Home In Madinah

Sebelum berangkat ke Madinah, dah tanya sedikit sebyk ttg hotel ini dr kawan yg duduk hotel sama

Ianya terletak bertentangan Masjid Nabawi, pintu Uthman Affan. Senang for me; jalan terus dr hotel terus masuk pintu utk jemaah wanita. Some jemaah dr group kami beruntung dpt pemandangan berlatarbelakangkan Masjid Nabawi. 

beg biru & hitam beg saya, yg hijau beg Shahrul

masa gi India, byk betul bhg beg yg nak dikunci, selalu terhegeh2 cari kunci, so saya label kan mcm ni...cikgu tadika le katakan

no bilik kami

most of the time, Shahrul akan buka channel yg menayangkan siaran langsung dr Masjidil Haram & Masjid Nabawi

katil single utk saya meletakkan brg2 saya

safe deposit box utk our gadgets & wallet. Rayhar dah pesan bawa SR10-20 je ke masjid

fridge utk store mango juice jenama2 ini

Shahrul suka jenama Caesar, pekat sikit, I prefer sebelah kanan

pernah berlaku takde air for 24 hrs from 10pm sampai 10pm the next day. Nasib baik management bg 1 gelen air utk bersihkan bdn, wudhu'. Lower floors dpt air ptg tp sbb kami upper floor, air lambat sikit naik. 1 good thing about duduk upper floor - 12th & 13th floor, kami tak share lift dgn mereka yg duduk di lower floors, so most of the time, we had the lift to ourselves. Saya terpaksa beli sepasang jubah (nothing fancy, cuma SR 40) bila air takde di bilik & tak boleh nak basuh baju...

apartment concept; 1 unit ada 3 rooms & this is the common room tp as expected takde siapa pun lepak sini

masuk je bilik, terus...

ruang makan yg dikhaskan utk jemaah Rayhar sahaja. Jemaah Malaysia lain dr grup kecil akan makan bersama grup dr Indonesia di bhg lain

suka sambal belacan kat sini, mcm sambal merah restoran nasi pdg

breakfast

Shahrul suka betul sos ni, org lain cam tak makan pun

ready utk ke Masjid Nabawi. Tak sekali pun saya pakai telekung di Madinah & Mekah spt kebanyakan jemaah dr Malaysia. Jubah & tudung labuh, good to go anywhere - masjid, ziarah, shopping...

Antara hotel kami & masjidil haram ada food court; mcm2 brg ada dijual. We tried shawarma, roasted chicken, ice cream. Shahrul bought sejenis cream yg dikirim his dad di farmasi berdekatan situ juga. Also hotel ini dikelilingi kedai2 yg menjual pelbagai brgan, ramai yg ambil kesempatan beli jubah. Me? Rasa nak melompat bila nampak ada kedai buku betul2 dpn hotel. Just imagine buku2 yg saya beli di One Stop Dakwah Centre di Ampang Park (my fav place menggantikan MPH), harganya jauh lebih murah di kedai ini. Ada 2,3 buah kedai buku yg berdekatan dgn kedai ini tp yg dpn hotel kami mmg terbaik. 

Sempat rembat

Ada few books lagi I bought tp di Mekah, yg harganya lg murah dr di Madinah. Drove me crazy bila masuk kedai buku, semua nak beli...

Mengorak Langkah...Kembara Suci

End 2012 - after attending courses utk memperbaiki diri, hati mula terbuka utk mengerjakan umrah. Alhamdulillah, Shahrul agreed to accompany me.

We only got the confirmation from Rayhar in middle of Jan. We had approximately a month to make preparation.

We flew with Saudi airline on 23/2/2013. Chartered flight; penuh dgn jemaah from Rayhar, Andalusia & Raudhah Mawaddah. We chose Rayhar because of good feedback we received from friends & the fact that Rayhar's office in Shah Alam quite near dgn rumah kami.

