“Setiap orang berhak untuk memilih jalannya sendiri-sendiri…”

Demi Matahari dan sinarnya pada pagi hari

demi bulan apabila mengiringinya

demi siang apabila menampakkannya

demi malam apabila menutupinya (gelap gulita)

demi langit serta pembinaannya (yang menakjubkan)

demi bumi serta penghamparannya

demi jiwa serta penyempurnaan (ciptaan)nya

Maka Dia mengilhamkan (jalan) kejahatan dan ketakwaan

Sungguh beruntung orang yang mensucikannya (jiwa itu)

Dan sungguh rugi orang yang mengotorinya….

(Q.S Asy-Syams 1-10)

——

hmm..Kalo denger lantunan ayat dari surat asy-syams ini rasanya intense bgt ya..Penuh dengan plegde dari Allah.. Seven pledges in a row that Allah said more than 14 centuries ago.

Jika kita mengingat bagaimana seorang kandidat presiden yang memenangkan pemilu presiden di suatu negara, sebelum ia memulai rangkaian tugas-tugas kenegaraan, Ia akan bersumpah atas nama tuhan bahwa ia akan menjalankan tugas-tugas kenegaraan dengan sebaik-baiknya. Begitu juga yang dilakukan oleh para pejabat negara. Sumpah di bawah kitab suci yang mereka ucapkan di awal rangkaian  janjinya menjadi suatu prekursor atas pentingnya content dari janji mereka tersebut.

Jika mereka hanya bersumpah demi tuhan yang maha esa, maka Allah bersumpah demi matahari, lalu demi bulan, lalu demi siang, lalu demi malam yang gelap gulita, dilanjutkan dengan sumpahNya demi langit dan bumi serta diakhiri dengan  sumpahnya  demi jiwa serta penyempurnaan ciptaanNya.

Subhanallah..Apa gerangan yang membuat kita tidak bersegera dan bersigap untuk memperhatikan kata-kata yang muncul setelah Allah mengawalisumpahnya demi yang tujuh ini. Apa gerangan yang membuat kita tidak serius untuk memperhatikan untuk apa Allah bersumpah ? Tidakkah kita melihat dan merasakan betapa penting dan agungnya perkara yang akan diucapkan Allah selanjutnya?

Perasaan hati yang sensitif dan lembut akan merasakan betapa penting dan agungnya perkara yang Allah bawa setelah tujuh sumpahNya itu.

Oleh karena itu perhatikanlah bagaimana Allah mengucapkan firman selanjutnya…”Maka Dia mengilhamkan kepadanya (jalan) kejahatan dan ketakwaan (fujuroha wa taqwaha..). Sungguh beruntung orang yang mensucikannya (jiwa itu). Dan sungguh rugi orang yang mengotorinya..”

LIhatlah tiga poin utama dari isi sumpah Allah di atas. Sangat jelas dan padat makna! Allah secara implisit telah mengajarkan ttg Principle of Independence kepada semua Manusia. Bahwa setiap jiwa diberkahi kebebasan untuk menentukan hidupnya.

Bahkan Amerika serikat yang mengagung-agungkan dirinya sebagai negara yang paling demokratis tidak mampu mengalahkan prinsip demokrasi yang diajarkan islam 14 abad yang lalu. Amerika baru memulai sejarah negaranya 2 abad yang lalu. Lalu bagaimana bisa negara ini begitu congkak dan mereasa superpower dihadapan negara-negara lainnya.

OK kita tinggalkan Amerika yang stubborn…

Kita kembali ke pembahasan ttg isi dari sumpah Allah di surat Asy-Syams.

Manusia tidak Allah ciptakan serupa dengan hewan, atau tumbuhan, atau bahkan dengan malaikat (tentu saja ^__^). Manusia adalah makhluk ciptaan Allah yang spesial. Ia dianugerahi hati yang dengannya manusia bisa menentukan ke mana hidupnya akan digerakan.. Ke arah fujur kah atau ke arah taqwa.

TIdak seperti Hewan dan tumbuhan atau malaikat yang selalu tunduk patuh atas perintah Allah, manusia diberi banyak kebebasan.

Betapa pengertiannya Allah kepada kita yaa.. Allah sang pencipta kita sangat memahami fitrah-fitrah hambaNya. Ia siapkan semua tools yang berguna bagi kita. Walaupun Ia telah memberikan banyak hal untuk kita, manusia tidak dipaksa secara otoriter untuk menyembah Allah.

Tetap saja…Allah masih memberikan banyak pilihan bagi makhluk spesial ini.  Begitu banyak pilihan yang seharusnya membuat kita tersadar dan tertunduk malu, tidak ada pilihan yang lebih sempurna dan mulia selain hidup bersama Islam.

So…Fabi ayi alaa i robbikuma tukkaadz dziban….Maka nikmat Allah yang manakah yang Engkau dustakan??

Ya Allah…KasihMu tiada tara tercurah deras pada setiap hamba2Mu..Tak pernah rasanya diri ini kekurangan oksigen untuk bernafas…juga begitu banyak nikmat-nikmat lainnya yang tak pernah selesai kami menghitungnya…indeed…We couldn’t ever count on Your ni’mat..ever!!

Namun…manusia seringkali terlalu buta untuk melihat banyak mikmat Allah ini. Setiap hari yang terlontar adalah berbagai ketidakpuasan kepada Sang Pencipta (Naudzubillah). “Gajah dipelupuk mata tidak terlihat, semut di ujung pulau terlihat jelas”

Begitlah seringkali kita memandang hidup ini..Bila selama ini kita selalu banyak menuntut keadilan kepada Allah….Apakah kita sudah adil dalam bersikap kepada  Sang Pencipta kita? Mmh..that’s would be tough question, isn’t it?!

