The End of One Journey

"Life is a journey where its end could just appear at any moment without any warning. Every second of our life and the air we breathe are bonus bestowed to us by Allah. It also reminds us to repent on our wrong-doings before we return to Him. I sincerely hope to share thought, opinions, hobbies with friends, colleagues and other bloggers and wish the sharing would be beneficial to everyone, Ameen."

Assalamulaikum,

It is with great sadness do I inform that this blog will not be having any new post. Early morning last Sunday, 11th January 2009, the owner of this blog, our beloved father, had passed away due to a heart attack.
We might continue to write here in place of ayah, but time will decide. For now, I ask everyone to present him with al-Fatihah & pray that Allah put his soul amongst those He love & promised heaven.
Ameen.

Journey to Hajj - Makkah

Pedestrian precinct between Makkah City
Commercial Buildings (L) and Masjidil Haram (R)

Mecca (Makkah)

From: World Encyclopedia© World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information

City in w Saudi Arabia and the holiest city of Islam. The birthplace of the prophet Muhammad, only Muslims are allowed in the city. Mecca was originally home to an Arab population of merchants. When Muhammad began his ministry here, the Meccans rejected him. The flight or Hejira of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 marked the beginning of the Muslim era. In 630, Muhammad's followers captured Mecca, and made it the centre of the first Islamic empire. Egypt controlled the city in the 13th century. The Ottoman Turks held it from 1517 to 1916, when Hussein Ibn Ali secured Arabian independence.
In 1924, Mecca fell to the forces of Ibn Saud, who later founded the Saudi Arabian kingdom. Much of Mecca's commerce depends on Muslim pilgrims undertaking the Hajj. After World War II, the city's wealth increased through oil revenues. Pop. (2002) 1,541,800.

Pilgrimage 1429 (Part 1)

Alhamdulillah, I had returned home after spending about 27 days in Makkah, 1 day in Arafah, 4 days in Mina and 8 days in Madinah. I flew to Jeddah via KT74 on the 25-November, 2008 and returned home on the 4th. January, 2009 from Madinah to KLIA. The Saudi Boeng 747 plane landed exactly at 3.50 a.m. local time while most Malaysians were still fast asleep. So, after so long my blog has not been posted with any news, I have to start writing on something... maybe about my hajj which could be a useful to those who are going there this year. As there are so many things to write on, I let the photographs to be in the blog first and the description will come later.


Basically, Hajj rituals to be performed are almost the same by every pilgrim. So, every pilgrim from Malaysia will undergo almost the same route taken by the pilgrims who had performed the Hajj before. The only major difference is that every pilgrim will encounter different obstacles along the way which may be unique or different to him/her only. The way he/she tackled and resolved those obstacles will be be evaluated by Allah SWT and only the Almighty will determine whether his Pilgrim Ritual is accepted as Haji Mabrur or not. And everybody knows that the reward for Haji Mabrur is nothing less than Paradise (Syurga). This is what the main focus of every pilgrim performing hajj every year.

So, the route or programs to be taken by every pilgrim has been established in my last post. For my case, the route taken was as follows :
1. Flight from Kuala Lumpur to Jeddah
2. Took a bus from Jeddah to Makkah
3. Stayed in Makkah until Wukuf Day in Arafah (would be decided by the Saudi Ruler)
4. Moved to Arafah by bus (with all the pilgrims - last year, it was about 3.5million pilgrims)
5. Wukuf at Arafah (Zuhr util Maghrib)
6. Moved to Mudzalifah by bus (stay in the open field until mid-night)
7. Collected stones after mid-night (to be used at Jamrah)
8. Moved to Mina by bus and allocated to a camp/tent
9. Stayed in Mina for 4 days for Stone-throwing at Jamrah
10. After the stone throwing for 1st day at Jamrah Aqabah, performed Tahallul (hair-shaving)
10. Once the rtituals are completed, moved to Makkah
11. Performed Tawaf Ifadah (Hajj)
12. Performed Sai'e (walking between Mount Safa and Marwah)
13. Hajj completed.
14. Performed Umrah (depends on type of Hajj Rituals chosen)...

