Sunnah on the seventh day of a newborn

Samurah narrated that Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) said, “The boy is mortgaged by his Aqiqa; slaughtering should be done for him on the seventh day, he should be given a name and his head should be shaved.” 

(Hadith No. 1522, Chapters on Sacrifice, Jami’ At-Tirmidhi, Vol. 3) 

When Balqis was still in my tummy, after the 7th month or so, husband and I had some discussions on what to name him/her (we didn't know if she was a boy or a girl yet), when should we have her aqiqah - on the seventh day or wait longer so we could have a proper majlis, and so on and so forth. But every discussions ended up with no conclusion.

Due to not wanting to know if I was carrying a girl or a boy, we had to at least list down few boy and few girl names. And man that was not easy. We've been checking good names for babies from books to websites to phone apps (yes, there are many!). And even though I had this (I think) motherly instinct that I was having a baby girl inside, my list of name are full with only boy names. Husband was not much a help as he also did not have any preference on naming our kids. But both of us agree on one thing - we want single name only.

So every other day it was like, "So apa nama anak kita?" then we both laughed. And no further discussion pfftt.

7 days old no-name baby girl

Raudhatus Sakinah and Julaybib

Last weekend, Team Syuhada of Kindness Malaysia (Penang region) went to Rumah Raudhatus Sakinah (RS) in Sungai Bakap, Penang.

Raudhatus Sakinah was established as an institution that provides shelter and counselling to victims of teenage girls that are mostly the victims of social illness such as abuse, mistreatment, neglect, psychological stress, rape, incest and so on. RS tries to help teenagers who are involved to boost their self-confidence and their ability to become a useful person to society and religion.

RS has been in operation since August 1998 under the operation of the Wanita Pertubuhan Jamaah Islah Malaysia (WJIM). RS is an ongoing project to help people deal with social problems, especially among teenagers. RS has officially registered under the Care Centre Act 1993, the Social Welfare Department.

The RS home in Penang was opened in 2007. Besides Penang, RS shelters are also available in Sungai Buloh (HQ), Kelantan, Johor and Kuala Lumpur.

The Raudhatus Sakinah, the peaceful garden

Umrah 1434H

Alhamdulillah .. Allah granted us the opportunity to fly thousands of miles to become guests of His home, Baitullah, once again. The happiness and joy that can't be described. The pounding and nervous feelings still arise, more over when it was nearer to the departure date. I went to the Umrah trip with the two most important person in my life - my mother and my husband - and with my aunt and her family. 

We departed to Jeddah by Saudi Air on Saturday 16 February 2013. We spent three nights in Madinah before we go to Makkah. 

Masjid Quba'

The first and oldest mosque in the world - built by prophet Muhammad s.a.w

One of the hadith on Masjid Quba':

"Prophet Muhammad s.a.w said: Whoever makes ablutions at home and then goes and prays in the Mosque of Quba, he will have a reward like that of an 'Umrah."

(Hadith is reported by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Al-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Hakim al-Nishaburi.)

Bila nak kahwin?

I bet that most of you who is still single or in a relationship, 24 and above have been asked with that question by the makcik makcik especially during hari raya or family member's wedding kan kan kan? Some of you might find it ok, senyum jawab dengan ikhlas but I know some of you feel totally the opposite - menyampah, jawab dengan sakit hati jiwa raga, and ada yang terasa juga. Tapi ok la jugak kan kalau yang tanya tu makcik makcik - sinonim dengan perkataan busybody mengambil berat. -___-"

(Photo: Ghada Abdel Aal's I Want to Get Married)

But have you girls been asked that particular question by your guy friends? And then they make comments on you dengan jawapan - jawapan yang diberikan? I do. In fact there are many guy friends - married or not - have asked me the same question. Yang buat sakit hati nya adalah bila mereka memberikan komen sesuka hati diorang je. Here are some of the comments/assumptions made by them that I've compiled.