superstition (khurafat), shirk and djinn

 Salam

It has been long time since I last updated my blog.

Today ... 2.1.2023 ...suddenly want to write about khurafat, syirik and djin. please note  i could be wrong. I am not that well verse in religion.

However, I sincerely hope this writing can help people who need it.

This is the story ...

A friend of F asked a spiritual teacher to do remote scanning on F and was inform there's a djinn nest on the F body.

F friend claimed that the spiritual teacher is a Wali Allah (God's Guardian), and he is a warlord in the next realm.

Thus, the friend informed F to get treatment from the spiritual teacher. Not only that F was also informed that F got infected by the djin through F maid and F should also get treatment for the maid. 

F was shocked because the maid is a religious person and very kind. The maid has been with F for the past 16 years.

After some searching F discover that normal human being cannot see djinn, and nobody (human/djinn) know the unseen (Allah swt mention that in the Quran). 

When someone seemed possessed by djinn .. what actually happened is the djinn will stir our minds and create illusions.  The person saw images emitted from the patient's own head which is triggered by djinn.

As such, the so-called wali Allah is a scammer / djinn keeper / disturbed by djinn himself.

Note that there are people who collaborate with the djinn for a purpose. 

The fantasy triggered by djinn is lies and these lies is called khurafat in Islam. Djinn really likes to make superstitious stories on our minds. His main purpose is to make us commit shirk.

Djinn want us to believe he can harm us. When we believe djinn can harm us, we commit shirk because only Allah swt that can benefit / harm us.

In this particular case, the djinn creates lies (superstitious /khurafat stories) that there is djinn nest on the body of F and the djinn can harm F. If F believe the lies the djinn created and believe the djinn can harm F, F would have committed shirk which is major sin in Islam. In addition, the djinn also tries to create disharmony between F and the maid. 

A djinn is a creature who likes to tell lies, mislead and create disharmony.

Insha'Allah Allah swt will cure the so called seemingly possessed person once he/she understand what superstition is and shirk and the association between djinn, superstition and shirk. 

Note that I said seemingly possessed. It is because the possessed person is not actually possessed but mislead by the djinn (illusions triggered by the djinn).

Note: this is not religious teaching. I could be wrong. This is just my POV.  

Insha'Allah ..next time i post story about tareqat. Tareqat is not to be attempted if you have not mastered aqeedah and feqah. The djinn / syaitoon that come to deceive is H.O.T (High Order Thinking Skill) level. 

QS Al-Jinn 72 :26-27

[He is] Knower of the unseen, and He does not disclose His [knowledge of the] unseen to anyone

except messengers of His choice. Then He appoints angel-guards before and behind them

My Hajj Story 8.9 -14.9.2018 (Part 3) - Mabit in Muzdalifah

Pic Above : Our food during hajj (Arafah and Mina) are fully sponsored by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This is our food on the day of Arafah (wukuf day) 

After wukuf, we have our dinner and performed Maghrib and Isha Jamak prayers in Arafah. Afterwards, we lined up to board the bus to performed Mabit in Muzdalifah. 

Mabit is to stop for a while or spend the night for a few days, to prepare everything in the implementation of throwing Jumrah which is one of the obligatory pilgrimage.  Mabit performed in two stages in two places, namely in Muzdalifah and in Mina.

Mabit in Muzdalifah is a compulsory stop and rest for a while  until past midnight 10 Dzulhijjah in Muzdalifah.

Pic Above : me and my husband in Muzdalifah

By now .. i am feeling very tired.  This is due to on previous night 9th Dzulhijjah, i did not sleep well and have  to wake up early (around 3.30 am) to get ready for Subuh prayer. This is because we have to line up to use the toilet and line up again to do the ablution. And then we take turn, to pray subuh in the small space (our sleeping place) in our sleeping camp. I can not focus in my prayer because i am aware of the people waiting for me to finish so they can take up my place to performed subuh prayer. And then, we have to get ready to go to Arafah for wukuf. So it has been a long day.

We reach Muzdalifah around 9.30 pm and sat on a plastic mat (prepared by our travel agency). We were told to gather our pebbles to throw the Jumrah in Mina specifically 3 sets of 21 pebbles. At this time, i am particularly cranky and in bad mood. 

I don't want to go collecting pebbles because i was informed previously to be careful when collecting the pebbles because there are a lot of animal poops in the area and we are suppose to make sure our pebbles are real and not some animal poops, otherwise our throwing Jumrah will be invalidated. Luckily, my husband told me to go to sleep and he collect the pebbles for me. So i lie down and close my eyes .. but it is a very uncomfortable because the hot heat from the sand comes out into the air at night. In addition, another pilgrim bus suddenly stop at the road side in front of me (i was sitting facing the fence at the road side where the bus decide to stop) and the hot air from bus engine keep hitting my face. When i wake up from my uncomfortable sleep, i feel dizzy and the sky spin for a short while.

The weather is so hot and uncomfortable and i am frustrated because I can not do proper prayer and zikr. I maintain my cool on the outside since i am on hajj but inside, i am confuse and ask Allah swt, what is Allah swt intention. And i got the answer at the end of my hajj spiritual journey. 

Please note, Hajj is different kind of ibadah from Umrah. It is tough on both physical and mental. But at the end of the journey .. you'll achieved way beyond. Hajj is something very special and unforgettable.

After midnight before dawn, we move to Mina to mabit in Mina, until the 13th of Dhul -Hijjah.

My Hajj Story 8.9 -14.9.2018 (Part 2) - Wukuf in Arafah

 

We went to Arafah by bus from Minna on 9.9.2018 to perform wukuf.  We took the bus in the morning and reach arafah around 9.00 am .. 