A lot of construction going on around/near vicinity of Masjidil Haram.
Expected to be completed in 5-years time

PILGRIMAGE TO MAKKAH

It has been quite sometime that I have not updated anything new in this blog. It is because I was a bit busy carrying out some assignment which had been uploaded in my AFKamera (AFLenses) and AFTeknikal.
Alhamdulillah, I was honoured to be chosen to be one of the three millions worshippers who shall be performing Hajj in Makkah this year. So, there should not be any more new posting to my blogs from today until mid of January as I shall be away performing my Hajj from the 25th. November, 2008 until 5th. January, 2009.


To all my collegues, friends, competitors, family members, relatives and others who had acquinted with me before, I would like to ask for forgiveness for any wrongdoing that I might had committed intentionally or not.
I hope we would be given a chance to meet again sometime after Hajj, Insya-Allah. Should this is my journey of no return, I wish everybody all the best in this world and in the hereafter, Ameen.

AFKassim (26 Zulkaedah, 1429)

FAREWELL TO MY 'CROSS COUNTRY'

It is not that I love cars so much..
Cars are just means for transportation...
One of the means to transport you from a place to another...
In search of a living to support your staff and families..
However, as a human
After being transported all over the country for the past six years..
The same car has just become a close companion to you ..
That is my 4th. Volvo Car..
A V70 Cross Country XC70 model which I bought in 2002 ..


This car has ferried me all across the country ..
It has brought me to Padang Besar to carry out some services work..
It has driven me through pitch of darkness across Mu'azam District to Kuantan..
It has brought me and my family to UUM in Sintok ..
It has brought me and my staff to Gong Badak for various job assignments..
It has brought me so many times to Kerteh in Terengganu..
It has brought me to see my siblings..
It has brought me for numerous meetings with clients and associates..
It had entered various project sites to verify the contractors' works..
It had ferried me to Port Klang, Butterworth, Tg. Langsat, Rompin for various assignment..
It has ferried me and my children to Bandar Penawar for 5 years..
Sending and picking my four children from SMS Bandar Penawar ..
Plying weekly between Skudai and Kuala Lumpur for the past six years ..
and numerous other places in the country without any problem..


It has clocked 232,244 km since it was first met me..
An average of 106 km per day !!!
Despite two minor accidents, the car really serviced me without a major problem..

Although you are just a machine ..
Being together with you for the past six years had made the separation diffiucult for me..
I hope I had given you your right ...
I had only sent you for service at Federal Auto and Tokeo Motor...
Hoping you would get the best treatment ..
To make good whatever required so that you would always be in the best of health..
Giving service without a word of resentment ..

Now..
I have to depart with you with fine memories over the past six years..
I had handed over you to someone I know..
I hope you will continue serving humanity...
Hope you will always be loyal to your new owner..
May you live many more years to serve humans ..

Thank you very much my dear volvo ..

Ulangtahun 125 Sekolahku, Rakan Belajar 32 Tahun Lalu Kutemui ...

Tanggal 11-Oktober, 2008 yang lalu, Sekolah Menengah King Edward VII, Taiping menyambut ulangtahun penubuhannya yang ke-125 tahun. SMKE ini merupakan sekolah tertua di Malaysia. Bertempat di Dewan Perbandaran Taiping, satu jamuan makan malam telah diadakan dengan dihadiri oleh DYMM Sultan Perak, DYMM Raja Muda Perak, YM Raja Dihilir Perak, YB Menteri Bedar Perak serta pegawai-pegawai kanan jabatan pendidikan, guru-guru serta bekas guru serta bekas murid dan pelajar semasa sekolah ini.


Bagiku, bukanlah usia 125 tahun yang dibanggakan tetapi peluang menemui semula rakan sekolahku yang bersamaku selama 6 tahun (1971-1976) merupakan rahmat Allah yang amat aku syukuri. Pertemuan dengan rakan seasrama dan setingkatan denganku yang tidak pernah ku temui sejak November, 1976 (En. Shahrir bin Hj. Azmir) merupakan satu rahmat yang paling indah buat ku. Persahabatan yang terputus kerana tugas dan tanggungjawab kini dapat dijalin semula.

Two long-lost friends who had not met since 1976 (Form 5) and
met during the 125 yrs SMKE VII Celebration on 11-Oct-2008

Aku juga berpeluang menemui pelajar-pelajar di sekitar tahun 1969 hingga 1978 yang mana setengahnya telah tidak ku kenali.
Walaupun hujan telah turun di sebelah petangnya, perjalanan jamuan makan malam telah berjalan dengan lancar.
Sebuah lukisan yang dihasilkan oleh Cik gu Razak (seorang guru yang amat disenangi oleh 100% pelajar yang kini berusia 65 tahun) telah dihadiahkan ke Bahawh Duli Tuanku Sultan Perak yang telah mengingatkan nostalgia semasa zaman persekolahan dahulu.

