Pin: Ramadhan Kareem 2021 & (throwback) 2nd Dose

Another year welcoming Ramadhan

Let this graceful month enlighten all our darkness, wash away our sorrows and ease our pain.
May the blessing of Ramadhan be on all of us and may our prayers and deeds get accepted.

Ramadhan kareem, everyone!

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The April series photos part 1: the incomplete quorum

April 11th, lunch with them, an incomplete quorum of the Zenols

April 10th, brunch with them, an incomplete quorum of Funtastic 4 + the aunts

April 9th, dinner, and coffee with them, an incomplete quorum of MDTs

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Throwback to 2nd dose of covid-19 vaccine, Thursday 1st April
- it was the day before the submission of our thesis/dissertation manuscript, so we decided to go slightly later in the afternoon.

The jab itself wasn't painful, but I experienced slightly worse minor side effects (compared to the first dose) afterward- feeling feverish, headache, arthralgia, and myalgia akin to viral-like symptoms that warranted regular paracetamol... they lasted for about 48 hours and after that, you'll be okay.

The SNs were so gentle that you felt nothing and it was over in an instant

Completed 2nd dose. Let's all do out part, protect yourself, protect others :)

Post-It Note, entering mid-2020

Just a little note for myself,
for future reference, when we look back to the year 2020
And a little bit of Madrasah Ramadhan this year...

I called 2020 a “Waiting game with rapid shuffling surprises”

It lets the Earth rest for a bit,
It opens our eyes to humanity and humility,
and how to be humble;
But it also showed some true colours of human being,
including the ugly truth...
And how small human is, really

This year has brought a lot of changes,
challenges upon challenges,
myriads of emotions,
And lets us think on how to face the days ahead
with sometimes sudden turns that require us to choose completely different, sometimes unthinkable, untrodden paths...

But one thing for sure,
NEVER abandon social distancing even if you're family members, friends, or colleague
(NEVER see patients without proper mask/goggle/face shield)
MUST ALWAYS practice adequate hand hygiene,
and wear mask appropriately.
It NEVER hurt to be extra careful and OCD
In this COVID-19 era

A note to myself...
There's always hikmah behind all this,
if not now, later insyaAllah...

Selamat Hari Raya everyone,
Eid Mubarak
Stay safe

Till next Ramadhan, insyaAllah

Wani Z.
May 23rd, 2020

Sticky Note 1-2018 : Madrasah Ramadhan (1)

//Sticky Note:

I am still somewhat green in this field, still learning the ropes and steps but sometimes when you’re working in this field, in general medicine especially, you’re sort of "immune" when you’re dealing with dying patients / death. Automatically there’s this invisible, protective barrier surrounding you, devoid of any emotions so that you can manage your next patient without having the recurrent thoughts of that particular patient looping in your mind.

I still remember the first time I encountered a patient that we (the team) issued “DNR” (read: not for active resuscitation, for best supportive care) in my second posting as a House Officer, I was shaken and I almost cried (read here). At the time, I kept asking myself if I did the right thing.
Nowadays, issuing DNR when indicated (i.e. when we postulate that the prognosis is poor) is something that is not as hard as before.

But my first referral in Resus during on-call last Monday, I lingered around longer than expected, trying to make sure the patient and family knows what was happening, what was bound to happen and how we planned to deal with it. A young gentleman with terminal metastatic cancer and we know that nothing much we can offer except for comfort care; to counsel him while he was still awake and aware, something struck my core.

He’s not much older than me, and he’s probably at the end of his life. I wonder how it feels to be in his shoes; not being able to do much and depending on others to care for him, with shortness of breathand his bloods showing multiple organ impairments… when I was counselling his sister, I myself almost tear up.

Another recent young death, Mr Ali Banat, also resonated in similar way- a young gentleman who passed away recently due to cancer, being able to contribute up to his last breath. These people were given chance by Allah, to prepare before they breathe their last breath.

But what about us?
Have we atone enough?
Have we seek for forgiveness from The Creator and other mankind whom we’ve wronged previously?
Have we settled all our debts?
Have we save enough merits for the hereafter?

“Ya Allah, iftah ‘alayya”

The last 10 days of Ramadhan...

يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ

ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَّرْضِيَّةً

 فَادْخُلِي فِي عِبَادِي

 وَادْخُلِي جَنَّتِي 

[But unto the righteous God will say,] "O thou human being that hast attained to inner peace!
Return thou unto thy Sustainer, well-pleased [and] pleasing [Him]
enter, then, together with My [other true] servants
yea, enter thou My paradise!"

Al-Fajr (The Dawn) 89:27-30

Madrasah Ramadhan

In a few more hours, it will be Ramadhan 14th. Almost half a month gone.

