Fond memories or not, we reminisce the past for what they are worth

This is a song by Yazoo back in the early '80s.



Only You

Looking from a window above
It's like a story of love, can you hear me?
Came back only yesterday
I'm moving farther away, want you near me

All I needed was the love you gave
All I needed for another day
And all I ever knew, only you

Sometimes when I think of her name
When it's only a game and I need you
Listen to the words that you say
It's getting harder to stay when I see you

All I needed was the love you gave
All I needed for another day
And all I ever knew, only you

All I needed was the love you gave
All I needed for another day
And all I ever knew, only you

This is going to take a long time
And I wonder what's mine, can't take no more
Wonder if you'll understand
It's just the touch of your hand behind a closed door

All I needed was the love you gave
All I needed for another day
And all I ever knew, only you

+ Ms. Vogue @ 9:10 AM

To err is human. To forgive, divine

Loved ones, friends or strangers, quite often, tend to hurt our feelings. Passing remarks or actions, be it on purpose or not, can cut our hearts; sometimes causing irreparable damages. While there may be no cosmetic damage, words that cut, will cut and actions that hurt, will hurt.

And where we tend to get hurt, we too are often as equally guilty of causing hurt. Inadvertently, we may do things without thinking. Things which will leave us with a cause for regret.

Among some of our actions, we tend to gossip. Unfortunately, we love to gossip. When we are in a group, among our friends, our mouths tend to spew out words faster than our brain can compute. Have we not been caught in a situation, where in our ecstasy of gossiping, we said something which we are remorseful, hoping that we had not said it in the first place. How many of us can say, that we have not been in that situation before?

Or when we joke and make fun of other people, we make look at it as something of a good-nature laugh. Especially when everybody laughs along. But do we even consider what the person at the butt-end of the joke feels? On the outside he may laugh along as well, not wanting to be a party pooper, but on the inside, he might be feeling hurt.

Or when we are in a bad mood, we tend to lash out at people for no particular reasons. Family members and close friends in particular, usually bear the main brunt of our outbursts. People who care about us might try to cheer us up, only to be given a run down. In our bad mood, we may think that the world revolves around us, that we are the epicenter of the universe. People have to make way for us, to please us. We do not, even for a second, think of what others might be going through; that they may be having their own problems and being naturally kind-hearted souls, discard their own problems, just so that they may help us.

To err is human. We are not able to run away from being hurt or causing hurt. Very less so, are we able to ask for forgiveness. Quite naturally, the ego in us refrains us from saying sorry, admitting that we were in the wrong. Most of us liken admitting our mistakes to a nation relinquishing its sovereignty.

Quite obvious, it is far from the truth. It does not hurt to say sorry and in fact, most of the time, there is nothing to lose. We might end up with a bruise ego, but that is all. It is better to with forthcoming with an apology rather than a lifetime of burden, harboring regret in the heart. Let it out. Apologize.

To forgive is divine. Malay sayings like,

Tiada maaf bagimu ( There is no forgiveness for you )

or

Akan ku tuntut diakhirat kelak ( I will seek justice in the hereafter )

are sayings that promote negativity. We should learn to forgive. If the person seeks forgiveness, we should in our judgement, exercise thoughtfullness and pardon him. If God can be All-Forgiving, willing to forgive all His servants' mistakes, especially of those who come to Him, begging for forgiveness, we should try to emulate His character. Do not let Syaitan hinder us from doing good, to be good.

I admit that I am no different from all of you. I am, myself weak, always belittling people, thinking of myself as someone high and mighty when truth is, I have nothing. I know of some of my weaknesses and yet am powerless in my capacity to address them. I tried and tried to change even though, more often, if not always, stumbled in my effort to do so.

And yet, I believe I should not give up trying. There are people whom I look up to. People whom I believe are the perfect embodiment of what a Khalifah should be. And although I may never be one, I will try to encapsulate as much characteristics as possible of those whom I respect.

Life is short. My eyes are blurring and thus I cannot see much. I do not know the gains of this world except those that have been explained to me although I still have my reservations. My heart is constantly wavering but I will try to be steadfast in my beliefs.

Dear readers and friends of Hayati's, I seek for your forgiveness. For the past, present and future. You may not know me, but if you have read my posts, I might have been wrong or I might have said something that hurt. Maybe there is nothing now but there might be something in the future. Hopefully, what I've said above would have triggered you to forgive those whom have hurt you before, whom you are adamant in your stubbornness not to forgive.

I am also sorry to Hayati. I've tried, but each time I ended up writing something what you consider a serious post. Again, I am sorry.

