5 things to do in Eidul Fitri

Eidul Fitri is an important festival for Muslims. It comes at the end of the holy month of Ramadhan. During Ramadhan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. This fasting is one of the pillars of Islam. When the new moon is sighted, it signifies the end of Ramadhan and the beginning of the month of Syawal. It also signifies that Eidul Fitri will be celebrated the next day.

At the evening, we going back to hometown and celebrating Eidul Fitri together with my grandmother, grandfather, my uncles, aunts and my cousins.. I am very happy at that time to meet all of them, play and chat with them. We talk together and laugh together. It’s was so much fun. Inside the house, the women make many varieties of cookies. Then, tidy up the house, take off  the curtain cloth that is old and replace curtain cloth that is new, cleaning item that many dust and others. Also, cook rendang and prepare satay  to go with ketupat. The men, check on the rows of lemang slowly cooking inside their bamboo casings in the open fire. The aroma of glutinous rice and coconut milk deliciously fills the air.

Days before Eidul Fitri, it is impossible to sleep. Tin lamps filled with oil are placed in the garden. They glow gently in the darkness. We are letting off firecrackers and fireworks. The atmosphere filled with the sound of exploding fireworks. However, my house which is often the noisiest, bursting with people and activity. There is a lot of calling and laughing.

We are all up very early on Eidul Fitri morning. Our uncles, aunts and cousins arrive early. It is wonderful to greet everyone and of course show off our new clothes. Everyone is in their traditional best, men in their baju melayu and women in their baju kurung. We walk to the nearby  mosque for the morning prayer. After that, we go to the cemetery to remember our beloved dead ones. We clean the graves and offer a prayer.

Back home, we ask for forgiveness from our elders. This is a sign of respect that I value very much. Of course, after that, we young ones get green pockets of money. As we are a large family, we get lots of money. It is great fun comparing and making sure that we have collected from every elder person.

In the late evening, the family gathers in the veranda after prayers. We talk of days past and in the future. We share our experiences and hopes. Eidul Fitri is a day of prayer, thanksgiving and celebration. It is also a day when the family reaffirms itself. It is a very special day and a very meaningful one to us.

That’s all for today and this is our last post. Thank you to all of you who spending the time to reads our blog. Have a nice day, bye!

5 things to do before bed

Assalamualaikum, today we would like to share 5 things we do before go to bed. So what do you do at night before sleep? Do you spend quality time with your family? Do you watch television? So, here we are going to share to all of you about this topic.

Hello, I’m Habiburrahman. Before I go to bed, I will checking my work at college and house that not completed like homework, assignment and tidy up my room and my bed. After completing all, I open my laptop to play games such as dota2 and counter strike. I playing together with my housemate. After tired playing the games, I will go bathe and ironing my clothes for class tomorrow. Then, I go for isya’ prayer and introspect self. Lastly, I wash my legs and prepare to bed.

Hi, I’m Shiha. Things that I do before go to bed, I will go bathe and then go out for a dinner with my roommates. After reaching at hostel, I will complete my assignment or study group with my housemates that same class with me. After everything completed, I listening to music in my telephone. Besides that, I spent time with my family if at home and with my roommates at hostel. We share a lot of stories together. When tired telling stories, I wash my legs and get ready to bed.

Assalamualaikum, I’m Sufwan. Firstly, before I go to bed, I will go bathe. Then, changing to clothes that is loose. After that, I will complete my assignment and doing some revision. Then, I drink a glass of warm milk before bed. It’s will help you to sleep better and it’s good for health. After that, before go to bed, I will recite Al-Quran surah Al-Mulk. Lastly, tidy up sleeping place for comfort and get ready to bed.

Hi, I’m Raubah. First things that I do before go to bed is settling my assignment and doing some revision. Then,  spending my time with family like dinner together, watch television and share story. After that, I will enter to room and listening to song while tidying up sleeping place. I will doing a few exercise. Doing moderate exercise before sleep can make body feel relax. Lastly, I spent my time with scrolling timeline twitter, instagram, wechat and then get ready to bed.

