmat dan kekuatan yang cuma datang dari-Nya. dan kerana dirimu sedar, bahawa kerdilnya diri seorang hamba, lemahnya sebagai insan, tiada punya apa jika bukan kerana Allah yang Maha Mengasihi tiap jiwa yang sentiasa cuba kembali ke pangkal jalan, mencari redha-Nya. 

Dan moga juga, dalam tiap sujud, doa dan ibadah yang dirimu usahakan, biarlah sentiasa kerana mengharapkan rahmat-Nya, mengharapkan bimbingan hidayah-Nya yang lurus, kerana dunia ini terlalu bersimpang-siur, entah ke mana-mana jalan yang dituju, jika tiada tujuan yang memandu hidupmu. 

Moga sahaja dalam tiap kata atau janji yang cuba engkau zahirkan kepada mereka, diiringi niat yang tulus dan ikhlas untuk memenuhinya. Kerana percayalah, sesaat engkau mengambil mudah kata atau janji yang pernah engkau lafaz pada mereka yang bernama manusia; tidak mudah, terlalu payah untuk mereka mempercayaimu semula. kerana mungkir janji itu bukanlah sifat seorang yang benar-benar tahu dan menghargai, betapa mahalnya harga sebuah janji yang lahir daripada mereka yang disayangi, dan betapa kata-kata itu perlukan pada pembuktian; bukan sekadar angan-angan yang dikau canangkan sebagai harapan kepada mereka.

Hidup ini indah atau tidak, tergantung kepada pilihan dirimu. Kerana pilihan itu sentiasa terbentang luas, terhias indah berbagai warna, cuma yang membezakan adalah mengapa pilihan itu dibuat, adakah sekadar buat kepuasan atau benar-benar kerana ingin mencari redha Tuhan..usahalah, berdoalah dan bertawakallah, kerana hidup ini tidak punya jalan singkat dan kerana syurga itu, milik mereka yang benar-benar menyerah diri sebagai hamba....



Monday 26 May 2014

Halfway is imaginary

Salam to my fellow readers, alhamdulillah finally managed to post after few busy weeks, I am actually now in my final week of the first semester, and next semester would be my last semester here, or in other words, I am halfway there, inshaAllah in completing my postgrad in tesol.

But anyways, that's not the halfway that am going to talk about, it's just that at this point of my life, halfway of study year, it made me realize how lucky we are to know that we are able to know about our academic year or planning, because there's a lot you could do to plan your weeks ahead effectively and efficiently. But truth is, we will never know when our time in this world would be half, or even quarter, and that, should actually be a constant reminder to us, how much preparations have we made to face the day of judgement, how many good deeds have we done to cover all the sins that we either realise or not. It made me ponder, how short life in this world is, and that even in this world, when we are often given the due dates of this and that, we often delayed or ignore it till the last minute of the given time! How we have always taken things for granted, even if we know the consequence would be bad, like if I submit my summary late, I might not get the best grade.

Emm, I was just reflecting on my few assignments due soon, and I thought that, I need something to motivate me to keep going and give my very best, thus wrote this down to remind myself and others too InshaAllah.

Always believe that Allah is with us, and that we should always purify our hearts and intention whatever we do in this world, including study and whatever, to seek for His blessings, mardhatillah, inshaAllah.

Amin ya rabbal a'lamin.

Till next time, take care :)

Saturday 26 April 2014

A sharing session with Salim A.Fillah : Kisah Julaibib yang penuh ibrah

Bertempat di Coburg Mosque (surau KITA) di Melbourne pada malam 23 April lalu, ana sempat mengikuti sesi perkongsian bersama Ustaz Salim A.Fillah, berikut merupakan satu daripada banyak cerita yang menyentuh hati ketika mendengar perkongsian dari beliau, mashaAllah.

Moga bermanfaat inshaAllah. 