Ya Allah, The Most Compassionate, The Most Merciful. I am nothing but Your slave. Each time You grant me bounties, I failed to be thankful and instead, spent my time basking in Your Wrath doing things which You have forbidden. Ya Allah, my Lord, All-Forgiving, I come to You today seeking for Your forgiveness. Forgive me for my sins, be it big or small, be it in the past, present or in the future. Forgive the sins of those of my parents, my family and the Muslim community as a whole. Forgive us all Ya Allah, for if not, we are only the losers. Ya Allah, give us guidance and show us to the path of the truth, the path which You have blessed. And gather us in the hereafter, in Jannah, together with our loved ones. Ameen Ya Rabbil 'alamin.

+ Ms. Vogue @ 3:18 AM

Success is a journey made possible through dedication and hard work

When the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w opened the city of Makkah, Bilal ibn Ribah a.s climbed up a building and recited the adhan. And in the adhan, there is a phrase ' حي على الفلاح ' . Meaning, 'Come to success'.

For 5 times each day, muslims are reminded to attain success.

Success is intangible. It cannot be seen physically and different people will have different yardsticks to measure the success that they want or have achieved. For example, in an exam, a smart student will see success if he gets an A1, while a student who has been failing, will consider getting a pass as being successful.

Ultimately, success is from the point of view of individuals.

Attaining success is not easy. It requires a lot of effort and more importantly, patience. Different stages of our lives will have different targets that we want to achieve. During our youth, end of year exams, O' levels, A' levels, diploma or degree are targets that we set for ourselves. As we moved on, a successful career, marriage, starting a family, owning a house or a car will become our goals.

More often than not, we will tend to fail along the way towards our objectives. As an example, towards our preparations for our end of year exam, we might keep failing in our tests, creating doubt about our own capabilities. Sometimes, we even wonder why we tend to fail quite often.

I may have lost the battle but I will win the war

There is a saying, 'Failure is the path to success'. Failure only helps us to show our mistakes. With each mistake, we tend to learn. And with each failure, we grow stronger. We become more experienced. We should never abandon our goals, our targets, our dreams or our objectives just because we failed once. Twice. More.

Do not be disspirited. We have to learn to bounce back up from our failures. Pick ourselves up and start again. Always be optimistic.

I look as failures in my past relationships, the mistakes that I've made, as something for me to learn from, so that when things really matter, especially in marriage, I will not make the same mistakes.

One should not brood. One has to keep trying if one wants to achieve success. The path to success are many and varied. If you can't reach it along one path, just try again on another and another until you reach it.

In this time and age, the sky is no longer the limit. Space is now just the beginning.

Lastly, I would like to wish my friend Hayati and friends, all the best for their O level exams. May you all achieve success with flying colours.

+ Ms. Vogue @ 12:22 PM

Official proper mugging starts now.
FULL STEAM AHEAD.
Till 11/11 people..
C ya!

Please pray for my O-levels.. ;D

+ Silent thoughts enclosed - Hayati... @ 2:40 PM

Without me realizing, you took my breath away

Men with iman and equipped with knowledge are like so, Wow. I see it as a comparative to the chicken and egg question. Is it because that they have iman in their heart that they seek for knowledge or is it because of the application of the knowledge they have, that they are bestowed with iman.

Nevertheless, whatever it is, there is no denying that these breed of men are becoming more and more rare. Respecting the elders, soft-spoken to others, patience and ability to give sound advice, sometimes with reference to hadiths etc, are traits that no other men possessed. These characters that they exemplify in public are clearly sculpted out of iman and knowledge.


"There is in the body a clump of flesh - if it becomes good, the whole body becomes good and if it becomes bad, the whole body becomes bad. And indeed it is the heart."


+ Ms. Vogue @ 4:23 PM

We are fundamentally different, both you and I

Time seems to fly and we have come to the last leg of Ramadan. In fact, in just a few more days, we will be celebrating Hari Raya 'Ieedil Fitri. A day to signify our gratitude and happiness that we have achieved victory over our lust and desires, such that we are able to purify ourselves from our sins.

Unfortunately, the ones who tend to overcelebrate 'Id are those whom are not deserving. More and more Malays, especially the youngsters, are now more openly defiant against Allah's command to fast. If in the past, they would do it in secret, nowadays, they will eat, drink and smoke in public, without any sense of shame.

And yet, these are the ones who will be going around here and there, visiting their friends, laughing the most as if they were the ones most victorious against their nafsu.

What tends to make my blood boil is that, sometimes, these people have the guts to come up to girls and say

"Senyumlah dik, senyum tu sedekah tau."

