Lilies are my favourite flower, but irises are just as beautiful, right?
Assalamualaikum and hi!
Today I attended a little gathering called IRIS (which stands for Inspiring Your Soul) held at Surau APIUM. Like the name says, IRIS is meant to inspire, to enlighten your soul in becoming a better version of yourself. It's a girls-only gathering (yay!) and is held once every month (if I'm not mistaken). I attended the first IRIS last semester, and today's IRIS 3.0 was my second time joining.
So the theme for IRIS 3.0 was Kenali Dirimu, Engkau Akan Kenal Tuhanmu (Know yourself, you will know your God in doing so). Our speaker today was Kak Nad, a very sweet sister who used to study here in UM under the AAJ programme! We started off with a small game as a taaruf (introduction) between the attendees. After the game ended, Kak Nad went on to show us a rather meaningful video which I'm going to share here as well.
This video showed us someone living a very monotonous life, like a robot, doing everything in the same pattern, every single day. In a way, we're like that too aren't we?
Maybe yes, maybe no. Partly it's a yes for me because I kind of go through the same cycle everyday. I get up, go to class, go back to finish my tutorials, maybe read, maybe study a bit, maybe watch sitcoms, then I go to sleep. Some days I get busy, some days I barely have anything to do. And on those unproductive days, I find life a bit purposeless, I overthink about how my life has so little significance to this world, and eventually I get sucked into a negative state of mind.
So much for a free day to clear up your mind, eh?
But if I have a purpose in this life, no matter how monotonous my daily life is, if my actions are done in the remembrance of that purpose, everything will be a lot more meaningful. True, we all have these material goals in life: I need to get good results so I can go to a good university, land a good job in order to live a good life. Islam does not deny these goals. But these goals, they aren't the main things that we should actually focus on. As a Muslim, ideally, the purpose will be to submit to Allah SWT. And by submitting to Him, remembering Him in our deeds, inshaAllah life will be easier to go about. Because you have hope that He'll grant you a place much better later on compared to this life, and the material goals you work for only act as means toward this greater end.
Kak Nad touched a bit about a Malay proverb, "Yang secupak takkan jadi segantang". It means that something that is already set cannot be changed. In relation to our rezeki, if we can't achieve something, it means that Allah has never decreed for us to get it in the first place, no matter how hard we worked for it. Truthfully, this hit too close to home. My A-Level years were arduous; I've never worked as hard as I did then. Yet I still didn't manage to achieve good results. I know I said I've made peace with the past, but hearing this assurance from Kak Nad made me feel a lot more relieved. My results do not define me; my efforts and my remembrance in Allah through my hardships do. So for those in the same boat as me, regardless of your age, your course, your work, rest assured :) Your efforts will not go to waste if you put your intentions sincerely for Allah SWT.
Now this is a rather lengthy post, so I guess I'll stop here for now. I'm glad because IRIS really did what it intended to do: inspire my soul, and now I'm inspired to write in here tonight!
A place for my random ramblings :)
I go by a lot of nicknames, Iqah, Pyon, and Effy.
What you call me doesn't matter as long as I am still the me that you know.
Someone who is grateful to be a part of your life, even as a stranger you passed by somewhere.
Lilies are my favourite flower, but irises are just as beautiful, right?
Assalamualaikum and hi!
Today I attended a little gathering called IRIS (which stands for Inspiring Your Soul) held at Surau APIUM. Like the name says, IRIS is meant to inspire, to enlighten your soul in becoming a better version of yourself. It's a girls-only gathering (yay!) and is held once every month (if I'm not mistaken). I attended the first IRIS last semester, and today's IRIS 3.0 was my second time joining.
So the theme for IRIS 3.0 was Kenali Dirimu, Engkau Akan Kenal Tuhanmu (Know yourself, you will know your God in doing so). Our speaker today was Kak Nad, a very sweet sister who used to study here in UM under the AAJ programme! We started off with a small game as a taaruf (introduction) between the attendees. After the game ended, Kak Nad went on to show us a rather meaningful video which I'm going to share here as well.
This video showed us someone living a very monotonous life, like a robot, doing everything in the same pattern, every single day. In a way, we're like that too aren't we?
Maybe yes, maybe no. Partly it's a yes for me because I kind of go through the same cycle everyday. I get up, go to class, go back to finish my tutorials, maybe read, maybe study a bit, maybe watch sitcoms, then I go to sleep. Some days I get busy, some days I barely have anything to do. And on those unproductive days, I find life a bit purposeless, I overthink about how my life has so little significance to this world, and eventually I get sucked into a negative state of mind.
So much for a free day to clear up your mind, eh?
But if I have a purpose in this life, no matter how monotonous my daily life is, if my actions are done in the remembrance of that purpose, everything will be a lot more meaningful. True, we all have these material goals in life: I need to get good results so I can go to a good university, land a good job in order to live a good life. Islam does not deny these goals. But these goals, they aren't the main things that we should actually focus on. As a Muslim, ideally, the purpose will be to submit to Allah SWT. And by submitting to Him, remembering Him in our deeds, inshaAllah life will be easier to go about. Because you have hope that He'll grant you a place much better later on compared to this life, and the material goals you work for only act as means toward this greater end.
Kak Nad touched a bit about a Malay proverb, "Yang secupak takkan jadi segantang". It means that something that is already set cannot be changed. In relation to our rezeki, if we can't achieve something, it means that Allah has never decreed for us to get it in the first place, no matter how hard we worked for it. Truthfully, this hit too close to home. My A-Level years were arduous; I've never worked as hard as I did then. Yet I still didn't manage to achieve good results. I know I said I've made peace with the past, but hearing this assurance from Kak Nad made me feel a lot more relieved. My results do not define me; my efforts and my remembrance in Allah through my hardships do. So for those in the same boat as me, regardless of your age, your course, your work, rest assured :) Your efforts will not go to waste if you put your intentions sincerely for Allah SWT.
Now this is a rather lengthy post, so I guess I'll stop here for now. I'm glad because IRIS really did what it intended to do: inspire my soul, and now I'm inspired to write in here tonight!
