A fast one.

I was browsing the time lines of some of the caliphates when I saw this:

Great libraries were burnt. Libraries. Books. Why? Burnt libraries = fall of empire. Beginning of Mongol influence. Think. Think. Think. Why burn libraries? Why not mosques? Why not business ports? 


History! Books = history + culture. History + culture = shapes person's identity. 
Person void of identity = easily influenced.


All this may not make much sense but I just want to jot this down before I go to sleep. Will do more readings before I arrange my thoughts.


Wonder if what I think is true, and whether you get what I'm thinking of =)

Terganggu.

Saya manusia biasa. Saya juga akan terganggu pada masa-masa tertentu. Cuma saya rasa sangat bersyukur, sebab Allah kurniakan saya keluarga, dan teman-teman yang sudi mendengar. Sudi menasihat. Juga sudi mengingatkan.

Bila fikiran terganggu, macam-macam yang bermain dalam minda.

"Awak, kte selalu tengok orang lain bagus sangat... dia boleh pergi *dars banyak banyak tapi tak pernah nampak penat. Kalau bercakap selalu bagus. Bila bagi tazkirah mesti berisi. Lepas tu bila kte tengok diri kte, kte fikir... kenapalah kte tak macam tu..."

"Iyalah... Allah kan cipta orang berbeza-beza..."

Terdiam.

"Oh... betul juga kan wak. Kte pernah dengar Albert Einstein nya quote. Dia kata... "If you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree, it'll spend it's whole life believing that it is stupid". Hmm betul lah kan kata awak..."

Kawan saya mengangguk. Saya terdiam lagi. Kemudian perkara lain pula datang menganggu, tanpa saya undang.

"Hmm tapi wak, tak masuk akal lah perbandingan tu. Kalau kita nak judge ikan tu dengan keupayaan dia sama ada dia boleh panjat pokok ke tak, mestilah tak boleh. Benda tu luar tabi'i. Luar kebiasaan. Tapi kalau kte, kte kan boleh usaha untuk jadi rajin sampai boleh gi dars banyak banyak juga. Kte boleh latih diri juga sampai boleh bercakap dengan lancar depan orang ramai..."

Kawan saya termenung. Saya juga terdiam melayan fikiran. Tiba-tiba kawan saya bersuara.

"Kenapa awak kena jadikan orang lain kayu ukur untuk keupayaan awak sendiri... Allah cipta semua orang kan dengan keupayaan masing-masing. Lain orang bagus dalam lain benda. Lagipun... semua tu mentaliti awak sendiri. Awak rasa awak tak bagus, tapi sebenarnya awak boleh. Kenapa awak kena fikir yang buruk pasal diri awak?"

Kata-kata tu yang buatkan semangat tinggi semula. Mudah. Simple. Tapi sangat memberi kesan. Teringat mama pernah kata... kadang kita memang tahu kenapa kita perlu bangun semula selepas jatuh. Tapi kita manusia biasa, kita akan terasa nak dengar juga perkara-perkara tu semua daripada orang yang kita sayang. Kata mama, sedangkan menteri pun perlukan penasihat... Hmm, apalagi kita yang cuma biasa biasa kan? =) 

Kita takkan dapat putar semula masa. Apa yang terjadi, dah pun terjadi. Terkadang kita akan bencikan diri kita yang banyak kekurangan. Tapi yang penting adalah masa depan yang kita mampu corak... Masih ada harapan yang esok lebih cerah daripada hari ni. Esok insyaAllah akan bawakan kebahagiaan yang lebih banyak. Masih ada harapan itu. =)


*dars: kelas pengajian agama tambahan selain daripada kuliah seharian di universiti

I know, but I don't really know.

I've always heard people say: "Iqra! Read! Because that was the first revelation revealed to the Prophet. That was the first thing that He wanted us to know."

The first time I heard that during my primary school days, it inspired me so much. It was something so thought-provoking. Of the 6236 number of aayahs in the Quran, that was the first one. The most wonderful thing about reading is that it brings so much joy. I remember when my brother and me were younger, we were really into reading. We loved the library. I personally like the smell of the library. It has a nice scent. I remember times when my brother and I would complain that the National Library Board only allowed us to borrow 4 books using one card. We'd make frequent trips to Tampines Regional Library with my mum, who'd gladly help pick out books for us. We grabbed it all - science-related books, mystery books, fantasy books, stories on the past Prophets and sahabah... we had it all. Every time we were at the library we'd furiously find the next book in the series we were reading at that point of time. We'd anticipate school holidays, because that was the time that NLB would allow us to borrow 8 books. Talk about double happiness. And before we even got home we would've already start reading in the bus. 

It makes me smile, thinking of those days. =) We were young, we had nothing to worry about, and our lives basically revolved around family, school, and books. That was it. Sometimes we would read books and gain facts which are totally impossible to be applied directly in our lives, but it just gave us pure happiness and many 'Wow!' moments (phrase used due to lack of vocabulary, but I think you get the point). I mean, how would knowing that butterflies live an average of 10-14 days help us in any way? 

Then time passed and I had more responsibilities and more things to be taken care of (or so I think), and the love for books was there, but the time to read couldn't be found anywhere. It takes me quite long to finish one book, let alone four books. I let things the way it was, thinking that I've fairly known enough about the basic things I need to know. 

But the longer I spend learning in a higher institution, the more I realize that there is a difference between people who frequently read, and those who rarely read. Reading gives a person many bonuses. The maturity in thinking. A strong grasp of language. And an expressiveness in writing. I've lost the speed I have in reading, and I've lost the ability to digest knowledge like before, but I wish to continue what I had with me before, and start back again. I've to recap things like Islamic history that I've learnt during madrasah, and oh... here are the things which interest me at the moment:-

- Paper Money collapse

- Palestine, Egypt and Syria

- Philosophy, Ancient Greek Philosophers Aristotle and Plato 

I know I can't have them all at one go, but I'm trying hard and taking small steps at a time. Eventually I know I'm going to reach there, so do make duaa' for me. 

Till the next post, assalamu'alaikum. =)

Back, insyaAllah.

It's been sometime since I last wrote an entry, and I believe that I really should revive this blog and continue expressing thoughts regularly before I lose the ability to write altogether. (Na'uzubillah!)

All this while I've been jotting things in my journal, and I have quite a number of things there - from thoughts, theories, and questions. Also ruminations on cliches and such. Like..... 

People always keep saying:

"Give, but never expect anything in return."

That's what you have to do if all this while you've only been opening your eyes. But when you open your heart, you'd realize that people - even those whom we dislike - have always been giving something; it's only that we refuse to receive and accept. Think about it.....

Senyum saje. =)

What's most certain is that you can always expect something from Him. His blessings are like a flowing river. Just like a flowing river, clean and pure.....

That's all for tonight.

I'll try to find time to write in more posts insyaAllah. Stay with me k =)