What atrocity. You failed to erect one of the 5 pillars of Islam and yet, dared to talk about sedekah.

Please. Try to realise. 'Ieedil Fitri is a celebration of a religious nature. It is not, and never was, a celebration of race. Especially for Malays. Over the years, there has been a gross misconception that 'Ieedil Fitri and 'Ieedil Adha are celebrations meant for Malays.

An ustaz, I had forgotten his name, once said that if in the past, Malays are 100% Muslims, it is now no longer the case. It is sad to see such a thing happening in our community. That we are slowly eroding in our moral values.

The days of glory are lone gone, when Malays, were highly respected for their moral values and culture. Today, vulgarities, are a dime a dozen in our youths' communication. They are more inclined to seek out pleasures and more importantly, acceptances from their friends.

Please. Change. I do not wish to be associated with such negativities.

The pious among us, tend to do good deeds so that they may attain Jannah in the Hereafter. But I believe that should not be so. One should do good deeds with the sole purpose of to seek for His redha'. Jannah is something that comes following together.

I once had a conversation with 2 acquaintances, both of whom are practicing Muslims. However, one will condemn the young Malays whom he saw drinking or doing atrocities. The other, will do supplication in his heart, for Allah to give the young men Taufiq and Hidayah, so that one day, they may change to be better Muslims.

In these times, when most of us are powerless to do much, we should follow the example as set by the latter and pray that our young ones be given taufiq and hidayah and grow up to be better Muslims.

Insyaallah. Amin Ya Rabbil 'Alamin.

+ Ms. Vogue @ 2:56 PM

What Women Want

First of all, I would like to wish my dear friend Hayati, a Happy 17th Birthday. Today, you have grown 1 year older. 1 year's worth of experience, which hopefully, have made you more confident and matured, ready to face the world head on.

Once again, Happy Birthday Hayati!

Women who are materialistic might want diamonds or jewels or anything that glitters as gifts from their man. However, I would think that generally, us women will be satisfied just to have our man provide a listening ear for us.

There is a reason why God created Man with two ears and one mouth. It is with hope, that one will learn to listen twice more than talking. Men might not see the reason why, but it does give us great amount of satisfaction, to be able to let out our feelings to the one we love. One might argue that we have our 'girlfriends' to be bitchy with, that we should let out our negative feelings with them.

I would prefer to concur otherwise. We have to remember, we women are emotional creatures. And in times of heat, we tend to add fuel to the already raging fire. Man, on the other hand, are sensible creatures. Very often than not, they are able to give valuable advice, tips or maybe just console us and provide us with a shoulder to lean on.

Ultimately, we want to communicate with our man.

Patience is half of Iman.

If there is one trait I would look for in my future husband, it would be patience. I would consider myself blessed should I get a husband who is very patient with my shortcomings. Be it with my character; when I throw tantrums or get worked up easily. Or with my looks; when I am lazy to dress up or if some beautiful woman walks past.

A man who is patient is also unlikely to get into unnecessary arguments which are more than likely will cause unrepairable consequences. However, it is sad to say that patience is a virtue, lacking in great number of men.

We women are not asking for much from our man. I don't believe that women expect our husbands to be handsome. We are comfortable as long as they are presentable. Although, it is unfair to say that everything lies with him and not with us. I do believe that if our man are patient with us and is able to communicate with us, we would be more than happy to love him with all our heart.

So Man, if by any chance you are reading this, hopefully you do get this hint and try to be more patient with us and always provide us with a listening ear, especially in times of need.

P/s : While patience and communication are not the only basis to a happy relationship, they are two of the more important aspects and thus form the basis for this post of mine.

+ Ms. Vogue @ 8:15 PM

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The same may go for how we look at the world. Here is another perspective.

Imagine ourselves trapped in a deep well. From the bottom, we can see the clear, blue sky, way up above us. And each of us, has a desire to climb out of that well, and see what God has prepared outside.

Some of us might be strong enough and are able to climb faster, while the weak ones among us, slowly inching up towards the exit.

However, along our way up, we might come across wet patches of moss, which might caused us to slip back down and we have to start the climb all over again. Some of us, due to our stubbornness, might be adamant in the route we chose and again encounter that same patch of moss. Others, might learn from the experience, and choose a different way up, encountering different patches of moss.

Many of us, whom, after years and years of climbing, will finally figure a route out. While there are some, who might be disheartened by their failures to climb up, that they finally resign themselves to their fate, preferring to just eventually rot at the bottom, not knowing what lies beyond.