Thank you for spending your time for reading our blog!

Shopping

Shopping is an art. Most girls and women learn this art instinctively. They take to it like ducks to water. Perhaps it is in their genes.

Usually, when a man needs a shirt or a pair of shoes, he goes to the nearest shop and picks one out. He is seldom worried about the colour or the design. He is happy as long as he is comfortable in it, he looks good in it and the price fits his budget.

On the other hand, the situation is different with a girl or a woman. She will go to a lot of shops. She will compare designs, prices and fittings. She will try on everything, even those she does not like. After that, she haggles about the price. Only then will she buy what she wants. Of course, this is a general statement. There are some men who love to shop and some women who hate it. However, on the whole, they are few and far between.

As proof, we need only to go to any shopping mall during a festival or holiday sale. Who forms the majority of shoppers? Women of course. Who has the saddest and longest faces among the shoppers? Why, it is the men, who have to accompany their wives, mothers or girlfriends. In fact, in Malaysia especially, it can be said that shopping is the number one most favoured leisure activity.

A scientific study made on shopping has produced interesting information. It says that shopping is a very good physical exercise. When people walk for hours up and down the shops, they burning hundreds of calories. When they do this while carrying heavy bags of shopping, even more calories are burned. What a fun way to exercise!

The study has also revealed why women are more alert than men in their old age. It is all due to shopping. A retired man usually spends most of his time in front of the television with a remote control in one hand and a bag of potato chips in the other. A retired woman prefers to occupy herself at the mall. Even if she does not buy anything, she keeps her mind active by merely browsing, window-shopping and walking around.

Therefore, one can say that shopping is good for you. Besides, all the health benefits, even window shopping, gives us an opportunity to look at, touch, feel and try on beautiful things. That in itself is a pleasure.

A friend is need is a friend indeed

Hi, today I would like to share a short story with all the readers. We have all heard the old saying “a friend is need is a friend indeed”. This means that a friend who helps you when you really need help is a true friend. We need true friends in our life. A real or true friends is always willing to help us when we need them, it is our responsibility to remain helpful towards our friends. So, let’s read a short story below.

Maria was a famous actress. She was young, beautiful and very popular. Her pictures appeared in all the magazines and newspapers. She was on top of the world. She had money, fame and friends. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any common sense.

Maria’s best friend during her early years as an actress, was Liyana. Liyana worked as a teacher. When Maria was struggling to find acting jobs, Liyana asked her to stay with her in her small house. The struggling actress not have to pay any rent. Liyana provided food and even gave her friend money when Maria was broke. Liyana always encouraged never  to give up for she knew Maria was talented.

One day, Maria became famous, Liyana was delighted for her. As more and more work poured in, the actress moved out to a large apartment. She did not ask Liyana to share the apartment with her. She had new friends now and they were all glamorous and beautiful people. They were actresses and models. Liyana seemed rather old-fashioned and boring beside them. Maria soon forgot her friend from her hardship days.

Then, something happen dreadful happened. During one filming session, a stunt went wrong. Maria got a cut on her face. It left a big scar. Her face was ruined and the jobs dried up. No one wanted an actress with a scar on her face. Maria’s savings ran out. In desperation, she turned to her friends for help. She begged them to help her find a job. But, no one had any time for her. She was no longer rich, important and popular.

It was at that time that she remembered her long-time friend, Liyana. She remembered how kind and generous Liyana had been to her. She wept with shame when she recalled how badly she had treated Liyana in return when she was at the peak of her life. Feeling deeply sorry, Maria went to Liyana’s house. To her surprise, Liyana hugged her warmly. Maria cried and apologized for her behavior. She told her, “you are true friend”.