Wukuf is  stopping or being in the field of Arafah at a certain time (9 Dzulhijjah between Zhuhur and Magrib) with the intention of worshiping Allah SWT.

Wukuf in Arafah formally begins when the time of the noon prayer has arrived. It starts with the Zhuhur and Asar prayers (Jama 'Qasr) and is followed by the Arafah sermon by Khatib. Extended later with prayer, can be together or alone. 

I suffered from vaginal discharge problem. Vaginal discharge is considered as unclean and  invalidate ablution. The problem is prayers and tawaf should be performed in a state of ablution. Luckily, back in Malaysia we have been taught what to do with this problem.  The discharge will not invalidate the ablution if it is remain inside the vagina and does not flow.   

 

So the ustazah teach all the women to do sempal technique. Sempal technique is basically squating down and inserting sempal or cotton ball firmly at the vagina entrance to prevent the discharge from flowing. And if the cotton ball appears move then most likely the discharge have flow and your solat/tawaf already invalidate and you have to repeat it.

I bring a lot of cotton ball due to my problems. And my hajj journey is quite tough because of it. I went to the toilet before every prayers to clean my vagina from discharge and insert new sempal (cotton ball) firmly. This is quite tough because the toilet is not many and the queue is quite long.  So i spend quite a lot of time line up for toilet during my hajj .. haha. I takes about 1 hour of queuing everytime .. so i took this time to communicate with fellow hujaj waiting for the toilet. 

However, one of the way Allah swt teaches me about my whole life and how and what to do with it is through my discharge problem and my sempal  .. haha. As Imam Al Ghazali said, there is no absolute disadvantage.

As such, i have go to the toilet to urinate, change my sempal and take ablution before zuhr so that i can focus on worship completely during the time of wukuf. The time of wukuf is starting from zuhr until maghrib. The time from asr to maghrib is the peak time of wukuf. Our mutawif informed us, when the time of zuhr start, Allah swt will descend from the arasy (throne) to the heaven and when time of asr start, Allah swt will descend from the heaven to the heaven of the world. Our mutawif told us to pray alone to Allah swt in an open space during the peak time of the wukuf. For information, there are seven heavens and the lowest heaven is heaven of the world. During wukuf, the sun rays are a little hot and very bright white color. Look at my picture on top, the sun rays outside the tent is very bright white light.

Please note "Al-Baidhawi (one of the Ahlussunnah figures) said 'When it is certain with the indisputable arguments (qath'i) that Allah is the Most Holy from the physical nature (jismiyah) and the nature of the limits (tahayyuz), then it is not possible for the word down to mean movement from one place to another lower place.

Once arrived to Arafah, i really try to serve /help my elderly roomate as best as i could because i know Allah swt will reward me generously and instantaneously too. I bring her to the toilet, carry her umbrella and shoes, help shading her from the sun by holding the umbrella for her while waiting for her turn to use the toilet etcetras .. etceteras .. hihi. For information, the line to the toilet in Arafah is quite long, everybody want to defecate / urinate and take wudhu (ablution) before the time of wukuf starts.  And the line for wudhu in ablution area is also quite long. So you have to line up twice (for toilet and for ablution)  in very long queue under the sun.

True enough,  when i want to use the toilet.. the toilet queue is very short. Only four people in front of me. And i did not even have to line up for my wudhu. Alhamdullilah ..

We performed the Zuhr and Asr prayers (Jamak Qasr) and prayed and recited dhikr together until the time of Asr. During the Jamak prayers, i saw a very tall man standing at the opening of the tent in front. He is very tall, reaching to the top of the tent door opening (roughly 9 feet) and he is watching us praying. However, i can only watched his face silhouette, his face features is not clear. I want to take picture but could not because i am in the middle of the zuhr prayer lead by the imam. Look at my picture on top, the guy i saw watching us prayer stand at that tent opening but he is very tall and reach up to the top of the tent opening. I told Macik Ima (one of my roomate during hajj) and she says what i saw is an angel .. huuu .. so happy. Alhamdullilah ..

There is a history stating, the presence of angels in the sky came down to watch the pilgrims standing in Arafah. Allah says in the hadith of Qudsi to His angels meaning: "Look at the people who visit My House, indeed they have visited Me, until it is tangled and full of dust." (Narrated by al-Hakim from Abu Hurairah). Indeed, they are sincere in performing the pilgrimage, therefore they are entitled to an abundance of bounties and I should give them the best reward for their hard work and response to My call.

Once the Asr time start, we left the tent and sat in the open area to pray by ourselves. I read my prayer i have written during Hari Tarwiyah in Minna (Refer to My Hajj Story 8.9 -14.9.2018 Part 1 - Hari Tarwiyah)

My Hajj Story 8.9.2018 -14.9.2018 Part 1 - Hari Tarwiyah

Assallamualaikum wrt and greetings

Me and my husband went to Makkah and Madinah from 12.8.2018 -24.9.2018 to performed the hajj. The hajj performed on specific dates and  can be completed in 7-8 days, if there is no obstacle preventing you completing all the Hajj rituals within that timeframe. This year the Hajj falls between 8.9 - 15.9.2018

It is quite the norm for the pilgrims having to stay for a period of 40 days or more in Makkah and Madinah during hajj session due to the massive flight queues to get in and out of Saudi Arabia. 

The shorter the stay in Makkah and Madinah, the higher the pilgrimage cost and could reach up to RM 250,000.00. It is called the premium package. They said you can throw the pebbles at the jamarat from your car (some thing like drive through .. hihi) .. For Malaysian, the cost for hajj is roughly RM 22,500.00, and you have to stay in Makkah and Madinah for a period of 42 -52 days.

