Quran Flash

I must share this superb website with you readers.

http://www.quranflash.com/en/quranflash.html

Enjoy !

Road Map

When I am about to visit a new location, I must always refer to a road map. I like to see the exact position of the place (eg. in which part of KL). That’s how my brain works ie. to see the big picture first. Then only I zoom in that tiny intended location that is sometimes not even mentioned in the big map.

It is very important for me to see the big picture first because just in case I missed a turn, I still know my bearing and can easily manoeuvre the next turn because I’ve got the idea of how to get there.

Instead of a map, using GPS is fairly easy but it is equivalent to using a calculator to solve a math problem (you get answer in split seconds without having to compute the arithmetic itself). You get to that location but you’ll probably not bother to see the big picture. A location will just be a GPS number code. If your GPS suddenly decide to fall dead on you, you’ll also be dead if you're about to attend an important meeting.

Likewise, you can use the same concept of seeing the big picture to understand & memorise the Quran. Before you even start with learning the first alphabet “alif”, you must appreciate that there are 114 Chapters (Surah) altogether in the Quran. It starts with the first chapter (Surah Al-Fatiha) and ends with the 114^th chapter (Surah An-Naas).

Each chapters (Surah) has different number of verses (ayat). The shortest chapters (ie. Surah An-Nasr, Al-Kauthar, Al-‘Asr) all have 3 verses. The longest chapter (Surah Al-Baqarah) has 286 verses.

All these 114 chapters are grouped into 30 Juzuk (no.1 – 30). Since Chapter 2 (Surah Al-Baqarah) has 286 verses (telling a very long story), the verses spanned into 3 different Juzuk (Juzuk 1, 2 & 3).

The 30^th Juzuk consists of Chapter 78 (Surah An-Naba) to Chapter 114 (Surah An-Naas). The 30^th Juzuk is also known as “Juzuk Amma” (a.k.a Muqaddam). Juzuk Amma starts with Chapter 78 (Surah An-Naba) with the verses “Amma yatasaa alun...”.

Btw Surah Ya-sin is at Chapter 36 and has 83 verses.

It is good if you can memorise the names of all the chapters in number order (1 to 114). Yes, MEMORISE them all. Later, it will be easier for you to memorise the verses from one chapter to another.

Better still if you can remember how many verses are there in each chapter. Then you can proceed to read the first verses over & over again and try to remember the verses page by page. Once you do that... you’re just a few steps away to become a Hafiz/ah (InsyaAllah).

All you need to do now is to appreciate the road map & see the big picture first. Then slowly zoom into the minute details. The best thing to do is to read the Arabic verses side by side with the language translation. By this way, you can learn Arabic at the same time.

For those who have been reading Quran every single day, congratulations to you!

For those who have not, happy ‘Quran-Revisited’ day!

Surah Al-A'laa

No.87 - SURAH AL- A'LAA (The Most High) (19 ayat)

MAKNA AYAT

1. Bertasbihlah mensucikan nama Tuhanmu Yang Maha Tinggi (dari segala sifat-sifat kekurangan),

2. Yang telah menciptakan (sekelian makhlukNya) serta menyempurnakan kejadiannya dengan kelengkapan yang sesuai dengan keadaannya;

3. Dan yang telah mengatur (keadaan makhluk-makhlukNya ) serta memberikan hidayah petunjuk (ke jalan keselamatannya dan kesempurnaannya);

4. Dan yang telah mengeluarkan tumbuh-tumbuhan untuk binatang-binatang ternakan,

5. kemudian ia menjadikan (tumbuhan yang menghijau) itu kering - (berubah warnanya) kehitam-hitaman.

6. Kami sentiasa menjadikan engkau (wahai Muhammad) dapat membaca (Al-Quran yang diturunkan kepadamu - dengan perantaraan Jibril), sehingga engkau menghafaznya dan tidak lupa,

7. Kecuali apa yang dikehendaki Allah engkau lupakan; sesungguhnya Ia mengetahui (segala keadaan yang patut berlaku), yang nyata dan yang tersembunyi.

8. Dan Kami tetap memberi kemudahan kepadamu untuk (melaksanakan segala perkara) Ugama yang mudah diterima oleh akal yang sihat.

9. Oleh itu berilah peringatan (kepada umat manusia dengan ajaran Al-Quran), kalau-kalau peringatan berguna (dan sudah tentu berguna);

10. Kerana orang yang takut (melanggar perintah Allah) akan menerima peringatan itu;

11. Dan (sebaliknya) yang sangat celaka akan menjauhinya,

12. Dialah orang yang akan menderita bakaran neraka yang amat besar (azab seksanya),

13. Selain dari itu, ia tidak mati di dalamnya dan dan tidak pula hidup senang.

14. Sesungguhnya berjayalah orang yang - setelah menerima peringatan itu - berusaha membersihkan dirinya (dengan taat dan amal yang salih),

15. Dan menyebut-yebut dengan lidah dan hatinya akan nama Tuhannya, serta mengerjakan sembahyang (dengan kyusuk)

16. (tetapi kebanyakan kamu tidak melakukan yang demikian), bahkan kamu utamakan kehidupan dunia;

17. Padahal kehidupan akhirat lebi baik dan lebih kekal.

18. Sesungguhnya (keterangan-keterangan yang dinyatakan) ini ada (disebutkan) di dalam Kitab-Kitab yang terdahulu,

19. iaitu Kitab-kitab Nabi Ibrahim dan nabi Musa.

Twitblog

I should'nt be treating my Twitter like a blog. I've been updating Twitter more often than my blog. If I can update Twitter a few times a day, why not this blog ? The answer is because of simplicity. Twitter is simple. The more complicated ones (blog) is conveniently ignored.

The mind always works in complication when it comes to blog. So many stories to share. So many sentences to construct. So many vocab to consider. At the end of the day, nothing is written. It stays there in my CPU, the thinking kind I mean.

Writing this blog at the moment is interrupted by Mr Bourdain's adventure on the telly plus a call from Brother Chef few minutes ago asking for another quotation to be faxed ASAP to a client who always love to do a last minute order and end up us, the catering end, having to juggle two catering events in a day.

It didn't help with this constant coughing and regular visits to the sink to clear the flu phlegm.

But again, the mind always work in simplicity & kept on thinking of ways to keep it simple. Business wise or personal. Business wise, eg, how to get the government get cracking & get on with their job so that they can help to stabilise the cost of inflation. Yes, I am thinking of harga beras that kept eating into our margin.

At the end of the day, what all of us rakyat want is....to be happy !

About Choices

"In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

"It has been said that the gate of history turns on small hinges, and so do people's lives. The choices we make determine our destiny."
- Thomas S. Monson

MIHAS 2008