Friday, February 22, 2008

A WIFE

Our Noble Prophet saw said:

Jabir (Radhialliaho anho) narrates that the Prophet saw gave these instructions in his sermon during the Farewell Pilgrimage.

"Fear Allah swt regarding women; for you have taken them (in marriage) with the trust of Allah. (Mishkat)

The Holy Prophet saw said:
People, your wives have a certain right over you and you have certain rights over them. Treat them well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers. (At-Tirmidhi)

Abu Huraira (Radhialliaho anho) reported Allah's messenger saw as saying,
"The believers who show the most perfect faith are those who have the best disposition and the best of you are those who are best to their wives " (At-Tirmidhi)



A Wife (A talk by Shaykh Abdullah Adhami)

By getting married you are not just getting a wife, you are getting your whole world. From now until the rest of your days your wife will be your partner, your companion, and your best friend.

She will share your moments, your days, and your years. She will share your joys and sorrows, your successes and failures, your dreams and your fears. When you are ill, she will take the best care of you; when you need help, she will do all she can for you;

When you have a secret, she will keep it; when you need advice, she will give you the best advice. She will always be with you: when you wake up in the morning the first thing your eyes will see will be hers; during the day, she will be with you, if for a moment she is not with you by her physical body, she will be thinking of you, praying for you with all her heart, mind, and soul; when you go to sleep at night, the last thing your eyes will see will be her; and when you are asleep you will still see her in your dreams. In short, she will be your whole world and you will be her whole world.

The best description that I personally have ever read describing the closeness of the spouses to each other is the Qur'anic verse which says: "They are your garments and you are their garments" (Surah Al Baqarah 2:187). Indeed, spouses are like garments to each other because they provide one another with the protection, the comfort, the cover, the support, and the adornment that garments provide to humans. Just imagine a journey in the winter of Alaska without garments! Our spouses provide us with the same level of comfort, protection, cover, and support in the journey of our lives on this earth as garments would do in the Alaskan journey.

The relationship between the spouses is the most amazing of all human relations: the amount of love and affection, intimacy and closeness, mercy and compassion, peace and tranquility that fills the hearts of the spouses is simply inexplicable. The only rational explanation for these most amazing of all human feelings is that: it is an act of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, "And Allah has made for you Mates (and Companions) of your own nature..." (Surah An Nahl 16:72)


Only our Almighty Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala in His Infinite Power, Boundless Mercy, and Great Wisdom can create and ingrain these amazing and blessed feelings in the hearts of the spouses. In fact Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is reminding those who search for His signs in the universe that these feelings in the hearts of the spouses are among the signs that should guide humans to His existence as He says in the Qur'an, "And among His signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves that you may dwell in tranquility with them and He has put love and mercy between your hearts: verily in that are signs for those who reflect." (Surah Ar Rum 30:21).

But Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala knows that the human heart is not a static entity, it is sometimes weak and at times dynamic. Feelings can and do change with time. Love may wither and fade away. The marital bond might weaken if not properly cared for. Happiness in marriage cannot be taken for granted; continuous happiness requires constant giving from both sides. For the tree of marital love to remain alive and keep growing, the soil has to be sustained, maintained, watered and nurtured.

Remember that our Prophet Muhammad Salallaahu 'alaihi wa'sallaam had found the time to go out to the desert and race with his wife Aisha. She out ran him but later after she had gained some weight, he out ran her.

Remember that the Prophet Salallaahu 'aliahi wa'sallaam took his wife to watch the young Ethiopians playing and dancing their folk dances. The show of emotions is necessary to keep the marital bond away from rusting and disintegrating.

Remember that you will be rewarded by Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala for any emotions you show to your wife as the Prophet Salallaahu 'alaihi wa'sallaam said "one would be rewarded for anything that he does seeking the pleasure of Allah even the food that he puts in the mouth of his wife."

Never underestimate the importance of seemingly little things as putting food in your wife's mouth, opening the car's door for her, etc. Remember that the Prophet Salallaahu 'alaihi wa'sallaam used to extend his knee to his wife to assist her up to ride the camel.

Try to always find some time for both of you to pray together. Strengthening the bond between you and Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is the best guarantee that your own marital bond would always remain strong.
Having peace with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala will always result in having more peace at home.

Remember that the Prophet Salallaahu 'alaihi wa'sallaam gave glad tidings for those couples who wake up at night to pray together. The Prophet Salallaahu 'alaihi wa'sallaam even urged the spouse who rises up first to wake the other spouse up even by throwing cold water on his/her face.

Always try your best to be good to your wife by words and by deeds. Talk to her, smile to her, seek her advice, ask for her opinion, spend quality time with her and always remember that the Prophet Salallaahu 'alaihi wa'sallaam said "the best of you are those who are best to their wives."

