:: #2 - Be Proficient In Foreign Languages

Proficient in a foreign language.

A Muslim should not forget to pay attention to foreign languages, because these days, learning a foreign language is one of the most important tasks required of the active Muslim who understands the demands of contemporary Islamic life.

Fifteen centuries ago, the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) encouraged the study of foreign languages so that the Muslims would always be able to communicate with various nations and races, and convey to them the message of truth that Allah The Exalted has entrusted to them to proclaim throughout the world. We see evidence of this in the hadith narrated by Zayd ibn Thaabit (ra), in which he says that the Prophet (SAW) told him; "Oh Zayd, learn the writing of the Jews, for by Allah I do not trust the Jews to write anything down for me." Zayd said; "So I learnt it and it only took me a month to become proficient in it. Then I used to take down whatever letters the Prophet (SAW) wanted to send to them, and I would read for him the letters that they sent him,"

In another report he said, "The Messenger of Allah (SAW) asked me, "Do you know Syriac? I have received a letter in this language." I said, 'No.' He said, 'Then learn it.' So I learnt it.' [Tirmidhi who said it is a hasan saheeh hadith]

Similarly, Ibn az-Zubayr (ra) was proficient in a number of languages, but learning them did not distract him from his religion or preparing for the Hereafter. He had a hundred (male) slaves, each of whom spoke different language, and he used to speak to each slave in his own language. If you were to see this man when he was dealing with worldly affairs, you would think that he was a man who did not give a second's thought to the hereafter, and if you saw him dealing with religious matters, you would think that he was a man who did not give a second's thought to this world. [Al-Haakim and Ibn Na'eem]

Nowadays, more than ever before, the Muslim needs to be proficient in foreign languages so that he may know what is going on around him, both positive and negative, and so that he may understand what has been written about his Ummah (nation) and its heritage in languages other than his own, and thus be able to defend his nation from evil and speak up for its well-being.

Please forward.
May Allah reward us all.


Signing off,

What A Joy!

Okay guys. Today's post is about the Youth Engagement Summit 2009 I told you about. Now now, don't close the window yet. Read till the end of the post. ;) Today is Oct. 29th. So, that means I received the message last 3 days. Yep. I got a message from this one woman, Audra Pakalnyte through FB. And the title of the message was "Message from SEACHANGE team". The title alone excited me a lot!! XD This was what she sent me.



Cool naa? Haha I know. And then, I immediately sent a response email. And rightfully said, within 24 hours, I received an email.


WOOHOO!! I made it!!! It was a hard work to win this I tell ya. I spent hours on SEACHANGE Facebook page to win this. Well, earlier, there were few contests we had to take part in if we wanted to win this. I guess I won the Garry Kasparov challenge on FB. ;DD Seriously, I can't wait for next month. Finally, I got the free pass to YES 2009 I'd been relentlessly promoting!! XD Check out my name below! (NO. 92)


SEACHANGE is actually a movement for youth in the Southeast Asian region who wants to make changes to the world. SEACHANGE is an ongoing movement connecting Southeast Asian Youths to projects, organizations, businesses, and leaders who can help them with the change they want to see! It's complicated but you have to go check the website yourself. Here's the link. (Again, I'm promoting here. ;P)

http://malaysia.youthsays.com/seachange/go/lSb



The people you see up here are gonna be the speakers in the summit. I don't know how to explain this, but what's for sure, you'll be motivated and inspired by their talks and this is the first step to bring changes whether to your personal life, to the society, or even to the whole world.

The best part is, when you win a trip to YES 2009, your flight, hotel, and summit pass worth USD2,500 will be paid for. And the amount is equivalent to RM 8,500!! =O Can you believe that? But yes that of course includes the flight tickets and all. ;) But just imagine. It's very expensive to get that one pass. But now, everything is paid for you!! Yay!!!

I'll let you in on a secret (which, of course is a secret no more once you know this. haha ;D). My next semester starts on Nov. 15th. And this event will take place on Nov. 16th - Nov. 17th at the PICC. Other participants will arrive on the day I register for my college. I'm not sure if we will start lessons the next day or not. Or another possibility is, another "get-to-know-your-university" activities. Haha. But I'll make sure I'll attend the summit. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!! Oh yea!! Pray for me so that everything will work out as I wish!! Amin.. ;)

Alright, time's up. Now, it's time for some movies. ;DDD

p/s: I'm really hoping for the best for my next semester so that my dreams will come true, my wishes will be granted, and my prayers will be answered. ;) Amin...


Signing off,

A Place Called Here

Okay people. My gum is bleeding. I have no idea why. I hate blood!! Oh yea, one fact about me probably many don't know. I can faint when I see blood. Yep. I remember myself watching a Bollywood movie this one day at the school canteen in 2006. Haha, my habit whenever it turned Saturday. The boy was badly injured on his shin therefore he had to get few stitches. So, there was this one scene where he partook in a running event in his school and when he was about to reach the finishing line, his shin started to bleed again, profusely. Apparently, his stitches got torn. And I began to feel dizzy. My head was spinning. I felt like puking. Then, I called my parents and told them what happened. Instead of given encouragement, I was scolded for watching the scene since I knew I couldn't face blood. Haha. There you go. I almost collapsed. ;P

Today is Oct. 27th. So, it was last week. Hmm. I got MUET last week, on Oct. 20th, exactly a week before. MUET speaking actually. Well, not going to say much because you know how I hate speaking in English, SPONTANEOUSLY, aur woh bhi in public. I don't like given situation and points, and I have to talk about that in 2 minutes. Haha. But I hope I did well. Now, I just have to wait for Nov. 7th to finish the other remaining exams.

