Movie night out: The Hunger Games

Okay okay so I went to watch Catching Fire with my sister last night. I admit I was a bit skeptical with all these 'teenage' flicks - including The Hunger Games; blame it on The Twilight saga (who's with me, hands up!). Being so critical I am, I still watch all of them episodes nonetheless, sigh.

So I went to watch Catching Fire with my big sis a few days back. Oh yes I insisted she paid for my tix because she happened to have no one to accompany her to the theater. I kinda like it because first; it has Coldplay on its sountrack, second; it actually isn't like the typical it's-only-you-me-and-our-love-story-in-this-world kinda movie (boo Twilight). I like the twist in the story where it involves revolutions of the oppressed, standing up for the truth even if you are the only one doing it, how sick people whom are in possession of power, wealth and status's minds can be, the value of other humans' lives to us, engagement with nature, and of course, a complicated love story.

Here are few reflections I did after watching it:

1. The people in Capitol "enjoy" the Hunger Games as if the lives of the tributes worth nothing to them. It struck me cause I think of my brothers and sisters in Syria, Palestine and other oppressed countries and I did nothing much in helping them. As much as I hated seeing people of the Capitol, I myself is actually like them, we are like them. We watch the news and feel sad about it for 5 minutes and that's it. I feel sick.

2. Katniss stands up saying what she really feels to late Rue's family although she isn't supposed to do so. This was the scene that caught me in tears. Any sign of revolution or going against the authority is strictly forbidden, but she confidently speaks up her mind. I hope I am brave enough like her.

3. Engagement with nature. If I were to be a tribute in The Hunger Games, I know I wouldn't survive. I can't survive in the jungle, I can't tolerate any living creatures anywhere near my body, I don't know secrets to get fresh water - stick the pipe onto the bark of a tree, wait for the water to come out. I did drink once fresh water from a small bark when I went camping last year, but it was the coach that offered it to me. It really gives you a fresh feeling and it tastes very refreshing. This reminds me of my experience drinking fresh water from a creek that flows from the snowy hills in New Zealand. Ah, good times.

Anyway, the movie is not a bad option for your weekend trip to the theaters. You get to do self-reflection, relate how it is to our actual life. Just watch things that lets you expand your minds, not merely watching for entertainment, you'll never get anywhere.

Light of Life.

Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Indeed Allah knows what's inside our hearts.

Yesterday I was whining on my disastrous life, Astaghfirullah I was being ungrateful towards all the other blessings that I had. Today, SubhanAllah He touches my soul again.

During lunch, I talked to my Naqibah sister regarding my problem in faith. She said indeed it was a sign from Allah that I actually 'realized' I had the problem. When I realized, it meant I was aware that something was needed to be done. It meant Allah doesn't want me to be further away from Him subhanaAllah.
           She asked me, "Have you read the Quran lately?".

           I replied, "Yes, I did, but not thoroughly though as I just read the Arabic and skipped the meaning part. I didn't go through the meaning cause I felt really lazy to do so."

          "I understand that. We really have to strive and fight with our own self to be close to Allah".

Indeed Allah is the Best Planner.

When I got back to my dorm later, I remembered I needed to pay a dear friend an amount of money that I owed her. As I stepped into her room, I could see her reading the Quran and it was 20 minutes past Dhuhr prayer time. My heart skipped a beat cause I realized that it was a sign from Allah. It was not weird to see that friend reading the Quran cause she read them all the time. But this afternoon, the scene struck me. It's true that Allah holds the hearts of humans. At that time, all I could think of was "If she could read it consistently, why not me?". After I settled paying her the amount, I went straight to the toilet and performed ablution (wudhu').

---

As I was reading my Mushaf, I came across this verse:
Suratul Sod verse 29 (38:29) which means :

(It is) a Book We have revealed to you abounding in good that they may ponder over its verses, and that those endowed with understanding may be mindful. 

Kitab (al-Quran) yang Kami turunkan kepadamu penuh berkah agar mereka menghayati ayat-ayatnya dan agar orang-orang yang berakal sihat mendapat pelajaran.