A few days later, Liyana introduced Maria to her boyfriend. He was a producer of television serials. He was looking for an actress to play the role of a bad cruel woman. He gave the role to Maria. She acted wonderfully and the serial became a hit. Maria became famous once more. Her old friends came flocking back but this time Maria was older and wiser. She knew they were not real friends. Only Liyana was. Hence, Liyana was always her “friend in need is a friend indeed”.

The moral of the story, we should always be aware of such friends and try to avoid them as far as practicable. That’s it for this week. See you again at our next week’s post. Bye!

Excuses of being late to come to classes

Greeting to our fellow reader. Today me are going to discuss about why student always late to come to the classes.

First of all, for a male students. Mostly we will overnight for doing something that can get rid of boring. For example, most of them will go out at late night to watch a football match if there have a game. Then, there will take so much time hanging out at mamak to talk nonsense.

After that, if there don't have any football game at that night, they will try to find something that can they play to make them feel happy like sit together and play a game such as counter strike global official and Dota 2. It can play with together as a team and that game will make then sleep at late night. Nowadays, Dota 2 is a most famous online game in worlds.

Next, as you know, mostly male student did not like to stay at home, study and doing nothing. When there bored they will go out with there motor cycle for taking some air at night. Even if they did not finish there homework. They still want to go out. They sleep at late night and wake up and late for the classes. After class they will feel tired and sleep. This will make them wake up at night and can't sleep early.

Usually, the more ridiculous our excuse is, the less climatic our real reason is. Honestly, sometime they show up late because they just straight up didn't want to go to class. So they waste several minutes laying in bed. Whether they need to get up and just continue sleeping but mostly they will make decisions when time was running short.

Lastly, some of us did not like to finish our work went we have a time to finish it. Sometime we just hanging in the booth and print the paper work at a last minutes. This is one of the reason why we always late, we have to  wait in the line to print the paper work.

Next, for a female students. In the morning, first thing that they need to take a few minutes to motivate there self to start the day. For example they will talk to there self at the mirror and said  " your are good and fine " and repeat it for a few time. Then, they will take a lot of time in the toilet to take a bath. Most of them will take a shower about a 30 minutes.

The whole shampoo thing didn't work up so they try out a cute bun and that also is a fail so finally they will wear Hijab and just move on. Then, they need to find an outfit that match for they day. They determine that the first outfit they had on was awful so they will spent another ten minutes changing into a new one.

Finally, students who walk from the hostel. They will take a very long time to get to the college because they runs very slowly. Then, they jesting while walking without seeing time and did not care that they were late to class.


As a conclusion. All this thing is happen for some people not all of them like that. However this is reality that happen to us and this is what we do for really doing it.

How to manage your time as a Muslim

I am always amazed how time challenged Muslim are whether as a student, a businessmen or a homemaker. Time management can be daunting as you seek to balance your responsibilities for this dunya and your responsibilities for your akhirah. Staying on target can get easily swept aside if you do not manage your time carefully.

The prophet Muhammad  said "Take advantage of five matters before five other matters, your youth before your become old, your health before you fall sick, your wealth before you become poor, your free time before you become preoccupied and your life before your death"  Narrated by Ibn abbas in the Mustadrak of Hakim & Musnad Imam Ahmad Sahi

1. Be an early Riser

• Go to bed early and rest

After the Isha prayer, the Prophet Muhammad would not like to engage in unnecessary talk and would take to his house to go  to sleep.

"During your sleep, Satan knots three knots at the back of the head of each of you, and he breathes the following words at each knot, ‘The night is long, so keep on sleeping’ If that person wakes up and celebrates the praises of Allah, then one knot is undone and when he performs ablution the second knot is undone and when he prays, all the knots are undone and he gets up in the morning lively and in a good mood, otherwise he gets up dull and gloomy." (Bukhari)

However, Alhamdulillah, we were given the prescription to combat his whispering:

‘All praise and thanks is for Allah who gave us life after having taken it from us and unto Him is the Resurrection.‘

• Perform the prescribed dhikr (remembrance of Allah ) after Fajr

If you still have the urge to jump back into your warm comfy bed after Fajr, remember that the best extension of the prayer is the dhikr that you perform afterwards.