Dua hari yang lalu di kampus, suara alarm kebakaran berbunyi amat nyaring…Memaksa semua orang untuk ke luar menjauh dari gedung utama. Ternyata setelah diidentifikasi oleh pemadam kebakaran, ada bread toaster yang overtoast the bread..sehingga menimbulkan bau yang tidak sedap.

In the crowd of students…I saw DIlek at glance. She is turkish student. I met her quite a few weeks ago. She came here like one month ago. She is a nice girl. Ketika pertama datang ke Boston, ia mengenakan pakaian muslimah lengkap dengan hijab yang menutupi aurat rambut kepalanya.

I was very happy..After all of this long time finally I have a muslim friend who wear hijjab. I asked her to join the jumat prayer and introduced her with some muslim from Turkey. She was very happy, since she doesn’t know muslim community here. We talked a lot and hang out together for quite some time.

In a following few weeks, I didn’t have enough time to spare my time with her. That’s too bad, I was very busy to finish up all of my mid and final paper and preparing for something really important for my future live. Moreover, she is in a different program and level with me, and of course different schedule, so I cannot meet here every day.

Any way…mungkin tiga pekan tidak bertemu DIlek, dan terakhir melihat beliau ya pas in a crawd of people two days ago.. Itu pun karena ribut teu puguh..ga sempet ngobrol apapun…Arin hanya liat dari kejauhan. Ada satu hal yang membuat mata ini berkaca-kaca…

Ia melepaskan hijab nya…dan menampakan aurat rambut kepalanya..Rambutnya terurai sempurna dan dipertontonkan kepada orang yang mukan muhrimnya..

Ya ALlah…seketika itu mata ini langsung basah…Dan seketika itu juga langsung menyalahkan diri sendiri..Where have you been arin!! you’re just so busy with yout stuff =(

YA Allah ampunilah hambaMu yang lemah ini…

Astaghfirullah hal adzim..aladzi laa illaha illa huwal hayyul qoyum wa atuubu illaih

Setiap insan memang berhak memilih jalannya sendiri-sendiri…Tentu orang yang cerdas adalah orang yang sebelum bertindak sudah mempertimbangkan konsekuensi/akibat dari perbuatannya.

Merasa menjadi salah seorang yang patut dipersalahkan…..=( Ya Allah bantulah aku untuk dapat melakukan lebih banyak kebaikan untuk menutupi dosa2 dan kelalaian ku ini…

Amiin.

Boston, May 23rd, 2008

Along the willow street…

It only takes ten minutes for me to walk through this long road that connected Center Street and Weld Street. But sometimes three minutes is enough for me– if I did too many things at home before I left home– I must run as fast as I can to catch the 7.03 am-bus: the 36-Bus.

This 10-minutes road — I like to affix this quote to the willow street– always provide enough time for me to think about many things. Sometimes, there are too many things clutter in my head that I feel confused hehe..^__^ which theme should I write first on my blog.

Certainly, today I walked out of my 36-Bus at 11.40 am through the same road–The willow street–and I thought about one thing that I felt when I was teaching at the Holy Quran class this morning. It’s about the value behind the teaching process.

Well, I graduated from civil engineering. I didn’t have any experience in official or joined the special training in order to be a real teacher or a real instructor– I didn’t count my previous job as an assistant on some lectures while I was studying in ITB as the official one– But my grandfather was a teacher in official when he was alive. The only aim that I hope to reach when I applied to become a volunteer in MAS Quran Institute was I could always keep in touch with dakwah activity. I was feeling so empty when the first month I arrived in Boston without dakwah activity. I saw this opportunity when I visited MAS Boston website. Alhamdulillah.

That’s opportunity that Allah showed me bring me to the 500 Revere every week. Nice place near the coastline of North Boston. There’s always something that I get every time I go back from Revere–I called it Weekly Hikmah– Nice!!

I got one sense today about the value behind the teaching process. Teaching is such a difficult job, indeed.

Frankly speaking, Teaching, as I know, is different from knowledge transferring. I think everybody can do knowledge transferring –the firsthand of the information can easily transfer her/his knowledge– Just talk!! Sometimes the “Komunikator” (Person who gives the information) doesn’t care whether the “Komunikan” (person who is given information) fully understand about what she/he is talking about. They don’t care. The most important thing is the information spreads over another person.

Being a teacher is completely different–I think– It’s not all about knowledge transferring. It is true partially, but the main function of a teacher is educating student. It’s the most difficult part: educate students to have a good manner, show and teach them how to behave nicely to other peers, etc. It’s completely difficult.

Now I realized, I should say many thanks to my teacher in my kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, senior high school, college, and many unofficial teachers along my live in this world. Many Thanks to you my teachers ^__^ !!

Today, it’s my turn!! My teachers have completed their job in part of my live very well. It’s my time to do the similar things as they did to me. Coz live is a matter of contribution to our community, right!! ^__^ we’re nothing when we don’t give what we have to others. I give [anything] thus I exist!!

Let’s go back to the main issue. The value of teaching process.

Its turn to my second month as volunteer in MAS, and I have experienced a bunch of children’s attitude. Mostly of them is the “creepy” one. Haha…It is !!

What should you do when the class began only five seconds and some of the children said “May I go to the toilet”. The others said “I didn’t eat my breakfast, I wanna eat something”, or “I don’t wanna recite the Quran, I’d like to coloring the paper”. How could you have a heart to reject their request as they are really cute children? That’s me, when I didn’t have enough information how to face what they want in the classroom. I allowed them to go to the toilet in the middle of the class, but finally every body wants to go out of the class too. Phuh…It needed a plenty of time to start the class again. ALhamdulillah games are really work for them =).