Kisah Julaibib

Tersebut kisah seorang sahabat bernama Julaibib, beliau sering tidak dipeduli oleh banyak orang yang berada di lingkungannya. Dan adapun rupa Julaibib, bukanlah seindah orang biasa, dia diceritakan tidak punya paras rupa yang menarik,dan sering dikatakan punya rupa pelik, sepelik namanya. Namun, Julaibib tidak pernah menjadikan itu sebagai penghalang buat dirinya untuk mengabdi diri kepada Allah, menjadi hamba yang baik yang senantiasa berusaha menyumbang untuk Islam bersama-sama para sahabat yang lain juga bersama Rasulullah saw yang dicintainya.

Dan kerana kegigihan beliau ini, Rasulullah sentiasa menyenangi Julaibib di sisinya berjuang. Dan pernah suatu ketika Rasulullah saw bertanyakan kepada Julaibib, mengapa dia masih belum bernikah, maka dijawabnya Julaibib, dia malu dan merasakan dia tidak layak buat meminang anak gadis kerana rupanya yang dirasakan jelek oleh banyak orang. Namun, Rasulullah akhirnya membantu Julaibib, dengan melamar seorang gadis untuk diri Julaibib, dan bapa kepada gadis itu gembira bukan kepalang kerana menyangkakan Rasulullah saw meminang gadis buat baginda. 

Baginda kemudiannya menjelaskan bahawa anak gadis beliau dipinang bagi pihak Julaibib. Mendengar jawapan baginda saw, sang bapa merasa keberatan, memandangkan sebelum ini dia dan isterinya juga telah banyak menolak pinangan para saudagar di Mekah yang datang untuk melamar anak gadisnya. Namun, si anak gadis itu, tanpa ragu, menyatakan pendiriannya kepada sang bapa, bahawa jika Rasulullah saw yang membuat keputusan untuk meminang dirinya buat Julaibib, dia sanggup menerima dengan penuh lapang dada, walaupun rupanya yang teramat cantik itu, pada kebanyakan orang tiadalag setanding buat Julaibib.

Tidak dapat dipastikan, berapa lama setelah Julaibib menikahi si gadis rupawan itu, namun ada yang mengatakan cuma sehari atau beberapa hari menikah, Julaibib telah dipanggil untuk panggilan jihad mempertahankan Islam di medan perang. Makanya, julaibib dengan rasa penuh semangat menyahut panggilan itu, namun sebelum itu, telah dia pesankan pada isterinya, bahawa jika dia tidak pulang, iaitu syahid di medan perang, maka Julaibib dengan rela hati membenarkan isterinya itu untuk bernikah dengan orang lain, walau mereka terlalu singkat baru menikah.

Dan pada saat muslimin telah selesai berperang dengan musuh Islam, maka Rasulullah dan para sahabat sibuk menguruskan jenazah dan sahabat-sahabat yang tercedera selepas pertempuran. Maka, pada hujungnya Rasulullah saw bertanyakan adakah mereka kehilangan seseorang. Dan mereka dengan yakin menjawab, "tidak ya Rasulullah, semuanya sudah ditemukan dan dikumpulkan. Rasulullah bertanya lagi, "adakah kamu kehilangan seseorang?" Dan mereka tanpa ragu lagi memberi jawapan yang sama. Dan kemudiannya, mereka baru menyedari bahawa Julaibib masih belum ditemukan. 

Setelah mencari, mereka menemukan jasad Julaibib yang penuh luka, bersama beberapa mayat musuh Islam di kelilingnya, jasad Julaibib penuh luka di bahagian depan, menunjukkan betapa dia tidak gentar melawan musuh hingga ke akhir, walau berhadapan dengan ramai musuh dan dia cuma seorang. 

Dan akhirnya, Julaibib mencapai impiannya menjadi seorang yang syahid fi sabilillah. Rasulullah saw begitu mengagumi pengorbanan dan contoh yang Julaibib berikan, Rasulullah saw sendiri kemudian mengangkat jasad Julaibib, didukungnya ke bahunya, kemudian baginda saw sendiri mengkafankan mayat Julaibib. Para sahabat sungguh merasa cemburu dengan penghormatan yang diberikan kepada Julaibib itu, dan akhirnya Rasulullah saw juga yang mengangkat jenazah Julaibib untuk disemadikan ke dalam liang lahad.