”The angels keep on asking Allah’s forgiveness for anyone of you, as long as he is at his Musalla (praying place) and he does not pass wind (Hadath). They say, ‘O Allah! Forgive him, O Allah! be Merciful to him.” (Bukhari)

Plus, the longer you stay up, the less likely you will go back to sleep (and the less likely you will be able to fall asleep).

• Recite / reflect on / memorize Quran

After Fajr prayer is an amazing time to be alone with the Quran. Before the day’s distractions set you off course, use this time to recite, reflect and memorize The Quran. If you are like me, if I do not read my daily dose of the Quran in the morning, I find it incredibly difficult to sit after work or at the end of the day to try to get some quality time with the Quran. Believe me, you will feel the benefit when you start your day remembering Allah.

2. Schedule your day around the five daily prayer

No compromises. The discipline to give up all your work and life’s distractions to perform salah strengthens your willpower to live a purposeful life. Just as you endeavor to be punctual for meetings with your colleagues or project team mates, you should perform your salah on time.

While some of us who are students or working professionals may find it difficult to pray on time, we can overcome this by discussing the issue with your colleagues or friends. If you find yourself constantly finding pockets of time to peform your salah, your khusyu’ will be affected. Performing your salah on time will energize you, once you have fulfilled your most important obligation, the rest will become easy for you.

It was narrated that ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud said: “I asked the Messenger of Allah  which action is most beloved to Allah? He said: ‘Establishing prayer on time, honoring one’s parents and jihad in the cause of Allah.'” [Sunan an-Nasa’i]

3. Prioritize and Consistent

 There are three type:

• Spiritual development

It was typically the late part of the night people would recharge himself spiritually for the next day and boost his resolve to face the next day for the new thing.It was during the night that people can make a wish with his Lord, the Source of all strength and empowerment, through qiyam (night prayer), dua (supplication) and dhikr.

• Family affairs

The prophet  was consistent in making time for family matters.

Anas ibn Malik said: “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was the most merciful of people towards members of his family. He had his son (Ibrahim) suckled in part of Madina and the husband of his wet-nurse was a blacksmith. We used to go to him and the house would be full of smoke from the bellows. He would kiss the child and take him in his lap.” [Al-Adab Al-Mufrad]

• Personal/Social affairs

Narrated ‘Aisha: that the Messenger of Allah  said: “The best of you is the best to his wives, and I am the best of you to my wives, and when your companion dies, leave him alone.” [Jami’ at-Tirmidhi]

He consistently made time for his followers so no one felt neglected or had their affairs swept under the carpet. This was the time when men and women would come with their personal, marital, financial, spiritual and even health problems. This is when he would receive delegations from other nations and faith group or attend to nerve-racking issues of politics, conflicts and leadership.

4. Honoring the time of others

Similarly, emphasis the importance of fulfilling one’s promises.

Aim to arrive for meetings, classes and events 10 minutes before they are scheduled to start. If you are running late, inform the other parties. Honoring others’ time is part of fulfilling your promise. Breaking a promise not only causes inconvenience to others, but also causes you to lose their respect. The Quran says:

Narrated Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri: Some women requested the Prophet  to fix a day for them as the men were taking all his time. On that he promised them one day for religious lessons and commandments. [Bukhari]

It is reported on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah  said: Three are the signs of a hypocrite: when he spoke he told a lie, when he made a promise he acted treacherously against it, when he was trusted he betrayed. [Muslim]

As a Muslim we need to what must be done and the direction of our live as a human being who often forget the god who has given us facilities. Even we are busy doing our job in this world we should not forget the important thing, though busy somehow we must remember the duties which are at all time as we must do to fulfill our obligations as a slave.

iPhone vs Android

Assalamualaikum and Hai to our reader. For this week we want  to expose about how good and bad about iPhone and Android. According to my tittle, this topic is very famous nowadays.