After that “disorder” class, I realized it was wrong, the thing that I allowed them to do what they want in the class. Thus I asked Raven, she has a lot experience in teaching students to perform yoga, about the question on how to face children who don’t want to start the class in manner. She said, “We know they are very cute but sometimes in order to educate them we should be firm in front of them. Don’t forget to make rules agreed by everybody. Each of them should respect to the rules that abide to every students.”

I know, I was too flabby. It won’t help the students to be good students. Thanks to Allah, He did tarbiyah to me in a very perfect way!! I learn from my fault.

Now I really understand, why Prophet Muhammad asked the believer to bases their good deeds on proper knowledge. And Hassan Al Banna put “Al-Fahmu” in the first list of Ushul Isyrin because with the proper “Al-Fahmu” we will be able to do “Al ‘amal” in the correct way.

I’d love make interpolation or forecast on everything I experienced. I’m quite imaginative type of person. Certainly with this “case”, in the way home when I was walking in the Willow street, I though about ” Maybe this is the way Allah prepare me to be a mother, later.. “. I like that. Preparation is always important, isn’t it!!

Finally, equally as I mentioned above that it is difficult to be a teacher, so do being a mother, or a father. Even harder, I think. A child is only a white clean paper. Her/his parents are the one that makes picture in it. What do you want to draw? It’s up to you. But I’m pretty sure that you will only “draw” the shape that you’ve known or what you have experienced on it. A pot only gives its content inside, doesn’t it?! If it is tea inside the pot, so does it will come out from the pot. Makes sense!!

So, as well as being a parents. No difference. If you want to have a blissful child, widen your knowledge from this moment of time. May Allah show all of you to become the best parents for your children later. Amiin (So do I, I hope to be the best mother for my children, too)

And for all of the parents in this world, I’d like to say thank you for your amazing effort to educate your children. It such a difficult but worthy time that you have invested for the sake of you children and dienul Islam. I’m sure Allah will prepare beautiful paradise for the mother and the father who did their job very well on teaching and educating them. Coz one of the best treasure after we died and buried 6 feet from the ground is a pious child. Only the Du’a of pious child that will bring peace and advantage for her/his parents in “Alam Kubur” and “Alam Mahsyar” later.

“Oh my Lord! Make me one who performs As-Salat (the prayer), and (also) from my offspring, our Lord! And accept my invocation.” [Q.S Ibrahim :40]

———————————————————————————————

Inspired from three families that I know in Boston:

© Brother Aris & Sister Dewi with their four children (Aisyah, Ihsan, Sarah, and Maryam),

© Brother Daniar & Sister Minda with their two children (Dissa and Zahra),

© Brother Junaidi & Sister Anna with their three children (Syifa, Azra, and….I forgot -Afwaaan-) ^__^

It was such an amazing time to know these families. I’ve learned a lot so far.

Thank you Oh Allah!! You gave such a blissful opportunity to me.

Alhamdulillah.

Boston, March 23rd, 2008

I love You…

Just wanna say thanks to every mother all around the world…

 

Thank you mommy….You such an angle to me.

Without you, .Im just nothing…

 

Surely mom

You taught me how to bear this world

You gave everything you have to me

You always be there every time I need you…

 

O Allah…Prepare a beautiful castle for her in Your Paradise…

Let her feel the beauty of your Love in Your Heaven…

I testify for her love and kindness in this world..

Mom..I love you because of Allah

 

-miss you so much-

 

[my 3rd month in Boston]

Maka nikmat Tuhanmu yang manakah yang engkau dustakan….

Subhanallah..tak henti-hentinya air mata ini mengalir mulai dari ujung Willow street sampai dengan ujung Weld Street selepas pulang volunteering di MAS Quran Institute di Revere, siang tadi.

Ahad ini adalah ahad yang penuh dengan hikmah yang tajam bagiku. Pagi ini sebenarnya agak sedikit enggan untuk pergi keluar rumah. Udara dingin sekali, -2 derajat C, karena tadi malam salju turun lagi. Seperti biasa selepas salju turun, udara menjadi sangat dingin. Apalagi hari ini sebenarnya hanya ada Event Quran Reciting Competition bagi adik-adik kecil kita. Brother Zakaria juga bilang kalo tidak hadir pun sebenarnya tidak mengapa. Mmh..tapi teringat akan banyaknya dosa-dosa diri…Ingin rasanya membasuh dosa-dosa dengan melakukan sebanyak-banyaknya kebaikan hari ini.

“Gantilah keburukan-keburukanmu dengan melakukan banyak kebaikan-kebaikan”

Ntah mengapa quote di atas selalu terngiang di dalam hati, sehingga tiada kata lain, selain ingin segera sampai di Revere, meskipun harus 1 kali naik bus dan 2 kali ganti kereta (orange lina dan Blue line), ditambah 10 menit jalan kaki dari train station di Wonderland menuju Masjid di Revere. Sedikit penjelasan, Masjid yang dimaksud di sini, adalah sebuah gedung yang bernama “Boston Dialogue Foundation”. Berikut ini gedungnya.

