2-Month Hiatus

Salaamun ‘ala man ittaba’ al-Huda.

I've a really sad announcement to make: I maybe wouldn't be updating this blog for two months. A few hours later (10:25 AM), I need to fly off to Kelantan to attend a course named Kursus Jati Diri dan Kesukarelawanan Remaja organised by HALUAN, an NGO. But still, the course insya-Allah will be filled with things so valuable to me. So, I need to take this lift. And I won't be updating my Markaz as promised in the last post. To my valuable readers, I'm truly sorry. Please do read my previous posts … and read my family's and friends' blogs yeah!

*At-Taqwa is finished — Alhamdulillah!

Wassalam~

Do Judge Your Book by Its Cover

Salamun 'ala man ittaba' al-Huda.

People always say: never judge a book by its cover. Well, this is true—the cover does not necessarily reflect the contents of a book. So we, who have known this, should never judge something by only its outward appearance. Yeah, never judge a book by its cover, but always judge your book by its cover. Don't get it? Continue reading.

Otanjoubi Omedetou, Zakiy-chan!

Salamun ‘ala man ittaba’ al-Huda.

Was he not in my mother’s womb before he was born, I’d say he’s a gift that Allah bestowed upon us from the heavens. And that happened exactly 13 solar years ago. With these hands I hereby craft a post, made of love and brotherhood, to a cute little someone, who has always made us cheerful, who had saved me from the boredom of being alone: I dedicate this post to my li’l bro, Ahmad Zakiy Mohsin.

Life is Making Decisions

Salaamun ‘ala man ittaba’ al-Huda.

Once, a Muslim American motivator told us: life is making decisions. You and I have met countless choices since the beginning of our consciousness. And, you and I have made countless decisions for every choice that we face. The question is: on what basis should we decide when we face these junctions in life? A more interesting question is: do we really have the choice in making decisions? More after the jump!

It Ain’t What We Learn!

Salaamun ‘ala man ittaba’ al-Huda.

SPM is near—less than one month away—so does the year-end exam for First to Fourth Formers of IKISS. What do you think the most appropriate thing a student should do at times like these? Be prepared. Yes. However, with what kind of preparation? Study, revise and practise? Heh, tis not that man… What we have in our heads contribute nothing, not even one-percent, to our success in the examination. So what is the real thing a student must do prior to the exam? More after the jump!

SPM Trial Results

Salaamun 'ala man ittaba' al-Huda.

Alhamdulillah, we meet again. I got a lot to write as a lot of things have happened. However, I guess I'll make 'em short and post 'em in one go. From the trial results to At-Taqwa, this post tells my life for these past weeks.

The Last Halaqah

Salaamun 'ala man ittaba' al-Huda.

Last Friday, I didn't went to school for various reasons. Despite that, I still begged my father to send me to school after Maghrib. Why? Because that night was the night of our last Halaqah for our school days.

My Eid Photos!

Salaamun ‘ala man ittaba’ al-Huda.

It’s this time in the year again! Eid pics! This journal post is dedicated just to that … I don’t think I like Facebook for storing my images, though. So my kith and kin, head to my blog for my version of Eid al-Fitr!

Someone died today.

Salaamun ‘ala man ittaba’ al-Huda.

Today is Friday. It’s the Eid holidays so Zakiy and I went to Jami’ Ar-Rahimiyah for the Friday Prayer. Everything was normal until, after the post-solah du’a, the Imam announced that we were going to perform the janazah prayer. A woman died; I heard from the people talking that she is a custom’s daughter. Inna lillah wa inna ilaihi raji’un.

And so we went to the front to perform the prayer. It kinda makes me sad. A sizable congregation was there performing the solah, but even a lot more just left the mosque, not even bothering to perform the solah which takes less than three minutes with no bowing nor prostrating. What has happened to our society?

Eid Mubarak, minna!

Salaamun ’ala man ittaba’ al-Huda.

I guess I’m a bit late this year to wish “Selamat Hari Raya” to all my blog readers specifically and to all Muslims generally. So, Selamat Hari Raya! To quote the traditional Islamic greeting for every celebration, kullu 'aam wa antum bikhair. It means, may you be in wellness every year. My Eid this year is not so much different this year compared to last year, except that I now own a DSLR and I still don't get angpau from Ummi and Abah yet! :)

Eid al-Fitr means celebration of fitrah. Fitrah on the other hand, means “the original state”. This Eid is to celebrate the return of a Muslim to his fitrah; his original state of creation. Man, and all other creatures, originally submit to the decree of Allah. However, Allah has honoured man by giving him free will. This free will, other than being an honour, is also a tribulation. Man can choose whether he wants to stay on his fitrah as all other creatures in this universe do, or deviate from God's path and become astray.

Spring Cleaning

Salaamun ’ala man ittaba’ al-Huda.

