Marvellous Maher

Maher Zain was back to woo his ever faithful Malaysian  fans with another live performance last Saturday (16 June 2012). 

This time it was a very energetic performance, fans were amazed at the energy level of their favorite singer. With  such a smooth performance that night, I'd declare him best  entertainer ever!  

Irfan Makki 

The concert was opened by Irfan Makki singing Waiting for the Call. 


Yes, Irfan's performance wasn't that great that night but I'll make excuses for him, having seen him perform live in Brunei before, he has this soft pure voice similar to MJ's but perhaps he was unwell as he had difficulty singing some of the high notes.

I loved that he sang all  of our favorite songs including MJ's You are Not Alone. My personal favorite is Waiting for the Call.  

To me, Irfan is a bit shy and if he wants to make it really big in Malaysia he needs to overcome his shyness. 

Raef

Raef - what can I say? He's been blessed with talent by Allah swt.

 "It's freezing up here" said Raef, and that brought a big grin to our faces. Our family loved all of his cover versions, especially, With You, I'm Yours and It's Jumuah and was hoping that he would sing a new song in the concert. My little girl cheekily asked him in fb to sing a new song!  

And yes a romantic composition for his future wife was the new song. So Raef, clearly exceeded our (my family) expectations. And I bet other Malaysians' expectations as well, you know how hopelessly romantic all Maher Zain fans are. For the Rest of My Life was so popular it was translated into Malay. So Raef's song had captured  many hearts that night and increased his fan base,  considering he has not even released any debut album nor single, this achievement is simply awesome.  Many who were unaware of Raef before this, were impressed with his vocal talent.  I believe he's going to follow the footsteps of Maher Zain  soon! 

So Awakening Records please release a single for Raef ASAP, better still a debut album. All songs were performed by Raef effortlessly and brilliantly. His cover songs have a fun and fresh melody to them which suits Raef fine, being the typical easygoing   American guy, clad in a checked  shirt,  blue jeans, converse sneakers and a wide grin! His cute looking favorite  toadstool  is his trademark as well, appearing in his video clips but not sure whether he brought Mr.Toadstool along that night. (He did tweet to my girl and said yes)

Maher Zain

And the star of the night himself, Maher Zain, was just awesome! 

If I need to describe his performance that night in one word, the word PERFECT would be my choice. 

The starting gimmick was pretty impressive with Sepanjang Hidup (although I couldn't figure out what song it was at first as it was a much faster version, and I personally like the English version ) . The other fans were thrilled anyhow.  From then on he kept entertaining his fans non stop. 

My personal favorite of Maher' promise of 'surprises'  for Malaysia would be his piano recital. An old composition, he claimed. Of course, the crowd went wild when he said "Only for Malaysia" well it's a known fact that he can play the piano very well and I've always wondered why he  never performed with a piano in his concerts. So, yes this was the best surprise of all. 

His vocal was at his best ( okay only been to two of his live concerts ) - simply amazing vocal prowess! And I couldn't believe that he actually managed to sing all the songs from his new album including some of his famous hits from his first album. His mood was cheerful, occasionally talking in bahasa and teasing the audience a number of times.  When he said he needed to leave the stage for five minutes,   the crowd groaned.  He then teased that he would be here all night long. Ha ha, now that would be a real treat!

And  when he sang For the Rest of MY Life and substituted the English word ' love' with 'sayang' the ladies went ooohhh! It's simply amazing how he was energetic from the start till the end, not an easy feat since his songs range from slow till fast numbered ones. 

MashaAllah, talented indeed. He's brought a whole different meaning to the word entertainment. My personal favorite from the new album is Paradise and the rendition was MashaAllah, perfect! 

A little upset that I Love You So was sung in Malay - Ku MillikMu but equally relieved that Guide Me All the Way was in English. And his evergreen hit that brought fame to him, InshaAllah was marvelously delivered!!! 

Maher also sang Michael Jackson's Man in the Mirror. I was expecting Raef to sing this as he already had his cover version. It was through  this song that I first discovered Raef. But when one is so talented, any cover that they sing will be made into their very own.  Maher sang a very fast paced version but so great that brought a new life to MJ's song. Whilst Raef's version is gentler and relaxing to listen to. Man in the Mirror always have a special place in my heart because of its powerful lyrics.

The music was incredibly smashing. Talented musicians accompanying a great performer makes an enjoyable night for the audience.  Also, bringing in the Arabic musical instrument duff  brought a different feel to the concert as well. 

