In loving memory of...Allahyarham Ahmad Sofwan Hanif bin Zulkifli

Salam
I was invited to present a short lecture during the last plenary session at the 3rd National Midwifery Congress, organised by O&G Dept HTAR, at Hotel Istana on Friday Oct 15th.

The lecture was entitled : `Supporting Mothers through Pregnancy Loss and Grief'.

It was very emotionally draining to prepare the lecture, what more delivering it! I tell you why...

I dedicated the lecture to my deceased second born ` Ahmad Sofwan Hanif Zulkifli ' ( Born : 02061995 [1350hrs] - Died : 26091995 [11oohrs]), who passed away peacefully in his sleep at 4 month-old : COD ( cause of death) stated ` Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - SIDS' in his burial permit. Eventhough it was not a perinatal / pregnancy loss; it was nevertheless an extremely painful experience, and I could sincerely relate and emphatize deeply with those mothers who had experienced loss of a pregnancy or a newborn.

I would like to share some of the quotations that I collected from the internet search

`When a parent dies, you lose your past; when a child dies, you lose your future.'

Anonymous

`A wife who loses a husband is called a widow. A husband who loses a wife is called a widower. A child who loses his parents is called an orphan. But...there is no word for a parent who loses a child, that's how awfulthe loss is!

Neugeboren 1976

The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be divorced. Every other wound we seek to heal, every other affliction to forget; but this wound we consider it a duty to keep open; this affliction we cherish and brood over in solitude.'

Washington Irving, 1992

`Bereaved parents learn to live with the memories, the losthopes, the shattered dreams. They never 'get over' the death, but they do recover, adjust and learn to live with the pain.'

Donnelly, 1982

As Muslims, nothing provides more comfort than Allah's promise that parents who lose their children will be rewarded with paradise, providing they could bear the loss with a lot of trust in Allah and patience.

Hati memujuk, mungkin ibu dan ayah Sofwan ini hampir mustahil ke Jannah Allah sekiranya tiada syafaat dan bantuan, maka Allah telah mengambil Sofwan kembali kepada-Nya utk. dipelihara dan dijaga, hingga pada saat ketika di Padang Mahsyar, bilamana Sofwan akan berlari-lari di celah org ramai selepas diizinkan Allah mencari ibu dan bapanya, menggenggam tangan Ummi dan Ayah utk. sama-sama ke syurga Allah, Amin.

Anakanda Sofwan,
tunggu Ummi dan Ayah yer, kami sedang berjuang sedaya termampu membela
agama dan syiar Allah di bumi ini, sebagai tanda kesungguhan kami utk tidak
mengecewakan Sofwan nanti. Alangkah dukacitanya jika Ummi dan Ayahmu ini
terpaksa diiring pula ke Jahannam dan bukannya ke syurga utk.
bersamamu.....Aduh, kepalang sedihnya nanti.

Al-Fatihah buat Sofwan.
Kami (Ummi, Ayah, Akak, Adik Syamil dan Deena) amat mencintaimu, nak/adik/abang!
Ummi -Dr.Har

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Dr. Har, RS dan Showcase Maher Zain 2010 `Save the Soul'

Salam

Alhamdulillah, sepenuh kesyukuran Dr.Har panjatkan ke hadrat Allah SWT yang memberikan satu pengalaman dakwah yang cukup unik sepanjang dua minggu kebelakangan ini ( 4-16 Okt.2010).

Tour dan Showcase MZ 2010 `Save the Soul (STS) sudah sampai ke penghujung apabila MZ dan isteri berlepas pulang dari KLIA tengahari tadi. Semoga MZ pergi membawa bekalan motivasi dakwah yang sarat, yang mampu melonjakkan lagi aktivisme dan jihadnya. Semoga RS dan Dr.Har yang tinggal juga, semakin yakin dengan janji-janji Allah SWT dalam mengharung liku perjuangan dakwah di Malaysia.

