The religion is simple - A review

Some time ago, my boss gave me this book.

He is one of those old slick professor, trying to give dakwah subtly in his everyday life.

When he was invited as a speaker during one of the Photonics conference, he started his talk with surah An Nur talking about light, then relate back to Photonics.

When he gave his Professorial talk, in one slide where he talked about his achievements in life, he put a figure of Kaabah in the timeline, indicating that was the year he performed his hajj.Though he didn't mention it during the talk, but it indicates that hajj was his biggest achievement, perhaps more than the professorship itself.

Nonetheless, when I was not wearing my hijab last time, I used to always listen to his advises on hijab.

So, when he gave me this book, I thought it was so typical of him.

I read the first page and immediately hooked.

You know how in school you have learned about the six principles of faith or rukun iman, but you actually never understand it in details? Well, maybe it is just me because I didn't attend sekolah agama back then.

This book talks in detail about the rationale of each principle, especially a whole lot about qada' and qadar in a simple words; QnA type.

I rate this 5 over 5 and I believe it is a must have book in every Muslim house! 

My umrah story with a toddler and a baby - Part 7: Saying goodbye

Read my Part 1 story here, Part 2 story here, Part 3 story here, Part 4 story here, Part 5 story here and Part 6 here.

I first saw the Kaabah from the entrance of King Fahd's gate 79. The inside of Masjidil Haraam appears to be quite dark from the outside, and then in the middle.. the Kaabah appears to illuminate with all its black and gold beauty, looking all grand and proud.

I was speechless.. of its beauty.. of all my sins.. of whether or not Allah swt allows me to just for a while hold the Kaabah, to do the tawaf with all the sins I came in.. so unclean.

Never have I met something so beautiful in my life.

My favourite gate

Love at first sight, that's it. Not a single day goes by that I haven't think of the first time I looked at Kaabah. Not a single second goes by without me wishing to go back there again everytime I thought of Makkah. 

Masjidil Haraam is oneee big mosque, it is so understandable how people could get lost inside. So many things to see, to do, to venture, you just do not want to get out once you're inside. It even has a library!

I performed my tawaf at the mataf, the highest level. Weather was cold during our visit, so it was okay for us considering the highest level is open air. I figured it was just nice, since not many people at the highest level and for me, personally I found that I could focus more.

Tawaf slowly at the highest level would take approximately around 20 minutes. Personally, I would prefer to take turns taking care of the kids during tawaf. Though I saw some super mommies just put their kids on the wheelchair and the kids had fun as well while they could focus on their ibadah. As for me, the sight of Kaabah was so overwhelming, I would prefer my time alone with my Creator for a while.

Your preference, after all, nobody is judging you in the Allah's mosque.

Sai'e is more relax and free flow although it was a bit tiring. 40 minutes for me to wrap up my Sai'e. Maybe I did it leisurely. I guess, here the kids could get involved as much. Along the way, you could see zam zam water by the side and could stop for a drink.

Sai'e

At the ground floor, the level of Kaabah, you could see that people come and go to perform their tawaf, it is sooo packed. But afraid not, all of them tawaf with a flow. You just follow the flow, bit by bit closer to the Kaabah, in shaa Allah you would get closer. Love directed me straight to the Kaabah one Friday evening, and holding the Kaabah flashed back all the sins I've brought in this Tanah Haraam, I cried like there is no tomorrow. Like everyone around you didn't exist, somehow. Despite of the chaos, it was just me and my Creator. I didn't realize if people were pushing me or pulling me or anything, I was just too mesmerized.

Suddenly, I heard my husband said, "You're in the Hijir Ismail, Sayang. Would you like to solat here?"

I don't know where or how or when I got there, like I told you, the flow will direct you.. and you know when you're there, everybody is helping each other. One big Moroccan lady kept making way for me to hold the Kaabah and hence, to Hijir Ismail. Of course, my husband wrapped me around him all the time. So, I performed my two raqaat solah there.. Peacefully.. despite the chaos..

Nothing else matters at that time. NOTHING.

Just me and my Creator. Just us.

You could even pray near the dome, open air :)

If you think of it logically, it was on Friday right after Friday prayer, you could imagine how full Masjidil Haraam was, even more at the ground floor for tawaf, and me being soooo small to make my way there to Kaabah, but Masha Allah, Allahu Akbar, for sure everything is possible for Him. 