Finally, it is common that spouses vow to love and honor their spouses until death do them part. I do believe that this vow is good or even great, but not enough! It is not enough that you love your wife. You have to love what she loves as well. Her family, her loved ones must also become your loved ones. Don't be like my colleague who was unhappy about his wife's parents coming to visit for few weeks. He candidly said to her "I don't like your parents."
Naturally, she angrily looked at him straight in the eye and said " I don't like yours either"... Also, it is not enough that you love her until death do you part. Love should never end and we do believe there is life after death where those who did righteousness in this world will be joined by their spouses (Surah Al Zukhruf 43:70) and off springs.

The best example in this regard is the Prophet Salallaahu 'alaihi wa'sallaam whose love for Khadija, his wife of 25 years extended to include all those she loved and continued even after her death. It was many years after her death and he never forgot her and whenever a goat was slaughtered in his house he would send portions of it to Khadija's family and friends and whenever he felt that the visitor at the door might be Khadija's sister Hala, he would pray saying "O Allah let it be Hala."

With Kind Regards
Mohammad Usman
Jeddah
SAUDI ARABIA

FISHING TRIP

Late evening of 3rd January, 08, me, Harmadi and Zack paid a visit to old friends at the offshore barges. They have been continuously inviting us to visit them since the past 6 months (since completion of offshore works). The weather and sea state didn't seemed very gentle to us but we went through as not to let down our friends invitation. Riding on Sole Ann was not smooth (feel like riding "kuda naik minyak") and Alhamdulillah we made it to the barges. It was a dream come true for Zack because it was his first trip to offshore.

The barge crews were very happy to see visitors after such a long time living on the barge without doing anything except maintaining the barges and fishing. We were served with delicious fish biryani during dinner and later went for fishing. It wasn't a lucky night and we didn't catch any fish. The next morning, after "fajar prayer", the fishing activity continued. We were served with large capati by the host during breakfast. Weather and sea state became worst after noon hours and I was worried that I couldn't reach the shore to catch up with the flight on the 5th Jan,08. Muzaffar (the chief) informed me that he couldn't send me back to shore because Sole Ann was not safe to sail through the rough sea state (2-3m of wave height) while the large tug "Dina Star" was having hydraulic problem at the engine.

Muralli, the electrical engineer on the barge had a deep cut in his right hand finger while retrieving frozen fish heads from the refrigerator. The fish heads were meant for us. It was very unfortunate day for him but we did appreciate his sincerity in preparing the fish heads for us to bring back to shore. I was not very comfortable to stay another night at the barges because the weather was getting worst and I had not packed my bag to travel back home.

Due to the seriousness of the cut on Muralli's finger, we decided to hurry the Dina Star crews to fix the hydraulic problem and sent Muralli to the shore clinic for treatment. At last, Alhamdulillah, the problem was fixed at 9 pm and we sailed to the GNPOC jetty safely. While waiting for the engine hydraulic system to be fixed, Zack had a large "Jenahak". The fish weighted approximately 5-6 kilogramme. With Allah mercy on us, the long wait on board the tug Dina Star was paid off and we didn't go back to shore with empty hand. It was a wonderful experience for the three of us. Muralli had several stitches and I was informed that he had recovered well.

After spending my R&R back home and returned to site, to my surprise, those friends and barges are still at the same location!!! This part of the world does not change much......

THE NEW PAK YAH



Pak Yah posing on Guntung D Exxon Mobile platform offshore Terengganu. He looks darker now and putting a lot of weight!!! Are you still doing the part time job, I mean cooking on the platform, barbecue....? You may need to jog around the platform 100 times which is equivalent to a round from OGP camp in Sudan to bahar!

Good luck to you with the new job assignment. Keep in touch.

I am waiting for Tuan Ahmad Bee to send me a photo with the swamp at the background. He got a new job too!!! I heard he is going to be a super millionaire ajeeeeee......!!!! Alhamdulillah.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

HAMMERHEAD KING


On the 17th February, 2008, Harmadi fished an endangered hammerhead shark at the MT beach. The fish weighted approximately 12 kg. The remaining five OGP personnel at site took 4 to 5 days to consumed the whole fish. After arriving at site on 19th February, I had the opportunity to taste the "asam pedas hammerhead" cooked by Harun (Sudanese chef) and "hammerhead noodle soup" specially prepared by Chef Harmadi. The meat is very soft. The shark fin "sudah langsai"!!!
Congratulation to Harmadi!!!! You are the best fisherman at site this far and you are entitle to be called "Hammerhead King". Don't forget to bring good quality fishing rod when you come back to site. "Selamat mengundi".
Tuan Zack!!! The game is on!!!