Boston Dialogue FondationMasjid @ Revere
Gedung tua ya. Tapi dalemnya menyejukkan ^_^ karena selalu disuarakan ayat-ayat Allah di dalamnya.
Seperti biasa, berangkat dari Central Street jam 7.07 am. Mass Transportation di sini memang sangat bisa diandalakan ketepatan waktunya. Subhanallah ya. Harus ditiru nih hal-hal baik yang seperti ini. Di dalam Bus 36 ini ga terlalu rame. Ga seperti pekan lalu. Oiya selama di dalam bus arin pasang ipod mode Al-Matsurat hehe… sambil makan Yoghurt dan cookie yang dibawa dari rumah. Pagi yang Indah. Sampe di Forest Hill Station jam 7.27 am. Arin segera melesat ke Train lane di lantai basement Forest Hill Station. Dingin!!Untungnya ga nunggu terlalu lama, karena train orange ini segera datang, tidak sampe 5 menit menunggu. Di dalam train sangat hangat ^_^. Alhamdulillah makan udah beres tadi di Bus, jadi di train bisa murojaah surat Al Mursalat. Di dalam train juga sepi. Tumben sekali ya. Pekan kemarin sepertinya tidak sesepi ini. Mungkin karena udara yang dingin ya. Selama 30 menitan di dalam orange line menuju ke state station berulang-ulang kali memurojaah Al mursalat. Sampe harus berkali2 hehe..otak lagi beku kayanya nih..banyak yang lupa =(.
Sampe di State station harus ganti train. Ganti blue line yang ke arah wonderland. Wonderland itu station terakhir dari blue line. Kebayang kan, Forest Hill itu station terujung dari orange line dan Wonderland itu adalah station terakhir dari Blue line. Jadi emang jauh ^_^. But I really enjoy it. Semoga setiap desah nafas yang mengalir benar-benar bemakna dihadapan Allah SWT. Amiin.
Nunggu Blue line emang agak lama. Mungkin ada 10 menit ya. Lumayan bisa lanjut murojaah lagi. Hari ini bener2 sepi….
Alhamdulillah train nya dateng juga. Kalo naik blue line pasti bisa ngeliatat pantai… Indaaaahnya..subhanallah. Cocok sama nama trainnya : BLUE LINE. similar to ocean’s colour.
Cantik!!
Tigapuluh menit berlalu. Alhamdulillah sampe di Wonderland. Sebuah area yang teletak tepat di garis pantai. Mau liat fotonya? Nih dia :
Pantai @ reverePantai 2pantai 3subhanallah indahnya..pohon..pantai lagi
Maha Suci Allah yang menciptakan segala sesuatu begitu sempurna dan begitu indah. Dari sisi apapun. FLAWLESS!!
Berjalan ditengah angin dingin yang menusuk tulang…Alhamdulillah akhirnya sampe juga di Masjid yang dituju. Jam 8.20s am. Sepi. Cuma ada 2 sisters dan 2 brothers yang sedang menata ruang tengah untuk event Al-Quran nanti siang. Ini ruang tengahnya.
ruang tengahtata meja ala turki
Ternyata kebanyakan emang orang turkinya hehe…Jadi nggak bisa belajar bahasa Arab nih…Maybe Latter..
Alhamdulillah berkali-kali karena di sini ketemu sisters yang baik2. Salah satunya sister ini :
sister…
Arin lupa namanya hiks2…soalnya susah dihapal namanya. Nama turki ga familiar. YA pokoknya I love you sister ^_^
Arin bantu-bantu merapikan ruang tengah, untuk acara siang nanti. Oiya banyak makanan turki juga loo..ni contohnya Baklava (Taste sweet), Tiramisu (enaaak banget!!), Bosnian Borek (Roti rasa keju), Manti (didalemnya ada dagingnya, enak!!) :
dsc00548.jpgbaklavatiramisuBosnian BorekMantiStuffed grape leaves
Semuanya enaaaak. Alhamdulillah punya kesempatan untuk merasakan makanan Turki. =)
Trus hari ini jg ketemu dengan akhwat-akhwat turki loo.. Senangnya ketemu sodara muslim lagi disini. Mereka smua student yang sedang belajar ELS sebelum masuk ke university untuk mengambil S2/S3. Senasib sama arin. Tapi mereka di Boston University belajarnya. Muserraf Aslan (S1 beliau Pysics @ Ankara, Turki), Asli ), Zehra, Fatma (S1 Math), Ulkucan (S1 Biology).
Muserraf Arslan

Muserraf, Asli, UlkucanMuserraf, Asli, Ulkucan

Mereka semua masih “single” lo hehe..ada temen..Alhamdulillah. Oiya Ulkucan katanya mau masih SunyBuffalo NY juga. Hehe moga2 kita bisa ketemu di sana ya Ulkucan, ntar kita bisa jadi roommate ^_^ Amiin.Mmh..jam 10 am, adik-adik kecil pada berdatangan. Arin ketemu salah satu adik yang pekan lalu diajar recite Quran. Arin lagi2 lupa namanya, karena baru sekali ketemu hehehe..alasan.. tapi beliau ingat arin lo..trus beliau meluk arin..whaaaa senangnyaaa…trus beliau mulai cerita pekan depan ujian recite quran katanya, trus beliau jg mau ikutan even quran reciting competition ini. Smoga menang ya dik ^_^.Sayang..waktu cepat sekali berlalu.. Jam 11 am arin harus pergi, otherwise udara akan kembali dingin, khawatir turun salju lagi.Suasana hangatnya ukhuwah islamiyah benar2 menerobos dinding2 kultur dan negara. Meskipun I’m the only Indonesian there, the rest of them are from Turky, Bosnia, Moldova(?). But no Arabic….mungkin tidak berdomisili di sekitar sini ya. Tapi sekat-sekat itu tak berarti di dalam islam. We are family in Islam. Subhanallah. ^_^

Sebenarnya enggan pergi..karena acanya sendiri sampe dengan jam 4 sore. Hiks2…I gotta go!! I said Assalamu’alaikum to all of the sisters inside. Many thanks to Allah. Kalo diinget2 tadi pagi tuh males banget untuk beranjak dari rumah, sampe harus mencari “seribu satu” alasan untuk bisa pergi, alhamdulillah Allah rewarded me with this beautiful present. Once more; thank you ya Allah.Jadi ingat ttg surat di Al-quran yang pernah arin posting di sini :

