Tomorrow is the day we bid goodbye to Ramadhan and come dusk welcome Syawal. To some it is a sad farewell and to others a happy ending. Sad if all that one desired was not fulfilled and happy if otherwise. Ramadhan is the month one seeks His bounty which can be more than one can imagine if only one care to seek. Therefore woe be it when one slackens in total supplications to Him in Ramadhan. One may not get a chance to meet the next Ramadhan.....

The times we spent in the east Coast of the Peninsula was a bit too much for the both of us. Since coming back we have been a little under the weather, and with the loads of things we had to do in and out of the house, which was in a real mess not having been attended to for a long while, health started taking its toll on us. Despite the health setback, we had to attend to the chores, poor health notwithstanding, lest the mess continues into the festive period! So it was, head heavy and body aching, both of us continued to do what was necessary to spruce up the house. We were thankful though that son Shaffik and family came back on Sunday and hence we had additional help to do the necessary, and with the grandchildren around, full of their pranks and antics, all the aches and pains in our bodies melted away somehow...

We had planned to cook our usual sweetmeat for the festive day and we had purchased 2 kilos of good meat for it. I spent the afternoon today preparing the meat, pounding to soften it and cooking it. I think staying infront of the fire and stirring the big pot for a good two hours did some good for my throbbing head and aches in the body although standing for two hours was not any good for my knees. The throbbing in the head disappeared but the pain in the knees took over. Huh! one setback to another, ha ha. Age do play games with you. Anyway, a good rest afterwards was all I needed to recover from the knee aches.

It was announced that Syawal will start on Wednesday, hence we have another day of Ramadhan. I hope we can make full use of this last day to catch up before Ramadhan leaves us. I submit to the Almighty and I seek his guidance always....

MKI Ramblings Unlimited,
Petaling jaya

Nights Full of Blessings

It is now the last segment of Ramadhan and it was said that the last ten days and nights are full of Almighty's blessings which are bestowed in multiple bounty if only we care to seek. One night of the last ten nights, especially, holds something special for the ummah. No one knows which night of the ten but there has been many speculations, postulations, deductions and guesswork even, on which night it falls. To me it is only ten nights and one should not fret over which night it is but concentrate all efforts to submit to Him in all of the ten nights. If one can, one should submit wholly and sincerely to Him all of the Ramadhan nights. What are we if not for His blessings.

Ram and I have spent the last three weeks away from home. We have been staying in a hotel in the middle of Kuala Terengganu town and located very close to the town mosque, which conveniently served our purpose. This particular hotel was my 'second' home of sorts even at the time I was still in service and working in Kuala Terengganu some ten years ago. So, to return and stay in the hotel after all these years was like homecoming for Ram and me.

The mosque holds the regular and the additional Ramadhan prayer sessions, just like any other mosques in the country. For these last ten nights they hold prayer sessions starting at 3.30am. Meals for the breaking of fast and for the beginning of fast are also served to the congregation. So what more can one ask for. Some people practically spends their nights in the mosque. I guess they go home at sunrise to catch up on sleep!

Ram and I try to join in all the prayer sessions as much as we can and also joined the congregation for the breaking of fast twice. A third time we did was when the Prime Minister visited the mosque to break fast with the people. Of course, he made a political speech before the breaking of fast but I noticed that people who attended were not concentrating on his speech but were more interested in arranging the food on the table for the breaking of fast. Other days we break fast on our own either in the hotel restaurants or in our rooms as appropriate. Because of my work commitment I sometime return late to the hotel with little time to prepare for the mosque but but we try to make sure that we join the congregation for all the prayer sessions. Better miss out on the food than miss out on the congregational prayers.

We will be returning home tomorrow and need not return to Terengganu for a while yet. Hence we will be spending the final segment of Ramadhan at home and at our local mosque. I expect the house to be a mess and will need some sprucing up. So there will be alot of work to do when we return home. I only hope I can find time to catch up and update my postings here. I seek His guidance always.....

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Kuala Terengganu

See The Bigger Family

For all those who have been following my blog and followed stories I posted on my bigger family, of how we get together and formed a movement to further the dreams of my late father and my mum, here is an opportunity to get a closer look at this bigger family http://www.warisantcc.blogspot.com. or go to the link Warisan TCC here. It is in Malay though but there are pictures of members of the family there. Thanks to brother Joe who, I am sure, spends alot of time moderating the blog, the family worldwide can get in touch in a single blog platform. So, happy viewing.

I am still commuting weekly to the East Coast of the peninsular and addressing the higher demands on my time leaving me little time to do anything else, and less so to post my thoughts in this blog. And this month being Ramadhan, the need to spend time more advantageously is even greater and I seek guidance from the Almighty to enable me to apportion the time available appropriately. Apologies if the postings here gets too infrequent. I will make efforts to do more, with His blessings.....

MKI Ramblings Unlimited,
Petaling Jaya