16 Safar 1430H

Bismillah...

wal hamdulillah was solatu was salam ‘ala Rasulillah...

1st semester exam has finally come to an end. Relieved, yes. Satisfied? Hmm… Let’s see:

for most of the 15 subjects (excluding Tafsir n Qur’an, the 2 non-examinable subjects for this term), yes. For Geography, there was a “fill in the blanks” section that I know I didn’t do well. Luckily it’s only 5 marks. Managed to get only 2 correct. Haiz. Reason being: I missed that concept during revision. That was the ONLY part of the notes I didn’t read. No specific reason. I just happened to overlook it. And that was the exact passage that came out. (The 2 words that I got correct were by chance. Somehow they just popped up. Perhaps from a bit of leisure reading from the book few months back. )

Allah betul2 nak uji agaknya :) padahal subject ni senang nak score! takpelah, redha

Lesson learnt: open ur eyes BIGGER next time eh Khadijah~ hee

Next unsatisfaction: during the ‘Ilam al-Islamiyy (Islamic Mass Media) paper. There was a question that was out of the book, but was mentioned by the lecturer during class. I wasn’t able to elaborate it. Lack of points.

My mistake: no, I didn’t skip lectures (ni pantang nenek moyang. Kecuali memang ada hal2 tertentu/ yang tak dapat dielakkan/ darurat.) Rather, it’s the method I used while writing those points down in class, which is unsuitable and might lead to unsmooth and disorganized revision. UNLESS I did revision for the topic after the lecturer on that day itself. Which, obviously I didn’t.

So salah siapa sekarang Khadijah??? :) another lesson learnt. Alhamdulillah. More organized note-writing and immediate revision in the future, biidznillah.

For Fiqh: I won’t really term it an “unsatisfaction”. Just that the questions were pretty unexpected and differ from that of the past years. More application questions, Alhamdulillah. Topics tested were also from the minor topics, not much from the major ones I focused on. The challenge lies in the ability to remember (correctly) the opinions of all the different madzaahib (singular: “madzhab” – School of Thought). Not only that of the 4 prominent Imam (Imam Malik of Malikiyyah, Imam Abu Hanifah of Hanafiyyah , Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal of Hanbaliyyah and Imam Syafi’e of Syafi’iyyah, rahimahumulllah), but also opinions of the other Imam that have their opinions voiced (ijtihad) in that particular topic. Not to mention the difference in opinions that might be present within a madzhab itself. E.g. Imam Abu Hanifah’s opinions might differ from that of his 2 famous counterparts: Muhammad as-Syaibani and Abu Yusuf.

On top of that, the challenge also lies in the strength of the memory in remembering the adillah (singular: “dalil” – evidence) used to support their opinions. With that, of course I’m referring to the Qur’an and Hadith. This means 100% precision.

Plus, the scope to be covered is wide~ all the way from khitbah (engagement) till before talaq. That includes the various different types of nikah and its rukun, then the syuruuth (requirements) for each, etc. hundreds of pages beb~

Lastly, there was Akhlaq which I sat for last evening. The thing about Akhlaq is, the topics are very general, and so I personally find it challenging to focus on a particular idea. I did try my best to re-write the key ideas down in my notebook, and read the passage with understanding repeatedly (oklah, not that much, just managed to read them around 3 times). I found myself experiencing the “information clutter” situation during the paper.

O Allah, You be the Witness that this humble servant of yours had tried her best during the paper and revision. I’ve done my part, and I leave the rest to you.

*phew* Relieved. Part of the struggle is over. A tiny part of it. There are still the finals and future exams. But at least, for now, I’m more composed. Able to have a more systematic sleeping pattern. Instead of the “tido-bangun blaja-tido-bangun blaja syndrome” since the past 2 weeks or so. (kan Huda kan? Asal kte bangun je, awk tido, asal awk tido je, kte bangun. Hehe. Tapi bagus jugak. Kalau dua2 bangun, nnt adaaaaa je nak “discuss”. Hehehehe.). now is Huda’s turn to prepare for her exams starting on Feb 21st. bittaufiq wak~ u know I’ll always be right here beside u. literally pun. (ni dia kat sebelah ni tgh belajar while I’m typing these very words. Hee)

As for the other subjects: suker!~ hehe. Esp if you know that the paper is a tough one, but u know u managed to pull it off (with Allah’s Grace, of course), more satisfaction guaranteed insyaAllah. :D

Falsafah was interesting. Never crossed my mind that I will be learning in detail about the lives and philosophies of the famous Greek Philosophers: Socrates, Pluto and Aristotle. In Arabic.