TIDAKlah sama antara orang beriman yang duduk (yang tidak turut berperang) tanpa mempunyai uzur (halangan) dengan orang yang berjihad di jalan Allah dengan harta dan jiwanya. Allah melebihkan derajat orang-orang yang berjihad dengan harta dan jiwanya atas orang-orang yang duduk (tidak ikut berperang tanpa halangan). Kepada masing-masing, Allah menjanjikan (pahala) yang baik (surga) dan Allah melebihkan orang-orang yang berjihad atas orang yang duduk dengan pahala yang besar
[Q.S. An Nisa:95]
Bersegeralah menyambut setiap amanah yang telah Allah anugerahkan kepadamu, tak peduli besar atau kecilnya!! InsyaAllah Allah sedang menyiapkan sesuatu yang amat spesial untukmu! Maka Bergeraklah…
We’ll never know what kind of surprise will He prepare for you. But Be Sure!! Allah never disobey His promise.
Jadi inget lirik lagunya Kareem Salama ttg Get busy live :
Every single day someone is born and some dies
It wasn’t long ago my uncle passed and my little niece came to life
I get to thinking about my time and go and it won’t be long from now
I shiver inside at the chance that I might leave a life untouched by a vow

(Chorus)

And I believe tonight is the night that I decide
That
I get busy living and I get ready to die
So that when the fateful day does come
When I’m six feet in the ground
The poor and the weak and the orphan and meek will miss having me around


When I pass I don’t want to leave a life of regret
So I give rise to change today by trying not to forget
That pleasures do pass and sunrises end and stars do fade away
But it’s love and it’s virtue and honor and truth that remain for all days

(Chorus)

And I believe tonight is the night that I decide
That I get busy living and I get ready to die
So that when the fateful day does come
When I’m six feet in the ground
The poor and the weak and the orphan and meek will miss having me around

(Bridge)

I want that final breath to be the sweetest of all
And it will be with certainty if I answer the call
To help all those in need and decipher the meaning of life
Cause the seekers of truth they fear not death any more than they fear life

(Chorus)

And I believe tonight is the night that I decide
That I get busy living and I get ready to die
So that when the fateful day does come
When I’m six feet in the ground
The poor and the weak and the orphan and meek will miss having me around

 

Subhanallah..smoga dari lirik di atas bisa di ambil banyak hikmahnya ya.

Satu hikmah terakhir di siang ini adalah…

Sesampainya di Forest Hill station, harus menunggu bus 36 jam 12.30. Seperti biasa tiap jeda waktu di bus, di train, atau sedang menunggu kendaraan itu, insyaAllah berusaha untuk tidak menyia2kan waktu. Begitu juga ketika menunggu bus tadi, Arin tilawah dimana aja [kecuali di kamar mandi ya =) ]. Pas tilawah di depan pintu gerbang sekalian merhatiin bus yang dateg (di luar dingin banget, jadi ga berani nunggu di luar), ada seorang bapak2 negro tiba-tiba mengucapkan “Assalamu’alaikum” !! Subhanallah yang tadinya lagi serius tiba-tiba mendengar ada yang mengucapkan salam, sontak segera membalas salam tersebut disertai perasaan senaaaaaaang tak terhingga. Subhanallah untuk yang kesekian kali hari ini…Ya Allah…betapa…how sweet ukhuwah islamiyah is.. Kemudian bapak itu berlalu keluar tapi tidak kembali lagi.

Bus 36 belum dateng juga… udah hampir 12.30. Yang dateng malah bus dengan tulisan NOT OPERATED hiks2…aduuh belom sholat dzuhur niiii… hiks2..

Alhamdulillah selang beberapa detik dari bus yang pertama, datanglah bus 36 tercinta hehehe, I miss you so much!! Wa..ternyata yang naik bus cuma arin sendiri! Sepi sekali..benar2 sepi hari ini. Setelah tapping the charlie card in the machine, melihat supir sekilas, trus nyari tempat duduk.

Tiba-tiba, supirnya nanya, while I was sitting, “where do you come from?”. Dalam hati bertanya, nanya ke arin nih?..eh siapa lagi kalo bukan arin!..kan cuma arin sendiri yang ada di dalam bus. Mmh..sambil masih memegang mushaf coklat tercinta, arin maju ke tempat supir and I answered the question, ” I come from Indonesia”.

“Oh, no wonder”, he said, “many of Indonesian are muslim right!”.

Mmh.. I just realized, supir itu adalah bapak yang mengucapkan salam di depan pintu gerbang tadi!! SUbhanallah..unexpected banget kan!! Trus beliau mulai cerita banyak hal. Ttg orang2 arab yang menurut beliau tidak bisa mematchingkan nilai2 islam ke dalam kehidupan sehari-harinya. Islam itu kan forgiveness, full of kindness, all the good things are in Islam. Waa…kaya pa ustadz aja nih, dalam hati arin ^_^. Trus beliau cerita ttg kehidupannya. Beliau sangat bersyukur kepada Allah atas segala yang telah diberikanNya kepada bapak ini. Pekerjaan yang sangat baik (jadi supir bus di sini sepertinya well-paid ya), rumah, kendaraan, etc. Trus arin tambahin anugerah Allah lainnya “nice family, maybe!?”.

Ups.. ternyata bapak ini sudah divorce dari istrinya yang non muslim..Beliau yang mengajukan cerai karena ternyata istrinya ga mau masuk islam juga, she was unable to adjust to islamic way of live, such as not drink alcohol, eat pork, etc. It was difficult for her. Beliau sendiri adalah muslim sejak awalnya, keluarganya sendiri adalah semua muslim. Beliau Berasal dari Nigeria. Waa…w

Trus..arin tanya, bagaimana beliau melaksanakan sholat 5 waktu dengan kondisi beliau yang sebagai supir bus. Another unexpected answer, He does all the 5 prayers every day. Alhamdulillah !! He said that as long as we sure that Allah will help us, insyaAllah Allah will always help us. He get a lot of amenity from Allah. Maha Suci Allah.

