Lifestyle: What MCO has done to me?

Assalamualaikum,

It is already the 16th December 2020 today. This year, somehow it feels different compared to previous years. The usual excitement is not there anymore, maybe because 2020 has been hard for me, for us. But put that aside, let's hope that 2021 would be a better year.

I choose to blog about lifestyle for the assessment, maybe because it's easier to talk about something that you know better. about myself. 

talking about lifestyle, I just want to share what I did during the MCO until the online class commenced.
The first day of MCO was 18 March 2020. I still remember the date clearly. I was in IIUM the day before 17th, but went home as fast as I could the next day. My mother was very worried that she said not to go anywhere and just come back home straight. But I went to buy some food at family mart before coming back home. Because I had the feeling that I would not be able to go to Family mart for a while. Please do not follow this, everyone. It's not nice to go against your mother xD but I did tell her anyway, I clearly brought home the food. there was no way I could hide those.. Hahaha

The first 14 days of MCO, it was just normal, like the usual when we have a semester break. I was fine not going out for 14 days, I rarely go out, anyway. but somehow, after 14 days and the MCO continued, i started to feel bored staying at home for too long. not seeing the outside world with not able to see the outside world is too different. You dont go out because you dont want to, not because you cant. So it started to feel suffocating at that time, because you know you cant go out. at all. it felt like it was a sin to go out. 

after 14 days, I started to find things to do since we couldnt go on with our online classes, and I was too lazy to study all the time. So i started to bake and cook. I have always loved cooking but not baking because I think I dont have that skills. every time I bake, it's either doesnt taste right, or doesnt look nice. hahaha. But since MCO, I started to try baking again. I remembered baking a bread. I made pizza, rotiboy, donuts, cinnamon rolls.. and many more. I think I did it just nice, only the look was not approved by mother. but it tasted super good! Alhamdulillah. hahaha. As for cooking, I have always cook whenever I can. 

This is korean food, a chicken spicy stew with mozarella cheese on top!

Kuih lapis in green!

Homemade pizza!

Homemade lasagna!

                                                 
                                           Lamb ribs with gravy mashed potato and coleslaw!

                                      
                                                                 Homemade takoyaki!

I wish I could share more pictures, but these are the only ones I managed to capture, I am not the type to picture everything when I cook. 

Besides cooking and baking, I also spent my MCO doing house chores, and taking care of my plants! It's my first time having an indoor plant, so to be safe, I decided to buy money plant which is very easy to care :)

I also decorated my room, I did not have a before picture, but trust me, it was really messy with a lot of things. I pasted new wallpaper, bought new curtain, new study table, new plants, new bedsheet. was trying to go for a scandinavian themed. but doesnt really work, I guess. but it's fine. I am pretty satisfied with it :)

I guess, during the MCO I started to appreciate my time at home, more than before. My lifestyle has changed a bit, I tried to spend my time doing various things to experience more. I have also been spending my time doing my online business. Feel free to visit: instagram.com/JameelahScarves

Thank you for reading :)

MCO; sequel

Assalamualaikum,

Continuing from the last post, nowadays everything is getting better. The MCO has now became a history. Although we are still in the recovery phase, but alhamdulillah I believe that things are going to better from now on.

And the government has also announced that university students are allowed to resume all activities in October. We have not heard anything from the IIUM, but I guess we are going back to IIUM this coming semester.

Last post was just a brief about experiencing the MCO. In this post I would like to share how I spend my PKP days.

I think it is the same with other people, I spent a lot of times doing things that I could not get to do before. I slept most of the time, and cooked new recipes. I baked sometimes too. During PKP, roti gardenia was like a rare food. Every single time I went to buy groceries, gardenia was always sold out. Out of all time, I actually craved for roti even more during PKP. So I decided to bake some bread.

Not only one type. MashaAllah, I am still amazed at how rajin I was. I really did bake rotiboy, doughnut, pizza bread, cakes and burger bun. PKP really did wonder to people. Everyone now can bake roti themselves. I also made roti canai.

A lot of new recipes I have tried. Alhamdulillah, the taste was okay... just not really “presentable”. Malay people say, biar rupa takda asal rasa ada. ;)

I also continue doing my scarves business with my bestfriend. It has been one year since I first started to do the business. During PKP, I start back my business and alhamdulillah still going on until now. You can visit our instagram: instagram.com/JameelahScarves

Everything is reasonable! worth to try! 🤣

I also managed to decorate my room. Just a simple decoration by changing the theme to white theme.