Only Shahrul's mom, bro & nieces were there. I told my family not to trouble themselves coming to the airport. 12 hari je pun.

Kami tak guna beg2 yg Rayhar bg, too small & taknak sama dgn org lain. Beg biru & hijau dihiasi sebesar2 ribbon itu beg kami

kesemua beg kami, ya ramai kata mcm nak gi haji. Setiap org boleh bawa 30kg, rugi kan bawa small bag

I prepared a will. My sister kata kalau takde harta, tak payahlah susah2 prepare will. Salah 1 perkara saya belajar dr brother in law's death - be prepared dgn wasiat. My sister cracked her head nak ingatkan password/ pin nos utk his bank accounts...

On 2nd thot, maybe my sister was right. Nanti susah payah retrieve wasiat only to find out lebih byk hutang dr harta :-)

I posed... 

...ate...

                                                                    ....read....

demi menghabiskan masa 8 jam dlm kpl terbang.

I got this book from One Stop Dakwah Corner. They have 2 outlets. I'm a regular customer @ their Ampang Park outlet. Rambang mata masuk kedai ni. Their books are cheaper than MPH.

We expected long queue di immigration, subhanallah, Allah made the journey easy. Takde flight lain yg landed @ the same time. We waited depan immigration for our luggages. Bags utk jemaah Andalusia came out 1st (they had about 200 jemaah, Rayhar 145, the rest dr agent2 lain), next bags from Rayhar.

From the airport, buses waited for jemaah utk membawa kami ke Hotel Dallah Taibah, about 50m from Masjid Nabawi. After having dinner, checking in, we went to Masjid Nabawi to perform solat.

Assalamualaika ya Rasululullah, Assalamualaika ya Abu Bakar as-siddiq, Assalamualaika ya Umar Al-Khattab.

It was my 1st, subhanallah, Alhamdulillah, segala pujian hanya pd mu ya Allah....

Melewati Raudhah

Selepas Being Me - Muslimah Empowered, hati mula terbuka utk menghadiri majlis2 ilmu. Di fikiran saya, mula terfikir "bila lagi? Umur dah 40. The primary & secondary school children call me Makcik. Takkan tunggu they call me Nenek baru terhegeh2 nak menghadiri majlis ilmu Allah. Yes, Allah Maha Pengampun lg Maha Penyayang. Cuma, jika saya bermula @ the age of 60, (itupun jika Allah masih memberi peluang utk hidup), tentunya saya akan merenung masa yg telah berlalu dgn penuh penyesalan. I want to live my life with no regrets. Cukuplah dgn penyesalan yg ada.

Recently I attended a 4-day course on solat, dibawah tunjuk ajar Syeikh Abu Eesa Niamatullah

Walaupun I only managed to attend 2 1/2 day (missed the morning session on 1st day due to work commitment & missed the 3rd day coz of the same reason), I was so thankful to Allah for giving me the opportunity to be there. Byk perkara ttg solat yg saya tidak tahu, byk perkara saya tahu tp saya kdg buat kdg tidak, byk perkara salah dlm solat yg saya lakukan kerana itu cara saya diajar....(may Allah have mercy on me).

Pengajian saya bersama Sheikh Abu Eesa Niamatullah tidak terhenti setakat di situ. He conducts a weekly class at his local masjid in Manchester & subhanallah, he gave us the opportunity to learn from him, live streaming from Manchester. We had to submit our application to be part of the group, gave reasons why its important for us to be part of the group.

I raised hands thanking Allah when I read this email

"Assalāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh Nor Hemylia Mohd Nor 

Congratulations! Yes, you're in! 

:-) 

The wait is finally over! We know you have been so patient jazākumullāhu khayran wa bārakallāhu fīkum. We genuinely ask Allah subhānahu wa ta'āla to bless you in your efforts to learn His religion, and that He purifies your intention, that He makes easy the long path, and rewards you with nothing but Jannat'l-Firdaws because of it, amīn! 