The rest of the days are spent in Makkah and Madinah, outside the hajj period, pilgrims will try to perform as many prayers in Masjidil Haram in Makkah  and Masjid Nabawi in Madinah since,

'It is narrated by Imaam Ahmad in his Musnad and also by Ibn Maajah and others on the authority of Jaabir, that the Prophet  S.A.W.  said:The prayer in my mosque (Al-Madeenah mosque) is better than one thousand prayers in any other mosque with the exception of Al-Haraam mosque, and a prayer in Al-Haraam mosque is better than 100,000 prayers." 


This is my Hajj story ...

Day 1 : Hari Tarwiyah (8.9.2018)

Prophet Muhammad SAW rested at Minna the day before wukuf in Arafah. Today is known as a day of tarwiyah. Thus, we went to Minna by bus at around 0830 am and arrived in Minna quite early may be 9.00 -9.30 am to emulate Rasullullah S.a.w. hajj.

this is my tent and 3 persons have to share 2 small  mattress

We settled into our camp, which housed 125 ladies. My husband settled into one of the men camps which house 50 men. There are two camps for the men to house 100 men in our group. These camps are to be our shelter for the next 7 days. Our camps are located in Maktab 78 which consists of several camps like us. And there are only 10 ladies toilet serving something like 4-5 Maktab. In our case Maktab 76, Maktab 77, Maktab 78 and Maktab 79 has 10 toilets .. and next 10 toilets is in Maktab 83 which serves Maktab 80 .. upto whatever .. hahaha


The camps in Minna was really crammed, we were inform to share 2 mattresses for 3 persons. and the matresses is only 2 and 1/2 feet wide .. huhu. Some of the older aunties was saying .. how to fit, we are not thin unlike the young uztaz who serve as our guides ... hikhik

On day 1, there are many empty camps in Mina since the Muassasah group went straight to Arafah to wait for wukuf the next day.

So on the day of tarwiyah .. i settle into one of the  empty camps to do prayers and zikr. In the morning, the weather still ok .. as it reach noon and the temperature rise and peak at around 2.00-3.00pm at 50 deg. celcius  (somebody else check with their iphone haha). The camp was actually fully aircond but it is still very hot. I can not do my prayer, zikr or read the quran properly because of the heat. So i decided to write my doa (my requests) to Allah which i will read during wukuf the next day.

In the evening, the hot weather suddenly turn into sandstorm. I was scared, thinking that i am in the middle of desert, in not a very solid tent during sandstorm and complaining to myself , nobody told me hajj pilgrimage was dangerous. I know its difficult and require enormous patience but i never thought it is dangerous. And, it is when you realised Allah swt is al mighty and you are just a tiny weak creature. That evening, our mutawif (pilgrimage guide) lead us in maghrib prayer and do zikr  La ilaha Illallah (There is no God but Allah) repeatedly until the sandstorm subside. I went back to my tent to sleep after isyak prayer with my pack dinner and on my way .. my calf was hit by the iron rod attached to the tent (a little bit painful but i'm okay)

Our mutawif is highly experience. He have been bringing people on hajj every year for the past 30 years roughly. This year is his last service as mutawif because he is already old. But from his experience, when Allah swt show his majestic (glory) attributes  such as the scary sandstorms, it is best to recite zikr  La ilaha Illallah (There is no God but Allah) and pray for Allah love and mercy. Wallahu aklam (God know best)

me in an empty tent during hari tarwiyah (so hot) .. 

This is the doa (my prayer requests) which i wrote on hari tarwiyah and i want to read during wukuf. 

1.  forgiveness of past sins, now, coming, small, large, know, do not know. do not judge mistakes and error

2.  make grateful servants, help to be satisfied with the provisions

3. the gift of light and make the cause of the overflow of light to other beings. fix things and do not leave in the blink of an eye

4. live in faith and Islam, die in faith and Islam, enter heaven with faith, enter us into heaven by your mercy O Allah

5. security in religious affairs, worldly affairs and the affairs of the hereafter

6. good health in this world and the hereafter. afiat  us in this world and the hereafter

7. goodness in this world and the hereafter

8. virtue in this world and the hereafter

9. free our lives in this world and the hereafter

10. abundance our sustenance with halal sustenance and blessings

11. endowed with good helpers, believers and pious deeds in this world and the hereafter

12. endowed with useful knowledge

13. endowed with a humble heart

14. endowed with sufficient sustenance, halal and blessings

15. granted prayers, if prayers are not good, replaced with good

16. protected from diseases of distress and sorrow

17. protected from weak and lazy diseases

18. protected from stinginess and cowardice

19. protected from debt-induced illness and under the control of others

20. endowed with the perfect light from above, below, left, right, front and back

21. protected from heavy tests and burdens

22. protected from disasters coming from the front, back, left, right, up, down

23. included in the group who are devout and keep perform prayers

24. bestowed with what Allah swt bestowed on the saints of Allah swt and the pious people in this place

25. protected from the ugliness of myself and the ugliness of your other creatures

26. removed the bad and replaced with the good

27. cured cholesterol disease, menstruation indefinitely, please menstruate briefly -4 days only

28. the family is endowed with love and is blessed and remains in the overflow of blessings of Allah swt

29. the heart is made the most longing and love for Allah swt and the Prophet Muhammad saw

30. children are made pious / pious children and make parents happy

31. children are endowed with success in this world and the hereafter

32. endowed with a workplace close to husband and children, a pleasant and exhilarating workplace, a good boss, a believer and pious, a good colleague of faith and pious and a staff of believers, pious and diligent

33. changed attitude to keep prayers and deeds of worship to Allah swt, early prayers, devout and endowed with the sweetness of faith

34. the body became cheerful, healthy and fit with a weight of 48 kg on 31.12.2018

35. can perform umrah with the family every two (2) years in the haram mosque and the mosque of the prophet in madina

36. eliminated negative mental illness

37. cured anxiety disorder

Note : 1. this is my personal spiritual journey and my religious/spiritual understanding may be not accurate. 

