And soon I will get a day off for public holiday; Awal Muharram holiday. Oh wow
To recall, Zulhijjah is the 12th month in Hijrah Calendar (Islamic calendar). The last month before we enter the new year. So who sing the Raihan song to remember the name of the months and the turn after Muharram and Safar?
Me.
As we all know, there are a lot of sirah (historical events) that happened in the month of Zulhijjah. The most famous one is the event of Prophet Ibrahim pbuh be ordered by Allah SWT to sacrifice his son Prophet Ismail pbuh. Logically, as a father that waited sooo long for his own child, of course this was a huge hard order to be fulfilled. That was the challenge that Prophet Ibrahim pbuh have to follow. We all have learnt this sirah and knew that Prophet Ibrahim pbuh followed the order unconditionally and Prophet Ismail pbuh willing to be sacrificed, due to faith and belief in Allah Taala. But Allah The Almighty replace Prophet Ismail pbuh to a spectacular qibasy (or kambing yang paling best) due to the obedience of both Prophet Ibrahim and Prophet Ismail pbuh in fulfilling the order of God. Thus Prophet Ismail pbuh was saved by Allah from being sacrificed, and Prophet Ibrahim pbuh was very happy and very much grateful to Allah. This remarked the day of Hari Raya Aidil Adha, due to this event. Allah SWT replaced and gave the qibasy to be sacrificed and celebrated for the obedience of His servant to Him.
Even a prophet was tested. And it was not an easy one. Can you imagine your father come for you and get ready to sacrifice you, solely because it was the order of the God? To think again, it was a very very very BIG TEST FOR ANYONE ALIVE. And we Muslims celebrated the Aidil Adha for this, as a day to remember the sacrifice that we have to make for Islam, for Allah Taala.
May Allah bless us. And grant us very much patient, strengthen our faith and grant us Jannah.
Amin.
So today I want to write about Siti Sarah.
(The intro is pretty long though)
I have attend a sharing session from Ustazah about these two great women that lot of us forget about, most of the time. I learnt the sirah of Siti Sarah and Siti Hajar in school a long time ago, so I know a bit here and there about the story that Ustazah talked about. But I discover new things, background story that I have never heard before.
We already knew so much about Siti Hajar. She is the mother of Prophet Ismail pbuh, a strong woman. We learnt about her sacrifices, her stories, she so famous.
But not Siti Sarah. I learnt less about her. So Ustazah story attract me so much.
Siti Sarah was the wife of Prophet Ibrahim. It is said that she was an intelligent lady and very beautiful, even the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt at that time wanted to take her as one of his women. She lived a very happy life with Prophet Ibrahim as a husband and wife. She was the one who took care the needs of his husband, calmed him when he faced challenges and supported him wherever he went to. One day, Siti Sarah and Prophet Ibrahim pbuh went to Egypt (they were from Palestine) for dakwah. This was the time that the Pharaoh knew her beauty and wanted of her. But Allah SWT saved her from this evil king, the Pharaoh was paralyzed each time he wanted to touch Siti Sarah. The king was frightened and let her go back to her husband. Plus, the Pharaoh gave away a maiden servant named Siti Hajar to her, because he remember he became paralyzed too when he wanted to touch Siti Hajar before this, exactly the same experience that he faced with Siti Sarah (such a womanizer! *angry face*)
That was the moment Siti Sarah and Siti Hajar met each other and became a good friends.
Although Siti Sarah seems to be a perfect wife (from Ustazah story, she was definitely perfect!), she still can't bear a child for Prophet Ibrahim. From the riwayat, Prophet Ibrahim was at the age of 96 and Siti Sarah was 10 years younger from him at that time (and yet she still pretty omg). Both of them getting older and by that time, Prophet Ibrahim pbuh prayed hard to Allah Taala to give him child. Siti Sarah was so sad and touched to see her husband like that, so she proposed to Prophet Ibrahim to take Siti Hajar, her best friend as his second wife. So, the three of them became a family.
Siti Sarah was soooo nice to Siti Hajar that she will never burden Siti Hajar with heavy works (I can imagine that they were so happy!). So Siti Hajar was pregnant. They all were happy to the sky and took care of Siti Hajar very well. The moment came that Siti Hajar gave birth a son. Siti Sarah was happy and in the same time, sad because she jealous she can't bear a child (yet). By time, the jealous reached to the max and she can't bear it anymore. She so sad and begged her husband to bring away Siti Hajar and her son out of the house, far from her sight. And Allah Taala did not forbid the request, so Prophet Ibrahim agreed. He brought his wife, Siti Hajar and his son far away, to the place that been guided by the God to them.
The story of Siti Hajar will be continued to part 2 alright? Haha
Back to Siti Sarah. She was sad because of jealousy. I believe that every women in this Earth will feels the same. Such a strong woman she is. She prayed to Allah to give her peace and calm her heart. That WAS A GREAT TEST AS A WOMEN GUYS. Siti Sarah, to me was like us all. A typical woman who want to be loved and gave her love as much as she can. She wanted to serve her husband at the fullest, she wanted to give him child. She was perfect, pretty, kind, intelligent, beriman and solehah. But Allah test her faith, because every soul alive will be tested (Al-Baqarah: 214). I can cry imagining myself to be at her place.
Siti Sarah remain patient and prayed harder to The Almighty God. At the end of the day, Allah granted her wish. She pregnant (amazingly at that old age!) and gave birth to Prophet Ishak pbuh! How beautiful God's plan was!
I gained a lot of ibrah (aka pengajaran) from the story. Ustazah delivered it to us effectively, to me lah because i don't sleep at all! (Hehe) We always want to be the very best of us, especially us women. We will be a wife and a mother (hopefully amin!). But sometimes we forget that we also one tiny normal person that have complex emotions. That is a gift too from Allah.
This story really touched my heart, telling me that I am a normal person. I will get sad, get mad, jealous and all. But we must come back to Allah. Turn to Him. Because we will be tested. Just sometime, we don't realize it.
Oh did you all know that actually the riwayat state the name 'Sarah' and 'Hajar' only? Without 'Siti'? The Siti is added because it suited the norm of Malay culture. I was like "oh is itttttt?"
OK who read till the end?!
It was a veerrryyyy while that I don't write this long long okay! *claps*
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