Warkah dari Mu'allimah*

Waalaikumussalam warahmatullah

After reading some postings from your site, I decided to put it under favourite. So next time nak baca senang nak cari.

The reason why I am very 'happy' ( that's a mild description actually ) to see your site is because.. well Faiz, let me tell you a story. I hope you won't fall asleep reading this.

Almost 20 years ago, I was a student like you in a foreign land. A western land. But that land brought me closer to Islam. With friends ( true friends, that is ).. we went through the process of tarbiyah. We were young and full of ambitions some of which were too idealistic. Your parents were among the respected seniors. I still remember you as a boy clinging to your mother during one of the summer camp that I attended. I wonder in my mind how/what would this boy grow up to be.

Well.. apparently your parents and their peers had bigger worries than me. They went back home and set up the preschool that grows into primary school and then into secondary school. These schools grows together with the children. These schools built up the character of the students at the time which is most crucial.

They just have to make sure that their children will have a better education. No.. not by sending them to glamourous, prestigious boarding schools that they went to.. but by setting up a school from scratch.. ( remember how the condition of the school was?) They are some of the smartest students in the country ( ask your parents who are the recipients of government scholarships in the 70's).. and yet they send their children to sekolah kampung in dilapidated condition... which I am thankfull that Allah gave me the chance to offer my little tiny contributions..

Why? I think you know the answer. Now you have graduated from these schools.. like I said 'dah jadi orang'. Now I am wondering..

"bolehkah mereka menarik nafas lega sekarang?" and pass the baton to the children to proceed on in the journey? What are their children's plan for their grandchildren? You are now at their stage 20 years ago.. a young man who's going to start a family. You must have visions.. you must have plans.. the future is not going to be any easier.. you have to prepare your children for the decadent world.

Faiz, after 20 years, some of us had actually finished the term in this ephemeral world. Some of us are still here.. some of us has left the struggle in search of a "better" life.(???) Nobody can say that .. okay.. now I am old enough to retire ( from dakwah ). or I am done... I am almost 40 now and at that age our beloved Prophet SAW had just started the journey. All of us has a to do our part no matter how small or big it is... but , don't leave the dakwah..

So.. now that we see graduates from Hira' had shown the qualities that we were trying to instill, at least we can breath easier.... ( that was not an easy job you know ). Alhamdulillah.. only Allah alone deserve all the praise.. this is the best part of being a teacher.. that is to see our students succeed.. no.. I am not referring to the pay cheque that you will receive, or your shining brand new car.. others have that too.. and as a teacher I am very selfish actually..because with the little tiny contribution that I offered I am hoping for a long term return/reward from Allah. because..."Izaa maata ibnu aadam.. in qata'at amaluhu.... illa.. ( sori kalau salah quote hadith ni.. muallimah masih belajar lagi bahasa arab ni ).

My last word for now..ini harapan muallimah..

Continue this struggle wherever you go wherever you are.. choose the means that you're good at...and do it the best way that you can. I am in the teaching field and this has been the path that I chose ever since I graduated. I've worked everywhere but always as a teacher because.. I don't like teaching, I love teaching..

Segala yang baik itu dari Allah dan segala kekurangan adalah dari kelemahan hambaNya yang dhaif ini.

Wassalam. Do remember me in your prayers.

Muallimah Rahimah

*Mu'allimah is an arabic word which means teacher, and that was the term that we used to call our teacher instead of using 'cikgu', back in Hira'. Jazakum Allah khaeer mu'allimuun dan mu'allimaat - jasamu bagai mutiara, kan ku semat di hati segala pengajaran, jasa dan budi. Doaku sentiasa untuk kalian. Insha Allah.