‘Aqidah: I was truly touched (in Khadijah binte Mohamed Hussain’s dictionary, “touched” is equivalent to “air mata meleleh-leleh”) upon reading a section on Rasulullah’s (‘alaihis solatu wassalam) distinguished qualities and his prophetic signs, especially the description of him by Abdullah ibn Rawahah al-Ansari (radhiallahu ‘anh):

لو لم يكن فيه آيات مبيّنة لكان منظرء ينبيك بالخبر

Even if there are no evident signs in him, just his outward appearance will tell you (that he is a prophet)

Translated version is never as oompH as the original one, esp if the original is in Arabic, this beautiful language of the the Qur’an, the Prophet, and Jannah that I am previously, currently and will always be in love with… ;)

Tarikh: was crying and crying reading about the life of Sayyidina Umar al-Khattab (this year’s syllabus is on the Khulafa’ ar-Rasyidin and the Omayyad Empire). Suker nah sgt! His sacrifices for the Ummah, his tawadhu’ (humbleness), the fairness he upheld, his gallantry and strength (these are among his super famous traits)… haiz~ he is undoubtedly a hero lah~ *faints*

Geography: it’s very enlightening knowing how well-known Geographical facts relate to the Qur’an. Also discovering the hikmah behind these facts. E.g. why the Earth is made up of 70% water and only 30% land; why Allah created the Heaven and Earth in 6 days and not in a single day although The Almighty is Most Capable in doing so… we were also introduced to the (should-be-well-known-among-Muslims-but-sadly-are-not) Muslim Geographers like al-Idrisi, Yaqut al-Hamwi, Ibn Hauqal & al-Mas’udi and the books they wrote.

I hope to score in the subjects, with the exception of Akhlaq which I think I’d be grateful just to get above 17 (total mark for each paper is 30 –the other 70% will be for the finals). As for the rest, shouldn’t settle for less. Pantang nenek moyang #2 dgn dialogue2 mcm gini: “asal pass je cukup ah”. Adoi. Always aim for the sky, for if u can’t, at least u’ll reach the clouds. And while at it, have to remember that Taufiq and Najah come from Allah. After we’ve done our part, we should tawakkal, leave the rest to him, so that:

> should we fail, we won’t be too heartbroken (ada hikmah & pengajaran di sebaliknya insyaAllah:))
> should we score, we won’t be swollen with pride because ultimately, everything comes from HIM.
Remember that k Khadijah? :)

anyway, those papers more or less aid me in healing the pain felt after the "halaqatul bahth tragedy". i don't remember submitting incomplete homework or projects before. never crossed my mind that i will be creating a (sad) history in my 2nd year here. yes, i didn't manage to complete my research paper. i enjoyed doing it, despite the tediousness n challenges faced. finished everything except for the footnotes (hawasyi) n some parts of the references. haa. burOk. tau. sedar. nk ckp buat kerja last minute, tak jugak. ntahlah. takpe. insyaAllah boleh pass, cuma tak tau boleh score ke tak. twice, i actually dreamt abt getting the result for the bahth. ish. sampai termimpi-mimpi~ -_-"
…..

Btw, to my adik Dhilah, flood my tagboard u did, but love u, I always will my dear~
Thanks for the letters. Amusing! :D
Jaga Mak Ayah baik-baik, jaga ‘aurat, jaga pergaulan, jaga hati dan jaga solat. Akak balik tak lama lagi insyaAllah k. dan jangan lupa peluk ciumkan my kids for me ;)