The Agony of Defeat, The Joy of Victory and A Hard fought Draw

Salam , Hello and Greetings to all,

I am an avid sport fan and I subscribed to a satellite television that have more than 10 sports channel.  Basically I can watch 24/7 sports program. Last night I spent my time watching 3 live action programs.  

The first one is our national soccer team playing in qualification for the London Olympic against Bahrain. This is the team third game ( they lost their previous two against Japan and Syria). This game is considered to be a do or die mission. Losing this game means logically they are out of contention for the Olympics. The team is in a high with the fans after winning the gold medal in SEA Games about a week ago in Indonesia but the paid a price for that. Most of the regulars are injured or still nursing from injury sustained from the tournament. Some of them still haven’t recovered completely from the fatigue after having to play in the grueling tournament. (Hope I am not making excuses for them).

The team known as Harimau Muda ( Young Tigers) started out fiercely and dominate the game. They lead 1-0 in the first half and then by 67th minute they doubled the score and also Bahrain is reduced to `10 men after a player was sent off. I am so confident that our 3 point is secured. 

Earlier I had promised my children that I am going to treat them with KFC Krusher, so all of us including my wife and the kids (including our new born baby) went out to get them while the game is on and we were leading 2-0.  We enjoyed our Krusher and  love all the flavours. I can taste all of them since each of my children choose different flavours.

Enough about the Krusher….now back to the game. When I got home I asked my dad the final score of the game. To my surprised, I was told that Harimau Muda lost 3-2. Bahrain had scored 3 goals in a span of 6 minutes. With the lost, our dream of qualifying for the Olympic is shattered.

Sincerely I am not upset with the result nor should blame them. They have done our nation proud by winning the SEA games Gold medal and have given hope that someday our national team will rise up to a respectable standard. I hope the stay together as a team, train harder and gain valuable experience and eventually will make the nation proud of their achievement.

The next 2 sport actions that I watched was almost simultaneous – F1 Brazilian Grand Prix and BPL match Liverpool vs Man. City.  I had to switch from one channel to another to watch them both. ( most of the time on the BPL match ). Brazilian GP is the final circuit of the season but it lacks the suspense and climax since the overall champion Sebastian Vettel was crowned few races ago. The race was won by Mark Webber , Vettel’s Red Bull team mate , his first win this year even though he was on podium 10 times.  In this GP , the fight is for 2^nd place overall between Webber , Button and Alonso. The highlight of the Brazilian Grand Prix is the record breaking 15^th pole position set by Vettel. Previously it was held by Nigel Mansell with 14 pole position in a season.

The match between Liverpool and Man. City was very exciting. I really enjoyed watching. The undefeated league leaders wounded after losing their UCL match travel to Anfield fortress to play against the high flying Reds. At half time it was square 1-1. Both team played a very entertaining game. The time of possession was quite even 51%-49% in favour of the Reds but the shots-on-goal was dominated by the Reds. City managed to hold on with the score line due to the brilliance goalkeeping of their England No 1 Joe Hart. He made a spectacular save from a goal bound header by Caroll in the dying minutes of the game. The match ended with a 1-1 draw.

That’s all for now….thank you for spending your time reading.

Have a pleasant day.

The Hijrah Calendar

Salam , Hello and Greetings to all.

Here is another interesting information that I would like to share. Since we are still in the midst of celebrating the Islamic New Year , I found an interesting info about the origin of the Islamic calender.

Muslims measure the passage of time using the Islamic (Hijrah) calendar. This calendar has twelve lunar months, the beginnings and endings of which are determined by the sighting of the crescent moon.

Years are counted since the Hijrah, which is when the Prophet Muhammad and is fellow Muslims (known as Sahabah, the Companions)migrated from Mecca to Madinah (approximately July 622 CE). The emigration took place after thirteen years of persecutions by the disbelievers of Makkah.  By the command of God, the Prophet left the city with his companion Abu Bakr Siddique (R.A.) and escaped a death threat by the disbelievers. The event marks the beginning of a second phase of the Islamic movement. It is the phase when Madinah became the center of an Islamic state.

The Islamic calendar was first introduced by the close companion of the Prophet, 'Umar ibn Al-Khattab. During his leadership of the Muslim community, in approximately 638 CE, he consulted with his advisors in order to come to a decision regarding the various dating systems used at that time. It was agreed that the most appropriate reference point for the Islamic calendar was the Hijrah, since it was an important turning point for the Muslim community.

The Islamic year has twelve months that are based on a lunar cycle.

Islamic months begin at sunset of the first day, the day when the lunar crescent is visually sighted. The lunar year is approximately 354 days long, so the months rotate backward through the seasons and are not fixed to the Gregorian calendar.

The names of the twelve Islamic months are as follows:

1. Muharram
2. Safar
3. Rabiul-Awwal
4. Rabi-uthani
5. Jumadi-ul-Awwal
6. Jumadi-uthani
7. Rajab
8. Sha'ban
9. Ramadan
10. Shawwal
11. Dhil-Q'ada
12. Dhil-Hijja 

I know my birth date of the Gregorian calendar , but I don't know the date based on Islamic Calendar. I'll find it out  soon and also for my wife and my three children. I did take note of the date my new baby boy was born based on Islamic Calender since it was about 7 weeks ago. 