Tampaknya keyakinan beliau terhadap Allah amat kuat. Beliau bisa sholat dimana saja, katanya. Beliau selalu membawa sajadah kemanapun, juga air mineral di dalam botol untuk berwudhu..beliau bisa sholat di dalam kabin bus, atau dimana saja. Betapa luar biasa….

Pertemuan yang tidak terkira berharganya bagi arin. Hari ini benar2 banyak anugerah yang telah Allah berikan kepada arin. Lagi2…hari ini arin mengumpulkan hikmah-hikmah yang terserakan di sebagian kecil dari perj jalan hidup arin. Alhamdulillahirrabil’alamin.

Ingin rasanya terus mendengarkan cerita beliau. Tapi sayangnya bus sudah berada di central street. Arin harus berhenti. Oiya, nama beliau adalah Brother Muhammad. Smoga bisa ketemu lagi ya bro! InsyaAllah. Sayangnya arin ga sempet untuk mengambil foto beliau. Maybe in another day.

I had to stop in central street anf walked through willow street for 10 minutes.

I said thank you to him and said Assalamu’alaikum. This is my first time said Assalamu’alaikum inside the bus. Again, Subhanallah. Betapa langkanya bisa mengucapkan salam di jalan di negeri ini. Kalo kita ingat2…di Indonesia sepertinya tidaklah sulit untuk bisa mengucapkan salam ini di sepanjang jalan ketika bertemu saudara2 muslim yang berlimpah ruah. Jadi untuk brother and sister di Indonesia, jangan sia2kan kesempatan untuk bisa mengucapkan salam kepada saudara2 yang ditemui di sepanjang jalan. Itu adalah nikmat yang luar biasa. Kita baru akan menyadari bahwa mengucapkan salam itu adalah sebuah nikmat yang luar biasa setelah kita berada di negeri seperti US ini. Jadi jangan sia2kan ya saudaraku ^_^. Indonesia itu syurga!!

Tapi arin juga bersyukur bisa berada di sini, tiada yang sia-sia, insyaAllah.

Di sepanjang willow street, tak henti-hentinya mata ini mengalirkan air mata. Ya Allah…lihatlah apa yang baru Allah suguhkan kepadaku hari ini. Ini lebih berharga dari duduk2 di rumah yang hangat. Ini lebih berharga dari secangkir teh hangat. Ya Allah….tak sengaja hati ini berkata “Maka Nikmat Tuhanmu yang manakah yang engkau dustakan??

Terimakasih tak terhingga ku haturkan kepadaMu ya Allah atas hadiahMu hari ini.

Lagi-lagi…Allah memberikan pelajaran berharga kepadaku..Jangan pernah beri ruang di dalam hatimu kepada rasa malas. Apalagi untuk membela agama Allah. Yakinlah!! Bergeraklah..sesulit apapun keadaanmu, dalam keadaan lapang maupun sempit. Allah tidak pernah lalai untuk menepati janji2Nya.

Alhamdulillah.

 

 

Small, warm party on Helen’s birthday ^^

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

Wa..it was so exciting!! We were invited in Raven’s mother birthday, on February 1st, 2008. Finally, we can taste the American birthday party. But this is not the common party as American people do. This is really a small and warm family party. The party was held in Raven’s parents apartment, 10 minutes driving from our house.

There was a small-private dining room in that building. We were there for an hour. Short party, but touchful for me.

romantic couple

Look at this picture. They were singing together. So romantic ^^ At their ages…Helen was 88 and Dick was 85 year-old.. They have been married for 65 years. Wow. I though it was very rare here, since a lot of couple got divorce in the middle of their marriage.

suasana di dining room..meriah penuh dengan balon2

Meriah ya ^^ Raven did the decoration…She loves her parents very much. She is one of the uncommon person too in America hehehe..

open the present!!another presentagainwith zebra from barbarabirthday cardBig family

How nice..wasn’t it?! ^^

She was very happy on her birthday.

We took another picture :

we are!!

Here we are ^_^ Me, ksenia, Robert, Tim, Raven, and Helen and Dick =)

I learn a lot about love and caring today ^_^

Dick seems loves Helen very much. Even if Helen has gotten Alzheimer, but dick is taking care of her very well. He do anything for her wife. Wasn’t it so nice….

[wishing that I can meet somebody who can take care of me and lead me to to His Paradise ^^ ]

[I didn't expected....]

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim…

Pekan ini memang pekan yang penuh dengan kejutan. Frankly speaking, everyday is full of pop-up surprise from Allah ^^ . Di mulai dari beberapa hari yang lalu..Arin lupa harinya hari apa..keluar dari Yellow House, mau ke ruang 234, di jalan ketemu chuck..House Father nya Jessica, my classmate. Beliau manggil2 gitu…mmh..Ada apa ya pikir arin dalam hari.

Agak setengah berlari sambil penasaran menuju mobil beliau. Ternyata beliau menunjukan sesuatu di bagasi mobilnya. Sebuah Kotak putih bertulisan “Reebok”. Mmh.. ada apa ya…perasaan nggak ulang taun hehehe ^^, Hehe PD gini…

Eeeh ternyata, beliau emang mau ngasih kotak putih itu ke arin…Subhanallah…nggak nyangka…

Arin emang suka lari…jogging sih lebih tepatnya..Seantero kelas kayanya dah tau arin suka jogging hehehe…Host mother juga tau…Arin pernah cerita juga sih sama chuck kalo arin suka lari.. I run almost 4 times a week, kalo ga ada badai salju hehe..

