On Placing Your Hopes And Expectations To God

Last year I saw a YouTube video on an ustadz (male clerics) giving a sermon on the importance of marriage. The ustadz cited a hadith saying The Prophet said married people were already achieving half of the religion. From that hadith, the ustadz deduced that the unmarried people had yet to reach anything worthy for the journey to afterlife.

I remembered feeling helpless after hearing the sermon. As a single Muslim in my late 30s (this year is the last year of my 30s), I believe that Allah would not let anyone feeling left behind and that Islam embraces people from all walks of life. So I looked up Al Quran to find solace.

What I found in Al Quran were verses on marriage, to be kind to spouse (how husband should treat their wife and vice versa), to be kind to those who have less, and other advises on being kind to other humans. Reading the verses on marriage resulted in even more helpless feeling, because they emphasized the aforementioned hadith.

As I turned the 30th juz, I stumbled upon Q.S Al Zalzalah (The Earthquake). The 99th surah in Al Quran consists of 8 verses and the last two verses say: "Whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it. Whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it."

It reminded me of a hadith as told by Abu Hurairah ra about the poor people who asked The Prophet that the rich could do sholat and fasting, just like the poor do. But the rich can give alms, free slaves and donate their wealth for good deeds, while the poor can not do that. At the end of the hadith, Rasulullah SAW said that Allah gave blessing to whoever He wanted to give.

And then another verse of Al Quran jumped out before my eyes: "And to your Lord only should you direct your longing." (Q.S. Al Insyirah-94: 8).

I still needed some validation on the hadith mentioned on the first paragraph of this post, so I asked another cleric, who I knew well that he would pick his words carefully. He said that marriage was indeed already half of the religion (insert sad sigh here). However, he added, those who were married still had to pursue the other half, which is taqwa. He reminded that people should always place their hopes and expectations to God, and not being complacent with the good deeds they have done or achieved.

Those kind words reminded me of another surah, Q.S. Al Ashr, which is my namesake actually. The last two verses say: '"Indeed, mankind is at loss. Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience."

Please note that I am not a scholar on Islamic studies. I am just a Muslim who wants to learn more about my own faith. I know that my understanding on Al Quran is not as much as the people who dedicate their life to learn Islam. Feel free to give comments and suggestion. 

May we be able to reach our full potential in this year's Ramadan. Ramadan Mubarak!

A Few Days Of Working From Kuala Lumpur

As many people often express their envy on my work-from-home situation, I would respond by explaining my lonely hermit-like work schedule. Eventually, one of my friends, Nisachan, invited me to join her to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She was going there to attend a three-day workshop. I didn't need much persuasion, and agreed to join her.

Day 1

I started the trip in the worst-case scenario: I missed the flight! So I booked a flight at 2 pm, because I thought I could finish my work at 11 am. Unfortunately, my work ended a bit later and I arrived at the airport 30 minutes before the flight. I also forgot to do web check in (my bad, I know). This was such a lessons learned: always do web check in!

Anyway, I decided to continue with the travel plan and buy another ticket on the next flight (which was still available, alhamdulillah).

Upon arriving in KL, I took KLIA Ekspress to reach KL Sentral

Learning the intricate transportation network in KL Sentral

Ok, I have made my decision to take LRT and used this blue token to reach my destination

I arrived in KL and headed to the hotel where my friend stayed. She had just ended a series of meeting when I got to the room. We later explored the area around her hotel for food (I had yet to have dinner). We walked around and find a kind of hotpot cart nearby a construction project.

The best thing was it's cheap! 

We closed the night with a photo session in front of KLCC Twin Tower.

Day 2

Nisachan went to her workshop and I worked from the hotel room. The Internet speed in the hotel was superb. After work, I went out to have a quick reunion with a friend Ririn Ruby. We used to take yoga class together back in 2005-2006. She married a Malaysian in 2010 and now lives in KL. It was a wonderful meet up after our last meeting in 2013.

Hello from Kuala Lumpur! Thank you for making the time for the meet-up.

At night, my roommate had a work dinner with her colleague. So I decided to have dinner at Tapak foodtruck area.

