Anger Management

Posted by Master J at 09:12

Monday, 8 February 2010

Assalamualaikum,

No, this isn't a review of the 2003 film Anger Management but I wanna share a little "problem" I have with some things people do.

It's human nature to get angry. We get angry when our laptop hangs, we get angry when people are late for appointments, we get angry when the neighbourhood cat leaves a "present" in front of our house. But what separates us, or should separate us from others, is how well we manage or control our anger.

I heard from a video a friend posted on Facebook, can't remember who was in the video, but the guy said something that sounded something like this;

"The true test of character for a Muslim, is not realising his mistake in getting angry and repenting afterwards, but knowing when he is angry, and controlling his anger at that precise moment"

This is similar to one of the lessons we can learn from the film Evan All-Mighty (I know some might not agree with me promoting the film, so read my post for my views on it OK), where the character of "God" played by Morgan Freeman says this;

"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?"

So this relates to what I said earlier, about us having to control our anger when the moment comes, not realise it after the fact. That's how Allah tests us and gives us the opportunity to improve ourselves by building up our patience.

Instead what I see in some blogs and on Facebook, is that a lot of people openly swear and curse at the things, or people who make them angry. Some people almost always post hateful status updates on Facebook, others post nothing but foul-language laden entries in their blogs. True it is their right to write what they want, but it leaves a bad feeling in my gut reading all the hate in those posts. In my opinion, the WWW is their release valve for all the hatred and anger they keep built up inside themselves, so to each their own.

Nevertheless, sabar is something which we should all strive to instil in ourselves, and the fact that it is so hard just goes to show why people say;

"Kesabaran itu separuh dari Iman" (Patience is half of faith??)

Dates Outside of Ramadhan?

Posted by Master J at 09:44

Thursday, 14 January 2010

Assalamualaikum,

Yesterday I went to a neighbours house for a small makan2 session. He had just returned from umrah about a week ago. So during the makan there was air zam-zam, some kacang2, and kurma. So one of the pakcik said:

"Kalau kurma ni biasa time bulan puasa je orang kita makan. Kalau bukan bulan puasa orang kita tak makan pun"

Translation:

"When it comes to eating dates, we always do so only during Ramadhan. Outside of Ramadhan we never eat dates"

Quite true don't you think? We always talk about how we improve ourselves during Ramadhan, and how we should stay in that "improved" state and improve even more during the next Ramadhan. But we never talk about the practice of eating kurma. Eating kurma is like, sunnah right? Or if its not, it is a very encouraged practice right?

We should encourage eating kurma throughout the year and not only during Ramadhan. Especially for us students who sometimes don't have time for a proper breakfast before class at 8am. Eating a few dates before class would be a good practice don't you think?

Rock Love!

Posted by Master J at 08:25

Wednesday, 13 January 2010

Assalamualaikum,

First, there was Potato Love, then Potato Love v2. Now I present to you, Rock Love!!!




Photo credits to my senior Sis. Norjihada Izzah Ismail =)


"Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day,- there are indeed Signs for men of understanding,-"

Al-Qur'an, 003.190

Flush After Use Please....

Posted by Master J at 21:59

Monday, 11 January 2010

Assalamualaikum,



When I saw what this month's 1 Bulan 1 Adab was, I kinda laughed. It's kinda funny, but after thinking about it, it really is an issue that we seem to overlook. Sure it's not as big as the previous 2 entries, but it's by far the most overlooked, not to mention annoying one yet.

At school I tried to avoid using the school toilets, and in shopping malls or any other public areas I almost never used the public toilets, unless there was an emergency. But ever since I joined IIUM (Matriculation), using public toilets became a daily routine. And the most annoying thing, would be to open a stall, only to see either yellow, or brown artworks left behind by previous artists. It really annoyed me that ADULTS, who are studying in university, pursuing a degree can't have enough common sense to flush after using the toilet. Same goes to adults who use public toilets and can't seem to flush afterwards. I mean, its not difficult at all to flush. It's much easier and requires less effort than releasing what needs to be flushed. All you need to do is push a button or pull a string.

Even cats make an attempt to bury their $#!* once they're done with their business. This issue shouldn't even need to be part of the campaign, but what to do? Humans need constant reminders, even concerning personal hygiene.

Everything Happens for a Reason (Part 6)

Posted by Master J at 07:38

Sunday, 10 January 2010

Assalamualaikum,

For those of you from Kuantan, you must have heard of Bukit Panorama. IIUM students are almost always going up there everyday or every other day. For those of you who know me, you'll know I malas to wake up at 430 in the morning, just to go up a mountain, only to climb back down after that. I only wake up that early for puasa. And football =p But, my classmates wanted to have a class trip, and so for the sake of the class, yesterday I went to Panorama.

On the way up, I was alert enough (at 630am!!) to spot a set of car keys in the mud beneath my feet. Obviously, someone had dropped them, and obviously that someone along with the people who came in her (I thought it belonged to one of my female classmates) car would be stranded there without the keys. So I picked them up and continued up the mountain. On the way back down after the compulsory photography session at the peak, I found out that none of my friends had lost their keys. So the only other solution was that it belonged to one of the Chinese hikers that morning. Surely enough, one of the Chinese guys (a student from a neighbouring university) asked us about finding any car keys. I showed him what I found, and he came up to me, gave me a big hug, and said "ooohhhhh thank you thank you thank you!!!". It was a 1Malaysia moment!

We were fortunate according to our guide to get to see the sun rise, because sometimes all hikers get is a cloudy foggy sky, and no sunrise. So the 1st time I went up, will be the last time since I got what everyone looks for when they go up. Luckily the trip was planned for yesterday, and luckily too I decided to join =p

The day before, my friends and I planned to have a futsal outing at night. But, thanks to poor management of the court booking, we weren't allowed to play. It was already booked by another group of players. So we decided to book the court after them. Pegi makan, pegi minum, then back to the court. Alamak, when we got there, there was another group of players waiting to use the court. The management made the same mistake twice in one night!! We all hot (read: panas) lah kan, so we went back disappointed. Later that night, the management contacted one of us, and offered us a 2-hour slot Monday night to repay for their mistake, FOC (free of charge) of course. Nasib baik, kalau tak, bakar court!!

One last story. Inter-Kulliyyah Games just concluded yesterday. Someone, don't know who, asked me to partner this dude and play carom for SCIENCESS. I don't know why me, but I thought why not. I haven't got anything to lose. Instead, we won the gold, so now I know why he/she chose me (bangga mode).


EVERYTHING happens for a reason