That's all for now.....thank you for spending your time reading.

Have a pleasant day. 

The significance of Hijrah

Salam , Hello and Greetings to all.

Today I got a day off since the national public holiday of the Islamic New Year falls on Sunday. I suppose might as well I spend my time reading and browsing some of the sites on Hijra. I came across a few good ones , and one of them is written by Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D. President of Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. and I want to share it with all of you.  His paper tells about the significance of Hijrah.

 

The significance of Hijrah (the migration of Prophet Muhammad to Madinah) is not limited to the Islamic history or to the Muslims. The Hijrah not only reshaped - socially and politically - the Arab Peninsula, but also had its impact on worldwide civilizations.

Throughout the history of Islam, the migration was a transitional line between the two major eras, regarding to the message of Islam; the era of Makkah and the era of Madinah. In its essence, this signified a transition from one phase to another, as follows:

Transition from the position of weakness, to the position of strength.

Transition from spreading Islam through individual, to the spreading of Islam through institutionalized, initiated by the state.

Transition from a position where Muslims represented a small group of people, to the position of a regional power with a strong central leadership.

Transition of Da'wah from regionalism, to the phase of universalism.

Transition from being a simple Islamic group of believers, to being the Islamic Ummah (nation).

Transition, which is most significantly for early Muslims, to the phase in which Islam was not only the act of worship, but a way of life. This was the first time when Islam was looked upon as a comprehensive religion.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the migration of Prophet Muhammad to Madinah was the crucial event, which established the Islamic civilization. This was a civilization that thrived for many centuries.

When the Prophet made the Hijrah from Makkah to Madinah, he did not just transfer his residence or took shelter in another city, but as soon as he arrived in Madinah he began the transformation of that city in every aspect.

Among the transformation that the Prophet did in Madinah as stated in the history are :

1. Mosque: The Prophet first established a Mosque for the worship of Allah..

2. Madrasah: The first school under the supervision of the Prophet was the school of Suffah.

3. Mu'akhah: He established brotherly relations between the Muhajirun (Muslims who migrated from Makkah) and the Ansar (residents of Madinah who helped the Prophet and his Companions).

4. Intercommunity and Interfaith Relations: Prophet also established good relations with other communities living in Madinah.

5. Cleaning the City: Yathrib (previous name of Madinah) was a dirty city. When the Sahabah (Prophet's Companions) came from Makkah to Madinah, many of them got sick and did not like that city. The Prophet asked them to clean the city and remove its dirt and filth. `

 
6. Water System in the City: The Prophet asked the Sahabah to dig wells in different parts of the city of Madinah and there was enough clean water for everyone.

7. Agriculture and Gardening: The Prophet encouraged the Sahabah to cultivate the land and make gardens.

8. Poverty Eradication: In a short period of time it happened that there were no poor people in Madinah.

9. Safety, Security, Law and Order: Madinah became the safest city in the world.

In short, Hijrah teaches us that wherever Muslims go, they should bring goodness to that land. Muslims should work for both moral and material goodness of the society.

In Malaysia , the celebration of the Islamic New Year is known as Maal Hijrah. Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin launched the national-level Maal Hijrah celebration at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre.

The national-level celebration carries the theme of "Persefahaman Asas Perpaduan Ummah" (Understanding the Basis for Unity of the Community) with the aim of strengthening ties within the multiracial society of Malaysia.

Here are some of the important messages delivered by Yang di-Pertuan Agong in his speech :

Always exercise moderation in all their practices.

People should act in a civil manner in anything, and not act rashly and cruelly towards anyone.

People should also not blow up small disagreements and instead resolve them amicably.

Noble values such as mutual love and respect being fostered and practised from the home so as to create a loving, united society with a high level of mutual understanding and strong sense of oneness.

The spirit of good neighbourliness and oneness will flourish again so that the people in this country can go through their daily lives in a state of increased harmony and love for one another.

Country's multiracial, multicultural and multireligious people have to understand each other's needs and to respect the dissimilarities. Country's peace is closely linked to unity of the ummah, as it's impossible for a country to be peaceful if there is chaos in its society.

As for me, there are still a lot of things that I need to change and I hope that I will be able to do so. 

That's all for now....thank you for spending your time reading.
Have a pleasant day.

Intro

Salam , Hello and greetings to all.

This is my first entry to my new blog. Appropriately I decided to start my blog on this day 27^th November 2011 which is the first day of Muharram 1433 Hijri the first day on Muslim calendar.  I would like to take this opportunity to wish Happy New Year to all Muslim.

This is my first blog and to start things up, I’ve asked my two daughters and son to set up this blog for me, which includes the signing up and the designing of the blog. They also teach me the basic things about blog. Thank you Aina , Alis and Adil for your help and patience.