Ucapan sepenuh penghargaan utk. semua yang terbabit - secara langsung mahupun tidak -dari penaja yang dermawan, peminat dan pendokong irama yang `faith-based, value driven', team RS dan Nasyid.com, artis dunia hiburan, media massa - tidaklah mampu RS melaksanakan semua ini tanpa semangat setiakawan dan teamwork yang gigih, tercetus dari niat yang ikhlas.

Dr.Har sempat bertemu MZ secara peribadi selama 4-5 kali sepanjang beliau di sini, dan merasa amat senang dgn watak dan pembawaan da'ie muda ini. Alhamdulillah, Allah memilih individu yang tepat utk. membawa mesej yang penting ini kepada golongan anak muda yang begitu dahagakan input dan bimbingan kembali menyintai Allah SWT.

Tema Save the Soul (STS) memang tepat pada masanya. Sekalipun kempen itu adalah yang pertama bagi RS (1999-2001) - sebelum kempen `Not Me, Not Now' (2002-2006), Anda Bijak Jauhi Zina (ABJZ-2007) dan yang terakhir `Lelaki Pelindung Wanita' (2010) - tema tersebut diangkat menjadi fokus dalam showcase kali ini. Ternyata percubaan itu berjaya - menarik minat MZ utk. datang, menarik ribuan peminat menghadiri persembahan MZ - dalam misi yang sememangnya tepat pada masanya - ketika `jiwa dan roh' remaja Muslim di negara ini amat perlu diselamatkan!

RS memang tidak pernah menduga dapat menganjurkan satu showcase yang membabitkan seorang artis antarabangsa seperti MZ. Namun, jika Allah SWT telah menetapkan bahwa RS yang mesti memikul tanggungjawab ini, kami bertekad melaksanakannya. Betapa cemasnya kami beberapa minggu terakhir persiapan bila para penaja nampak begitu skeptikal dengan kemampuan kami menganjurkan satu showcase tanpa pengalaman. Satu penaja yang pada mulanya begitu berminat utk. menjadi penaja, dinasihatkan utk. tidak meneruskan hasrat tersebut oleh pasukan akauntan syarikat yang langsung tidak yakin dgn kemampuan RS. Kami tentunya tidak menyalahkan mereka, namun selepas melihat sambutan luar biasa terhadap MZ, mungkin syarikat tersebut `menggigit jari' terlepas peluang keemasan.

Selama dua malam berturut, showcase STS diadakan di Auditorium MBSA Shah Alam, Dr.Har rasa amat terharu dgn sambutan hebat yang ditunjukkan oleh peminat dari Malaysia. Kami menerima kunjungan timbalan menteri, ketua pengarah, Dato' Bandar SA sendiri semasa showcase tersebut. Itu belum lagi fan club MZ yang diasaskan di Malaysia. Dari yang kecil hinggalah yang sudah berusia, semua hadir untuk `spiritual enhancement & enrichment'.

Sambutan terhadap STS Showcase MZ ini menjadi petanda - betapa umat Islam di negara ini, khususnya muda mudi Muslim amat perlu dihidangkan satu alternatif yang mampu mengatasi tarikan nafsu, syahwat dan iblis yang begitu mendesak dan mengasak mereka dari setiap penjuru. Unsur-unsur negatif yang tidak sabar-sabar mahu `mencuri dan merampas' SOUL kita semua yang sepatutnya hanya tunduk patuh kepada perintah Allah SWT.

Semasa melihat MZ membuat persembahan di pentas, Dr.Har tertanya dalam hati - mengapa Malaysia belum berjaya menghasilkan `Maher Zain'-nya sendiri? Sebaliknya, apa yang berlaku - ramai antara penyanyi Malaysia yang terkenal hari ini, dahulunya pernah menganggotai kumpulan nasyid. Namun, apabila sudah terjun sebagai penyanyi solo - genre lagu yang didendang langsung tersasar dari apa yang sepatutnya mereka lakukan dengn bakat dan kebolehan yang dianugerahkan oleh Allah SWT. Sekalipun mampu menghasilkan melodi yang indah dan membuai jiwa, namun lirik-liriknya, hanya memuja dan memuji kekasih manusia yang hina dina, melampau-lampau sehingga Dr.Har sering keliru, sama ada lagu ini utk. Tuhan atau hanya kekasih yang sama lemah, sama hina!

