Alhamdulillah,

Dapat juga duduk di dalam majlis Ilmu yang disampaikan oleh Maulana Muhammad Asri bin Yusuf. Ketika di dalam majlis ini, beliau menyampaikan kuliah dari Sahih Bukhari berkaitan dengan wudhu dan istinja’. Mudah-mudahan dapat duduk dimajlis yang seumpama dilain masa, InsyaAllah.

- To finish reading the books I bought. The books is piling up fast.

- To get a grasp on Arabic language for the foundation to understand Islamic knowledge better.

- To Further my study in order to increase my knowledge in the area of my work.

Maulana Mohamad Asri

- Hope to attend a class by Maulana Mohamad Asri bin Yusuf.

- Polish my photography skillz.

KISS = Keep It Simple Self!. It’s a tone down variation from the original Keep It Simple Stupid!

I tend to went for spectacular shot when a simple stroke usually is the safer option. It’s good when it went well, but it’s not in my case. More often than not I jeopardized what should be an easy shot.

So when I made mistakes, I will shout out loud – KISS! KISS!  – It work well most of the time.

Outside tennis games, I haven’t use the motto – at least from what I remember. However, it’s a sensible motto to have. Maybe I have to went for spectacular every now and then, but I have to make sure I’ve grasp the basic before venturing there.

Time to blow KISS in every part of life I suppose. Lets see what’s the result in the future.

Oleh kerana aku masih kecil, aku hanya menerima sahaja. Manalah mampu untuk menafikan.

Dengan peredaran masa, aku mula mendapat pelbagai maklumat berkaitan Tasawuf. Input yang terbaik pada pandangan aku adalah apa yang ditulis oleh Prof Dr Hamka di dalam bukunya “Tasawuf Moden”. Tidak kurang juga pelbagai tafsiran dan input dari pelbagai pihak. Dari Tasawuf yang bertujuan untuk menyucikan jiwa ataupun Tazkiyyat al-Nafs, sehinggalah kepada Tasawuf yang mendakwa tidak perlu bersolat.

Ada 3 pandangan berkaitan dengan Tasawuf yang aku tahu. Pandangan pertama mengatakan bahawa Tasawuf itu benar kesemuanya. Pandangan kedua mengatakan Tasawuf itu sesat kesemuanya dan pandangan yang ketiga mengatakan bahawa perlu dilihat pengisian ajaran tasawuf tersebut. Mana yang menepati Al-Quran dan Al-Sunnah adalah benar dan yang menyalahinya adalah sesat.

Setakat ini aku berpegang kepada pandangan ke-3. Tasawuf yang melibatkan pembersihan jiwa dari sifat-sifat mazmumah dan tidak melakukan bid’ah dalam apa bentuk padaku adalah tasawuf yang benar, manakala Tasawuf yang melibatkan penafsiran yang menyalahi salaf-al-ummah, melakukan bid’ah dengan berleluasa padaku adalah tasawuf yang menyimpang.

Minggu lepas aku berpeluang untuk membelek satu buku yang bertajuk “Tarekat Tasawuf: Sesudah Ma’rifatullah”. Setakat kefahamanku, ia adalah buku yang mencampuradukkan perkara yang benar dan yang batil. Cuba lihat gambarajah di bawah; Ia terkandung di dalam buku yang aku sebutkan.

Gambarajah ini benar-benar seperti apa yang pernah diberitahu kepadaku semasa aku kecil. Jika dulu aku menerima sahaja, tapi kini aku menolak pembahagian ini. Adalah sesuatu yang menyesatkan untuk mengatakan bahawa ada jalan lain untuk mencapai keredhaan Allah selain dari jalan yang ditunjukkan oleh para Nabi dan Rasul (untuk era kita ia adalah jalan Nabi Muhammad SAW).

Hal ini mengingatkan aku kepada satu hadith;

Daripada Abdullah bin Mas’ud katanya: “Pada suatu hari Rasulullah telah membuat satu garis sambil bersabda: Ini adalah Jalan Allah. Kemudian baginda membuat beberapa garisan disebelah kanan dan kiri garisan tadi dan bersabda: Ini adalah beberapa jalan yang masing-masing mempunyai Syaitan yang menyeru kepadanya. Kemudian Baginda membaca ayat: Sesungguhnya ini adalah jalan-Ku yang lurus, maka ikutilah dia dan janganlah kamu mengikuti jalan-jalan yang lain, kerana jalan-jalan itu mencerai-beraikan kamu dari jalan-Nya. Demikian itu diperintahkan Allah kepada kamu agar kamu bertaqwa. (al-An’am: 153)

Mungkin ada mereka yang mengatakan bahawa Jalan Allah itu termasuk juga di dalamnya jalan para wali seperti pembahagian didalam gambarajah di atas, namun padaku kata-kata ini tidak benar berdasarkan;

Katakanlah: “Jika kamu benar-benar mencintai Allah, ikutilah aku(1), pasti Allah mengasihi dan mengampuni dosa-dosamu. Allah maha pengampun lagi maha penyayang.” (Ali ‘Imran: 31) (1) Ikutlah sunnah Rasulullah SAW.

