Wednesday 20 November 2013

Nama Jahiliah & Nama Islam

Nama-nama yang dikatakan Islamik seperti Abu Bakar, Umar, Ali, Hafsah....
Sebenarnya adalah nama-nama orang bukan-Muslim semasa Jahiliah.
Selepas mereka masuk Islam, apakah nama Islam mereka?
Jawapannya, Abu Bakar, Umar, Ali, Hafsah juga....

Sebelum saya masuk Islam, saya bernama Chong Kok Hoong.
Setelah kembali ke Islam, maka nama Islam saya ialah....
Chong Kok Hoong

Chong / 张 = nama keluargaku
Kok / 国 = Negara
Hoong / 雄 = Pahlawan

A Place of Worship

What makes this room seem so Divine,
despite the blank wall and floor?


Sunday 10 November 2013

Your Name On A Book

Often whenever I buy a book, I will sign my name and purchase date on the inner cover of the book. I will write it beautifully because I'm proud of having a copy of this book. 

But one incident changed my mind profoundly.

A team mate recently asked if I have copies of English & Chinese interpretations of Holy Qur'an. For the sake of Da'wah, I agreed right-away without hesitation, as I had both of these copies. An extra copy of Chinese Qur'an was in my car, but the English one -a pocket-sized copy - had my name signature and my handwritten notes on it.

Without a second thought, I just give it away.
But what about my signature name in it?

I stared at my signature for a moment. And I realized, Qur'an is for whole humanity. Not only for Muslims, and definitely not me myself either. I realize if again I buy another copy of translated Quran and signed my name on it, it's meaningless.

I decided finally that from now onwards, I will not sign my name on the front inner cover of books, but just a simple handwritten name on the last page of the book.

Some people might need it more than us. And when they can benefit from our books a lot, inshaAllah wouldn't the blessings & rewards from Allah increases more than we read it ourselves?

If it's a book that you've purchase with your hard-earned money, then you can still share what you have learn from it to your loved ones. May Allah reward you for that.

This is also why in Islam, whatever we learn, we should teach/share it to others too, instead of just keeping it to ourselves. It does help in keeping our hearts humble, instead of being proud of possessing what we were taught.

~self reminder...

Monday 4 November 2013

Autumn Creations


People generally will appreciate 
the autumn leaves, 
even if God isn't in their minds.