Allah has answered me.
He answered my questions of WHYs.
Questions of why do I feel so down and stress and feel like struggling so hard in life.
I have long forgotten to actually READ the Quran. Read the Arabic with translation. Reading merely is called tilawah.

The word 'Quran' is derived from another Arabic word 'Qara'a' which means 'read'. The first revelation to Prophet Muhammad PBUH also was about reading.

Why don't we read the Quran today? Allah has taught us to do so.

Another verse that I came across while reading just now:

(39:87-88)

(Al-Quran) ini tidak lain hanyalah peringatan bagi seluruh alam.

Dan sungguh, kamu akan ketahui kebenaran beritanya alQuran setelah beberapa waktu lagi.

SubhanAllah, the answer is all there, inside the Most Divine Book, The Greatest Quran.

Salam.

Little saying about Hijab.

Oh no, flu!

Guess the cold weather and being caught in the rain for few times this week cause me this flu. Nevertheless, Alhamdulillah, praise to Allah for still providing me with healthy body and mind and most importantly for giving me the chance to still breathe today.

When I was sitting at the living room just now, one of my homies read a quotation which was written by one of our friends at Uni on her Facebook page.. I found it amazing and a great reminder to all Muslim women out there including myself.

"You may dislike the thought of the Hijab and keep saying you will wear it when you're older. Truth is one day you will be wrapped around fully covered head to toe and lowered into your grave. Don't let your last day on earth be the first day you wear your Hijab!..." 

SubhanaAllah although I am now a full Hijabi girl, this statement really points direct to the heart.

Thank you Allah for Your reminder. 

May everyone get the benefit from this insyaAllah.

Solat.

Hectic week I must say! Nevertheless, Alhamdulillah I managed to settle few things on time, which of course I'm referring to assignments. Sigh. Despite the busy week, a few things cross my mind which leave me wondering, one of it is regarding our responsibility as a Muslim to pray 5 times a day.

No matter how busy we think we are, we can never leave the responsibility; to pray 5 times a day. In the Holy Quran it is mentioned that ..

"... And seek (Allah’s) help through patience and Prayer. But this is no doubt very hard, surely difficult except for the humble" (Al Baqarah 1:45)

"Dan mohonlah pertolongan dari Allah dengan sabar dan solat. Sesungguhnya solat itu amatlah berat kecuali bagi orang-orang yang khusyuk" 

Why do sometimes we feel that it is too hard for us to spend at least 5 minutes of our 1440 minutes (24 hours) of life in a day to pray? Why does this happen? Why do we think that other stuffs are more important than praying? Let's recap back the story of Isra' Mikraj.. The initial order from Allah was Muslims were supposed to pray 50 times a day, but our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) asked for less as Prophet Musa (Alaih Assalam) told Muhammad pbuh that his ummah would not be able to do it. So our beloved Muhammad pbuh went to Allah swt 10 times which leaves us with only 5 times a day.

Why 50 at the beginning? This is obvious. The reason of our creation in this world is to worship Allah and to do whatever that pleases Him. Nothing else matters. So He creates us to pray to Him. Thus, people will be busy praying all night and day as this is what Allah please... However, people become civilized and globalisation+modernisation come in, making people have a lot of other things to do. For example as uni students we need to study to get knowledge, work to earn money, businessmen have a business to look out for and etc.. These are actually 'side things' to keep us moving in the world. The sad thing is.. as days go by, we forgot the initial reason of our existence in this world which is to obey Allah. 

I'm not saying that we have to stop everything that we are doing and spend our whole lives just praying. In fact every 'side things' that we do is actually an Ibadah if we do it because of Allah, because all we want in this world is to get His blessings. What I'm trying to say is.. We should reflect back the purpose of our lives in this world.

The first thing that will be judged at Yaum al Mahsyar (padang Mahsyar) in Hereafter is.. our Solat. It is only 5 times a day and it is THE KEY that differs our path. Either to Heaven or Hell.

So, is our solat enough to bring us to Heaven? ...