This year's Aidiladha

This morning I tried to write. Oddly though the words don't seem to come out right. Okay I'm rhyming now. huhu...oh well, let's give it a shot.

Raya Haji this year is kinda different. In a good way that is :) At my grandparents' house the fruit trees used to bear lots of fruits everytime we came back. There are only 3 trees anyway. Rambutan, jambu and my all time favourite...MEMPELAM! hehe :D When I was small I'd get so excited everytime my dad or my uncles would go and get the fruits for us all to eat together. Sadly though the trees stopped bearing fruits for a couple of years. Suddenly now, there are FRUITS! Loads I tell you from each tree but my concern would of course be for mempelam most of all. ngee~ This time we all went to get the fruits together. Yang bestnye, kitorg sepupu duk sambut buah guna kain batik kat bawah pokok. :) Memang kampung habis kitorg hari tu. :D Well you see, all of us have been spending most of our lives in the city so this little 'event' (cewah, sampai panggil event :P) was wonderful! mira & shera jangan jealous ye? XD

That early morning, firstly of course we went for raya prayers at the mosque. It was full. I love it went the mosque is full :) Why don't people want to make it full all the time like that? Oh well, may better times come. I know it will. After the prayers, there was a khutbah given by the imam. One main thing he pointed out was about 'niat'. Let's see... what's niat in english? Intention? I guess along that line. He talked about how important 'niat' is in what we do. For example, why we give sacrifice. Is it for the right reasons? Is it truly for Allah? Another would be, why we go for hajj. Is it to go on holiday, shop, do business deals or again I ask, is it for Allah? How about sedekah (alms)? Do you give it with pride and the intention of showing off or is it for Allah?

You see, many people don't realise the importance of 'niat' in the things they do especially in ibadah. Doing things for the wrong reasons is such a shame and I think it's safe to say that it is also a waste of time. If what you do is not for Allah, my brothers and sisters it really is a waste. That's why some people, before beginning or continuing to do something they like to say 'Mari kita perbaharui niat,' (let's look back & renew our intentions). Even the 1st hadith of the 40 hadiths of Imam Nawawi talked about niat before anything else. This shows priority, right?

He also talked about family ties. The main point was about how we the generations of Adam nearing the end of time have changed and that how the family institution itself is to be blamed. This has to be true because family shapes a person. He gave this scenario which struck me hard,
Sekarang kita lihat dalam sebuah keluarga itu, ibu bapa dan anak-anak berjemaah ketika makan. Mereka juga berjemaah ketika menonton televisyen dan bermain. Namun, mengapa ketika tibanya solat, masing-masing membawa diri masing-masing? Do you have an answer to that? It's true isn't it? Why is there no togetherness in performing solat?

Generally that's how it is now. Even so, I do know that amidst all that there are still some people who still practice praying together as a family. People who devote their lives in order to achieve death and at last meet their Creator. People who are ever so gentle to others, knowing that is how it should be living in this world with other people but brave and fierce only to those who wish to tarnish their faith. Strong against enemies of Allah. People who spend their early mornings before dawn in prayers and not sleep. People who sacrifice temporary joy in life for eternal joy in the after life.

Yes, people like this do exist. No matter how little the number they do exist. It is no fantasy my brothers and sisters. The question is, do you wanna be one of these so called few?