We have been inundated with registrations from students all over the world Alhamdulillah and individually vetting each one takes a huge amount of time but we felt it was worth it and that the 'ilm deserved it. It now gives us great pleasure to finally provide you with the essential details you've been waiting for. 

Please keep this email safe as it contains your unique login details. You will need these to access the online student portal each week. 

Then we look forward to seeing you live at 8.15pm GMT on Wednesday 5th December 2012 for the beginning of this long yet we hope beneficial journey.

So far, saya sudah mengikuti 2 lessons. It started @ 4.15am every Thursday.

For Malaysian students of knowledge, we can always watch the recording later, but so far, Alhamdulillah, I managed to wake up right before the class began. 

Saya mula menyedari perkara ini

the inner happiness

Sedikit demi sedikit, saya cuba, walaupun payah, utk menjadi practising Muslim & bukan hanya Islam pada nama. I hv a long way to go tp

"amalan yg sedikit tetapi berterusan lebih disukai Allah"

I follow AlKauthar Malaysia on FB, later Qabeelat Ihsaan (the 2 organisations yg selalu organise good islamic programmes). Later, I follow mereka2 yg mempunyai ilmu pengetahuan yg mendlm ttg Islam. I started with those yg pernah mengajar saya di program2 keagamaan yg saya ikuti cth - Syeikh Yahya Adel Ibrahim, Syeikh Abu Eesa Niamatullah, Syeikh Tawfique Chowdhury. List semakin panjang.

I added Muslim sisters yg saya temui di majlis2 ilmu yg saya hadiri as friends on FB. I met a lady, Aziana, coincidently a practising lawyer, came all the way from Batu Pahat to attend majlis ilmu. Fortunately her parents stay in Putrajaya, so whenever she attends classes, her children will be taken care of by her parents. 

Her recent sms, she informed me that Mufti Ismail Menk would be in town. I told her that I couldnt make it due to personal reason & she wrote this

"Mufti Menk gave each one of us a cd on the Prophet (pbuh). I can lend this to you....."

How thougthful!

Sister Dahlia, I met her several times dlm majlis2 ilmu yg saya hadiri. Asyik berjodoh je. Just imagine dlm lautan manusia di UITM utk mendgr Dr Zakir Naik, she sat right infront of me. When we had the chance to sit side by side during Divine Link course recently, Sis Dahlia recommended I read this book, yg kemudiannya juga disyorkan oleh ramai yg lain

Another amazing sister I met - Sister Tina. Got to know her thru a mutual friend. Never met prior to Divine Link - Solat. She was the one who told me about this course.  She sent me a message

Assalamualaikum sis, the link I shared above is on an upcoming seminar by Al-Maghrib Institute, organised by its Malaysian chapter, Qabeelat Ihsaan. I thought of you since I gather you are into these things, alhamdulillah.

btw, I was there in Securities Commission last Monday. Saw your FB status and tried to scout around for you, tapi tak nampak.

Insha Allah, maybe we'll meet each other at a knowledge gathering in the future.

There are few others, wonderful people I met during majlis2 ilmu mencari redha Ilahi.

The Law of Attraction at its best, masya Allah.

* Rasulullah saw pernah ditanya oleh salah seorang sahabatnya perihal siapakah teman duduk (berbual) yang paling baik. Rasulullah menjawab, "mereka itu adalah orang yang bila kamu lihat, dapat mengingatkanmu kepada Allah, menambahkan ilmumu dalam pembicaraannya, dan mengingatkanmu kepada akhirat dari amal-amalnya." Orang-orang yang memiliki sifat seperti di ataslah yang paling wajar untuk dijadikan teman duduk. 

* Those who have mutual love for the sake of My Glory will have pillars of light and will be 
envied by the Prophets and martyrs.” (at-Tirmidhi and Imam Ahmad).

It wasnt easy for me to start doing something different tp saya mulakan sikit2.