One lesson that I learnt during this MCO is that I think we took our busy times for granted. We were always complaining that we were too busy, too tired. But when we had all the time to do things, we found ourselves getting suffocated by the lock down. I personally think that this MCO had its pros and cons. The pros are that we get to spend quality time with our family and an ample time for ourselves too. It was like a therapy and healing time for all of us. The cons are that we had to postpone a lot things such as our studies and for those who work, they had to stop a while from going to work. A lot of people are affected, but Alhamdulillah things are slowly getting better. We are getting nearer to the safe zone. But yet we have to be careful of the unseen. Let's take care of ourselves, wear mask, sanitize properly.

That is all from me.

Thank you, :)

Covid19; Experiencing the Unusual

Assalamualaikum,

2020 has been quite a ride for all of us. A thrilling one. The year that we thought there will be flying cars, the year that is so synonym with "Wawasan 2020" turns out to be one of the...unusual year.

Who thought that we will be spending almost half of the year locked in our own house? Unable to go through our day-to-day routine, the adults could not go to work, the kids could not go to school, the university students could not go to class, we could not even go to the groceries unless we are the "head" of the family. How upsetting is that? We could not even go to our relatives' house who live just nearby. and the list goes on....

Who thought that 17th of March was the last day we met our friends in IIUM? And now we have to wait for 2021 to meet everyone. I could not imagine our seniors who are in their last semester.. It must be hard for them. Last semester in the university should have been full of memories with friends. Spending the last bits of university life, filling up the memories with good friends. Those moments just went through the wind, just because of Covid19. The unseen danger.

Everyday since the first day of MCO, I spent most of my times in the house. Taking care of my parents, chilling with netflix, cooking new recipes, trying out new hobbies and even decorating my room. Time filled with so many things that I have been dreaming to do so if I were to have time. Alhamdulillah, it's true that people say; after rain, there comes the rainbow. Although covid19 has been taking up toll on all of us, but, it has also let us to get a full rest. For our parents who have been working so hard, they get to rest. For kids who have not get to spend time with their busy working parents, they get to spend good quality time with their parents. The lost time with family, we get to fill it back.


Every single day, with no exception, at 5 pm, in front of the television, waiting for good news from the Health Director General. From PKP, to PKPB, to PKPP. From 8th of March to 9th of June, a total of 83 days. almost three months... and yet we are still in the phase of recovery. But Alhamdulillah, things are getting better. Let's hope for the best :)

Forum: Mukjizat Al-quran

Assalamualaikum,

Alhamdulillah, last two weeks on tuesday night dated 19th of November 2019, I went to a forum on Tadabbur: Mukjizat Al-quran by Ustaz Syaari Ab Rahman and Ustaz Abdullah Bukhari.

       On that night, I have leant so much things that I never knew before. I admit that I am lack in knowledge about Al-quran but I am eager to learn more about it. I am always grateful that I study here in IIUM, because I get to learn so many things especially about Islam. That night, the forum was about the miracles of Al-quran or we call it as mukjizat Al-quran. The moderator asked few questions to both of the ustaz about Al-quran.

      I remember, the first question was “Kalamullah was brought down through Gabriel a.s. How does this proves that Al-quran is a miracle?”

One of the Ustaz explained a bit about the history of the revelation of Al-quran. Among the long explanation, one sentence impressed me so much even until now. I feel goosebumps just by reminiscing it back. Ustaz said that:

“ Kitab terbaik dibawa oleh malaikat terbaik kepada rasul terbaik pada bulan terbaik dengan bahasa terbaik”

This sentence gives a deep impression to me, I was amazed, am still amazed that how true this sentence is. Indeed, Allah has given only the best for us. How beautiful our life is that Allah has created and wrote the best and only the best for each one of us. He even sent down the revelation to help us live our life. He sent the best messenger, our prophet S.A.W to teach us about Islam. The beauty of Al-quran itself is already enough to mesmerise us.

Ustaz also said that how miracle Al-quran is that we can see it from the history of the
pre-islamic arabia people before Al-quran. Ustaz said that Al-quran has changed the jahilliyah arabia people from zero to hero. Before Al-quran, those jahilliyah arabia people were lost. They have no knowledge. However, after the revelation of Al-quran, they became civilised. They changed 360degrees. That just shows how miracle Al-quran is that it can change people from hero to zero.

Another question was also asked, I remember the moderator asked about the correlation between scientific facts and Al-quran. There are so many verses in the Al-quran which prove that what happened, is happening, and will happen to the earth, human being, and even to all the creatures.. For example, in Surah Al-haj, it explains about the creation of human being. How amazing is that? even the scientists are amazed that Al-quran can give explanation about the seen and the unseen.
The ustaz also said “Behind all these scientific facts, there is Allah who creates all of that”. Thus, who are we to question that? Subhanallah, indeed Allah is the Greatest.