           2. the doa i wrote during hari tarwiyah is actually in malay and i google translate it into english and its not very accurate 

           3. the sweetness of hajj far outweigh the tests ..its the most amazing experience i ever had and i wish i could perform another hajj 

              (this will make other moslems who has yet to perform hajj angry .. the waiting lists to performed hajj in Malaysia is currently 50 years huuu)

      

me and my husband, maktab 78 year 2018

My Umrah Story 14.2 - 25.2.2015

 selfie in Madina shops  ..

Assallamualaikum w.r.t.

Behind me are shops sellings trinkets and food ..i usually buy shish
tawok made by Pakistani / Afghan / Indian / Burmese not sure ..  all moslems look same not matter what nationality here (even whites look the same). Only asians and africans descendant are identifiable .. anyway my sons love the shish tawok.

In front of Masjid Nabawi 

Pic left are taken in front Masjid Nabawi around 11 am. Its very
peaceful and tranquil in Madina. The purpose of coming to Madina is to visit prophet Muhammad S.A.W. pbuh

We took van from Madina to Makkah which is approximately 400 km away.

road journey from Madina to Makkah

Makkah is more than 300 km away from Madinah and took us roughly 4-5 hrs by bus. We arrive in Makkah around 8pm. Check in, took our dinner and set out to performed tawaf at 11pm and completed saie around 3am. We are completely exhausted and blissfully happy and peaceful .. :). We take so long to complete the umrah because we are performing umrah with my two sons age 9+ and 5+ ..

Pic right : My husband and two sons after completing saie .. on the way to the barber shop to shave their heads (tahallul).  This is my husband and my eldest son second trip to performed umrah, and the first trip for my second son, daughter, sister in law and our helper, bibik. Alhamdullillah .. i thanked Allah S.W.T. for granting us the opportunity to visit his house again.


In this trip, i made several mistake. Since i have been to umrah before, i assumed i know what to do and what to avoid, once i get into the holy cities. As such, i did not revise the dos and don'ts while you are in the holy cities, during state of ihram as well as out of it.  Of course,  once i reach the holy cities, i forget many things for example what to read once you passed Hajarul Aswad and Rukun Yamani. Luckily umrah groups from turkiye and indonesia loves to scream their prayer so i also repeat what they read hehe. Also i forget to stop and read prayers at the foot of Safa each time.. instead i was focussing on completing the saie and proceed with marathon between the two hills ...

 Experience that stand out  in this trip ( for me)  .. for the rest of my group, they have their own lessons learnt accordingly .. :P

#1 After Isyak prayers inside Masjidil Haram .. group of niqabi passed in front of me and i told my sister in law that people in niqab freak me out because they look like ghost especially if they suddenly turn up from my back. Note that women from middle eastern culture clothing usually comprise of black clothing with their face covered called niqab. Afterwards, i was back in my bed eating red apple while watching masjidil haram live and suddenly i broke my denture. Wow .. and i still have 5 -6 days left in Makkah. I whatsapp my family back in Malaysia .. and this is what they say (highlighted in blue).
1.  You have to watch what you say and think in tanah haram because everthing will be paid back in cash. Alright .. i know that but totally forget about it. (told you i did not revise the dos and dont's)
2.  Go and find a dentist. Dentist will fixed it in 1 -2 hr. So I went to find dentist from the zam-zam tower untill all the way up to Aziziah (roughly SR20 away by taxi from masjidil haram) but no luck. Dentists don't work everyday like back in Malaysia. They work on certain days and certain time only. So for the rest of the umrah trip, i have to closed my mouth and i certainly can not eat many things. This is tough because pilgrims are very friendly, they talk to you and keep giving you food. Also dust keep entering my eyes for one day after the incident.
3. Why don't you wear a niqab ..hahaha. If i wear niqab, i can open my mouth hee ..

#2 Me and my husband ask the uztaz if he knows where to find dentists, and he ask me if i have tooth ache .. i just nodded. Everytime they saw me, they ask what is my problems .. do i have tooth ache and i nodded some more. After so many times, my other teeths start to throb.  So i change my strategy, everytime they ask me .. i said ok.. and after sometime the throbbing go away.

#3  The importance of seeking knowledge expecially ilmu tauheed and ilmu fiqh.

#4  Understanding of Qadha and Qadr (sunnatullah) and the importance of making rational decisions

What I loves most when performing Umrah

#1 Performing the tawaf .. i read a lot of prayers in the rounds of tawaf such as Allah please forgive me, my husband, my parents, my husband parents, my children (and i mention all their names), my families, Muslimin Muslimat, Mukminin Mukminat, please let us live and die in islam and iman, please let us enter heaven .. etc ..etc .. the list goes on. I really hope Allah S.W.T. will grant me all my prayers but this kind of prayer .. will not make you cry in such deep happiness.

#2 When performing the tawaf, and seeing the Kaabah and you proclaimed to Allah with Kaabah as your witness,

 "La illahah illah 'lla Wah Mohammadan rasulu 'llah" 

 “There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”

will make you cry and cry and cry and cry in happiness and i believe this is the greatest happiness existed.

At least that is my experience.

# Note this article is my personal spiritual experience based of  my understanding of islam. FYI .. I am not a scholar thus everything I said must be counter checked against the Holy Quran.

My Most Beautiful Memory During My Umrah 23.5 -3.6.2011

Assallamualaikum w.r.t. and Greetings ..