My point is, don't attract negative vibes much from the stories you have heard. Makkah and Madinah are such beautiful places with beautiful people; the Arabics and Turks that just loooveeee kids. I would everyday miss. I would everyday long to go there again.

Sighh...

Saturday, after Tawaf Wida', as early as 12 noon, we quickly got out of hotel and left Makkah with so much sadness. About an hour drive to Jeddah international airport, freshen up and waiting for our flight at 11pm. Imagine the long wait for the kids. Not a good start for a long hour flight. 

And we had one tiring flight with cranky toddler, but Alhamdulillah sleeping baby throughout.

I miss!

One of the worst flight I had in life, 90% because, I don't want to go back at all.. No "home sweet home" phrase as we arrived at KLIA, not from me, not from Love, the first among 8 countries we have visited together before.

Dear Allah SWT, please invite us again.

Until the end of my Umrah sharing, I sure hope it will be beneficial to you :) 3 months have passed since we performed our Umrah and I still cry a bucket the moment I write this.

Pic from shafiqolbu

My umrah story with a toddler and a baby - Part 6: Ziarah Makkah

Read my Part 1 story here, Part 2 story here, Part 3 story here, Part 4 story here and Part 5 story here.

Day 6

In Makkah, we went to two mountains (jabals); Jabal Thur and Jabal Nur.

In Jabal Thur resides the Cave of Thur in which Rasulullah and Saidina Abu Bakar hid from the Quraish during hijrah to Madinah.

In Jabal Nur resides the Cave of Hira' where Rasulullah received his first wahyu there. It took approximately one hour to climb the mountain to get to Gua Hira'.

Lil K was forever obsessed with the sand in every jabal so yeah.. whatever it was, play time was her priority. Not a second to waste for a proper pic, so I gave up.

Then, we went to Mount Arafat, a place that is believed to be where Nabi Adam a.s and Hawa met once again when they were sent down to reside on earth.

We also passed by Muzdalifah and Mina for the haaj. The stay at Muzdalifah is preceded by a day at Arafat, consisting of glorifying Allah, repeating the Supplication, and repentance to Allah and asking Him for forgiveness. Whereas, in the valley of Mina is the Jamarat Bridge, the location of the ritual of the Stoning of the Devil, performed between sunrise and sunset on the last day of the Hajj. Mina is the place where pilgrims throw stones, commemorating the occasion that the Prophet Ibrâhîm (Abraham) stoned the Devil that came between him and the command Allah had set him.

Before we arrived to the hotel, we dropped by to Jaaranah, a miqat place for those who stayed in Makkah.

Other days

Other than Bir Ali and Jaaranah, with Rayhar, they provided you with four times umrah; two more are at Taneem and Hudaibiyah.

Also once, they provided a visit to Museum. Overall, the journey to these places took around 15 minutes to 1 hour max, so you could just travel lightly with the kids.

The museum

Until my part 7 :)

My umrah story with a toddler and a baby - Part 5: The kids in Makkah

Read my Part 1 story here, Part 2 story here, Part 3 story here, and Part 4 story here.

Day 5

Day 5 was one relaxing day for us. We stayed in Al-Maqam, 120m away from Masjidil Haraam. Basically, you got out of the lobby, and you could see the grand mosque already. During Friday prayer, there were lots of jemaah that they prayed from the mosque up until the outside of our hotel.

Hotel room in Makkah was a lot smaller than in Madinah. Aisha would get cranky if she stayed too long in the hotel. I would suggest to find out the size of the hotel as well, other than the distance if you bring your kids with you. My friend whom stayed in Hilton said, her room was so big that the kids could even run round. For a week stay, I would say it is worth spending on a better hotel with the kids around for their comfort.

Makkah was a bit hotter than Madinah, it was around 19 degrees when we arrived. Next to our hotel resides an ice cream shop, and everybody was crazy about it. They said the ice cream here is a must. Plus it costs only 1 riyal. So, every other day, the girls were treated an ice cream.

Just outside of our hotel was an area where pigeons and doves hang around almost everytime. You could purchase the bird foods and let your kids feed them. This became their everyday routine in Makkah.