Just imagine - bila saya dlm kereta on a long journey, saya akan bukak tudung sepanjang jalan sehingga agak2 nak sampai ke destinasi. You would never see me pakai sarung tgn bila pakai short sleeves. Togel je tgn. Tu belum lg pakai tshirt/blouse yg v-neck. Tak kisah pun nak pakai tudung yg tutup dada. I hv started pakai sarung tgn sejak akhir2 ini & try my VERY best x bukak tudung dlm kereta sebab kereta lalu lalang esp kalau berhenti kat traffic light, ingat xde mata memandang.

Also, I was a hardcore fan of CSI series, NCIS, Hawaii 5-0 & seangkatan dgnnya. Cerita2 akan start either @ 9/10pm. Maka, agak2 5-10 minit nak start, barulah terhegeh2 gi ambik wudhu' then solat dlm masa yg singkat ini. I dont do this anymore. Dont remember the last time I watched these programmes.

My friend, Nani, Q-dees Principal for Kota Kemuning dr dulu suruh I tengok anak dia dlm iklan Alhijrah (budak yg keluarkan muka dr dlm kereta). I just brushed her off - I tak tengok tv sgt. I wasnt lying, sbb yg I tengok siri2 dlm AXN most of the time. Our house xde movie channels. Lately sedikit demi sedikit, tinggalkan AXN, baru mula berjinak2 dgn Oasis & Alhijrah. Barulah bg tau Nani "ok, I dah tengok anak u".

Sekrg, sambil lipat/gosok baju, i go to youtube & listen to Syeikh Yasir Qadhi, Nouman Ali Khan, Mufti Ismail Menk, Syeikh Abu Eesa Niamatullah...baru berjinak2 mendgr ceramah mereka. Kalau dulu bila bukak youtube, sure dgr lagu2 tangkap cintan & mengimbau kenangan dulu. Bukan langsung x dgr lagu2 tangkap cintan tu, tp dah kuranglah sikit.

Seperti yg kita maklum, ramai jemaah akan berebut2 utk solat di Raudhah. Jika masih belum mampu utk ke sana, apa kata kita menghadiri majlis2 ilmu yg juga disebut oleh Rasulullah SAW sebagai Raudhah....

* Sebenarnya inilah majlis ilmu yang disebut Nabi s.a.w sebagai ‘taman-taman Syurga’ : “Jika kalian melalui taman-taman syurga, maka berhentilah dan duduklah di situ”. Para Sahabat r.a. bertanya : “Apakah taman-taman Syurga itu wahai Rasulullah?” Jawab baginda : “Majlis-majlis ilmu dan zikir”. (HR at-Tirmizi).

* Dalam sebuah hadith yang diriwayatkan oleh Tabrani, Rasulullah saw bersabda, "Apabila melewati taman syurga, hendaklah engkau duduk di situ. Istirahatlah kamu di situ." Para sahabat bertanya, "Ya Rasulullah, apakah taman syurga itu?" Nabi menjawab, "Majlis-majlis ilmu." 

* Dalam hadith lain diceritakan, Rasulullah pernah masuk ke sebuah majlis. Di majlis itu, tampak ada dua kelompok, di mana yang pertamanya sedang berzikir, sementara yang ke duanya sedang mempelajari ilmu. Rasulullah bersabda, "Kelompok pertama adalah kelompok yang baik. Mudah-mudahan Allah mengampuni mereka. Sedangkan kelompok ke dua yang sedang mempelajari ilmu, mudah-mudahan Allah membimbing mereka ke jalan yang lurus." Kemudian beliau memilih duduk bersama kelompok majlis ilmu. 

* Allah SWT memuliakan dan meninggikan darjat mereka kerana keberimanan mereka dan ilmu yang mereka miliki. Allah SWT berfirman yang maksudnya " ... Dan apabila dikatakan: "Berdirilah kamu, maka berdirilah, niscaya Allah akan meninggikan orang-orang yang beriman di antaramu dan orang-orang diberi ilmu pengetahuan beberapa darjat. Dan Allah maha mengetahui apa yang kamu kerjakan". (Al Mujaadilah:11). 