All my memories on my Umrah are beautiful BUT one memory top the lists.

TAWAF

You feel Allah looking at you and i mean feel it physically, on your face, on your skin, on your whole person.

( i don't know how to explain it. the closest i can think of on how to explain it is, when you go out in the sun, you can feel the sun rays on your skin)

the feeling is soo BEAUTIFUL and everything else including heaven and hell seems small and of no importance.

So forgive me BUT i have to say this :

fellow moslems , i urge you to perform the umrah and for non-moslems, i urge you to convert to ISLAM and perform the umrah.

Note :

(1) The reasons only moslems are allowed to performed the pilgrimage to Makkah is mentioned in the Quran as follows:

"Oh you who believe! Truly the idolaters are unclean; so let them not, after this year, approach the Sacred Mosque...." (9:28).

This verse specifically refers to the Grand Mosque in Mecca and privileges during the opening of Makkah by prophet Muhammad S.A.W. The idolaters are unclean since they associate Allah (God) with others.

(2) Allah has no association as mentioned in Surah Al Ikhlas (Quran ch : 112)

1. Say (O Muhammad (SAW)): "He is Allâh, (the) One.
2. "Allâh-us-Samad (السيد الذي يصمد إليه في الحاجات) [Allâh the Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, (He neither eats nor drinks)].
3. "He begets not, nor was He begotten;
4. "And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him."

(3) I have not performed the Hajj just yet BUT my friend who had performed the Hajj informed me that the Hajj is a much more incredible experience compared to the Umrah. She told me, Allah opened the Hijab on wukuf day and another person told me you feel so small in front of Allah (God). One thing i believe, the Hajj is much more grander experience than the Umrah.

(4) For your information (both my moslem and non-moslem reader), you do not get to experience all this just by visiting the Sacred Mosque. You have to performed the Umrah/ Hajj, then you will learn. After all Allah invite us to perform the Umrah/Hajj so that we could learn (learning is one of the many benefits of umrah/hajj).

(5) Surah Al -Hajj (22:26-30)

And [mention, O Muhammad], when We designated for Abraham the site of the House, [saying], "Do not associate anything with Me and purify My House for those who perform Tawaf and those who stand [in prayer] and those who bow and prostrate. (22:26)

And proclaim to the people the Hajj [pilgrimage]; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every distant pass -(22:27)

That they may witness benefits for themselves and mention the name of Allah on known days over what He has provided for them of [sacrificial] animals. So eat of them and feed the miserable and poor.(22:28)

Then let them end their untidiness and fulfill their vows and perform Tawaf around the ancient House."(22:29)

That [has been commanded], and whoever honors the sacred ordinances of Allah - it is best for him in the sight of his Lord. And permitted to you are the grazing livestock, except what is recited to you. So avoid the uncleanliness of idols and avoid false statement,(22:30)

(6) talbiyah of the Prophet:

(i) labbaikallahumma labbaika labbaika laa shareeka laka labbaika-innal hamda wan na'mata laka wal mulka-la shareeka laka
(Here I am O Allah, here I am, there is no partner for You, here I am, Verily all praise for You, and every bounty is from You, and all dominion is Yours - You have no partner.)

(ii) labbaika ilahal haqq
(Here I am O God of Truth.)

Wallahu Aklam - Please note that this is my account of my spiritual journey and i may make mistake.

Iblis, Djin and Shaitan - Tahayul dan Khurafat

Assallamualaikum w.r.t & Greetings ..

This is a story i want to share especially with my dear fellow moslems brothers and sisters, and to my non-moslems readers as well. I want you to think carefully, and ponder and evaluate this story and hope it will bring you some benefits.

The story is about two friends, A and B. A is sick with misterious illness, A performed medical check-up and is pronounced physically fit. But A is sick and visit an alternative healers who pronounced that somebody had performed black magic on A called Santau and that A family has a Saka. Btw .. Saka is a Djinn kept by the ancestors to protect the families. FYI .. A do not have a Saka, the parent do.

One day, B accompany A to see the alternative healers who read verses from the Quran to heal A from the Santau. Seems harmless enough to B, who just sit around aimlessly. And B decide to perform scanning with this alternative healer out of curiosity. Afterall the alternative healer seems Ok. Scan is a treatment with Quran verses where the presence of Djinn can be detected. The healers usually read the Quran verses from 1 meter away from the patient.

After the scan, the healer ask for B birthdate and start calculating. Then, the healer informed B that there is chicken in the right side in front of B and a lady with a hair bun in the left side behind B. B was dumbfounded, and informed the healer that when B was small, a ritual with chicken was performed on B to ward off evil and it is rumoured that B grandmother has a supernatural pet. The healer give B treated water and salt to bath for 3 days and to make another appointment and bring limau purut dan bidara leaves to chase away the chicken and the lady. The healer implies that the lady and the chicken is a saka and if not chase away will cause mental illness such as depression etc in the future. The healer also informed B that from the birthdate calculation B has a very bad Qadak and Qadar. By now, B has severe migraine already. FYI - Qadak and Qadar is something like written destiny ?? .. please re-check that.

B informed person C who happened to be an ordinary but very faithful moslem about the scan, the diagnose and the treatment such as the bath etc that needed to be done. All C answer is, a person or Uztaz can see Djinn? weird .. C suggested that instead of performing the treatment suggested by healers, B only need to increase B prayers by performing the additional prayers in addition to the compulsory prayers and also to read the Quran daily. C response to the bad Qadak and Qadar pronouncement is like .. Is the healer God ? how he know about a person Qadak and Qadar. Only Allah (God) knows about a person Qadak and Qadar.