Clear elevator and no one around? It's time for shameless selfie shot.

My dinner: Mee Mamak or something. Verdict: I like the Indonesian version of Mie Goreng better

Day 3

Nisachan would depart to one of the beach and check on turtle conservation areas with her office on this day. At first, she thought that I could tag along, because she would have the whole room for herself anyway. But then there was a transportation issue, because it was located quite far and I had to go there on my own. After a lot of thinking, I decided to stay in KL and find a place to stay for one night. After all, she would come back to KL the next day and spent one more night in KL before we flew back home on the fifth day.

When I told Ririn Ruby that I was staying in KL, she said,"Hey, why don't you stay with me?" Wow, sure, with pleasure. So the accommodation was settled. All I needed to do was complete my work before the check out time.

The joy (or is it a curse?) of freelancing is you can bring your work anywhere

The electrical socket in KL has three-leg, but I can still use the two-leg from Indonesia

Nisachan also checked out, but she still had meetings at the hotel before she departed to that beach at night. We bade our temporary goodbye, and left each other to face to our own fate (#drama).

Anyway, Ririn Ruby picked me up at Taman Bahagia LRT station, which is the nearest station from her home. We dropped my bags at her home.

Happy Park. Actually, there was a ramp on the side for people with disabilities.

Then we went to Naelofar to shop some hijabs because our friend requested one hijab made in Malaysia. I ended up buying two hijabs for myself. I should open 'jastip' next time, lol.

The Naelofar outlet in Taman Tun Datuk Ismail (TTDI). Shoes off!

My friend asked me to buy one black Jemima hijab for her. Then I also bought one. This resulted in the cashier girl asking me three time if I was really buying two black Jemima hijab. Maybe they thought I should buy the other one in another color. No, I wanted two black hijabs please.

After all the exciting shopping experience, we went back to Ririn's home. Then she asked if I wanted to watch Avenger: Endgame with her family. Whoa, definitely! 

Ririn has two boys, let's call them A1 and A2. They are still below 10 years old, but already act like adult, and it is so refreshing to have conversation with them.

For example:

On how Ririn and I met

A1: Where did you and mom meet?

Me: We took up yoga classes

A1: I didn't remember you at all

Me: Well, it was back in Jakarta. But I did meet you back in 2013, you were still around 2-3 years old, I think

A1: Ohhh

On staying in for the night and leaving the next day

A1: So you stay with us for the night?

Me: Yes, just for one night, though. I will leave tomorrow.

A2: You can stay with us forever (hugs)

A1: Oh yes!

Me: (Is there anyone cutting onion here?)

On sleeping arrangement

A1: Where are you sleeping tonight?

Me: Rrr, we'll see

A1: You can sleep next to my brother and I

Me: (Oh, my heart!)

Before we left for the movie

Ririn: Ok boys, we are going now. Remember, no crying, no whining, no noise and no taking other people's food.

Me: Wait, it happened before? Taking other people's food, I mean.

Ririn: Oh yes, it did. The person just laughed it off, but I was mortified.

Me: Oh your boys are definitely cute.

Anyway, Avenger: Endgame is a three-hour movie. Although Bahasa Indonesia and Melayu share similar roots and words, watching a movie for three hours with subtitle in another language was quite confusing. For your information, movies screened in Malaysia have two subtitles: Melayu and Chinese. "And sometimes there is subtitle in Indian language, too," added Ririn. Oh dear.

Day 4

The next day, I had Nasi Lemak at Village Park Restaurant, which is also nearby Ririn's home. I went here with her and Tika in 2013, so this was a walk down memory lane. In my opinion, it's the best nasi lemak in Malaysia.

The menu and price

I am drooling just looking at that photo. Ohhh, the crispy and yet tender fried chicken, a mix of perfect spices (not too much balacan), along with the rice that is accompanied with anchovies and peanuts, and the sambal (chili paste).

Ririn dropped me off at my hotel in the afternoon. After Nisachan arrived, we went out to have dinner at McDonald's. The next day, we flew back home.

Conclusion: It was a wonderful experience to work in KL for a few days, although I didn't get to see around. I think I would do this again if similar opportunity comes again.