Jadi bagaimana seseorang yang tidak mengikuti jalan rasul boleh mencapai keredhaan Allah? Apakah jaminan mereka yang tidak mengikuti jalan Rasul mendapat kasih dan keampunan dari Allah?

Bagi pembaca artikel ini, berhati-hatilah dengan mereka yang mengaku sufi dan mengukuti tasawuf. Rajin-rajinlah bertanya tentang apa yang mereka bawa. Jangan nanti kita menyesal dengan penyesalan yang tiada sudahnya.

So, I went to some other place, shooting the sunrise. Then I went to UTM shooting MSI bathed by the morning Sun. At about 7:30 I sped up to Horizon Hill.

MSI Bathed by the morning sun

I was disappointed. There was layers of security checkpoint leading to Horizon Hill. I stopped at the first security post and asked the guard in-duty about entering the place. I have to acquire a security pass to enter the place.

I phoned my friend who informed me about the place and she said that visitors pass was not needed the last time she visited the place.

It was still early (about 8:30) and visitors (who want to see demo houses) can only enter the place @ 10am onwards. I whisper to myself – can I take photos in there? The developers might be irritated by DSLR-clad person snapping pictures in the area they develop.

Should I wait until 10am and enter or I better go somewhere else. Ultimately I went somewhere else – having my breakfast at ZZ. Because of Horizon Hill little problem I lost interest to shoot @ Program Jom Gegar Belia Johor 2008. I just went back home, do some chores and pay back my “sleep kredit”.

I will come again one day, InsyaAllah – when the area have properly developed. I might not be the first person to shoot there, but I don’t want to get into trouble with the developer (and the issue of safety in the area) either.

The conclusion: Fail shooting trip … huhuhu. But, Alhamdulillah I still obtain some pictures elsewhere.

“I’m a greedy person. Not greedy for this world, but for the hereafter. I want to be as close as I can be to Prophet Muhammad SAW and other prophets AS in Jannah”

“Learn Arabic language. It’s essential – no option”

Au qama qal: Words by Dr Yusuf Estes, 27th Nov 2008, Tan Sri Ainuddin Wahid Mosque.

Dr Yusuf Estes

I’ve read several reviews and Canon A590IS or A720IS were high in my list. Anyway, just in case, I went to Canon website to checked the features and latest price and boy I am surprised! The two model has been replaced with slimmer and sexier model – A1000IS and A2000IS. The design is appealing and the prices is cheaper too. I was thinking, this is it! I want to buy one of those!

Canon A590IS

Canon A2000IS

I went to Tebrau City right after Jumaat Congregation Prayer with high spirit. I was starting to imagined taking pictures with the new camera – probably better pictures than Canon A700 because of the IS feature. When I arrived at Tebrau City, I head straight to camera shops and ask for A2000IS and played with it. I thought that the new A-series retain all the features of the camera it replaced, added more features to boot but in a slimmer body.

I was disappointed. While there are host of new features such as automatic detection for macro if the image is too close, the Manual, Aperture-Priority (Av) and Shutter-Priority (Tv) are gone! These features are important to me because I want to further familiarize myself with the modes before I buy a DSLR. So, I asked for the older siblings, A590IS or A720IS. I was disappointed again – there were no more in stock. I browsed through all the camera shop in Tebrau City but there were no more A590IS and A720IS.

While contemplating on what to do next, I skimmed through the fliers at the shop and look for Nikon D90. The price at Me Too are: RM35xx body only and RM 45xx with kit lens. The price seems to be more expensive than last time I asked. But the price includes camera bag, 4Gb high speed memory card and a tripod – so I think it’s a fair price. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough money and I think I might get better price elsewhere.

I went to Angsana next and head straight to Me Too camera shop. They only have A580 which don’t have IS feature. I was disappointed again. Without IS, it’s not much different with the old A700! While I can search around for camera at other camera shops (Leisure Mall, City Square, Other Juscos and anywhere else), I simply starting to giving up on digital camera because I started to thought on replacing my already sold HTPC.

In the end, Instead of buying a digital camera, I end up buying parts for a HTPC – AMDX2 5000+, Asus M3A78-EMH HDMI, 1Gb Kingston Value RAM, 250Gb Seagate HDD, Asus DVD-RW, 120mm fan, all-in-one card reader, HDMI cable and HDD cooler. TV card will be bought next month.

I can’t take pictures with HTPC, but I sure can record my favorite satellite TV programmes with it! Btw, the picture quality is way better with HDMI connector as compared to when I hooked up my LCDTV with the old VGA connector. All in all, I’m contempt at the moment.