Then B consult person D who happened to be not religious in the normal sense but very inquisitive, studious and critical person. D informed B that the calculating of birthdate is some form of knowledge called numerologi and originate from another form of knowledge -star gazing in order to predict destiny which is widely practice during prophet Solomon time. As for the treated water, it does not bring any benefits nor does it bring any harm as only Allah can bring benefits or harm to anyone. In response to the lady with a bun and the chicken, D said it is the trick of Iblis to deceive and cause disharmony among humans. The Iblis performed trickery to both the healer and the patient.

Conclusion:

1. Stop believing/practising/divulging or has anything to do with all this alternative teaching such as numerologi, star gazing to predict destiny, dreams prediction what so ever. It is full of Iblis trickery and holding humans from achieving their true potential.
2. Most importantly for Moslems, Allah forbid such activities. Please recall the Quran verse regarding forbidding the activities of gambling (berjudi) and destiny predictions (bertilik nasib).
3. The healer probably see the images But the healer and the patient has no way of knowing who/what the images is. But, one thing for sure it is Iblis deceiving both the healer and the patient.
4. Only prophets for example prophet Yusoff (Joseph) has the ability to predict the meaning of dreams. It is prophet Yusoff miracle. The prophets is protected by Allah (God). Refer Quran Surah Al-Jin 72:26-27
5. We humans do not have miracle and do not perform miracle no matter how religious or pious we are. we are susceptible to Iblis trickery.
6. Believing in numbers, dreams, signs whatsoever is called perkara-perkara tahyul dan khurafat and forbidden in Islam. It can bring to Syirik which is the only sin Allah will not forgive.
7. The verses in the Quran contain prayers which Allah teaches humans to use when asking for forgiveness, good health, guidance etc from Allah. For example Allah teach prophet Adam the verse to use when asking forgiveness from Allah. The verse does not hold any power whatsoever, it is just expressing total submission to Allah and requesting Allah to grant all the wishes. Please look into the meaning all the prayers in the Quran.

8. Reference:

(1) Quran Surah al-Maidah: ayat 90:

يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ إِنَّمَا ٱلۡخَمۡرُ وَٱلۡمَيۡسِرُ وَٱلۡأَنصَابُ وَٱلۡأَزۡلَـٰمُ رِجۡسٌ۬ مِّنۡ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيۡطَـٰنِ فَٱجۡتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تُفۡلِحُونَ 

Maksudnya:
Hai orang-orang yang beriman, sesungguhnya arak, berjudi, berhala, mengundi nasib adalah perbuatan
keji dari amalan Syaitan. Maka jauhilah perbuatan-perbuatan itu agar kamu beroleh kejayaan.

(2)Quran Surah [al-Jin 72:26-27]

Tuhanlah sahaja yang mengetahui segala yang ghaib,

maka Dia tidak memberitahu perkara ghaib yang diketahui-Nya itu kepada sesiapapun,

melainkan kepada mana-mana Rasul yang diredhai-Nya

(untuk mengetahui sebahagian dari perkara ghaib yang berkaitan dengan tugasnya.

Apabila Tuhan hendak melakukan yang demikian)

maka Dia mengadakan di hadapan dan di belakang Rasul itu malaikat-malaikat

yang menjaga dan mengawasnya (sehingga perkara ghaib itu selamat sampai kepada yang berkenaan).

My Second Umrah 28.5.2011 -Part 2 Saie

Assallamualaikum w.r.t. & Greetings

1. Feels very happy with myself for completing an exceptionally good tawaf .. :)

2. Me and son wait in the prayer hall in front of Kaaba while my husband perform his Tawaf.

3. While waiting, me & Huzai got severe scolding by a general worker in alien language (Urdu ??) for misbehaving . Feels very low... :(


Pic : My husband and son after completing the tawaf during mid day around 200pm: temperature 47 Celcius.

4. Now, me proceed to perform my Sa'ie while my husband and son wait in the prayer hall. Sa'ie consists of 7 turns between Bukit Safa and Bukit Marwah.

5. Start my Sa'ie at Bukit Safa. Still deeply affected by the scolding .. :(.

6. Do my intentional for Sa'ie and recite a little zikr Subhanallah, Alhamdullilah, Allahuakbar.

7. Performed my Sa'ie with very low spirit, low concentration and very little zikr. Focusing instead on feeling of despair. Feeling of never been able to do anything right. Feeling of always making mistake. This goes on for almost 3 turns.

8. On 3rd -4th turns; read little zikr, and the intense feelings change from despair to doubt. Wondering whether the act of prayers towards the Kaabah is similar to the act of idol worshipping. Questioning why we all have to come to Makkah to perform the Umrah/Hajj. Afterall, Allah is not in Makkah and Allah is not in Kaabah. What is so special about Kaabah that we have to come all the way to Makkah to pray? Might as well pray in my own hometown, Malaysia.. *.*

9. On 5th turns; read little zikr, and the feelings change from doubt about the Kaabah, the Umrah etceteras to wondering whether Allah is actually an allien. And the final straw is the question whether Allah actually exists. When the final question on Allah existence echoed in my brain/heart, I immediately realised I have been fooled by Iblis.

10. Please note that, I have always have strong faith in Allah, and I have declared and vowed my faith during my second tawaf. And, as I mentioned in earlier, my tawaf was exceptionally good, moving, earth shattering, beyond of this world .. experience. All I can say is Alhamdullilah ...


11. On 6th-7th turns; I opened my little guiding book from Tabung Haji Travel & Tours, and start reading the prayer and Doa recomended during Sa'ie. Surprise .. surprise, the prayers are for protection from Iblis. This time around, I really focused on my prayers and doa. And I pray very hard for Allah protection from Iblis.