Betapa bersalahnya perasaan Dr. Har melihat kelompok muda yang telah lama terabai keperluan emosi dan spiritualnya. Rasa mahu meneruskan langkah gigih dan jihad bertambah membara dalam hati! Ya, RS akan terus berusaha - membantu usaha membebaskan anak remaja dari belenggu penderitaan ketandusan Islam,Iman dan IHSAN.

Mohon doa kalian semua.
Dr.Har

PS:
Diperturunkan `speech pendek Dr. Har semasa Fundraising Dinner pada 121010 utk diperkongsikan.

Salam - Salawat - Salutation

Let us all begin, once again by thanking Allah SWT for allowing us to be here. It is not your money or your position or just by mere, pure luck, that you and me are here now. In case we have forgotten, it is only by Allah’s permission and His alone. Why are we among the `chosen ones’? We know very well, there are thousands more people out there who would do anything to be here. Why us? Again only Allah SWT knows.

It is also not by pure luck that you have heard Maher’s song the first time – either through the internet or introduced by your friends or relatives, whenever and wherever that was, and suddenly found yourself fallen in love with the songs written by this vibrant yet humble young da’ie. Songs that moved your heart, brought tears to your eyes – songs that are `faith-based and value-driven’, as how Bro Amir Razelan beautifully described them. Yes, it is only through Allah’s magical ways that we are here together as a family unit, supporting the good course of dakwah, charity and fulfilling our responsibilities to Allah SWT. Only Allah SWT decides, when our paths will cross.

Despites the thousands of miles that separate us apart, Raudhatus Sakinah, IIS, Inteam Records are gathered together with Maher Zain & Awakening Records to join and support each other. Definitely, the physical distance could not prevent the reconciliation of souls, bound together on the same platform of syahadah, faith and sincerity, in achieving the same goal of seeking Allah’s pleasure all the way. Raudhatus Sakinah Shelter Home for Girls is mainly the `tool’ for all of us to chip in, the very little contribution – in our struggle to save the souls of this ummah, especially the youths of today.

I was greatly touched by Maher’s remark during his interview with TV9 last Sunday morning, when he was relating about his `dark past’ before deciding to make a comeback to the meaningful life of Islam and Iman. Maher, you mentioned about the difficulties and challenges that youths have to face these days, making life decisions one after another. And the word `difficulties’ struck me the most. As a medical doctor for the past 19 years, I always deal with `problematic patients’, as a medical teacher for the past 13 years, I have always encountered `problematic’ students, as a parent, I have to make sure that my children would not grow up to be problematic kids, and I become an activist in dakwah and society, setting up five Raudhatus Sakinah throughout the country to help handling the `problematic youths’. As long as we, the adults of this society, define these as problems, we might forever resort into wrong strategies trying to overcome them all the way.

If only we could all start looking at these `problematic’ young people as our children with difficulties, who are in need of assistance and guidance, to help them overcoming those challenges and difficulties, I am sure we would be taking off from a more `appropriate and right launching pad’.

Our youths need us to lend them our ears and sincerely listen to their concerns and inner worries. They want us to guide them through the unfamiliar roller-coaster ride of their emotions. They are hoping that we would be there, when they learned the hard way, rather than ignoring them most of the time, and only become extremely concerned and excessively worried when things did not work out well. They need our love, and most importantly our TRUST & RESPECT. Respecting the youths does not simply mean allowing them to walk down the path to their own destruction. But rather to give them the right signal, that they really do matter to all of us! And by saving their souls, we will end up saving ours and ensure a better tomorrow for everyone.