What have we achieve in this year's Ramadhan?

It's a question I ask every night now...

Madrasah Ramadhan

Her dark eyes were fixed onto the computer screen. Her brain was working fast- absorbing, digesting and letting every word sink deeply into her processing chamber. Minutes ticked and her face scrunched up into a deep frown.

'Where has this girl gone?' The question kept repeating itself at the back of her mind.
As she read more and more of the past 2 years entry of her journal, more questions arose.

'What happened? What has gone wrong in the past year?
What made it change?
How did she become worse?
Has it been slowly progressing for the past 10 months? Or has she always been like this?

'This is not who I want to be! This is not who I worked to be!' She thought disgustedly.

Her gaze snapped towards the mirror next to her study table.
'I don't know who you are anymore' She whispered softly.
'You are not the same person anymore. When?' She asked silently. 'When has everything changed? Why was the personality so different as day and night?'
Or was this person really herself? Has she not recognized it before?
Has she not noticed it before?

It's weird- the different things she always recite in her dua and the different things she's portraying in her character.

"You failed yourself." She told the reflection in the mirror.

She realized now that everything went down hill faster when she thought her friends were purposely hurting her. That night, she recalled, she cried herself to sleep- believing there's no one anymore to listen; no one except the Creator of the Holy Book she was reciting while sobbing till she fell asleep.

The next day, she felt numb and retaliate silently at everything and everyone. She fell back faster into her old-self- hooked up with some of her worse habbits back then and distinctively feeling the feelings she poured in her poem back then- 'Feels like Being Left Alone'.
How long ago was that? 6 years ago? That long, huh?

Ironically, it felt worse this Ramadhan. This Ramadhan was not like last years. No significant better difference and she kept wondering why.
Admittedly, she knows she's an emotional wreck. And she hated it. She needs to solve her problems. She doesn't want to let this Ramadhan goes before settling her emotions, character and attitude.

There's no guarantee that she'll see the next Ramadhan and it will be a total waste if she keeps on wallowing in her darkness without trying to capture the light.

"I want to change –no- I NEED to change" she voiced out loudly. It reverberated throughout her room.

'I am going to change. I will not let 3 years of hardworking waste away. I will change my attitude for the better. I wish for a better character and I will work for it.
It's time to leave this nonsense behind.
It's time to throw this jahiliyah away.
It will be hard, but it will be worth it!'

She took a pen and a paper and started to jot what she wants to achieve before the next Ramadhan, hopefully by the end of this Ramadhan.

This is 'Madrasah Ramadhan' for her.
InsyaAllah...
_______________
Wahh.... lamanya tak 'menulis'. I used to have this 'itchiness' to write a fic/poem back then.... sekarang dah tak de... And tetiba datang balik... 'tangan gatal nak menulis' :p

Allahumma Balighna Ramadhan

Only 2 more days and we'll come into Ramadhan al-Mubarak... Can't wait! The article below is one that I copied from Dakwah Info. Happy reading, may it be a reminder for us:

"Sedar ataupun tidak, bulan suci mulia yang telah kita tinggalkan lalu dengan penuh pengabdian dan keazaman untuk peningkatan sebagai seorang Muslim yang benar-benar menyerah, tunduk patuh kepadaNya bakal menjelang tiba. Maha Suci Allah yang telah mengurniakan umur yang setahun lebih panjang dengan mengurniakan kita sekali lagi Ramadhan, untuk kita koreksi diri, pertambahkan iman dan persiapkan kekuatan dan bekalan. Seperti doa yang biasa kita ucapkan; Allahumma Ballighna Ramadhan. Seperti doa yang diajarkan Rasulullah saw kepada kita;

Apabila Rasulullah saw melihat anak bulan Rejab, baginda membaca,
"Ya Allah, rahmatilah kami dengan Rejab dan Syaaban, dan sampaikan kepada kami Ramadhan." (Hadith riwayat at-Tabrani dan Ahmad)

Betapa besar kurniaan Allah kepada kita di dalam bulan Ramadhan, dimana Rasulullah telah mengajarkan kita untuk berdoa agar kita dihidupkan sehingga sampai bulan Ramadhan, supaya bulan itu dimanfaatkan untuk kita menjadi seorang hamba yang patuh kepadaNya.

Bagi para daie ilallah, peluang mengecapi Ramadhan sememangnya ditunggu, di kala tamatnya Ramdhan yang lepas dengan penuh tangisan ketakwaan dan air mata keinsafan. Bulan bukan sekadar nikmat, tetapi penuh ujian serta peluang amal dakwah untuk mendekatkan manusia pada jalan Allah swt.

