Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) thought us lessons

Are you guys still celebrating Aidul Adha with delicious meats??? *salivating*

Me is not. Started to work already so no more raya raya ah. Me raya with the excel sheets doing analysis and more statistics ok.

Missing my family already.

Btw, in conjuction of Aidil Adha or what we Malay people called as Hari Raya Korban, or Hari Raya Haji (because this is the month where Muslims perform Hajj), I want to complete the story of Prophet Ibrahim and his super family. Last time, I wrote about amazing lady named Sarah, and strong woman named Hajar. Both of them were Prophet Ibrahim wives and Masya-Allah, they such a FIRST CLASS women!

I know many many many of us already knew about the sirah of Prophet Ibrahim pbuh. But being me, I want to write about this sirah (coz I am a history freak. Kbye), so I will gain the merits or ibrah (pengajaran) behind the story, engraved deep in my heart. Purposely, maybe some of you will read this too. And hopefully we all will collect the morals and implement it in our life Insha-Allah. Right?

*Looking at the wall for a while thinking what word to start*

First guys, I tell you, Prophet Ibrahim pbuh definitely was a human that faced HUGE TESTS. Not kecik-kecik small matter one. The challenges were hard; the burdens of dakwah were super super heavy. This was the man that Allah Taala chose to be one of His messengers. To invite the human race embrace the religion as the way of life. Definitely not an easy task.

Even we want to convince the flat-Earth-believer that, THIS EARTH IS GEOSPEHERE, are real hard enough #tiber

Ok, dig in the story already.

Prophet Ibrahim was born in a region named Babylon (Greek name, means ‘The Gate of Gods’), now known as Iraq. Reaching his teenage age, Prophet Ibrahim pbuh started to question and was searching for God. Well, he lived in a community that worship statues, trees, and even the King. Yes you heard me right; the people at that time worship their king as ‘God’. So Prophet Ibrahim pbuh was thinking, shouldn’t God is unbeatable, and umm what’s the word.. immortal? A powerful King will die, the magnificent statues will fall, the mighty Sun will set, and the amazing Moon will dim. All those were not God. Eventually he had faith that Allah Taala is the ultimate Creator of the Universe, the only God, nothing else. (Al-Anaam : 74-79)

Now let me listed the tough challenges that Prophet Ibrahim faced in his life;

1. His very own father against his believes. The Father wanted Prophet Ibrahim to worship the statues (berhala) that he made it himself, by his own hands. Logically, it was ridiculous, worshipping something that you made, as a GOD, isn’t it? (Maryam: 42-45)
2. Did dakwah to others that were non-believer. He was surrounded by a whole community that believed a tree has superpower to change the fate of their lives (my goodness). He was all alone and the only person who followed him was his wife, Sarah (one wife at that time).
3. Prophet Ibrahim pbuh was thrown into SUPER-BIG-HOT-FIRE, as he went against the evil king named Namrud. This Namrud guy claimed himself as a God and wanted his people to worship him. But Prophet Ibrahim survived! Allah Taala commanded the fire to be cooled and saves Ibrahim pbuh. We called it as ‘mukjizat’. (Al-Anbiya: 69)
4. Had to sacrifice his dear son, Prophet Ismail pbuh. This was the revelation from God and he obeyed to it.

So, the number 4 is the highlight of this whole story.

Prophet Ibrahim pbuh was ordered to sacrifice his son, Prophet Ismail pbuh by Allah Taala. Surely we all WILL TERRIFY, but this heavy test was not meant for normal people guys. This was the test to a prophet, a messenger of God, a person who had the ultimate faith to Allah (beriman) and dedicated his life solely for Him. Allah SWT wanted to test His servant, to prove the faith (iman) and taqwa.

We know the concept right.

We all want Jannah. To get into Jannah or Syurga, is not as easy as words. We have to prove that our faith is purely and solely to Allah Taala. The question is, HOW to prove? By our belief in heart, all the actions that we done, all the words that we threw, all these have be directed to Allah Taala. Some people were tested by losing friends. Some of us might be failed in exam. And some of them loose their families. All these were included in the concept of tests in our life. So what we should do? Patience, pray more, be nicer, reflecting ourselves more often… and many others. Why? To prove ourselves to Him. To present our dear soul to Him as a believer, that wanted His Jannah. As we want to prove ourselves, we would done our best, right. That’s why.

If you ever asked ‘Why’.

So even Prophet Ibrahim pbuh was tested.

But as soon as the knife about to touch the neck of his dear son, Allah Taala displaced Prophet Ismail with a magnificent qibasy (kambing). Thus, it was not his son being sacrificed, it was the qibasy animal that being slaughtered. All praise to Allah Taala for the silver lining behind the test.

You see, Prophet Ibrahim proved his faith to Allah. And Allah Taala grant him qibasy (which is delicious food), and selected that day as a celebration day to all of us. We Muslims manifested the Aidil Adha as a symbol of sacrifice, by presenting the best animal that we can afford to be shared together as a celebration.

This symbolic is so unique, yes?

Aidil Adha is the day that we remind ourselves that we need to sacrifice what we love for the sake of Allah. It doesn’t mean that we love our mom and we need to sacrifice her or what. NOT LIKE THAT OK. It means that, like we sacrifice the things that we love to do, for the sake of being a better person. We sacrificed our leisure time, by gotong royong with neighbors. We sacrificed our money, to help the need. We sacrificed our might or strength, to perform the charity effort. And ultimately, we sacrificed our lust, to be an obedient servant to Allah Taala. Prophet Ibrahim sacrificed his love towards his son, to obey the revelation from his Creator. Allah did test us with things we love.. so that we will always remember Him.