En. Roli Hassan, Perak Deputy Education Director (Old Edwardian)

Majlis telah tamat pada jam 11.15 malam di mana selepas itu aku sempat berkenalan dengan Pengetuan SMKEVII Taiping, En. Yahya Liman yang juga merupakan saudar 2 pupu aku. Betapa kecilnya dunia ini rupanya.
Adalah ku harapkan ukhuwwah yang terjalin kembali dapat mengeratkan semula persahabatan yang telah terputus sekian lama ke arah menhwujudkan ukhuwwah islamiah yang lebih jitu... Ameen.. Ya Rabb 'alameen..

Bagi mereka yang ingin mengetahui maklumat terperinci tentang sekolah, boleh layari laman web ini - http://www.edwardians.com.my

LIFE BEGIN AFTER FIFTY ??

Hurricane strikes Florida

Some people said, "Life begins at forty" and some said, "Life begins at fifty" ....
Is there any significance to the figure 40 or 50 ??
Or is the figure is just a mere justification to one's bad intention and actions ??
Or it is just a reminder to those who has not realised that the age is catching up on him ...
And there is still a lot of responsibilities that he or she has not performed yet ...
These are : Responsibilities towards mankind and the Creator ....
Let us just ponder with a clear and open mind ...
Whether we are in the 20s, 30s, 40s or 50s years old age bracket, age does not matter any more ... Whatever we used to do when we were young may not be valid anymore when our age catches up with us. So, a smart person is he who can gauge himself and act accordingly to his or her present capability as we are not getting any younger ...

Lightning struck a 75-year old man

TNB staff being electrocuted by electricity while working

We must always think now whether we could still perform the same jobs we
used to do when we were young especially the high risk jobs..

Have we not seen people (friends and relatives) who passed away at the early age ...
Some of them are are much younger than us ...
Of course some are older than us ...
But does it matter much ?? The answer is crystal clear : IT DOES NOT ...
What actually matters to us ??
It is whether we have discharged our responsibilities rightfully
according to the commands of our Creator ... this is what matters ..

Despite us consuming what had been given to us as rizk...
Enjoying the life and comfort of this world...
We should not forget to prepare to meet Him any time without warning ...

A youth struck by lightning while playing football

It is just like being on an Oil Rig to perform some assigned task or work ...
Life activities will go on as usual; everybody is doing their assigned business ..
But...
When an emergency siren is activated on the rig;
Everybody will hurry to their assembly point and ready to evacuate the platform ..
Leaving everything and every tool and equipment that they are handling behind...
So...
We should treat living in this world as what we do when being on an oil rig ..
At least on the oil rig, there is an emergency siren ...
In this world, the sirens had long been sounded through many signs and h
appenings occurring daily around us and all over the world ...
It is whether we have taken the heed to prepare for the emergency evacuation or not ...

If we have not make any preparation yet, let us start doing it now ...
Have we fulfilled all the requirement stipulated in Rukun Iman ...
Have we fulfilled all the requirement stipulated in Rukun Islam ...
Have we enjoined good and forbids evil ...
Have we discharged all responsibilities towards those under our care ..
Our families...
Our relatives ..
Our staff ...
Our friends ...
Our business clients, associates, competitors ..
Our fellow countryman ...
etc..

If we have done our best, Alhamdulillah ...
If we have not...
It is still not to late to pay the dues ..
As,
we will be questioned on how we discharge every single thing that the
Creator (Allah) had given us...
The age... the money... the time ... the wealth (wives & children) ... etc. etc..
So we have to prepare for the Final Examination in the next world...
As, no one is either too young or to old to die ..
And no one could bring forward or backward the time of his death ..
And the date and time is only known to Allah, the All Mighty..
So, let us prepare for the time where we will be moved to the next world ..


Ya Allah... Grant us the good tidings in this world and in the
hereafter and ward us from the wrath (infliction) of the hell-fire...
Ameen Ya Rabb 'A-lameen.

AFK/JB..