Eid Mubarak, everyone. Do you notice anything different about my blog today?

Totally. I did a total redesign of my blog. I even deleted all my previous posts. In the spirit of Eid when people were busy doing house-cleaning, I decided to do some spring cleaning on my blog. My previous posts— some are good but a great deal of them are junk. So, after making a backup, I cleared my blog. Don’t worry, they will be posted back on this blog — once I edited them. :)

More design rationale after the jump!

Oneness: Only Allah’s, not Malaysia’s

Salaamun ‘ala man ittaba’ al-Huda.

Quoted (for truth) from Wikipedia:

The first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, contradicted this stance in the 1980s, saying, “All talk on Islamic States is just an empty dream. No man in his right sense would accept a nation which bases its political administration on religion, and in a country like Malaysia with its multiracial and multireligious people, there is no room for an Islamic State.”

This is the man who was said to be Malaysia’s First Prime Minister. Was he godly enough to deny a system bestowed on mankind by ALLAH? Wasn’t Madinah multiracial and multireligious? Was there no room in Madinah for an Islamic State?

The trial starts!

Salaamun 'ala man ittaba' al-Huda.

Just a quick post, just to get anybody updated. :)

Today I'll be taking the Chemistry SPM trial test, insyaALLAH.

Actually, the trial starts last week with Bahasa Melayu papers, that's why I have not much time to update this blog.

Need to get to work!

Salaamun 'ala man ittaba' al-Huda.

The image speaks for itself. Haha, I'm just trying to make a lolcat here.

Really, even though we hear some people say that D&T is more important than SPM, somehow SPM matters for D&T. A saying goes: "D&T is first, but academic achievement is not second."

Well, gotta get back to work! Wassalam~

Today, I smiled at them.

Salaamun 'ala man ittaba' al-Huda.

Today, I smiled at them.

They are the ones who made me as I am today.

Marhaban Ya Ramadhan!

Salam Alaykum!

It's RAMADHAN! YES, believe me, IT'S RAMADHAN!
ALLAH have allowed us to become the guest of the noblest month ever! Yeah, I know I've mentioned this in my last post, but we have to live the syi'ar man, the spirit of Islam, spirit of Ramadhan! In actual truth, I'm truly excited that Ramadhan has spread it wings while I'm still alive (by the will of Allah) to witness Ramadhan this year. Alhamdulillah! More after the jump~

Rehlah: Approaching Madrasah Jihadi

Last Sunday, almost all of the boys of Ijtihad went for a rehlah with Cikgu Ismail, Ustaz Adni and Ustaz Muzakkir. Those who couldn’t make it were Rafi’, Zayd, Luqman and Syakir. We went for a futsal game at Section 7 first before heading towards Bukit Cerakah to enjoy swimming in the pool.

The New Life of Ahmad Ashraf Ilman

Salaamun ‘ala man ittaba’ al-Huda.

I've not been blogging since, ah yes, we moved to our new house!

Our new house is not really far from our old one— about one or two kilometres. And, of course, one or two kilos further from Ibn Khaldun, which means 10 minutes further plus the traffic jam in front of SK Sri Andalas. Nyoro~n.

After eleven years, finally I got my own room! Ha, no need to share it with Zack anymore! The new room has the “SPM feel” to it, compared to the “six-year-old-toddler feel” my previous room has. No wonder I can’t study well before (innaha kalimatun ana qa'iluha)! BTW, I’ve got work, that is, I need to finish the prototype of At-Taqwa magazine tonight, insyaAllah. Enjoy the pics!

Quantum Learning :)

Assalamualaikum!

I just love the expression, the salute, the greeting. May salam be upon you. What’s more honourable a greeting than wishing his companion for peace, safety, prosperity and a lot more positive meanings conveyed by the Arabic word salam? Ain’t Islam just so beautiful? I love Islam, I’m proud to be a Muslim and I’m honoured to be one. Alhamdulillah for making me a Muslim!

I blurted out in my last post that I had so many things to do these days. Well, busy people, as Alif said. A popular saying among us, If you are not busy, you are not living. SPM is approaching. Umana’ is degrading. Club work is piling. What can I do about it other than facing all of it as a syabab— which are, based on Abrar’s trademark, full of colour, full of potential!

Actually in this post I wanna talk about the programme “we all” planned—the Quantum Learning programme a.k.a. “Bengkel 12A SPM”.

It just happened that I stopped by my blog

Salaamun ‘ala man ittaba’ al-Huda.

Srsly, this time I really don’t have the time to write. Way too many programs (albeit cancelled) and too many affairs to be taken care of.

I guess I’ll start with the Quantum Learning program for Form Five students. I ain’t really excited to talk about this but for the sake of recording my life — so that I can reflect back in the future — I'll write about it.