Dan isteri Julaibib yang kehilangan suaminya itu kemudiannya bernikah dengan beberapa orang lagi, dan kesemuanya suaminya itu juga syahid di medan perang. Sehingga pernah suatu saat, isteri Julaibib mengatakan, jika ada sesiapa yang ingin syahid di jalan Allah swt, maka menikahlah dengan dirinya.

Betapa, melalui kisah ini terlalu banyak pengajaran dan ibrah untuk kita kutip, dan betapa Allah swt itu akan memuliakan manusia yang benar-benar ikhlas berjuang demi mencari redha-Nya semata, walau mungkin pada mata manusia di dunia, mereka bukanlah orang yang disanjung kerana harta, atau rupa, tetapi ternyata itu bukanlah faktor untuk mengukur taqwa, kerana Allah swt lebih tahu dan Dia yang Maha Mengetahui siapa yang benar-benar layak melihat wajah-Nya kelak. 


Monday 7 April 2014

In between dreams

I heave heard people talked a lot about this particular interest of mine. English, teaching and everything that might be related to teaching profession in general. But I had not encountered any personal comment or criticism regarding this, until there was one particular point of my life where I was actually steps away to achieve my very first dream. I was struck, and stunned that I just smile in return to hear such comment about my career. I thought, just maybe this particular person did not understand it the way I do. Or yeah, maybe because we just have a very different opinion about what career is considered 'stable' enough to survive. I did not blame anyone, not even the person. 

But what I reflected upon the comment was that, it is time we, begin to change our perceptions regarding people's different paths of life. For it is not our choice to decide, it is not within our power to define others' choices. Because there are more reasons for us to try to understand, before we could just simply jump to a conclusion about someone's life decision. 

I know, that every criticism means that I have more reasons to achieve my dream, more reasons not to give up and also, to prove to myself that I have the right to fight for my dreams regardless of what others say. 

Because at the end of the day, it does not matter whichever career or path that we chose, but the purpose that lies behind our dreams. Is it just to satisfy our own desires in this temporary world? Wasn't it supposed to be bigger than that? The purpose of life is mentioned way before we are created, to serve as abid and khalifah, in time when Allah created Adam a.s. and also, to walk on the right path, seeking for His blessing on this world. 

Al Baqarah verse 30 and Az Zariyyat verse 56. 

And therefore, before we decide to mention even a word about someone's different path especially regarding to their ambition and passion, take a minute, or even longer, for us to ponder, what is the impact of saying even a word, about it? And of course, the very first and foremost words, or comments that we should ever say, are encouraging words, which would motivate and not differentiate. Which would encourage instead of doing damage. And just imagine, how big the impact we could have made if the person is someone of different religion? Wouldn't it be a fitna to ourselves and our religion? This is dangerous. 

Just ponder, and take your time. Because words couldn't be taken back. Once it reaches someone's heart. We could never imagine the impact. 

And am just grateful that I was given the chance to pursue this dream, and may Allah guide me to always stay in the right path in fulfilling my purpose. Amin :) 



Saturday 1 March 2014

#pGdiary : The story of two

During my degree course, I was struck by this particular phrase, "teacher as lifelong learners". And I thought, what does this phrase actually means? Is it to get to the highest level of knowledge, for such a long time learning theories etc etc? But later I discovered the answer is not that, but because teaching is a profession where teachers are required to continuously learn, improving methods, increasing knowledge and become an inspiring teacher, who could turn the weakest students to achieve the best that they have never thought they could. And I must admit, during my degree years, It has been a great, unforgettable experience for both of us. New Zealand is indeed truly the best place my eyes have ever seen, best feelings my heart ever felt, best knowledge I ever get to learn, both for tarbiyyah and the degree itself.


June/ July 2013 : Touched down

As for me and my friend, Intan Syafinaz, our dreams are the same. To do more. Not to say that we are not satisfied with the precious experience we both had in New Zealand, but deep down in our hearts, there is something. An urgency to pursue our dreams, in learning. While we are young, fresh graduates and highly motivated to learn, [of course not yet bound to any commitment, haha]. And ultimately, our goals, [which is one of our subtopics during degrees courses] is to become the lifelong learners, both in teaching profession and also as a student. And most importantly, as future teachers, learning never stops. It never could. Because great teachers are always aiming to do their best for the students, even if it takes to revise the tiniest, simplest rules of grammar and to turn it into the most, engaging, interesting and meaningful learning for our learners, our students. The journey to apply the master programme began since we touched down in Malaysia back in June/ July.

