the ramadhan lesson

the post ramadhan period saw the masjid losing the ramadhan jumaah rapidly ... the masjid was left with the usual lineup of makmum for al fajr as it was, before the ramadham started ... to those who managed to make it for al fajr congregating at the masjid the whole year round ... you must really have felt very beautiful inside ... alhamdulillah




the month long ramadhan saw drastic changes in the attitudes of the people in my community and probably in other community as well ... the masjid became a sanctury for almost all walks of life in search of blessings from Allah for being dutiful ... more so when the deed are rewarded 10 folds ... the iqtikafs ... the mandatory prayers ...







breaking fast in the masjids as well as having the opprotunity of contributing something to feed those breaking their fast ... doing the terawih prayers with 8 to 20 to more rakaats.


the terawih prayers end with the witr prayers ... which i felt should be done at the later time of the night rather that immediately after the terawih as the time was still as early as 10.00 pm ... followed by tadarus Al Quran session ... and once or twice a week ... the masjid will organise a taskirah session delivered by an Ustaz ...

I find the days and nights of ramadhan very challenging .... juggling with the daily chores at home and the office and the additional need to sincerely make myself available at the masjid for the nightly ibadah till dawn for the whole month ... sadden at times by not being able to live up to the expectation of Ramadhan.

flooding in the rice bowl

the monsoon season never fail to show itself every year nowadays ... bringing heavy rain causing erosion in the high land and flooding of the low lying land ... I am so sure now that there will be lots more rain coming in the future with the greenhouse effect getting worse ... the ice caps in the north and south poles will continue melting ... pity those living in the low lying areas ... acquiring losses and losses every time the "banjir" arrives!!! ... like I said earlier ... people never learn ... lots of padi land were reclaimed to develop housing estates ... and guess what!!! ... where else can the water in the padi field go to? ... if not up ... beyond the flood danger level ... notice the water mark when the flood reached its peak! (pic taken when the water receded)

Balik kampung for Eid Ul Fitr 1427 H

at the point of time when i wanted to return to my home town ... i realised that there were quite a list of things for me to do at my late parents-in-laws house ... there's no one to care for of the wooden house ... more so when flooding has been frequent in the area ... at my age, with two grown-up kids ... the grass cutting spree (i'd say) surely kept me exhaused and drained till breaking fast during the holy month of ramadhan ... armed with a weaved hat, a portable lightweight grass cutting machine hung on my back .. there i was swinging the cutter shaft from side to side trimming the grass and the stubborn lalangs

i remember that grass cutting was so much fun a few years back ... smelling the freshly cut grasses gathered in the front yard of the house ... with a stone set chairs and table under the mangosteen tree in the yard (see pic) ... use to have our family lunch there as often as we can when everytime we return home ... the stone set brought lots of sweet memories ... those days when ma and pa-in-law were still around ... they weeded all the grass in the yard and grew pegagas instead ... and harvest them on sundays and supply these "ulams" at a competitive price at the "pekan nat" near to a "not so busy" railway station ... what's left now are wild grasses, lalangs, untendered bouganvillas, ubi kayu, bananas plants, lots of creepers and crawlies ... the compound was so big (to me) that it took about three days to clear the yard