Persediaan dan perancangan perlulah dilakukan untuk kita memaksimumkan segala peluang yang di bulan Ramadhan ini. Sebagaimana yang dimaklumi, amal kebajikan akan diganjarkan setingkat lebih tinggi jika ia dilakukan pada bulan Ramadhan. Yang sunat diberi pahala wajib. Yang wajib digandakan dengan gandaan sesuai dengan kurniaan Allah swt Yang Maha Kaya.

Ketika Ramadhan menjelang, Rasulullah saw bersabda bermaksud, "Wahai manusia, menjelang tiba bulan agung lagi berkat. Bulan yang di dalamnya ada satu malam yang lebih baik dari 1000 bulan. Sesiapa yang mendekatkan dirinya dengan mengerjakan amalan Fardhu, seolah-olah dia telah mendapat 70 pahala Fardhu di bulan-bulan yang lain. Sesiapa yang mendekatkan dirinya dengan amalam-amalan Sunat, seolah-olah dia mendapat pahala amalan-amalan Fardhu di bulan-bulan yang lain. Ia adalah bulan sabar. Ia adalah bulan yang awalnya rahmat, tengahnya keampunan dan akhirnya selamat dari Neraka..." (Riwayat Ibn Khuzaimah)

Antara persiapan yang perlu dilakukan menjelang Ramadhan ialah:

1) Memahirkan diri dengan segala rukun,sunat,harus,makruh yang berkaitan dengan puasa di bulan Ramadhan, sunat tarawih dan lain-lain lagi.

2) Membiasakan diri bangun pada sepertiga malam untuk bertahajjud, untuk mendekatkan diri pada Allah, dan membiasakan tahajjud di bulan Ramadhan.

3) Memperuntukkan beberapa jumlah wang untuk dijadikan sedekah jariah dan zakat fitrah. Bagi mereka yang telah akil baligh, maka belajarlah membayar zakat fitrah sendiri.

4) Menyediakan diri dengan kurang makan dan berpuasa, namun perlu diingat dengan sabda Nabi saw dari Abu Hurairah;
"Janganlah kamu berpuasa sehari atau dua hari sebelum tiba bulan Ramadan melainkan orang yang biasa berpuasa dengan puasa yang tertentu maka bolehlah dia berpuasa" (riwayat Muslim)

5) Strategi tersusun untuk memperbanyakkan hafalan, bacaan, tadabbur, tadarrus al-Quran. Pada bulan ini kita mempunyai kelebihan kerana musuh ketat manusia telah di rantai, sebagaimana sabda Rasulullah saw dari Bau Hurairah;
"Apabila tiba bulan Ramadan, dibuka pintu-pintu Syurga dan ditutup pintu-pintu Neraka serta syaitan-syaitan dibelenggu."(riwayat Muslim)

6) Melatih diri semua sifat Islamiah seperti sabar, kurang bercakap lagha dan keji, menjauhi mengumpat dan mengata, dan perbanyakkan senyuman kepada semua sahabat.

Jadi sahabat sekalian, sematkan azam masing-masing untuk kita memperbanyakkan amalan fardhi dan amalan dakwah kita di bulan Ramadhan yang bakal tiba beberapa hari sahaja lagi. Persiapkan mental mulai sekarang dan tekunlah istiqamah dengannya.

Doa kita..Allahumma Balligna Ramadhan...amen..."
_____________________
Zura and Diana's Graduation Day:

Diana & Zura's Graduation

Second Iftar

There weren't many people on the sister's side this time.
I guess many people had other invitation or have other plans last night.
We ourselves (the girls in Currie) had an invitation to break the fast at Hani's house, along with the other female Wamsa's member. We had to decline that one.
Apart from it being a bit far away, the other reason was because I already put down my name down for MSA Iftar and this might be the last time I meet the other Muslim girls in UWA this sem. After this the SWOT Vac starts and everyone will be busy with exams.
Nevertheles, last night was beautiful!
I just love the fact that many different races and nationalities sitting together under one roof in the name of Islam. There's no discrimination and splitting of in Islam. We're all the same, no matter what colour our skin and eyes are. This is the truth behind the propaganda that tried to split the Muslims.
The thinking of nationalisme, rasicm, secular way of doing things is all the propaganda to think we're all at different levels, some are better than others when in fact that's not true. Who are we to jugde other people when Allah has made all of us from the same source?
And it doesn't matter if you're a Syiah or a Sunni (Sunnah Wal-Jamaah). I see no problem with different mazhab. In the end, all of us look back on Al-Quran and Sunnah as our guidance. In the end, we're all going back to him.
Like a wise man I met before said, the key is to unite. The problem with Muslims these days is we look upon our differences much more than we look at our similarities.
Just because I speak different mother tongue than you, doesn't mean I'm better than you, doesn't mean I believe differently from you, ne?
Wallahualam.