September / October : Practicum

Intan and me fall in love with New Zealand so much, that we decide to pursue our dreams of taking master there, the same university we both entered for four years. Having gone through all those processes, applications and waiting, we finally got the offer to pursue in master of education in victoria while doing our practicum together in Lenggong. However, after discussion with the sponsor, our wish was delayed. It is not possible to go back to vuw, as the master's course are complicated, making it difficult for the sponsor to certify the qualifications later on. Intan and me, were still hoping, somehow, someday, we might get another chance. Because our hopes did not end there.

December : The Graduation and hope continues...

When I came back to NZ for graduation in Dec, I was quite reluctant to leave again. Knowing that my dream to come back for master the next yearin vuw, is impossible. I left with the heaviest heart, hoping that I would get to see Wellington again in a few years time. I continued my holiday journey in Melbourne for a while and then decide, this is the place, this is where I wanna dream of pursuing my master. One day, maybe not this year and next year, maybe not yet, but someday. I would be a student here, I told myself. InshaAllah.

During end of Dec, Intan and me went to Mara, surprisingly knowing that it is still not too late to pursue our dreams! Somehow the door was opened again, for another application in other university. I was terribly excited, that I slept at 2 or 3 am finishing my applications after christmas day, for almost seven different universities in Australia, as time is tight. Really tight. To enter the first semester of the year, Intan and me knows very well, the chances are so slim. While Intan faced many ups and downs during this time too, but she managed to apply a few universities. And then began more and more waiting moments. Wondering, waiting and thinking, when is that email of [offer letter] going to reveal itself to us. 






January 2014 : The Offer Comes!

I did not remember exactly the date, but somehow in Mid January, an email came through. Which was an offer, I jumped with joy, feeling grateful thinking that this might be the chance. To simplify, the sponsor was notified and we both wait, again, this time for sponsor approval. I have to say that during these moments of waiting, Intan and me, keep comforting each other in every way we could, although we both know, and truly aware of the stress we both faced during that time. Emailing universities, sponsor, back and forth. Seems like an endless work. Hard work.

February 2014 : The Destined Destination

This is the busiest month of all. Countless trips to many government offices, documents, procedures, emailis, letters and more than I could ever imagined. Medical check ups, [wont mention the cost]. To be honest, it was exciting but at the same time, a very huge challenge to face. It is like everything is beyond our control. I learned a lot, I learned to keep positive and calm, finding every ounce of patience that I could find, maybe from someone's advice, encouraging words, a call from a friend, soothing words from parents, and also the help from the family, in which I truly truly appreciate what they have done for me. It is a huge test, but we are given, truly wonderful people during this time, and for that, I am truly grateful for what Allah has lined up for me. And I keep repeating, reminding and telling myself, with each difiiculty, there comes an ease. Verses from As-Syarh 5 & 6. 

Just in time when February 2014 is bidding farewell to this particular chapter of my life stories, Intan and me received the big news! She is flying to Canberra, while I am in Melbourne, and with everything is literally 'confirmed and finalised', and suddenly we both felt that those huge burdens carried for such a long time, were lifted at once. And as for me, Mlebourne was indeed the place I am destined to be, to pursue my dream of learning, and becoming a lifelong learner. Although Intan and me are separated by few hundreds miles (eight hours drive), but we have never been that far from each other, because we have the same dream. Together.

Do pray for our sucess and safe return to Malaysia soon. A milllllllion thanks to our families, friends, sponsor, and everyone involved during this meaningful journey. May Allah bless each and everyone of us. Amin :) 

Best regards from Intan Syafinaz and me, Farah Fareen :) 










Wednesday 29 January 2014

Graduation. A life story.

