Travellers otw to Kampung Darul Jannah

بِسْــــــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِارَّحْمَنِ ارَّحِيم




Let's begin with the question, "What did I learn today?". Well, I'm reading an ebook The World I Live In by Helen Keler who is the first deafblind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. I'll share some quotes;

"My temporary loss of smell proved to me, too, that the absence of a sense need not dull the mental faculties and does not distort one's view of the world, and so I reason that blindness and deafness need not pervert the inner order of the intellect. I know that if there were no odours for me, I should still possess a considerable part of the world."

"I have walked with people whose eyes are full of light, but who see nothing in wood, sea, or sky, nothing in city streets, nothing in books. What a witless masquerade is this seeing! It were better far to sail forever in the night of blindness, with sense and feeling and mind, than to be this content with the mere act of seeing. They have the sunset, the morning skies, the purple distant hills, yet their souls voyage through this enchanted world with a barren stare."

Subhanallah, kan. Buta, pekak dan bisu tapi masih berfikir. Livin' and kickin' still, say the mind and heart. It's amazing to see how spiritually she is still in tact despite (or maybe because) of her lack of senses. Maybe that's what we need sometimes. Less senses so that we could focus. There are so many distractions just being at some place without even doing anything. If we were to be in the middle of NYC with all senses in full alert, we'd be exhausted consuming things that we don't even intend on taking in. And these stuff are poisonous to our souls. If we shut our eyes to conceal from looking at unnecessary things, our ears would still work as an expressway tunnel to the heart. We can't shut our ears. Before we know it, we already become desensitized by lewd words. The same with Allah's signs. If we don't filter good from bad, human from divine, how are we going to notice His signs? That's why I said, maybe we need some nikmah being taken away from us to realize His greatness. To go back being dependent on Him. To focus on the limited senses we have to make sense of things.

I chose to share the video firstly because Mamat had kindly shared it with me. There's always something to contemplate upon one's thought. I could resonate with kisah Mizz Nina quite a bit. Now I'm especially grateful to Allah, who, for almost nine years ago, inspired me to start recording my adventures as a traveller on His earth :) Alhamdulillah, there's a lot of hikmah behind it. Secondly, because the theme entails similar contents with the quotes and ayats I came across while reading the Quran.

Their example is that of one who kindled a fire, but when it illuminated what was around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darkness [so] they could not see. Deaf, dumb and blind - so they will not return [to the right path]. Al-Baqarah 2:18

And those who, when reminded of the verses of their Lord, do not fall upon them deaf and blind. Al-Furqaan 25:73

Kita fikir2kan eh. Speaking of traveller, not long ago, mamat and minah bade one of their MASNIU brothers farewell at the O'hare airport. I must say that I don't feel so good going to airports nowadays. I get a crazy butterflies-in-the-tummy feeling. It made me choke. I see my reflection at the departure gate. Soon, it would my time to say goodbye.

While the bro was checking in at the Turkey Airlines, I saw a superman with a string of beads doing something what seemed like zikr. He could be a Muslim superman. Regardless, for such a young superman, he seemed well god-conscious, maashallah. Finding a place to seat, I bumped into a sister and greeted her salam. Sister Zuka, her name was. I won't forget the smile and glistening eyes that met mine as we embraced each other. She is Syrian. Allahu akbar. My mind starts to run wild. Bloody imageries flash before my eyes and the sound of wailing babies and mothers bombarded from nowhere. My brothers and sisters...pleading for mercy.

The husband passed me his business card. He's a pediatric specialist. They are going to Turkey to help out the Syrian children refugees. Nearly 670,000 Syrians have taken refugee in Turkey since the outbreak of the crisis in March 2011. It would have been almost four years that these kids have gone seeking refuge without education. Their son Kareem, who was brought up in the America, knows Arabic. So their mission once arrived in Turkey is to help educate the children and teach them Arabic. It's a dire need. We witness today that ignorant kills. We can't afford to have more. Ignorance cannot be fought with ignorance. The victims may be wronged, stripped of their rights, land and lives. But let these souls arise and change their states with knowledge and understanding. Not ignorance.

Before they left, the superman guy approached us. He introduced himself as Kareem. Subhanallah. Bukan calang-calang Superman rupa-rupanya. Tapi Superman bertarbiyyah! May Allah elevate this family to the highest rank of Jannah. Such sacrifice and mujahadah. We parted own ways remembering it was time for maghrib. As we were racing with time, the bros were frantically searching for a private place to pray. From far, I saw the family praying jemaah in the middle of the airport's open space and quickly suggested we should join them. And we did. Alhamdulillah Allah gave us a chance to perform jemaah prayer together in the middle of the airport. It was just after the busy hours and the crowd started to slow down. Sangat syahdu and empowering! It was like a last prayer before sending off my own family to a jihad fisabilillah. I'd cherish the moment forever. After giving salam, sister Zuka delightfully said "Alhamdulillah, we perform solah together!". Uncle Jabri is such an examplary imam in leading the prayer, his family and the ummah. He took days off work and brought his family with him to Turkey, not for a vacation, not for winding himself down, but merely to carry the responsibility upon whom he relates as his brothers and sisters. I fervently beg you ya Allah, help us all establish family institutions such like the family of Uncle Jabri and even more so. Amin.

Life as a traveller, like Mizz Nina, Aunty Zuka, Kareem and Uncle Jabri, where are we traveling to?
When trials befall do we keep going? or have we stopped? If we have, then let's fill ourselves up again...starting with the reminder of our destiny. Lets begin with the ending. Imam Al-Ghazali from Kitab Asrar Al-Taharah of Ihya' Ulumuddin quotes;

"Similarly the traveller on the road of the hereafter does not see anything witout finding in it a lesson as well as reminder of the hereafter. In fact, his eyes fall on nothing without receiving from God a warning. If he sees something black he remembers the darkness of the grave; if he sees a snake he is reminded of the serpents of hell; if he sees any ugly face the image of munkar and nakir as well as that of the tormenting angels (al-zabaniya) appear before him; if he hears a terrific noise his mind turns to the blowing of the horn on the Last Day; if he sees something beautiful he recalls the bliss of Paradise and if he hears someone say 'yes' or 'no' in the marketplace or in a house he reverts in his thoughts to his own fate on the day of judgment, whether he will be accepted or rejected. How becoming it is, then, such things should prevail over the heart of the wise. Nothing dissuades him therefrom except the most important matters of life. But if he should compare the length of his stay in this life with that of his abode in the hereafter, he would despise the former if he were mindful and wise"

The eyes provide sight but only the heart provides insights. May Allah provide ease for their journey and bless us all with the resources to help ourselves and others.

Our young Superman brother is coming to save the ummah, inshallah :)

Just as it is important for the young generation to take action and lead, it's never too late for our elderly fathers too. 

They're waiting with all loyalty - http://media.worldbulletin.net/250x190/2013/10/07/syrian-refugee-children-f-023.jpg