I really wanted to share about the Yasmin Mogahed's talk but I'm afraid that I might have done some injustice since I'm the third person telling a story. But I wrote some notes down.. Oh well. Niat sekadar berkongsi ilmu. But whatever it is, I am positive that what she said, went straight to the heart, (I don't think my writing will touch any hearts but I wished I could). And if I do get the chance to see and hear her talk again, I would. Cuz she's that good.
How to cross the Oceans of Dunya?
1. One of the things I remembered was her metaphor that she used. Remember Titanic? The 'Unsinkable Ship'? It sunk anyway. And because it broke, and the sea filled in the ship. Something as simple as ocean water can sink such a grand ship. Right here, the ocean is dunya and we are the ship and we are just crossing the ocean to get to.. well.. hopefully Jannah. So.. the only way to cross this world, is to not fill our hearts dengan hal-hal duniawi.
2. Shaytan, will always whisper in our hearts. Things that are obvious and things which aren't. Most of the times, we don't even realize that we've been 'talked' into doing or thinking the things that we think of. Like, when I see a good man and I like him and then all of a sudden a voice at the back of my head goes like 'Oh kau tak cukup baik untuk dia. I mean, look at you and your stupid past who's EVER gonna want you' ok. sikit exaggerate but you get the point. Shaytan will want us to lose hope. Like,'aku tak cukup baik untuk pakai tudung or pergi ceramah. So why bother trying?' There are.. many times that these thoughts come to my mind. We just have to realize that these comes from shaytan.
3. Then she asked us. Simple questions. That require us to be brutally honest and personal.
- What do you think about most of the time?
- What makes you cry?
- What makes you most angry?
- What are you most afraid of?
- What are you afraid of losing?
- What do you think about in your salah?
- What is your first thought in the morning? Your last thoughts before you sleep?
- What is your greatest source of pain in life?
These are.. our Attachments. Most of us won't have a perfect list of remembering religion or Jannah or Allah for that matter. But answering these questions, made me realize, made me let go of the things that I've been constantly thinking of the past few days..
#some part of the class
4. Our hearts are our lenses to the world. If you have a good heart, you will see the world as a good place. At first I thought of this macam naive.. but then, she said, the fiqh; understanding of the mind, comes from the heart. For example, we see things that are.. bad as good. Macam, beer. Or getting drunk. Maybe we see it as something cool. I don't know.. sometimes I like to joke around. But in a long term.. wallahualam. Kalau tak jaga hati, nauzubillah, mungkin I'll be seeing those things as something good? Mintak simpang la..
5. A lot of times, we try to ask for the ability to love Allah. You know how it is when you fall in love with a person, you can't stop thinking about them. Always hoping that they're thinking about you. Always wanting to get their approval. Always missing them. And you know that we're supposed to feel that way about Allah. Terlalu mencintai Allah. But sometimes, truthfully, it is hard. It is for me sebab aku pelupa dan aku lemah sangat. Well, one of the reasons which I learnt was because, hati tak bersih. Cinta Allah only enters a clean heart. So always do zikr. And mintak la kat Tuhan, berkali-kali and never ever give up, untuk hati yang bersih.
6. Zuhud. Detachment. I remember. The year, 2011. One of the worst years of my life, and I never sunk so low. And Yasmin asked us, "Do you remember when was your closest moment with Allah?" She smiled. Because I think she knows that most of us had the same answer. It was the times when we had to let go of something, and for me, it was the time that I begged and prayed so hard so that I find the strength to be strong and let go. It was.. as people say, difficulty is a blessing in disguise
7. Marriage is a mean of getting closer to Allah. It's not a freaking goal. Yes I'm 24 and single and I'm getting worried and everything. But she reminded me, to stay focus. For our only goal is untuk mencari keredhaan Allah. To be close to Him. And to worship Him. Marriage is only one of the ways.. Like wise for mothers and wives. We're not incomplete if we're not married. Or become a mother. What happens then if we get divorced? Or we can't have kids? Doesn't erase our purpose on earth. Society yang bagi stigma to women that we're supposed to get married and have kids and raise children that are future doctors or engineers. When really.. kalau dengan perkahwinan itu menjauhkan kita dari Allah, would we still want it?
8. Some last notes.. Before the session ends, she taught us to do a few things after we leave. Since, ilmu di dada is only as good as how much we use them in our lives. Dia tak suruh bangun buat Qiam tiap malam pun. Benda-benda simple jek. Macam;
- Making a commitment to our prayers. Solat 5 waktu. It IS after all, why we were created anyway. Yes iman itu naik dan turun.. But, try and make effort to never miss salah.
- Perfecting our salah. Khusyuk bila menghadap Allah.
- Not praying in a hurry.
- To try praying on time.
- Doing small but consistent deeds. Macam zikr ke, solat sunat ke. Takyah ubah drastik sangat.
- Always istighfar sebab istighfar tu membersihkan hati.
- And doing salah for salah protects us from bad deeds.
I worry, that some people might think of me as being poyo. Or bajet. Or blablabla. But that's another thing she taught me. We worry too much about what other people think. When we should be more concerned with what Allah thinks about us.
Seyes ah. Talk Yasmin Mogahed best. May Allah bless her. And may this writing benefit those who reads it. :)