And I so want to win the trip to YES 2009!! Hahahaha. ;DD


Signing off,

Youth Engagement Summit 2009

Okay. Perhaps not many are aware that there will be Youth Engagement Summit here in Kuala Lumpur next month. The Youth Engagement Summit is the gathering of Southeast Asian youths with well-known global icons of change. The Summit’s goals are to create a lasting community of youths in the Southeast Asia region who are willing and able to work to bring positive changes to their lives and their communities.

Attendees will include regional and global business leaders, political figures and youths from all over Southeast Asia. 500 of the youth attendees will be winners chosen out of the one million participants in the SEAchange survey. These winners will be given free transportation, accommodations and tickets to the event.

In addition to bringing this youth community together, the Summit will see the release of results from the SEAchange survey, which will present to the UN and global NGOs what change today’s Southeast Asian youth would like to help accomplish.

The following speakers will be presenting at YES2009:

Sir Bob Geldof, founder of Live Aid and Live 8
Biz Stone, inventor of Twitter
Randi Zuckerberg, Director of market development at Facebook
Amitabh Bachchan, Bollywood star and host of Kaun Banega Crorepati
Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, former managing director of the World Bank
Dato’ Tony Fernandes|Tony Fernandes, entrepreneur and founder of AirAsia
Nando Parrado, survivor of the 1972 airplane crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
Garry Kasparov, Chess Grandmaster and political activst
Lorraine Hahn, CNN and CNBC anchor

The 2009 Youth Engagement Summit will take place on November 16th-17th at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Please. I really really REALLY hope everyone who reads my blog can help me increase my chances of winning. Or you can even check the website to join too. Just click on the link below and sign up and you've already done one good deed for me. ;) I appreciate your help a lot!! ;D

*O yea, please don't ask me why I'm very interested in YES2009. ;)*

http://youthsays.com/seachange/go/qyt

Don't forget to sign up! ;)


Signing off,

Open House? 2

Hi guys. Sorry for the late post. Lol. I really want to update my blog right now but currently I'm having headache so I think I can't post tonight. And the current time is 2:08 am, Oct. 21st. Probably because of the fact that I didn't sleep at the normal time normal Malaysians would sleep at. I think it was four nights in a row. Yea, last week. I even didn't get enough sleep the night before my open house was held. Slept at around 4-5 am and woke up at 8:30 am. After I got up at 6:50 am for Subuh prayer, went back to sleep. Haiz.. I can't imagine how red my eyes were that day.

Okay, gotta go now. Refilling my energy fuels and recharging my jism (body)!


Signing off,

IIE #1 - Italy's Church criticises teaching Islam in govt schools

This really saddens me. From now onwards, I'm going to post news regarding the state of Islam in Europe. Make sure you read the articles so that everyone of us will have the will to help rectify people's misunderstandings which pertains to Islam in any possible ways we can.

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Sunday, October 18, 2009

Italy’s Church criticises teaching Islam in govt schools

ROME: The head of the Italian Catholic Church in an interview Sunday criticised a government proposal to offer courses on Islam in schools as a way of steering young Muslims away from fundamentalist teachings.

‘The hour of Catholic religion (teaching) is justified by the fact that it forms part of our history and our culture,’ Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco told Corriere della Serra newspaper.

‘Knowledge of Catholic religious facts is indispensable to the understanding of our culture. It does not seem to me that the planned hour of religion (to teach Islam) corresponds to that reasonable and recognised motivation.’ Deputy Economic Development Minister Adolfo Urso has proposed an hour of teaching on Islam in public and private schools as a possible alternative to Catholic courses.

He has said the move would be aimed at keeping young Muslim students away from fundamentalist Islamic schools.

The centre-left opposition has welcomed the proposal, as has the speaker of Italy’s lower house, Gianfranco Fini.

But an anti-immigrant party allied to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the Northern League, has called it a ‘provocation.’

Foreigners made up 4.2 per cent of students in Italian schools at the end of 2007, with some 37 per cent of them Muslim, according to figures from the education ministry.— AFP

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/11-italy-s-catholic-church-criticises-govt-proposal-to-teach-islam--il--04

Open House?

Okay, guys. I owe you guys an apology. Haha. Why? Because these days I like to keep myself busy by answering surveys. Sorry. There you go. ;)

Just want to inform everyone, my family will be holding an open house this Saturday, Oct. 17th. So, everyone is cordially invited to this open house. The more, the merrier right? ;) Everyone especially those who reside in Selangor and KL is invited from 1.30 pm to 7 pm. Text me to know more or you can contact me on FB. (I don't know if anyone ever read this :P Haha)


Signing off,