Alhamdulillah, I have been blessed to be chosen to attend two of Prof Tariq Ramadan's lectures on his lecture tour :)
I had seen the advertisement for over two weeks but it
didn't occur to me, at all, to attend any. On July 17th morning, suddenly
it hits me, and I emailed the person in charge to ask whether there is still
seat available, and to my shock it is. Then I asked my parents for permission,
and I start finding out about bus available to go to Sg. Petani to meet up my
friend so we can go together to Penang. It was 4pm and I still can’t find any
bus the next day as early as 6am.
Gambling with my luck, and ALL PRAISES TO ALLAH, at 5.30pm,
I went to train station with my bag and everything, and Alhamdulillah, there is
a train at 7pm. Sitting for one hour in that small station, from an empty
benches to station full of waiting passengers, garnished with irritating cigarette
smoke, somehow I realize, it is just a beginning of His tarbiyah.
Reading while listening to clickety clack of the train,
carved a smile on me. Weird, I know! Alhamdulillah I got to watch sunset too. Two
hours after, I safely arrived in Sg. Petani, and thanks very much to my dear Ruqaiyyah
and family for having me in their home!
On the bike ride home from bus station to my home, I saw a
banner on lecture tomorrow in Perlis! And automatically, I smile :) when I arrived home,
my mom told me about the lecture too! Subhanallah :) Asked my neighbor if she
wants to go to his lecture too, and we have a date! :)
The lecture on July 18th was on A Civil State,
Ideas and Challenges and on 19th was on Spirituality, Legislation
and Ethics ; Contemporary Questions. I want to share my notes on these two
lectures but I have to run on an errand soon, so what I can say is, his
lectures were mind blowing. The way he explains, it is very easy to understand,
yet very interesting. A lot that I’ve learn, from the lectures, and from the journey itself, it is time to adorn knowledge with
action!
some of the tarbiyah I got : start looking into small little elements in your life, they will drive you speechless. there is more to marriage than the wedding and obsessing on the happy side of it. Facebook can create an image for any person which might make he/she seem better or worse than who he/she really is.
And don’t forget to check Prof Tariq's website http://www.tariqramadan.com/ on the
right side, there is RAMADAN’S CHRONICLES for 5 minutes Ramadhan's daily
chronicles, really, it is very impactful!
p/s DO NOT worry if you think you don’t know everything (keep learning, keep practicing), DO
worry if you think you know everything! (lose the attitude dude!)
Pp/s reluctant to go back to india!
