The New Beginning
My life as a postgraduate student has officially begun. I can’t deny this jittery feeling surging inside me. I am no Einstein but an utterly gawky, daft, diffident and introvert student who has a penchant for embarrassing oneself with naivety and clumsiness. However, having such disposition will never stop me from pursuing my master and climbing the stairway to success.
But, I really miss the life of an undergraduate student—my beloved crazy friends especially my dynamic duo and I can’t believe I said this, I miss the time which I loathe most— the time where I had to vehemently compete with others during subject pre-registration because it peeved us very much when we couldn’t get our desired subjects as we had to rearrange the schedule that we had schemed painstakingly.
And I miss the time where I faltered and stuttered during my presentation (oh wait, I still do that) and the time where um, only God knows what—especially that :(.
Alhamdulillah, I’m really glad I met Fifi. I couldn't stop howling with laughter when she coined her own words like hozeh, hotshemseh (sorry Fifi, if I’ve misspelled it), and other creative words she had contrived. It made my day. Thank you, Fifi. She helped me a lot and I’m really grateful. Unlike other master students, (not all of them, some of them are really nice), they are independent and selfish who have an insatiable desire for success even if it takes to bring others down in order to succeed. They have competitiveness streak in themselves and I’m not like that. I’m not being disdainful or praising myself but I really hate competing with others. Competitions give me heebie-jeebies.
English is the knowledge of the Devil?
Yesterday, in Research Methodology class, I was dumbfounded and shocked by Dr. Rozina’s story. She told us that there was one ignorant ustaz from IRKHS(Islamic Revealed Knowledge) department disparaged and defamed students who took English course and ruthlessly claimed that English is the knowledge of Syaitan (devil) and consequently made one student burst into tears. Our jaws dropped and we were completely appalled by his, sorry to say, idiotic and narrow-minded statement.
Seriously, English is the knowledge of the devil? Where did he get that idea from?From the noble Qur’an? From the hadith? Or from his midget mind(well, isn't it obvious)? This is gobbledygook! There’s no such statement stated in the Qur’an and hadith. In fact, Rasulullah s.a.w (peace upon him) encouraged Muslims to study and learn other languages to avert oneself from being deceived.
For your information, I’m pursuing a Master 's degree in English Language Studies. English language is not the knowledge of Syaitan but it is the tool of communication. Without English, how Islam can be widely disseminated? Not all of us can understand Arabic language (including me).
We as a Muslim should learn other languages and there’s no such thing as the knowledge of the devil. Unless you want to learn how to deceive people in order to gain one’s need, how to oppress innocent poor people and how to use black magic and those, my friend are truly knowledge of the devil.
It’s essential to learn and master English language in order to defend Islam from being slandered and slurred by the Western media. If Muslims are being ignorant and believed that English is the knowledge of the devil, Islam would be forever misinterpreted by the Westerners and we could not discard Islamophobia notion from their mind. It is our duty to reveal the truth about Islam. There are many conspiracies in this world. I doubt that Osama bin Laden is a Muslim because it’s sinful to kill and detonate innocent people despite they are non-Muslims. How can they be so sure self-bombing would be a ticket to heaven? The devil might cackle and carouse to see you being easily deceived and welcome you to the hellfire for bombing innocent people.
Prophet Muhammad s.a.w would surely chide and reprimand for such ruthless and cold-blooded behaviour. For your information, many Muslims were killed too during 9/11 incident. Did the Western media circulate such news? Not a bloody chance.
Can’t you see such injustice treatment against Muslims? And why did the U.S army shoot Osama Bin Laden on the spot and toss his body into the sea instead of capturing him alive and terminating him in front of people? Weird. Unless Osama is a fake Muslim and such story was created in order to spare his life. Can’t you see that, my dear non-Muslim readers? As I said, they are many conspiracies and plots in this world to tarnish the image of Islam.
Our beloved prophet Muhammad s.a.w (peace upon him) never taught people to oppress and kill innocent people despite they are non-Muslims. He instructed us to be kind, sympathetic, compassionate, selfless and love others for the sake of Allah.
There are many poignant and touching stories of our beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w and insyaAllah, I will share in the next post.
Okay, my point is, it’s vital to learn English language in order to evade oneself from being deceived. It’s important to learn about other cultures and spheres in order to broaden our mind and understand people more deeply.
Awkward moments
Okay, there are too many awkward moments to describe which I've experienced during this semester. I don’t know why I love to embarrass myself.
1st incident
I confidently greeted a stranger whom I taught my friend. Seriously, she has an uncanny resemblance to my friend—in terms of her look, height and the way she garbed herself. No wonder she was nonplussed even though she pretended to know me.
2nd incident
I was a half-hour late for my first class because Fifi and I got the wrong class and had difficulty to find the right one albeit I’ve been here for four constant years. -_-‘
3rd incident
In my research class, I misunderstood my lecturer’s question. I thought she asked about our thesis and since I wanted to change my mode of study from coursework and dissertation to coursework only,I assertively answered that I would not do any research as I wanted to change my mode of study. However, what she meant was the topic for research proposal class assignment. No wonder my classmates were bursting into laughter. It dawned on me when my friend said she nearly knocked her head on the table when she heard my inane and honest statement.
4th incident
This is just a slip of the tongue. Instead of saying steam iron, I inadvertently claimed that my iron has steamboat -_-‘and my cruel friend posted it on her Facebook.
Okay, that’s all for today but before I curl up in my cosy bed, I want to share a poem which I can relate to my life. This poem is not by me but one of my favourite writers, Fadzlishah Johanabas Rosli. Check out his wonderful blog: http://www.fadzjohanabas.com/
If only I was a patch of cloud
My shadow will bring respite
from the glare that burns your back
My tears will bring nourishment
to help you grow, to help you prosper.
If only I was the grassy field
Where you can rest for a while
in the still of the day
Where you can catch a glimpse of you dream
out of the corner of your eyes.
If only I was the open road
That you choose to travel upon
down the unknown where your future is
That you choose to stroll unhindered
up the vista of memories, old and new.
If only I was the world
If only I was your world
If only, as you were mine.
(Awarded by:Waneq)
(Given by Ezmes)
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