* Dalam Sahih Muslim dari Abu Hurairah, Rasulallah s.a.w. bersabda : “Sesiapa yang meniti jalan dalam menuntut ilmu, Allah akan memudahkan baginya jalan ke syurga”.

* sumber dr Google

Majlis ilmu seterusnya yg akan saya hadiri

12 & 13th January (AlKauthar)

20th January (Islamic Parenting Network)

2 weekend course

Jom kita meramaikan lg jemaah di Raudhah ini :)

Best Tea In The World...Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

Catatan perjalanan Colombo-Kandy-Nuwara Eliya yg tak habis...

After breakfast di Kandy, kami meneruskan perjalanan ke destinasi seterusnya - Nuwara Eliya aka Little England

Kandy town

man made lake

sepi seorang perindu

Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic yg berbumbung emas itu, termasuk dlm itinerary kami tp we decided not to go

jln yg x sibuk

spt di India, manusia berkongsi jalan raya dgn binatang di sini

tourists doing the touristy things

Walaupun perjalanan dr Kandy ke Nuwara Eliya hanya about 39km, perjalanan agak sukar - jalan sempit, berbukit2 - mengingatkan saya kpd perjalanan kami ke Sonamarg di Kashmir. Elin & saya tidur sepejg perjalanan while my parents bz chatting sesama mereka.

Kami singgah sebentar di sini

Blue Field salah satu ldg teh yg terdpt di sini

di belakang saya - kilang memproses teh

nak pose spt dlm vanila coklat

dlm hati ada taman

Jom tengok proses menghasilkan teh

mereka berkaki ayam dlm kilang ni, ada yg pakai apron, ada yg tak pakai, face mask tarak

i know it sounds gross tp bila dilonggokkan mcm ni, nampak mcm baja tahi lembu yg selalu saya nampak di kpg saya when i was a child. Nak kumpulkan teh2 ni guna penyapu lidi

Ada selera?

Dipek spt ini & dijual kpd pekilang2 yg akhirnya kan membungkus dlm bungkusan kecil & dijual dgn jenama berlainan

ready 2 b transported

bestnya kalau office kita mempunyai panaroma spt ini

my Babah nak ke tea house diiringi oleh minah yg memberi penerangan kpd kami

sure best lepak2 kalau sejuk, malangnya when we were there suhu lebih kurang 40 degrees

bungkusan yg cantik

Semasa dlm kedai yg jual pelbagai teh ini, saya & Elin sambil juih2 mulut kutuk cara teh diproses kat sini, walhal x tau pun kat Msia mcm mana caranya.

Antara kenyataan yg mengutuk

"Huh! ntah2 dia dah pijak2 dgn kaki, pastu bungkus cantik2, label Best Tea in The World, pastu jual kat kita"

"Kita pun hirup teh kaki"

"x pakai mask, batuk2, masuk dlm teh kita, dah jd masin sikit"....gelak lg

"ntah2 rambut jatuh, terus sebati dgn teh"....gelak lg

Teruk betullah kalu kami travel together. Tu sbb bila Elin gi umrah, she decided to go alone - takut takleh jaga mulut.

Kami gelak mengekek2, sendiri buat joke, sendiri gelak. Almaklumlah ckp Melayu, kekdg terkeluar loghat Kelantan, sape nak paham kat Sri Lanka.

Tetiba dgr 1 salesgirl tanya my father 

"Pakcik nak yang mana?"

Ah sudah! how on this earth dia boleh ckp Melayu. Jgn x caya, dia pernah kerja kat Msia satu ketika dahulu. Aduhai! mesti dia dgr kitaorg kutuk kaw2 tadi.

Lps minum teh free, tp kek kena byr, kami meneruskan perjalanan ke hotel. Lama lg nak sampai destinasi seterusnya.