Beliau tuh sensitif sekali ya…mmh…Beliau khawatir kalo arin lari pake PUMA arin, kaki arin bakal lecet etc..ck..ck….Your so kind…!!

Running shoes from Chuck!!Warna biru dan putih..My favorite colours…Jazzakumullah khair Chuck..Hehe ngerti ga ya jawabnya apa..

In another days.. tepatnya hari kamis kemarin.

Arin kan akhir2 ini selalu pulang bareng jessica yang dijemput chuck..Kamis kemarin pas di mobil, tiba-tiba Jess, ngeluarin patung kayu dari tasnya…”It’s for You!!” She said that to me. Subhanallah patung bonekanya cantik…

Kata Jess, patung nya mirip arin soalnya patung itu pakai kain yang menutupi kepalanya, seperti jilbab ^_^ . Jess bisa aja..boneka venezuela ^_^

Fotonya lupa di rotate..jadi liatnya miring2 ya hehe..Katanya ini boneka tradisional Venezuela..Waa jess syukron ya…I like it..

Pekan yang penuh dengan kejutan ^^ Terimakasih ya Allah..Engkau anugerahkan lingkungan yang baik dan kondusif bagiku, kondusif untuk melakukan banyak hal yang biasa arin lakukan di Indonesia.

Paling tidak ada keluarga ke-2 yang menjadi penghibur lara di sini ^^. Alhamdulillah

Bener ya…Mintalah apapun kepada Allah, jangan pernah sungkan…mintalah apapun kepadaNya, karena Ia tak kan pernah bosan untuk mendengar segala pintamu…Ia tahu yang terbaik untukmu..

^_^ I love U ya Allah, send my praise to Rasulullulah in Your Heaven

Run on the snow!!

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

I really love to do jog. Where ever it is or when ever it is. Although it was snowy on Sunday, I have decided to go jog that noon. Mmh…It wasn’t really cold though!! But I ran with my coat hehehe..Seems strange. But it’s OK. I ran showered with a beautiful snow. I felt so excited!! I’ll show the picture. This is the name of the park where I usually runThe park

William W.Druwing. I don’t know who he is. By the way, the park is so huge. There are playground for childeren, basket ball court, running track, and off course soccer lawn.

the playgroundbasket ball court

jogging track covered by snow the soccer lawn

What a huge park, isn’t it!?

And every regions here have their own park. Ck..ck.. As if Indonesia could do such this things..Children shouldn’t have to play in the cemetary, or in the street, right?!

I did 4 laps in the jogging track. Not bad!! Since it was quite cold there ^_^. I love jogging, the cheapest sport ever hehehe. O yeah..in the way home, I took a picture of my footstep. The Puma hehehe!!

my footstep

Hehe..iseng ya..Oiya, I have another pictures..

arin in the snow scratch and I love AllahI love Allah ^_^

May Allah see my snow scratch ^_^ and my heart scratch…

Modal ayam halal ^_^

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim..

Ayam Halal… Boston City’s resident’s majority are not Muslim. That’s why it is difficult for muslim to find a halal food, for example chicken and meat which are slaughtered in Islamic may, say Basmallah. Muslim mother or muslim sister should find it in a special store and often they should go around the city to find “daun salam” or “air kelapa”. It’s really not an easy work for muslim mother or muslim sister. Hope that Allah will give a better reward for them. Amin ^_^

Anyway..Since I want to be a good mother latter, so I try to cook as many as I can in Boston. A couple days ago, I went to Hay market which is located in Down town, far from my house in West Roxbury. I went alone by orange line to the down town. Actually, it’s not very difficult to reach down town. Really easy!! The difficult one was to find out the halal store.

Well, frankly speaking, I have had to the store, but I was with sister Dewi and her family. We drove a car to reach Hay Marke, and it was dark. So I can’t remember the way to the store.

I walked around the street, turn around to find the market. Crossed the Quincy Market, passed the McD, Hard Rock cafe..Still I can’t find the store. And was getting exhausted. I didn’t want to spend my dollar to buy hot chocolate in starbuck or McD, so I keep trying to find the store. Mmh..It’s not an easy job to find a halal chicken, though!!

Soon I realize, why didn’t I call sister Dewi!! Thank you Allah, He sent me that massage ^_^.

I pressed my cell phone to call sister Dewi. Alhamdulillah she hung up the phone, and she began to explain the direction to the store. Simply, the store is next to the Millenium Hotel, in front of the place where I stood up. Alhamdulillah!

So I ran over the street to that store. Phuh…I found it!! I got the halal chicken for my food.

I decided to make a fry chicken. Since the chicken was very huge (it cost $7.00 waa how expensive..!!), maybe I’ll make chicken soup and another foods. In that store, I found turmeric, coriander, but I didn’t get the ginger and the coconut. So, I have to wait to make the fry chicken until I find the ginger. I’ll find it it Roche Bros, the supermarket near my house.

However, when I want to go Roche Bros on Sunday, snow was falling down from the sky, so I can’t go to find my ginger. Phuh…I can’t hardly stand to eat my chicken, so I decided to make another food. Finally, I made fried rice with chicken in it. Hehehe..not bad!! I like the taste.

Nasi goreng special ayam halal hehehe…This is my job ^_^. I’ll give a portion to my friend, Wika, on monday. She missed Indonesian food a lot. So I decided to give it to her. Actually, we would cook on this Sunday, but the weather was not very good. It was snowy and no bus operate on Sunday.