Iphone

iPhone is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. and distributed exclusively for Apple hardware. It is the operating system that presently power many of the company’s mobile device, including the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Advantage of iPhone ;

• Strong security

Apple has always had a  strong reputation in the security space. This make it far more difficult for hackers to target its users, as they are unable to sneak in application into its iTunes store.

•     Face Time

A big benefit to  the iPhone and the other Apple devices is Face Time feature, which uses the iPhone's front-facing camera to enable video chats with others iPhone users in high defination. Previously only available to be used over Wi-Fi connections, you can make Face Time video calls over cellular data with iPhone.

•    Camera   

The iPhone camera is so advanced that many people are doing away with their digital cameras and using their iPhone exclusively for picture-taking purposes.



 Disadvantages of iPhone;     

• The Annoying iOS 8 Bugs

As the successor of iOS 7, iOS 8 does bring the Apple users an excellent performance since there are plentiful advantages of iOS 8 it brings to your iPhone 6 Plus. You see the pros of iOS 8: continuity between Mac OS and iOS; QuickType and 3rd-party keyboards; new features in Mail & Messages and new spirit of openness for app developers.

• Non-removable Li-Po Battery

 At least one point Android smart phones even better than iPhone is that Android phones support the users to freely insert or draw out the battery to independently charging. To Apple iPhones, you can only charge the battery with the whole iPhone, which sometimes leads to great inconvenience to the users when they need iPhone to make urgent calls on the move while iPhone are fixed to supplement power. The common iPhone disadvantage also becomes an obvious con of iPhone.                                                                     

• Lack of Dust Proof and Water Resistant Display

Compared with its strong opponent Samsung Galaxy, iPhone is instantly dominated when it comes to the dust proof and water resistant display. As a latecomer, iPhone are supposed to surprise us more with some groundbreaking changes, e.g., the display. But unfortunately, besides the bigger yet higher resolution retina, it seems no other innovation breakthrough even lack of dust and water resistant display.                                      

Android

Android is a  mobile operating system developed by google. It is used by several smartphones, such as Samsung Galaxy, LG, Lenovo, HTC and tablets. . It’s an operating system that’s available on devices made by a variety of manufacturers, giving you more choices of devices style and pricing. Also, with the android operating system, you can customize your device in many ways.

Advantage of Android ;

• Ease of Notification

Any SMS and Email will always be a notification on the Home Screen Android phone. Do not miss the LED indicator is blinking, so you will not miss a single SMS, Email or even Misscall.

• Google Maniac

User of Google services ranging from Gmail to Google Reader Android phone has integrated with Google services, so can quickly check email from Gmail.

• Can install a modified ROM

There are many custom ROM that can be used in mobile phones Android.

• Phone options are diverse

Talk Android phone, it will feel different than iOS, if the iOS is limited to the iPhone from Apple then Android is available on mobile phones  from various manufacturer from Samsung, HTC, Lenovo to LG. So, choose the Android phone in accordance with the brand favorite.

Disadvantage of Android ;

• Continuous Internet connection

Mostly Android phones requires a simultaneous Internet connection alias continuously active.

• Advertising

Application in the Android phones can indeed be obtained easily and for free but the consequences in each of these applications, will always be ads on display, either the top or bottom of the application.

• Battery problem

Android has many process running in the background this increase the usage of RAM and decreasing battery performance. Although has good battery backup but still doesn’t mean it solved the problem.

• Force close on Large Application and Games

When you run large of applications and games most of the time android shows error force close which is definitely annoying.

From information that I achieved from my other college friends and my cousin. Mostly said that better iPhone than Android. This is because iPhone have many advantages compared to Android, such as iPhone security system that is tighter than Android. Besides that, iPhone not always jammed like Android. Although iPhone applications not as easy as android but they extremely satisfied with applications exist in iPhone.

That’s all for today, see you next week with a new entry. Bye!