all praise is to Allah

bismillah 

as fickle minded as i could be, i decided to attend a seminar on family upbringing today at the very last minute. like. literally. 

20 minutes to bus departure time and i'm still clicking on my laptop to confirm my online payment. hm, i guess it's true. if Allah will's you to be at one place you will be there, one way or another. biiznillah.

it all started a long time in a faraway land called malaysia..when i read the email i wasn't really bothered. partly because i didn't have good internet connection, partly because i didn't want to hear about building a family yet. to be honest, in my mind, i was thinking there was only so much that one can learn from theories but a bigger part of it is in applying it.  and so i just kept a closed eye. 

back in Bristol, i was still contemplating, should i go, or not. since i'll be leaving for my placement on sunday, i was worried i wouldn't have enough time to get back to bristol and pack.  to make matters worse, i was terribly homesick. and i still am. i don't know if there's some minor dysfunction in my sense of smell but i keep on smelling mama's scent since i came back to Bristol.  on my tudung, on my clothes and even my books. a bit weird but maybe mama accidently rubbed her fragrance when she was helping me pack.  so it wouldn't help to hear a talk on family in this current condition as i would only think about them more.  and so i thought.

eventually, after a long and strenuous thought, i buckled up and went.  i guess i had a few reasons:

1. i have the free time now, why not utilise it 

2. it's given by ustaz, there will definitely some sort of unsur rabbaniyah (which i'm dying for) even though i wasn't too keen on the family upbringing side

3. if our niat is for Allah, any amal would bring us reward insyaAllah

4. to apply kesyumulan Islam itself. although i was all geared up for the academic year and didn't want my motivation to be side tracked by other thoughts, doesn't every aspect of life goes hand in hand with each other? 

so i guess that was it.  and Alhamdulillah i really enjoyed it, even the travel and all.  and a surprise was i got to meet my mum's naqibah, once upon a time as one of the panelist. :)

a few tips and learning points from today:

1. nk jd ibu/isteri kene byk sabar

2. kalau kita tlg agama Allah, Allah akan tlg kita

3. komunikasi yg baik penting, org Melayu byk gune body language as opposed to westerners yg lebih verbal

4. nk tidur sebut "Allah menjaga kita, Allah melihat kita" utk lembutkan hati kita dan ajar anak2
5. kene belajar hidup susah dulu, dan turunkan standard hidup kita utk masa depan yg lebih senang 

hehe. i think that's all. i am quite embarassed about my level of writing and the things i talk about. i feel it's so petty compared to everyone elses. may Allah gives us benefit from this.

for future reference, at least if my naqibah asks me why i didn't want to go, i have something to tell her. ;)

nad.

p/s: this is song is dedicated to mama&abah and anyone else, as this is the wedding season. mabrouk :D