Greetings readers. I guess most of you have already known, that I had officially graduated last dec, to be exact on 12/12/13. Alhamdulillah. Indeed, my journey is still a long way ahead and I am currently waiting for my sponsor's decision. InshaAllah, when everything is finalized, I would update you here. But anyway, since we are going to talk about graduation, a bit, all these moments made me wonder, what is bigger than graduation?

Yeah, when I was a kid, I imagined myself, to enter a high school, college, university bla bla. And when the time really comes, I said to myself, is this all you wanted to do? Then I decided in my second year of degree that, our life ambitions should be bigger. Bigger than just to graduate and receive a scroll. Bigger, because we are still young, full of energy, inspiration and motivation, if not most of the time. But hey, know what? As a young adult, my ambition is to change the world. And to see the changes you want, you will need to start with yourself. True, no shortcut. A leader, must be able to lead himself first.

Let's define the world that I was talking about. A world, your world, does not always mean literally the entire universe. What I meant was, to change the world that you are within, you are involved. And yes,  your family is also your world. Everyone needs someone in their life. Your world includes, your family world, your friends circle, your relatives, your colleagues, and in my case, I have to add one more, my students' world. We, interact as human beings, and along the way touched people's hearts, sharing emotions, stories, advices, and jokes. Well, think about it. Every action, every word mentioned could change someone's day, someone's perception and of course their life motivation too.

And so, dont ever feel so helpless, cause we could make the change. And I think, what the world is lacking of today is values. Values of honesty, appreciation, sincerity and faith. Believe me if we could trigger, even only a person to be honest, and sincere, those people some day might spread it to their significant others too, and it's a domino effect. Start small, to change something huge.

And the values are the most important thing we should carry throughout whatever ambitions, whichever field to contribute, we have for this world and hereafter. to carry the values, in Islam we call it, "mahmudah" values, to help us live our lives meaningfully and significantly. Believe me, only then, we are able to seek for His blessings, successfully, because the values are a test to 'graduate' successfully in hereafter inshaAllah, mardhatillah. And with that, graduation is just like a stepping stone to do something bigger in our lives, it should not stop there. The world is waiting for our contributions. 

Here are some moments to be shared with you. Alhamdulillah, all praise to Allah, Jazakallahu khairan kathira, to my parents, family, friends, sponsor, lecturers and all those who have made this journey possible. May Allah bless us all, always. Amin. 





Monday 6 January 2014

dentingan syiling


Terkesan dan tersentuh dengan kisah anak-anak kecil ini dan datuknya; saya titipkan puisi ini buat refleksi. Terlebih lagi buat diri sendiri. Link berita penuh : http://suarainsan.net/kisah-adik-nurkhatijah-pelajar-sekolah-rendah-tak-cukup-duit-bayar-yuran-sekolah/

Syiling
Mungkin nilainya kecil untuk dipandang
Namun bagi si miskin
Itulah penyambung dan penerusan
Cucu-cucu kesayangan
Meraih gemilangnya cahaya masa depan
Kerana syiling itu
Penentuan buat penerusan didikan

Anak-anak kecil itu
Tiada mengerti dentingan syiling
Mungkin syiling-syiling terakhir milik datuknya 
Ayah dan ibu tiada lagi bersama
Tatkala si nenek membanting tulang
Mencari sesuap nasi buat keluarga yang serba kurang

Dan masih terdengar dentingan syiling
Dentingan syiling di atas meja
Saat datuk datang menatap bersama wajah hiba
Malu dan hampa dirinya, bukan lagi soalnya
Soalnya, anak kecil itu
Perlukan didikan sekolah, biarlah
Biarlah apa pandangan mereka
Walau dentingan syiling setelah dikira
Dihitung-hitung bilangannya,
Tiada cukup; belum cukup jumlahnya! 