I love to cook…hehehe..Cooking makes me feel like a real women. ^_^ It’s not difficult at all. So Come on muslim women, let’s start to cook!!

chilling but true..waiting bus for 45 minute…=(

Bismillah,

This morning, I went to school to take some file from my friend who live in dormitory. I had to take it now because monday will be holiday, Martin Luther King day, however I have to learn something from that file.

So even if the weather is very cold outside, I pushed myself to go. At first, I try to wait for the bus. But after an half hour, it didn’t come. Thanks Allah, Raven came out from the house, she want to go shopping today, so she picked me up into the school. Phuh. =)

But ai have to get home by myself, which is I have to take a train and a bus.

I had no problem with the train. I came in the exact time. So i didn’t miss the train. But I missed the bus and I had to wait for 45 minutes, from 12 pm until 12.45 pm to get the next #51 bus. hiks2…It was very cold out there. But I had to stay there, otherwise I would miss my bus. So….Chilling but true!!

in the cold weather..waiting for the bus again ^_^

jadi wae arin foto2 aja. hehehe…^_^ trus sambil ngedengerin murrotal Al-Afasy…sejuknyaaaa….

walau tetep menggigil kedinginan hwaaa….

setelah 45 menit menanti sang bus..AKHIRNYA DATANG JUGA ..phuh…

Along the way got home, I tried to rub and warmed up myself. Nggak sengaja liat gedung ini nih..

tampak seperti synagog orang yahudi gitu…many of it here keliatan nggak itu apaan? Coba deh di zoom…apa yaa? kenal lambang gelas dengan 7 bejana itu…seperti lambang milik orang2 yahudi ya..kalo ga salah. I have already seen many of it here. Wow even if jews people only about approximately 7% from USA population. But they are really strong. I pretty sure about it.!!

Well interesting day, wasn’t it hehehehe

wassalam

we had a good time outside Boston ^_^

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

Another fun time in Boston!!It’s Silaturahim day…..

There was an activity outside Boston, exactly at Sister Anna’s house. She invited many people for silaturahmi in her house. There were four family who came to her house. Don’t imagine the “party” was uninteresting, because it was very crowded with many children. Let’s listing who came to the event :

1. Family sister Minda and Brother Daniar. They have 2 children (I forgot their name…=( )

2. Family sister Dewi and Brother Aris. They have 4 children (Aisyah, Ihsan, sarah, maryam)

3. Family sister Anna and Brother (wa..lupa namanya..). They have 3 children (Syifa, zahra, [I forgot again] )

4. Family sister Ruci and Brother (eh ga nanya nama suaminya sapa…). They have 1 baby boy only 6 months, his name is

Akello

5. Me…alone so far ^_^

The event was opened with open fasting together (We were fasting in muharam 10). Ups before that we cooked many things, food off course ^_^ to be served in the fasting dishes.
At 4.44 pm we had the Maghrib time and we opened our fasting. There were many things served in the table : Bakso, soto mie, sop, ayam, beef teriyaki, nasi putih, syomay, cingcau ^_^ waa All were Indonesia food. Senangnya…

After we had finished our food, we performed Sholat Maghrib berjamaah in the living room. I was so happy because this is my first time that I had sholat berjamaah here. Alhamdulillah thank you Ya Allah.

After finishing our sholat, we went to living room again, and ate another food while we were talking about many things.

Sister Anna and sister Minda were a cheerful people and they were a helpful sister ^_^.

Actually Sister Minda husband, Brother Danialr picked me up at home after that we went to pick sister Minda in Massachusetts General Hospital. She works only Saturday and Sunday there. So she still can take care of her children and she goes to the culinary class, too. She still have much time even she works ^_^ That’s good example.

Look at this picture. They are Sister Minda and sister Anna’s daughter. They are all cute and beautiful

Azra-syifa-farah-..-… (sorry I forgot their name).

They are around 3 – 10 years old and they were born in Boston, All of them ^_^

They speak English very well. They go the Islamic school near their house, so there us an arabic class too, so they are able to speak arabic well to. Ck..ck..kalah deh ..=(

Mantep ya sistem pendidikan di sini. Subhanallah..Jadi pengen nyekolahin anak di sini hehehe…

Sister Minda and Sister Anna with baby maryam and baby kelloThey are Sister Minda and Sister Anna. They are so kind and helpful. I’m so lucky that I can meet them here.

Sister Ruci and her baby boy, Akello

This is picture of Sister Ruci and her baby boy, akello. He is very cute and has a chubby cheeks ^_^

This is a piece of my family here now.

I love to know All of you all. May Allah musters us in His Jannah. Amiin

We went out from sister Anna’s house around 8 pm. Sister Dewi and Brother Aris gave me a ride. First, we went to their hoouse in stow. Only 20-minute ride from Sister Anna’s house. We took a rest for a momen, drank a cup of tea, perform isya prayer. Brother Aris drove me to home in west roxbury, with sister Dewi and their 4 children at 10.35 pm.

Along the way to West Roxbury, we talked many things. About Islamic activities in Boston and North America. There are many activities that I can join. I’ll try to join in one of it, I’m interested to join the one in Cambridge and Brighton. I’ll try!! Trus2, we talked a lot about many ikhwah in USA spread in many cities which I have applied for my master degree. In San Diego, Michigan, Illinois, Virgina, Buffalo alhamdulillah many ikhwah live there. ^_^ So, don’t worry, insyaAllah Allah wil lead the best way for me. The driving was taken almost 40s minutes.

Alhamdulillah, finnaly I arrived at home around 11 pm. Phuh lil bit tired, but I feel very happy. I met many ikhwah here, I’m not alone, and sister anna decided to have a real liqo here..I hope we can make it happen. Amiin

What a beautiful ukhuwah ^_^

Udah jam 12.40, I’m sleepy.

Smoga bisa bangun lebih awal untuk QL.

wassalam

Cheers,

Arin

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