In Makkah, the gates to the mosque close an hour before azan. And during winter, the gap between Zuhur to Asar, then Asar to Maghrib was so short. If not because of the kids, I would prefer to stay from Zohor until Isyak there. Because there are soooo many things you could do and explore in Masjidil Haraam, just don't want to get out.

Contrary from Masjidil Nabawi, I was not so comfortable bringing in the girls during prayer time. First, because it would be too long and secondly because there was not as many kids as in Masjidil Nabawi. The toilet was quite a distant as well, so.. most of the time we took turns.

During my stay, I did not see any strollers inside Masjidil Haraam. Though, I have been told that sometimes they allow, but most of the parents obliged with the rules to leave theirs outside. I, myself honestly did not have the heart to bring the stroller in as I am scared that the wheel of the stroller would stained the holy mosque.

Normally, people would rent the wheelchair and put their kids on it while they do tawaf and saie. For us, we figured they would have more fun walking on their own. Hopefully, by the end of it, they would get tired and we would have a better sleep ourselves.

Every other day, we would bring the kids to shopping malls as not to bore them and to make sure they associate Makkah with fun. And at night, we would buy some snacks and enjoy our picnic Arab style outside the beautiful grand mosque with the breezy beautiful weather. Mashaa Allah, I miss!

Until my Part 6 everyoneee!! :)

My umrah story with a toddler and a baby - Part 4: The journey to Makkah

Read my Part 1 story here, Part 2 story here, and Part 3 story here.

Pardon me for the delay in sharing my Umrah stories. Have I been busy? Yes. But mostly I have been contemplating. Because it aches so much everytime I start to write. The memories, the pictures just break my heart. Rindunya mashaa Allah never have I experienced this kind of feeling before. I could still smell the air of that holy land. Simple solution is to just stop writing this altogether so the pain become somehow unbearable, but I just need to share this in case it is beneficial to some.

Here is my Day 4 story

Day 4

Imagine waking up in your dream land, knowing you have to leave everything in a jiffy and not knowing whether you will come back again.

That morning was one sad day. Woke up early to do my ziarah wada'. Saying goodbye to Rasulullah, not that I want to. I'm gonna miss the green qubah for everyday for the rest of my life now.

Meanwhile, Love captured this picture of me outside Raudhah.. later we realized the reflection was breathtaking, couldn't find out how it got there.

A about 11am, we left Madinah with non-stop tears in my eyes. I must have cried until I became dizzy and finally developed a fever there.

It took us 9 hours bus drive to Makkah due to heavy traffic that weekend. Even more challenging with the kids around. So, make sure you bring lots of snacks and lots of toys to entertain them. With only 2 pit stops, I would strongly suggest to wear diapers even for toddlers. I did that with 4 yo Khaira.

Our first pit stop was at Bir Ali mosque, miqat place for those who want to enter Makkah from Madinah. Bir Ali is a very simple mosque, so we performed our jamak Zuhur and Asar here and niat umrah, and so the ihram begun.

Second pit stop was for late lunch. Food was not provided, so you have to buy food of your own. Delicious Nasi Arab everywhere. Toilet was okay for me, clean enough to freshen up yourself and the kids.

Arrived the hotel at 8pm, was already super exhausted to even had my dinner. An hour freshen up anddddd.. the first umrah.

We decided to take turns, leaving the kids behind because it has been a long day for them. We let them rest.

Until my part 5 journey, in Makkah with the girls :)

My umrah story with a toddler and a baby - Part 3: Ziarah Madinah

Read part 1 of my story here and part 2 of my story here.

Day 3

After breakfast, we begun our 15 minutes journey by bus to Masjid Quba'. Masjid Quba' is Islam's oldest masjid in the world.

It is stated in a hadith: "Whoever makes ablutions at home and then goes and prays in the Mosque of Quba, he will have a reward like that of an 'Umrah."

So we took ablutions at home and perform our solat tahiyatul masjid, solat taubat and solat hajat there. We still have time for sujud syukur and Quran recitation.

Then, we headed to "a mountain which loves us and which we love", Bukit Uhud, the largest mountain in Madinah where the Battle of Uhud once took place.