12. This experience is particularly scary for me. I do not know if I manage to convey it succesfully in this blog. And, I almost did not want to performed my third umrah due to this experience. HOWEVER, i do understand that we must not fear anything else BUT Allah, otherwise we could fall under Syirik which is the only sin Allah will not forgive.

13. Hasbunallahu Wa Ni'mal Wakil - Cukuplah Allah sebagai penolong ku. Amin.

My Conclusions:

1. Iblis is a formidable enemy. As such, we must always seek Allah protections from Iblis.
2. Kaabah is Allah house. It is the first mosque build in this world and was built by Prophet Abraham and his son Prophet Ishmael upon Allah instructions.
3.We went to performed Hajj/Umrah because Allah instructed us to visit his house and performed Umrah and Hajj so that we may regain knowledge.
4.Praying towards Kaabah is not an act of worshipping idols since we never requests anything from the Kaabah itself. It is just the direction for prayers.
5. We are human, and we will always make mistake. As such, we must always seek forgiveness from Allah and perform the solat sunat taubat regularly.
6. All mosque are house of Allah.
7. Iblis does not whisper in your ears, he whispers in your heart/brain.
8. Do not dwell in your problems, I fear Iblis will come and try his very best to deceived you.
9. What happened during Umrah/Hajj is directly related to our daily lives back in our hometown. All the knowledge gain during the Hajj/Umrah should be applied in our daily lives.

My 2nd Umrah 28.5.2011 -Part 1 tawaf

Assallamualaikum w.r.t. and Greetings dear family and friends..

28.5.2011 -Me, my hubby and son went to Ja'ranah (Miqat place) with our delima group to do the intentional for our second umrah. This time, only me and my husband perform the umrah. We agreed to take turn to perform the tawaf and saie so that we can take care of our son, Huzaifah.

11.00 am - enter Makkah from place of Miqat (Ja'ranah). As usual, after the intentional, my heart start feeling nervous and scared.

1.00 pm - perform the Tawaf by myself. My hubby and son wait in the prayer area. alone, very happy and nervous.

i) read my doa .. many -many doa for myself, my family, my friends as well as the muslimin and muslimat. Too many doa ..i am exhausted by my so many doa but i really hope/wish/pray that Allah will grant all my doa.. :) ... Ameen

ii) during 3rd tawaf -declare my faith to Allah and my believe in prophet Muhammad S.A.W. in front of Baitullah during the tawaf. this makes me cry .. very-very badly. The feelings is beyond words. highly recommended.

iii) read prayers for my parents, this action also make me cry badly. also highly recomended.

iv) read more doa for me, husband, families, friends and fellow muslimin and muslimat for worldly as well as afterlife pleasures and well-being. this action does not make me cry and i really-really-really wish that all my prayers are granted. Ameen.

v) declare my faith and pray for the well being of my parents again. cry very badly ..feelings undescribable... out of this world. highly recommended.

After completing my rounds of Tawaf, i performed solat sunat tawaf in front of Kaabah. i experience something strange here, my feet feels on fire (only my feet, the rest of me feels comfy). I pray to Allah to remove the scorching heat on my feet so that i may perform my solat sunat and my prayers was granted immediately. I have no explanation for this, i guess its because my husband regularly remind me to put on stockings and i regularly forgot. I do not think it is because i did not covered my aurat because i saw so many ladies especially the indians and iranians does not cover their feet and their feet do not seem to be on fire. Wallahu'allam.

POINTS TO PONDER:

(1) Please take note of the followings to ensure your tawaf is valid:

i) Always make sure your left shoulder facing Kaabah
ii) Never hide your face during tawaf - in other words, you have to cry in the open ..heehee.
iii) Always maintain your intentional for tawaf - ie you must not panick if you get lost and
you must not go looking for your families, group etc to avoid changing of intentional.
iv)If your tawaf is invalid -you have to redo the invalid round.

(2) Observations:

i) It is wise to let group of big old ladies with linked arms get past you during the tawaf. I believe these ladies are scared of getting lost from their groups, families, husband etceteras and if you happended to be in the way ..you may be in danger of being pushed and your left shoulder will no longer face Baitullah for long period of time (if your left shoulder does not face Kaabah for long period eventhough unintentional,your round of tawaf will be invalid). Worst you could fall and get injured.

(3) This article is just an account of my spiritual journey from my point of view. This is not an Islamic teaching.

My First Umrah 26.5.2011

Assallamualaikum w.r.t. and greetings ..

The story continued ...

26/5/2011 (Thursday) - Friday night

2.00pm -Me, my husband and my eldest son continue our journey from Madinah to Mekah by bus. We stop in Bir Ali to do intentional for umrah. After the intentional, all the 13th prohibition start. I don't know why but once i perform my intentional for umrah, my heart start beating very fast. I become quite nervous and somewhat scared. It is also the same when i performed my second and third umrah. In addition to that, my scalp start to itch, so is my nose. I have to control myself from scratching for fear of breaking any one of the 13th prohibitions during umrah.

8.30pm - We reached Mekah and check-in to our hotel. Hotel Hajeej is about 300m from Masjidil Haram. My son burst into tears and throw a tantrum when we first enter our room. "He scream hotel pecah. Lets go back to the hotel ".. :) (he meant the 5 star hotel Anwar Movenpick in Madinah). Our hotel is clean but it is an old hotel. The window airconditioning unit was quite noisy and there is no room service during our stay in Mekah. I explain to my son as long as we are together as a family then we should be thankful. And he calm down.