Surely, lust is our hardest fighter inside us. Not an easy one. The reason why we all malas is because of this one lah. The mischievous lust, but it also you.

You fight yourself. You sacrifice yourself.

To be better, for the sake of Allah.

So,

That’s the story of Prophet Ibrahim pbuh. The sirah of Aidil Adha celebration, and the symbolic of sacrifice for us all.

Gosh,

Too many outputs that I get, throughout this writing. It is like a reminder to myself. Always be good and done good. Sacrifice more (lust guys, lust) and be nicer, be better, be stronger.

Inshaa-Allah.

of Siti Hajar

Remember I wrote about the legendary women Siti Sarah before?

So we all know about Siti Sarah now. A loving wife of Prophet Ibrahim pbuh, a strong mother of Prophet Ishak pbuh, and a dedicated servant of Allah Taala. 

Now let's talk about her best friend; Siti Hajar.

Siti Hajar, from the riwayat stated that she was given by the Pharaoh to Sarah. She served Sarah and her family so well, and both of them became the best of friend. When Prophet Ibrahim delivered dakwah to Hajar, she immediately accepted it and became one of the believer. Sarah treated her in a very good way, until one day she proposed to her husband to take Hajar as his second wife. I mean, that's obviously because Sarah trusted Hajar so much, because of her good akhlak, her strong faith in God,  plus with her obedience and loyalty. #wifematerials

After marriage, she was the wife that gave Prophet Ibrahim pbuh his first son. It was Prophet Ismail pbuh. Now you should imagine, a man that wanted child so long and he finally get one. Of course he was so happy and grateful and LOVED HIS FIRSTBORN SO MUCH!

I remembered my mom's story about Along (my first kakak). My dad want to go to work and get dressed already. The moment when my dad stepped out of the front door, little Along calling dad repeatedly and said 'Ayah, don't go' again and again. My dad is a very stern person and known for his strong heart among our family. But he immediately melt away when Along don't want to let him go to work, and went back to get her and pujuk her and stuff. He was already late!! But his heart can't let him go with his beloved daughter crying and wanting him.

As a normal human, thats what happen when we all become a parent. The same goes to Prophet Ibrahim pbuh that surely gave all of his fatherly love to his most awaited child. And Siti Hajar pouring all her heart to her beloved son.

Until the destined day came when Prophet Ibrahim pbuh had to take Siti Hajar and his son to another place, far away from home, unknown place with small amount of food supply.

And when they arrived at a very alien place, with sand and desert as far as they can see, with no promising source to live, Prophet Ibrahim pbuh stopped. Siti Hajar was confused about that action and looked at her dear husband and his son alternately. When Prophet Ibrahim pbuh started to went away, leaving her and the little baby at the arid desert, Siti Hajar immediately chased after her husband. Right after she got to held his arm, she asked "My husband, are you going to leave me and this baby here?"

The husband didn't reply.

Then, she asked again.

"Dear husband, are you really going to leave us here in the middle of the desert?"

Still silent, no answer given.

And then,

Siti Hajar asked his husband for the last time;

"Dear husband, is this a revelation from Allah that ordered you to put us here?"

Prophet Ibrahim finally said yes to her.

And Siti Hajar let go of his arm. She said this to the man she loved:

"If this is the order from God, then do it"

Ya Allah I almost cry when read this Sirah. Can we call it as THE ULTIMATE LOVE STORY? This is definitely better than Titanic!! If Hajar was me, I totally freaked out and started panicking from the beginning of the moment she entered the desert. Is it only me, or everyone else will do the same?! OF COURSE RIGHT

But not to Hajar. Her emotion was well control, and she was so strong. She only had a handful of dates, and a bottle of water. That's all she had. She was left at the place where there was no tree, no tasik, no river, and never shown sign of hujan! It was a desert!

That is what I would call the true love. A true love that put God at the highest place, above of any other matter in this world, including the love to husband/wife. Siti Hajar got the gut to ask and she accept the test with willingness. She fully believed that Allah Taala will take care of her and her baby, even though the desert was scorching hot and no food, no drink, no family, no home, no population there! No human that you can ask for help. Only faith to Allah.

Such. A. Great. Woman. You. Were.

The place finally became civilized when Siti Hajar and her baby discovered water source called 'Zam-zam water' (you have no idea how precious was WATER at that time). You know the story of running from hill of Safa to hill of Marwa? That was what we called 'sa'ie', an action that Hajar did when she desperately seeking for water. The only food supply (aka living supply) that she had was ran out. She ran from these two hills because she thought she saw water but it was not. And the place now is Makkah, the holy land that we all know and want to perform Hajj there. The zam-zam water that she finally discovered is NEVER dried out. It keep coming out from the earth and supplying the water throughout the city.

*breath*
*breath again*
*fuh...*

There.

When you put your ultimate trust in Allah, He will help you with the best favour you can ever get. In shaa Allah. 

To conclude, let me summarized the key-points of being Siti Hajar:

1. She was a very obedience wife. She followed her husband with every trust that she had.
2. She was absolutely bersangka baik to her husband! She asked her husband with a question that no one of us ladies will ever think of! (Ladies being ladies!) "Dear husband, is this a revelation from Allah that ordered you to put us here?" and her terrific answer, "If this is the order from God, then do it" *cries*
3. She was such a good mother. She never gave up of his son and put a huge effort to feed him. She searched the entire desert for water supply! God blessed this mother!
4. Ultimately, she was a devoted servant of God. She put her believed in Allah, to take care of her and her baby. She have faith in Allah when her husband had to leave her alone with no sight of hope. But surely Allah Taala is the best helper to us all.

Can we all be like Hajar?

of Siti Sarah

Did you notice that we are entering the month of Zulhijjah now?

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*