 You did it again Maher! Your performance was way beyond expectation. And because of this it helped to change the mood of some of the audience who were unhappy with the local organizer right from the start of the concert. Marctensia Mishap will  be my next post, InshaAllah, detailing the weakness of the concert's organizing. 

A local online newspaper did a write up on Maher Zain's live concert  titled 'Kaku Komunikasi' . The writer had commented that Maher was stiff and lacked communication with the audience. She had quoted her friend saying that she might as well listen to the Cd!!??  Whoa! I beg to differ, Maher's live performances are not the same as listening to his CDs,my dear! They are just a different experience one will encounter rather than listening to a Cd. 

Hmm,  at first I did wish he talked more to the audience (  I am that type of person who like knowing why he made such songs, etc) but when I saw him rendering his songs with so much enthusiasm I believe it's because he wanted to cover many songs within that few hours time. He's not stiff, by the way. In his Brunei concert he interacted well with the audience.(heh, calling my darling Nisa on stage to sing with him and Irfan Makki).  

 So it was indeed a successful concert. And yes, heard the lighting was good too. Notice the word heard, it's because our view of the stage was partly blocked. Despite paying for  the most expensive tickets after VIP range, our view was the 'gorgeous' scaffolding and the massive camera stand.  

Finally, we owe it to Maher for being such a superb entertainer that made the concert a class of its own. Despite dissatisfaction  that was felt by his fans due to poor organization from the local organizer. If not for Maher's superb performance, many of his fans would have  left Stadium Merdeka still feeling angry and upset after the concert. 

 Alhamdulillah, all praise is to Allah as it did not rain that night and for such a memorable night. May Allah bless Maher Zain and the rest of the Awakening team for their work in spreading dakwah through music. May Allah keep their intentions firm. 

 Marvellous Maher, Malaysia awaits you again!

p/s: photos maybe later coz I am not IT savvy at all, but no promises.

Thirty Seven Today

I am 37 years old today!

SubhanAllah! Alhamdulillah! This morning I woke up and recited 'waking up' du'a with so much kesyukuran-gratefulness. That I am still breathing. Thank you Allah for all your blessings. Then when I was about to switch my alarm off from my phone, I saw so many notifications, that friends have posted on my fb timeline, messages including  texts and WhatsApp.

It's my birthday after all. Yes, I am 37 today. 

My du'a is that Allah make me steadfast and grant me patience, that I will be a solehah wife, daughter and mother.

Self Reflection/Muhasabah

Just yesterday, during our 'Sembang Ilmu' -  as our usrah circle is called , we were covering the topic of Qadha and Qada'. As we reached the part where our ajal, rizqi have been decided, my eyes became wet. Suddenly, I felt ashamed because here I am feeling happy since beginning of this week, as my birthday is approaching. It hit me that we tend to forget that we may be called to leave this dunya when our time comes. And we don't even know when. How sure am I that I will live to see my 37th birthday? A surge of panic passed through my body like an electric wave. I am not ready Ya Allah! 

So of course waking up this morning was so special and I am most grateful to Allah swt for giving me another day. Thank you for all the blessings bestowed upon me and my family.


If you would count up the favors of Allah, never would you be able to number them: for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Al-Nahl, 18)

Again, time to reflect on what I have achieved so far, having lived in this world for thirty seven years. You can't count the blessings from Allah but we can surely reflect on what we have done in this world. My mistakes, my sins, and my contributions? What have I done for Islam? Still a long way to go as I've achieved little in regard to my deen. I am contemplating whether I should record  my resolutions here, but for now I will keep to myself what I've set. 

Study the deen is the keyword, but so much to do but with little time. 

(Tick Tock, Tick Tock, time is running out!) 

Pleasing Allah will be the objective of my actions in order to  


Make Jannahtul Firdaus my final destination.


( I realize that my ibadah has yet to reach the quality that makes me qualify for Jannahtul Firdaus but I like to make this as my objective, as a strong motivational goal, so that every time I find myself feeling a bit lazy this objective will surely get me going.) 

Now putting all this into plans and actions will be my things to do this weekend. Again, make me steadfast, Ya Allah!


Always, always remember that maut will come to us when our time is due. Allah has set this and there is no way anyone can stop from answering this final call from Allah. Make this as an important reminder to us. I will find time to post something on maut itself in the future. 


And always thank Allah for giving us another day, and this is well covered in the du'a that we recite every time we get up from bed. 