10.30pm -went to masjidil haram. saw Kaabah for the first time. my first prayer that come to mind is that may Allah grant me heaven. I have always imagine this moment, and when the moment come i don't feel anything. I used to imagine that my first time seeing Kaabah in real will make me faint or something.. at least dropped to my knees in tears. But i do not feel anything, i worry for my self. Some of my group members start crying and me ... getting more worried for my soul. (btw .. i get tougher tests in my second umrah, that is when i really cried and appreciate kaabah - i will write about my second umrah in my next entry insha'allah. and please do not be afraid of the tests because from these tests Allah teaches/guide us how to carry on in our daily lives and the feelings we get afterwards is beyond words. This is the reasons why people keep wanting to performed the umrah and hajj eventhough they know they will be tested)

11.00pm - we performed the tawaf led by our mutawif. Me and my husband and son got separated in the sea of people. I am panicking but i don't dare to look for my husband and son because i am afraid if i lost my group, i will be totally lost. I am confident that my husband and son will be okay BUT i am not so confident about myself. During my tawaf, i pray to Allah for their safety and that we will be regroup again. True enough, we regroup again and me and my husband and my son continue the tawaf. We inform the rest of the group to went ahead to performed the saie and not to wait for us because we are very slow ..heehee. We finally went to performed the saie and completed it sometime just before subuh prayer. For your information, my son do not want to walk so my husband has to carry him all the time.

3.30am - just completed the saie and my husband and son went to the barber's shop to perform the tahallul (bergunting). Then we went back to the hotel, where i performed my tahallul. Now the 13th prohibition has been lifted. Guess what, i lose 3 hairs during the ihram ..so i have to pay the dam -SR30.00 ..heehee. Anyway ... I am immensely happy and satisfied for completing my first umrah.

4.ooam - performed the subuh prayer in Masjidil Haram.

5.00am - went back to hotel to eat breakfast.

6.00am - call Malaysia to ask how Hanzallah my youngest son is doing.

6.30am -finally went to sleep. what a full day it is. we actually did not sleep the whole 24 hrs.

Points to ponder:

(1) i believe our first umrah is a test on our physical and mental strength.

(2) i didn't know that umrah is wajib. i have always thought it as sunat. and i also thought that umrah ziarah is some sort of holiday. i am so ignorant.

(3) Just sharing :

Surah Al -Baqarah :196

" Dan sempurnakanlah ibadat haji dan umrah kerana Allah "

Surah Al- Hajj : 27-29

"Dan serukanlah kepada umat manusia untuk mengerjakan ibadat haji, nescaya mereka akan datang ke ( rumah tuhanmu) dengan berjalan kaki, dan dengan menunggang berjenis-jenis unta yang kurus yang datangnya dari berbagai-bagai jalan (ceruk rantau)

Supaya mereka menyaksikan berbagai-bagai perkara yang mendatangkan berbagai-bagai faedah kepada mereka, serta memperingati dan menyebut nama Allah pada hari-hari tertentu, kerana pengurnaiaanNya kepada mereka dengan binatang-binatang ternak (untuk dijadikan korban) dengan demikian makanlah kamu dari (daging) binatang-binatang korban itu dan berilah makan kepada orang yang susah, yang fakir miskin.

Kemudian hendaklah mereka membersihkan diri mereka, dan hendaklah mereka menyempurnakan nazar-nazar mereka, dan hendaklah mereka tawaf akan Baitullah (Kaabah) yang tua sejarahnya itu.


feels happy .. :) :) :) ... Alhamdullilah ...

My wonderful journey to Madinah

Assallamualaikum w.r.t. and greetings to all dear family and friends.

I believe this picture is taken at the entrance gate to raudhah for ladies -gate no. 25 Ibnu Affan

i would like to share my wonderful journey during my first umrah with my family between 23/5 - 3/6 2011.

23/5 - 12.30 pm malaysian time -me, my husband and my eldest son gather at the KLIA airport to check in with our group to perform the Umrah. Very excited. Performed solat zohor and asar (Jamak Taqdim and Qasar)

23/5 -7.30pm arrived in Jeddah Airport. The time difference between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia is about 5 hrs with Malaysia receiving the sunlight first. :)

23/5 -10.00 pm boarding the tour bus to Madinah. We stop along the way to performed the Jamak & Qasar Maghrib and Isyak prayer. The place is located in the middle of nowhere. There are a few dusty looking arabs (?) and stray dogs. There are 1 surau and roughly 2 medium size shops building surrounded by nothing.

23/5 - Journey to Madinah - 5 hours journey through nothing, nothing, checkpoint, nothing, nothing, checkpoint until we finally reach Madinah. Amazing .. there are no small towns, no villages, no trees, no grass, etc..etc along the road only strecth of barren lands, rocky hills, short very dry looking trees. I used to wonder why arabs don't develop their country as industriously as malaysian. Malaysia is always about development ..development and more development. I am begining to understand why ... there is just nothing to do. The Quran told us to perform Umrah and Hajj and to Fanzuru ie to look/see. I start to appreciate Malaysia my home country. I also kept wondering why Allah place his holy house in this barren land.

23/5 - 3.00am - Enter Madinah and start reciting prayers to enter Madinah. Madinah - my prophet Muhammad town. Then check-in to a 5 star hotel Anwar Madina Movenpick.

23/5 -3.50am - Performed Subuh prayer in Masjid Nabawi where my prophet is. The mosque was so full, i pray on the floor (no carpet) almost at the door entrance/exit. And I have people dirty looking shoes in transparent plastic bag near my head where i sujud ... mmm. This never happened in Malaysia. Nevertheless .. I am extremely Happy :). More over, pahala prayer in Masjid Nabawi (prophet mosque) is 1000x pahala prayer in any other mosque except Masjidil Haram.

To be continued ... Wassallam.

p/s - i do not wish to offend anybody or any races. If you find this article offensive ..please inform and i will stop writing.. Or i will write in malay ... :)