And of course, the struggle will go on. And let me warn you, it is long-winded, and far. There are many obstacles and tribulation along the way. There are just too many hiccups to be listed here regarding this tour and showcase, and we have to sincerely apologize for all of that. Nevertheless, that would not stop us from pushing the limits farther up. We have put forward an alternative for the Malaysian youths today, in providing them the `faith-based, value-driven’ form of entertainment that our souls craved for. Not the type of melodies and lyrics that drive our soul crazy and empty.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone – Bro Maher, Wassem, Sharif from Awakening, Ummi Roses, Bro Adzhar, Bro Amir Razelan and the whole RS family members, you know who you are, Inteam Records, Aishah – our sponsors for helping us out. May Allah accept our humble deeds as a symbol of submission to Him.

Last but never the least, let us put our hands together and pray to Allah SWT with this prayer that concludes the song Asma’Allah, sung by Bro Sami Yusuf, one of Awakening Records artist as well:
Ya Rahmanu irham dha'fana(O Most Compassionate! Have compassion on our weakness) Ya Ghaffaaru ighfir thunoubana(O Forgiver! Forgive our sins) Ya Sattaaru ostour 'ouyoubana(O Concealer! Conceal our defects) Ya Mu'izzu a'izza ummatana(O Bestower of honour! Bestow honour on our Ummah) Ya Mujeebu ajib duýaa'ana(O Responsive One! Answer our prayers) Ya Lateefu oltof binaa (x3)(O Gentle One! Show gentleness to us)

Amin,Amin ya Rabbal Alamin

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Khusus buat Du'at Muda Generasi Y - kalian adalah MASA DEPAN dakwah ini!

Salam

Khusus kunukilkan coretan ini, istimewa buat setiap seorang anak mudaku yang berusia 30 tahun ke bawah - yang telah berjanji setia dengan Allah SWT untuk mewakafkan jiwa dan raga buat satu perjuangan yang hebat dan agung, demi DAKWAH - menyeru, memanggil, menyantuni, memujuk dan menunjuk, mendampingi, membelai, merayu - apapun jua kata buatnya,:

• agar manusia hamba ini kembali menghayati asal maksud penciptaannya oleh Rabb yang Maha Segalanya!
• agar insan sedar, adalah lebih MUDAH untuk patuh dan menuruti setiap perintah Allah, dari melalui setiap KEPAYAHAN dan KESUKARAN cuba melawan fitrah dan berlagak sombong, bongkak dan takabbur terhadap Allah.
• mudah-mudahan kehidupan kita semua menjadi lebih sejahtera, bila nilai dan keutamaan ditumpahkan kepada mencari redha Allah dan bukan sanjungan manusia

Kalian digelar Generasi Y - lantaran banyak sebabnya - kalian dibentuk dalam sebuah dunia yang mengecil sempadan geografi, masa dan batasannya. Kalian dilahirkan dan dibesarkan oleh Generasi Boomer & GenX yang begitu `protective', menyanjungi dan menghargai kalian dari dalam rahim, sewaktu mula melangkah, masuk ke tadika, ke alam sekolah hinggalah ke menara gading! Kekadang - kalian jadi bingung melihat gelagat Gen X dan Boomers di sekeliling kalian, mengapa seperti disanjung, namun kerap jua rasa tersingkir dan tersisih.

Mengapa rasa seperti disayangi, namun masih tidak dipercayai? Kenapa diminta bersuara, hanya untuk disangkal dan diminta diam semula?

Anak-anakku, para du'at muda,
Semangat dan kudrat kalian memang hebat. Optimisme kalianlah yang memberi nafas baru buat medan ini. Inovasi dakwah menjadi identiti kalian. Kalian berlari sepantas kilat, hampir kami yang sudah separuh abad ini, tercungap-cungap nak try to `catch up'.

Gandingan kita memang pasti mencetus sesuatu yang `phenomenal', InsyaAllah. Namun, ianya mesti diasaskan kepada suatu kesimbangan yang mantap.