I think it is so worth it to tell the story about Perang Uhud to your kids prior to your visit to Bukit Uhud so they appreciate the visit. I did some reading about Rasulullah before my Umrah, so every now and then I shared my story with 4yo Khaira. I must have forgotten to tell her that Rasulullah has passed away. She only knew that in Raudhah, and guess what.. she cried so bad sampai mimpi2 as she was soooo excited to meet Rasulullah.

So much love for this messenger of Allah. Rindunyaa..

Afterwards, to Ladang kurma Saidina Uthman, in which his waqaf is still on going up until today. Must be one genius skilful businessman!

We had to rush back because it was about time for Friday prayer. On the way back, we passed by Majlis Qiblatain; or the Mosque of the Two Qiblas. It is the mosque where, after Rasulullah received the command to change the direction of prayer from Jerusalem to Makkah, the entire congregation led by a companion changed direction in prayer.

In Masjid Nabawi, it is common for women to follow for Friday prayer, but not in Masjidil Haraam. So mom joined in while I stayed in hotel with the girls. I figured it would be too long for them to be in the mosque, I could not afford having cranky babies while everyone wanted to focus on their solat.

That night was one sad day for me, I did not want to leave Medina.. It felt so heavy to leave Rasulullah, I cried the whole journey from Medina to Makkah, so unlike me. I miss Rasulullah too much already, it breaks my heart to type this.

Pray for the strength for me to write my Part 4. The journey to Makkah.

The "Methodology" stage

Hello everyoneeeee!! Been super hectic this couple of weeks. just arrived from Kucing, shall blogged about it soon. Of course, after I'm done with my umrah post in Makkah, catching uppp catching upp.. haha.

Right now, I'm preparing for my talk on "How I finish my PhD in 3 years part time"; another invitation to fulfilled. So, I thought of sharing what I did during my Methodology stage :)

1. Focus

First key point of the day is.. focus. How easy does it sound, right? But really, you need to train yourself to focus during this stage. Because we tend to do our experiment in a lab. And my lab, is filled with fun girls and we always have something to talk about.. or something fun to do. What fun things to do in the lab, you asked?

I am very easy to please. Give me an Instagram and credit card and the girls to motivate me to buy, walla! There goes a day worth of research. And I'm so into blogging by the way.. and facebook.. gosh so many distractions ok!

So, what I do.. I imagine myself in a big bubble. The moment I start with my experiments, I shut the whole world away. Slowly but surely, the method works, so my friends began to ignore me the moment they saw me with my PhD toys.

2. Determination

How cliche, right? The above statement. But you know it's really true. Once, I'm stuck for months figuring something up. I did not know if I ever would get out of it. I even drafted a letter to quit my PhD. Aaanddd that's when I cashed in my "in case briefcase and somehow I keep going. Looking back.. really, I would forever regret if I did send out that letter.

3. Publish papers

Excerpt from my thesis

Publish as many papers as you can. That literature review, preliminary results, don't let it go to waste. You need those papers not only to impress your examiners, but also for you to gain more confidence.

Sometimes, we think the preliminary results are not worthy, but it's ok. Just try to get it published anyway. I started my PhD in 2010, and I sent out my preliminary result to an IEEE conference, and I got awarded with best paper award. Imagine if I have not sent it out because I thought it is just "preliminary results", I would have let my work goes to waste.

By the end of my 3 years of PhD; I have published 7 journals and 9 conference papers. Mostly from my preliminary results; so start writing and be confident in your results.


4. Exhibition

Try to participate in any exhibition. I led 2 projects for ITEX using my PhD, one in 2012 and the other in 2013, where I was awarded a gold and a silver respectively.

This is important for you to again, impress the examiner. Secondly to build your name.

When I went for ITEX, I would normally go around, mingle with those in the same field as mine, and distribute my name cards to almost everybody I met. The thing is you want to make people familiar with your name, in case they are one of your future examiners, they will be like, "Yeah.. I've heard her name before" kinda thing. To generate  good first impression to them.

5. Stop

Why is it even a key point? It is because, many times we are not confident enough to stop with our methodology and move on because we think that it is simply not good enough. Not worthy to get a PhD. My advice is, if your examiner said it is PhD material already, supported by a second opinion, in my case; my co-supervisor, stop and start thinking of your thesis.