her hungry friend...

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
 السلام عليكم



two days ago, there was this girl who went to Evanston. she called her friend askig where she could get a bubble tea drink from. she was yearning for that drink. so her friend told her to go to Jamba Juice...while also recommending her to go to Borders (a closing bookstore) to get decent discounted books due to the company's bankruptcy. she tried and tried to search for the Jamba Juice drinks' shop but failed because she just didn't know where it was. takde rezqi kot, she thought to herself. on the other hand, she was running out of time to go to Borders to check out the on-sale books. she was running out of time to catch the train to go UIC (Univeristy of Illinois, Chicago) for a seminar. since she wasn't so well anyway for any cold drinks, she just grabbed herself some hot drink instead. on the train, she remembered that she had spared her lunch to give it to someone in downtown. if she stopped at UIC, there would likely be no one there who would finish up her lunch, plus, she would be running late for the seminar.

she then had an epiphany..."Maha Berkuasanya Allah tu, aku sering lupa. Imagine, if I were made to give this food to this friend of mine in dowtown, not even the President could stop me if he tried (she's always a lil dramatic..). then she was reminded of the  Ghulam's story from Surah Al-Buruj. Raja yang "berkuasa" pon terbukti takde kuasa over seorang budak yang dia nak bunuh. ini raja, nih...nak bunuh nak bunuh, tapi tak mati! Hanya dgn kuasa dan izin Allah, si budak tu mati. imagine Japan yang maju, yang sgt2 maju, kalau tiba2 Allah shuts down the entire system atau turunkan malapetaka, wow chaos...betapa kita takde controlnye over anything. Hmm...bila fikir balik, kemajuan Jepun tu ke yang kite nak kecapi? Third world countries need to scratch the delusional dream to be like the First World countries. The richness and development of a country means exploitation and oppression for another country. Other encouraging globalization, kalau makanan is produced ni sebanarnye banyak dah melebihi our means, kenapa masih ada lagi yang die from hunger, from food deprivation? Why? It's pretty obvious. It's people like me who let this happen. Even in this rich town of Chicago, there are still many homeless people who rummage for sympathy and food. Do you still want to blame the "government" and other people for letting this happen....or you want to realize  that you have the power to make this world one less of a hungry person? This lunch of mine would mean the world to someone...even the president couldn't stop me from giving it away. So what's stopping me? The only person that's stopping me is myself."

Quickly she stopped at a station where she had never stopped before and did not even know what to expect. At least it was still in downtown where her chances of finding her friend to hand in her lunch were still likely. However, the place was completely a stranger to her. As she looked around, subhanallah...she was floored. She went speechless. She could never have stopped any place better. On her left there was the famous Chicago Theater, on her right, as she crossed the street, there were the ABC News Station, Jamba Juice drink shop and Borders that she had been yearning to go, all next to each other in one street.

Sungguh la besar kuasa Allah. this coincidence was another reminder for her. Kalau Allah nak bagi, Dia bagi. Still, she didn't buy anything though...it was enough that this incidence made her smile and felt near to Him. When she walked a few steps further, there was her friend sitting by the traffic light, holding the cardboard sign saying "I'm Hungry". Allah had made it easy for her..

Alhamdulillah, mission one completed. 

Next mission, she jumped in the next train going to UIC-Halsted station. Arriving at 6.13pm, the lecture hall was empty! It should've started at 6 pm but there was no sign of anyone. she stayed outside, waiting...found a bathroom and  warmed up a little and went back at 6.30 pm. Thank god, people started to crowd in the hall. Alhamdulillah..

The talk was given by Ustaz Azeemudin Ahmed with the topic of Problems Faced by College Students - Friendship. 

By 8.15pm, the lecture finished. Now she had to kill time somehow as she waited for her friend from Iowa to arrive at the Greyhound Bus Terminal, 10.15pm. Alhamdulillah...the town was still busy at the time. She grabbed some food and waited. After half a year not seeing each other, they finally met up. From there, they took the train together and she brought her home. at 12.30 am they arrived. Next day, her friend left for O'hare to go to Dublin :) safe journey sistah. 

that's her story for the day. 

As a result, two days later, she still feels a lil bit under the weather. and much to her surprise, she has just been struck by the japanese's current situation, FOR REAL.

tsunami + earth quake (at 8.9! without warning) + Nuclear Plant explosion (gives of radiation and could this be the next Chernobyl?). crazy ke? ya Allah, itu baru satu pulau yang kecil.

How does she reconcile with herself of this problem? Well clearly it is a reminder from Allah subhanahu wataa'la. Betapa besarnya Dia! looking at the videos posted of the tsunami, it seems like it's just a pour of water over a surface. imagine kalau kita tgh gardening or siram pokok. sedar ke kita disebalik tu makhluk2 Allah lg lebih kerdil dari segi saiz tgh bergelut jugak. for example semut...kite siram pokok, terkena dia...kite pon mcm, oh well~

bagi semut, itu macam tsunami kot. jom kita jadi mcm Nabi Sulaiman 'alayhissalam, raja yang sgt teliti...even dgn semut.

anyway, my point is that, utk Allah nak carry out any sort of calamity, catastrophe, dgn sekelip mata boleh terjadi. Kun fayakun...Dia kata terjadi, maka terjadilah. sungguh itu perkara mudah bagi Dia. yes, bukan kita tak tahu..tapi kita sebenarnya kita terlupa. Let's keep on praying and never stop believing!

Wallahua'lam.