Anak-anakku, berlarilah - jangan bimbang kami yang di sini. Jangan sekali rasa terjerat atau terperangkap, kerana kalianlah yang lebih tahu mengenai dunia kalian. Namun, jangan lupa, kemudaan kalian menyebabkan kematangan masih perlu dibina.

Para senior dakwah, kalian juga jangan tersentak dan terkejut melihat kelantangan mereka. Anak-anak ini masa depan dakwah kita. Ayuh kita sisipkan doa dan titipkan bekalan yang mantap - agar mereka bersiap siaga menempuh sejarah zaman mereka.

Anak-anakku, para du'at muda,
I HEAR YOU, I HEAR YOU......InsyaAllah, kembangkanlah sayapmu, terbanglah tinggi. Dr.Har yakin, hanya Allah SWT yang mampu membimbing kita sebaik-baiknya... Kenang Dr.Har dalam doa rabitah kalian, sepanjang masa.

Yang menyayangi,
Dr.Har

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Titipan buat bakal jamaah haji 1431H : Perkongsian Sanggar Spiritual 1427H

Salam
Panggilan haji...........telah tiba lagi!

Seperti boleh terasa debaran hati bakal peserta konvensyen tahunan umat Islam terbesar dunia, mengimbau semula kenangan manis Dr.Har dan Ustaz Zul menjejakkan kaki di bumi suci Madinah dan Makkah pada Disember 2006 yang lepas.

Dr.Har sempat merakamkan 10 coretan pendek di bawah topik `Sanggar Spiritual 1427H', yang dikongsi bersama dgn ahli JIM ( referred as Ikhwah & Akhawat) , yang ingin diperturunkan di sini. Cuma mohon maaf, CD gambar hajj kami ter`misplaced' masa mengemas bilik bacaan ni baru-baru ni. Jadi kena dihiaskan dgn gambar-gambar hiasan yer.

Pesanan dari Dr.Har kepada bakal hujjaj : PLEASE DO ENJOY YOURSELF THERE, REALLY!

Coretan 1 - 10 :
Sanggar Spiritual 1427H : Dr. Har melapor diri
( Memulakan coretan dgn satu summary perjalanan dan pengalaman sepanjang 44 hari tersebut)......
Untuk mengetahui selanjutnya, please log on to :
http://mejawanitajim.blogspot.com/2007/02/sanggar-spiritual-haj-2007.html

Dr.Har

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Alhamdulillah, Maher Zain is here in town!!

Salam

Yesss, you better believe this - but Maher Zain is here in Malaysia!

I just came back from hosting the dinner, welcoming this very fine, talented, friendly young man and his small entourage.

On behalf of Raudhatus Sakinah, I thank Allah SWT for facilitating the effort of bringing MZ all the way here from Sweden. We are indeed fortunate to have generous sponsors plus enthusiastic media representatives to support us. Not too forget the local nasyid group - InTeam and Aisyah, who will be performing along with MZ during the showcase.

I know there are so many of you all out there - feeling disappointed and sad for not getting the tickets this time around. Do not despair, InsyaAllah, MZ is coming back to Malaysia soon. Pray that the next plan will somewhat work out....Amin.

MZ in person - is as warm and pleasant as his soothing voice that sweeps your heart away. He was kind enough to write this long message for my three children

` To my brother Syamil and sisters Syifa' and Deena. I wish you a great success in this life and in akhirat - paradise. May Allah bless your beautiful mother, she's doing something amazing. Plz promise me to always take good care of her. And I pray that Allah always blesses your family.

Your brother : Signed Maher Zain

Let's pray to Allah SWT - to ensure that his showcase wil be a great success for dakwah to everyone - young and old.

For those who managed to secure the tickets, see you all in MBSA Auditorium Shah Alam Oct 14 & 15, InsyaAllah. Those who could not manage to get the tickets, keep on praying, InsyaAllah you'll be selected by Allah to be there to join him in the next tour to Malaysia.


Dr.Har

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