Bits And Pieces I Learned From The Straight Path Convention

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. 

Alhamdulillah, All praises are due to Allah. I feel much better nowadays though we just ended the 4-week-reproductive system and started a new system (Musculoskeletal System) last Monday. So far everything is fine, just a lot of bones and muscles names to be memorised haha. Today I'm just gonna share my experience and bits and pieces of knowledges I got from The Straight Path Convention that I went last weekend. The 2-day event was the second time they held (last year was the first time) and this time the theme was 'Major Obstacles'. 

It was my first time going to a large Islamic conference. Yes, another tick on the bucket list, that's for sure. Though people sometimes say that ignorance is a bliss, but I reckon it's not suitable to use in this kind of situation, and to use the word 'ignorance' is kinda immense, so I'll use the word 'unaware' instead. I admit that I was unaware of the huge impact that this talk can give to someone and prolly could change one's life forever. 

The days before going to the talk were among the worst I had in my life. A series of problems, one after another came to me and wandered in my mind, asking for solutions and demanding to be solved. I didn't know where to start. I might seem okay from the outside, but inside, only Allah knows. Serabut sampai rasa nak tidur je, tak nak fikir apa apa. I longed for things I didn't have and ignored the blessings that I had. Crying with no tear, screaming with no voice. Silence and loneliness were really overwhelming though I was surrounded by cheerful and wonderful people. I worried about my worry. I worry about the future. I worry about everything. 

Last week's event had changed my thoughts and perceptions of life in this Dunya (world). There were 5 speakers who involved in the conference and each one of them talked about different topics. InshaaAllah I'll talk about them one by one in this blog. I'm currently in Melaka and I left my notebook in Vista, so basically I'll just tell you some of the things that I could remember clearly. Before I start, a big thank to my maklang (aunt) as she was the one who invited and belanja me for almost everything, from ticket to lunch, dinner and even a book!

I arrived quite early on the first day and as maklang had already registered for me and there was about 20-minute-time left before entering the hall, I took this chance to have a look at the books they were selling outside of the hall. After a quick flipped and skimmed through a book entitled 'You Can Be The Happiest Woman In The World', I decided to buy it (the one that Maklang paid for me). 

A lot of things had been discussed and elaborated well by the speakers. Words uttered by them went straight into my heart and left a significant mark in it. They talked about asking for forgiveness, repentance, the act of taubah, the effects of sins etc. The first topic was about the effects of the sins, and some of the effects that had been listed by Mufti Menk were sad, lonely, worry, etc. How to know whether the feelings are because of sin or a test from Him? Mufti Menk said, "Check back your deeds. Look back at what you have done." Astaghfirullahalazim. A word with a deep meaning that stroke straight into my heart and made me cried inside.

It might be a test, or the effects of sins I'd done. Then he said some of the sins that look 'minor' to us might be a major ones to Him and a repetition of a minor sin will become a major sin. Astaghfirullahalazim.

The speakers also talked about don't delay your salah and always ask for forgiveness from Him. When to change yourself? Right here, right now. Don't wait as today might be the last day we live in this world. We never know when will be the last day of our lives. Make ibadah esp salah as a priority. Fit your schedule into ibadah, rather than fitting ibadah into your schedule. MashaaAllah.

They also said about the negative effects of watching movies, listening to music and songs that make you wanna dance, wasting your time on things that don't give any benefits, etc. Subhanallah. May He forgives and guides us in everything we do. May He grants us the strength to avoid all the negative things.

What to do if you think all the feelings that you feel are the effects of the sins you did? Ask for his forgiveness, repent and change. When to change? Now. Never think that you've already done a lot of sins in the past, so Allah will never forgive you. No. That's the devil's game. The scholars told us that Allah will forgive you, but you have to ask for forgiveness and Allah loves those who seek for forgiveness.

"... Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves." [Al-Baqarah, 2:222]

At the same time, I also read the book that I bought there. Yes, the 'You Can Be The Happiest Woman In The World' book. One of the subtopic that I encountered when reading the book was 'When things become unbearable, turn to Allah'.

Here's something from the book:

Ibn al-Jawzi said:

"Something was causing me a great deal of grief and distress, and I started to think long and hard about how to get out of this situation by any means, but I could not find any way out. Then I came across this verse:

“… And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (of every difficulty).” [Quran, 65:2] 

I realised that taqwa (piety, fearing Allah) is the way out of every kind of grief and distress. As soon as I followed the path of taqwa, I found the day out.” 

Every day is a brand new day and like the scholars said, change yourself. Either in miles, or metres or even millimetres, it doesn't matter. As long as you try to change. Maybe today you wake up early for salah. The next day you do another good deed. May He eases everything for us. 

I wanna change and become a better person. I would like to apologise for any wrongdoings I did in the past and do tell me if I made any mistakes in the future. If you know any talks or conventions that will be held, do inform me as I'm looking forward for another talk like this. Feed the mind, but don't forget to feed the soul as well. InshaaAllah.