Trying out new stuff at this ripe age

Today also marks a new beginning for me.  


It was my first lesson in horse riding. A dream come true. 
I've been fascinated by horses ever since I was small but back then horse riding lessons were too expensive. 

I read in Solusi magazine that one who spends his time learning to ride a horse will get reward-'pahala' for the time and efforts he puts in it. It's sunnah by the way. So I enrolled my kids and myself into horse riding lessons. After a year of being on the wait list, my kids got their lessons but they accidently overlooked mine. I did not mind at all because deep down I felt a little afraid. Well, it must be the age factor to feel a little bit worried. Two months of chauffeuring them to lessons, and seeing how they enjoyed the lessons so much made me follow up on my request. 

I had second thoughts again this morning. Will I be able to do this as this age? My initial reaction upon mounting the horse was 'oh,oh gayat'. But once the horse started to walk and then did the race trot, it was okay. I got in rhythm with the horse's movement and the whole experience was exhilarating.

Not bad, I now look forward  to future classes. 

At least, I found one sports activity in my aim to strike a balance - Islam, family and self. What better way to satisfy yourself and gain reward  as well.  

Nina

p/s : Islam is not just a religion it's a way of life. What I've categorized as Islam above is actually on my contribution to my seen i.e. normally I'd plan my day with doing work- for my kids, self and under the category of Islam it would be for example: helping a neighbour, visiting a sick friend. Always niat to do anything for Allah even when doing housework, stuff for your kids and even horse riding to order to get reward from Allah swt. 

  

Forgiving Others

In my previous post, Ask For Forgiveness I had mentioned about how forgiving others is perhaps the hardest thing for most of us to do.

Forgiving Others, is a habit I am trying to inculcate. Why? Because I am a very sensitive person (mudah terasa), with a vicious tongue and a temper to match. So these two faults of mine are my greatest disadvantages in my quest of being a good Muslimah.  

HURT - is  the reason that stops most from pardoning or forgiving others. But it shouldn't be an excuse for us Not to. We must Try to. Well, we want others to forgive us for our mistakes and overlook our shortcomings; so why don't we pardon others then?

I hear you say, " 'dah' or yes I 've forgiven her/him but to forget?" Same here, I always tell myself, I've forgiven him/her but after I've either retaliated with an ugly remark and regretted woefully over it.

I want to get into the habit of forgiving others. To control my anger and instantly forgive someone and overlook their faults. 

Kamal Mekki's lecture titled 'Forgiveness is a Mark of the Believer' covered the concept of forgiving others in Islam very well. An eye opener on what is the real forgiveness in Islam.

'Afw is the first level of forgiveness. Pardon others by overlooking at what they did or say to you. But this doesn't mean you have forgotten that person's mistake to you. A sign of this will be you rambling to others about it, and your face turns sour whenever you meet that person again.

A higher level of forgiveness would be 'Safh' , where you forgive and you also do not take revenge. You forget that person's mistake, or in Kamal el Mekki's words "you erase it out of your mind".  

Easier said than done, but if we psych or drum into our heads that 'I must learn to forgive and try to forget' you will be able to pardon others more easily. It takes practice, my motivational words to myself would be ' this is the sign of Imaan'. 

Do both 'Afw and Safh, meaning pardon others and 'turn away'.

and let them pardon and turn away. Would you not like that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

An Nur :22

The highest level of all, would be 'Ihsaan', doing something nice to the person who had wronged you. So do  'Afw, (pardon) Safh (forgive and forget) and Ihsaan (be kind) to that person instead of retaliating. 

This reminds me of story of Rasulullah (peace and blessings upon him) and an unkind old woman who would place obstacles ( thorns and even 'najis')  on his path. When she fell sick, Rasulullah (peace and blessings upon him) was the one who had visited her and looked after her, and that kindness from Rasulullah (peace and blessings upon him)  opened her heart to Islam. 

Try to ingrain in ourselves that 'to err is human and that Allah loves those who are most forgiving'. Again, start small. Learn to forgive first then give yourself some time to forget. Then when forgiving others become second nature, try to forgive and forget. Trust me, once you try to erase the wrongdoings you get to move on and enjoy your life better. And being nice to the person that had wronged you, is a sign of your level of faith and will definitely create a new person in you. 

I've tried this and it sure made me at peace with myself in times that I've managed to forgive and forget, my only task is as I mentioned is to make it a habit.

May Allah be pleased with us.

Here's the full lecture