That deep well is the world in which we are in and the clear, blue sky that we see, are signs that Heaven exist. Signs, which Allah has mentioned over and over again in the Holy Quran, that Heaven exist and that which we humans, should aim to achieve. Our climb up represents our life struggle as we seek to achieve 'freedom', while the patches of wet moss represent challenges that we face along the way.

The strong ones among us are those with strong characters, whom whenever they fall, will quickly pick themselves up and continue to climb. The weak ones, might be temporarily disheartened but eventually piece themselves together and start the climb again. Finally, there are those who know Heaven exist, but choose to ignore, and enjoying instead, what the limited world has to offer.

Life is a struggle. It is never easy and there will definitely be challenges that we will face. Challenges are there so that we are able to assess ourselves and grow with experience. Once in a while, we might break down, thinking of the struggles that we face. But eventually, we will have to regain our composure and move on. Remember, Allah will not pose us challenges that we are not able to shoulder.

When we are at the bottom, the only way left to go is UP. So if you make mistakes or if you are troubled and you feel that you are at the bottom most point of your life, Insyaallah things will only get better.

So which one are we. Are we the ones with the strong character or are we the weaker ones. Or maybe, we are those who just prefer to keep lying to ourselves and be satisfied, trapped in our delusion of the world.

Here is something for us to consider and ponder.



Masyaallah.

Lastly, A Happy Teachers' Day to all the teachers out there.

+ Ms. Vogue @ 3:49 PM

How time flies.

Before you know it, we have come to the 9th day of Ramadan and tonight will be the 10th night of terawih. Muslims, whom in their search for Allah's blessing and mercy, will flock out in droves, to masjids, to perform Isyak and terawih as a congregation.

Unfortunately, it is sad to see that on the first night, the masjid will be full of people and as the days go by, there will be lesser and lesser people. More people will fill up the markets, especially at night, with the pretext of preparing for Aidilfitri.

Such a stark contrast to the people of Saudi.

Ramadan is much more important and livelier for Saudis than Aidilfitri. For them, as Ramadan approaches the last 10 days, more and more of them, will come from villages all over Saudi, to perform terawih at Masjidil Haram. All in search for Lailatul Qadar, the Night of Power. A night which is better than 1000 months.

I have no doubt that it is in our culture that we look forward to Aidilfitri. Since young, we have been inculcated to look forward to Aidilfitri, a day when we can get lots of money, especially from relatives. It is only natural that we all want to look good on that important day, when we go around visiting relatives, especially those whom we rarely meet.

Especially us ladies.

Nevertheless, I believe that one should not lose sight of the importance of Ramadan. The amount of blessings that Allah gives in this month so much so that it is known as 'the blessed month of Ramadan'. With proper time management, one can easily enjoy both worlds, preparing for Aidilfitri and at the same time, reaping as much as possible, what Allah has prepared for us in the blessed month of Ramadan.

I believe this post is more of a reminder to myself rather than to whomever reads this blog. A reminder that I should do more good deeds during Ramadan, especially since it only comes once a year. Hopefully, Allah will blessed us all, both you and me, by giving us the opportunity to obtain the Night of Power.

As an end, here are some pictures of traditional 'baju kurung'. From the simple to the vogue, taken off from 'etabika.kemas.gov.my' , 'pahang-delights.com' , 'alibaba.com' and 'salunbaiduri.arzec.net'.
























































Last but not least, something as requested by Hayati. And congratulations on making to the finals for sudoku competition.



+ Ms. Vogue @ 4:14 PM

Sandman came in class.

I honestly
do NOT know
why I have been so sleepy in class!

I have been sleeping before 11 every night and waking up at 6.
Hmm.. about 8 hours of sleep.
Shouldn't that be enough?
I feel embarrased when my friends were all discussing our maths prelims paper 1
while I dreamed about adventures and unicorns
but I just
couldn't
keep
my
eyes
OPEN.
Ya Allah please help me.

"...شهر رمضان الذي اُنزل فيه القرآن هدى للناس"

Maybe cuz Ramadhan's here.
I love the holy month
not much of the fatigue it seems to be bringing
but there must be something good out of it too.
Like the fact that the teachers prepared this green Quran checklist
consisting of the 30 juz(s)
Da bace satu , tick!
I love checklists.
:P

Final word

I'm off to complete my maths corrections
so I can sleep more in class :P
I would like to thank Allah so much
for letting me be in the grand finals of yesterday's sudoku competition.
To these people
Thank you for being there for me..
my best friend
teachers
and that person in the green hoodie.
Hee.
Thank you.
Salamulaikum.

+ Silent thoughts enclosed - Hayati... @ 8:47 PM