Wajah seorang datuk yang gusar
Di saat bunyi dentingan syiling
Tiada lagi mampu dicari, sukar
Teramat sukar
Dan renungan dan rintihannya
Masih lagi didengar para warga didik
Menambah baki agar mencukupi

Wahai pemimpinku
Di manakah kamu saat dentingan syiling itu berbunyi
Dentingan syiling terakhir buat anak kecil
Yang tagihkan sedikit bantuan
Bukan buat mainan atau hiburan
Tapi buat masa depan dan didikan

Wahai pembela rakyat
Dengarkah kamu dentingan syiling
Dentingan keringat warga-wargamu yang tiada terbela
Yang bersabung nyawa mencari sesuap rezeki
Membanting tulang tiada kenal henti
Walau lelah si nenek sudah mencengkam diri
Digagahnya juga menjadi tukang cuci
Buat anak-anak kecil yang tiada dipeduli

Wahai diriku, 
Syukurilah, insafilah saat ini
Masa ini, dan kelebihan rezeki
Bukan milik kamu seorang diri
Berilah, walau sedikit
Hulurlah walau tidak berbukit
Tetapi usaha, walau teramat kecil
Memberi di saat sukar
Apatah lagi di saat suka
Akan dibalas Tuhan seadilnya
Akan dikira walau sebesar zarah cuma

Dan dentingan syiling itu
Terngiang lagi ditelingaku
Kerana itu dentingan rintihan saudaraku
Saudaramu.
Buat yang ingin membantu; berikut adalah no akaun maybank guru/ ustazah kepada anak-anak kecil ini: 

Nama : Ustazah Khadijah Binti Alang Mat Shuker
Sekolah Agama Integrasi Ar Rahmaniah Taman Dagang Taman Ampang
Pelajar : Nurkhatijah Abdullah dan Norsyafiqah Abdul Rahim
Maybank : 158024762835
No fon : 017-3078400
Ustazah tersebut dalam usaha membuka akaun khas buat anak-anak kecil ini. InshaAllah.

Jazakallahu khair.

Wednesday 1 January 2014

Baru

Tahun baru. Saya yakin, mungkin terdetik sesaat di hati kita? Bagaimana pencapaian diri sendiri pada tahun yang berlalu? Berjayakah? Atau walau kurang berjaya, berjayakah pula kita belajar dan muhasabah diri tentang perkara yang kurang berjaya dalam hidup kita? 

Memang lumrah manusia, sukakan yang baru. Kasut baru, rumah baru, kerana kita sukakan perkara indah. Dan memang yang baru, hakikatnya lebih baik, lebih cantik, lebih segar dan lebih terkini. Namun saat tahun baru menjenguk ke dalam kehidupan kita, yang baru cumalah pengiraan masa, bertambah dari 2013 ke 2014. Umur kita juga baru, bertambah satu digit lagi di belakangnya. Tahun baru, tiada makna jika kita sendiri tidak memperbaharui diri kita. Maksud saya, bukan dengan harta. Tapi jiwa.

Jiwa baru, dan niat baru. Sungguh dalam meniti kehidupan sehari-hari, melakukan rutin itu dan ini, kita mungkin terbawa-bawa niat yang lama dan usang. Lantas, semangat dan kesungguhan itu makin pudar dan hilang. Niat yang terkadang usang kerana kesilapan, dosa atau mungkin juga kelemahan dan kealpaan. Memang fitrah manusia tidak sempurna. Dan imannya juga sentiasa turun dan naik. Dalam sebuah hadis disabdakan bahwa al-iimanu yazid wa laa yankus. Iman itu kadang bertambah, kadang berkurang, kadang naik, kadang turun. 

”Iman itu kadang naik kadang turun maka perbaharuilah iman kalian dengan la ilaha illallah.”
 (HR Ibn Hibban) 

Namun, jika niat dalam hati itu sentiasa cuba kita perbaharui, tanpa perlu cuma menunggu tahun baru atau hari baru, yang entah bakal hadir atau tidak, inshaAllah jiwa kita akan sentiasa segar dengan semangat baru, melakukan yang terbaik sebagai hamba Allah untuk mencari redha-Nya dalam setiap perlakuan kita.

Moga sahaja tahun yang baru membuat kita sentiasa bermuhasabah diri agar iman dipelihara, kerana hakikat hati itu mudah berbolak balik, lebih mudah ibarat isi periuk yang menggelegak. Perbaharui niat, dan tingkatkan amal kerana umur yang bertambah itu bermakna ajal menghampiri. Astaghfirullah, moga selalu diberkati-Nya, inshaAllah.