I even learned how to handle yourself when you are in stress or depressed position. That night, it was abundant with knowledge. I feel thankful that I got the chance to attend the forum. I hope that in future. there will be more great opportunities like this again.

That is all from ne, thank you.

Personal Assessment

Assalamualaikum

One of the personal assessment for usrah budi 1 section 153 is a video assessment.

The naqibah asked us to make a video regarding salam.

We all know salam means 'peace be upon you' and it is a very good wish to say. It means we are praying good things for the other person, we can get a reward as easy as just by giving salam.

I have interviewed two people and asked them what are their opinions about 'salam'.

Here is the video. Enjoy! :)

Reflection:

I think I like this assessment the most, it was fun and interesting to ask people about how they feel about 'salam'. I get to learn more things too about salam. I also love the meaning behind 'salam'. It is beautiful and a good wish to say to other people. Imagine people pray for you 10 times a day, thinking about it already make me feel touched and happy. I hope that after this, I will gain the courage to give 'salam' to other people as much as I can. :)

Poster

Assalamualaikum

For the fifth session of usrah budi section 153, the naqibah asked us to discuss in group, watch a video about one of the khalifah and make a poster.

My group members are;

Intan Nurmaisarah binti Abdul Rahman (1725988)
Latifah binti Salleh (1728500)
Nuha Solihah binti Abdul Rahim (1720546)
Nur Illiyina binti Mohd Sabri (1726458)
Suraya Najwa binti Othman (1721300)

including me;

Rasyidah Waheeda binti Md Hatta (1725426)

We decided to choose Saidina Umar al-Khattab as our topic for the poster

We watched a video on Saidina Umar al-Khattab's life history

We chose a cartoon video because it will be more interesting to watch and listen to.

So.... based on the video, and some researches on other websites, we have managed to make a poster

This is our poster, although it looks simple, yet it is full of information :)

Reflection:

It is nice to reminisce back the stories about the khalifah that we used to listen to when we were small kids. One lesson I learned from this activity is that there are so many great things about Islam and Muslims. We should be grateful that we have great examples to look up to. 

Taaruf with Self

Assalamualaikum

The sixth meeting of Usrah Budi section 153, we discussed about taaruf with self. Humans have 9 habits that are in ourselves, which all of them are stated in al-Quran

1. Lust

• It is mentioned in Surah An-Nisa in verse 19-28
• This surah is about women
• Human are said to have a strong lust

2. Despair

• In Surah Hud in verse 6-11
• Humans are said to easily give up when something does not go in the way they want
• When they are given nikmah, and Allah takes it back, they feel despair

3. Injustice

• In Surah Ibrahim verse 31-34
• Human beings do not appreciate
• They are more to follow what they want without thinking it carefully

4. Hasty

• In surah al-israk verse 9-11
• In verse 11, it is highlighted that human beings are always being hasty or in rush
• When making decision, they do not think carefully, they make decisions based on their emotions
• They should have think carefully first before do something

5. Wrath

• In surah al-kahfi in verse 54-58
• Human beings are stubborn
• They do not like to accept opinions and advises from other people
• They also do not listen to Allah's rules 
• Human beings always want to oppose something
• They think they are right and everyone else is wrong

6. Ignorance

• In surah al-ahzaab verse 69-73
• Humans are ignorant
• They do not care about what they should do and what they should not
• They also have the habit of do not know and do not want to know
• They want something but they do not want to ask from Allah because they are ignorant

7. Greed

• In surah maarij verse 19-27
• In verse 21, it is mentioned that humans, when they have the luxury, they forget everyone else and only think for themselves
• They are too greedy that the poor get even poorer

8. Pride

• In surah al-alaaq verse 6-8
• Humans feel as if they have everything and feel proud of it.
• When humans are full of proud, they will stop improving themselves

9. Ungrateful

• In surah al aadiyat verse 6-11
• In verse 6, it is mentioned that humans are not grateful for what they have
• They easily feel ungrateful
• Which then leads to greed
• They love the worldly matters too much that they forget about the hereafter

These 9 habits are called as syahawat

Syahawat is the external factors

Tips on avoiding syahawat

1. Check our ibadah, our 5 times prayer
2. Check how punctual are we when performing prayer
3. What did we do in our daily lives, we reflect ourselves at the end of the day to improve ourselves

Reflection;

I have learned so much in this discussion, I realized that we are not perfect, we are even far from perfect. We need to always remind ourselves to always be grateful for everything we have. We also need to seek knowledge because there is no end in seeking knowledge. Knowledge is important. Other than that, we need to control ourselves from making decision in rush, and based on our emotions.We need to learn how to be patience.