Sleeping after Subuh prayer and Nail-clipping

Pelita Ayan image from google

I remembered some 40+ years ago, waking up at the melodious voice of my late father “mengaji” between 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. He has to recite the Al Quran from memory as the light from “pelita ayan” powered by kerosene is not strong enough for him to read The Book. He will be reciting the Quranic verses while performing his morning stretching, which at times took him 1 to 2 hours. Sometime I would wake up as early to accompany him, using the pelita ayan to do my home-works. He would only allow me to accompany him if I promised not to attempt to sleep after the Subuh prayer. He did not explain much as to why I should not sleep after the Subuh prayer.. It was my mother who has made some attempt to explain it to me saying in her thick Trengganuspeak “orang dok tidor lepah Subuh.. ka’at rizki” (people do not sleep after Subuh prayer.. it discourages sustenance or provision).

Last Saturday, I sent a few SMS to a fellow Muslim an hour after Subuh. Just when duration of Subuh was about to finish he called me to provide answers to my queries and worries. Satisfied that I understand the situation perfectly, he finished the call telling me that he and members of his family would be doing his routine.. sleeping after Subuh … My not so sharp brain was out of focus then..Oh why not .. after all it is Saturday!.

After a while.. I recalled, this friend here has been doing business for some 15 years.. however good were his proposals / working papers.. Other opportunistic bystanders seem to be benefiting from them (proposals / working papers).. while he slogs on.. having to struggle day-in and day-out to make ends meet. 15 years is quite a long time to struggle and this last 12 months seems to cap it all.

Another SMS seems to be the order of the day.. my SMS to him reads :
“I had been prohibiting my children from napping after solat Subuh.. For there is a saying that sleeping after Subuh is not encouraging rizk (sustenance or provision ).. Unless you are not well.. I am not about to change my stance” .

Late that evening, I received another call from him still talking about business at hand.. to end up saying that he has told his grandson that from now on there will be no more sleeping after solat Subuh .

I have four Chinese families as immediate neighbours(one on each sides, in front and at the back) with my house sandwiched in the middle.. Two families are familiar with my habit of sleeping late and woke up very early. May be I talked too much about the virtue of waking up and starting the day early, or perhaps I made too much noise in the early hours of the morning or maybe they were trying to beat the traffic, my Chinese neighbour staying to the west of our house went to their “kedai pakaian” di Pasar Chow Kit before 6 a.m. After the first week , they came back and reported that people who sell clothes in places as far as Seremban has frequented their shop in the early morning hours as they can go back to Seremban early to open their shops. Few months later, coincident with the fasting month, they told me that they has rented the shop besides theirs and they were then running a 2 door shop operation.. 2 years later they came back and reported to me that they were running a 3 door shop operation.. For quite some times my better half and yours truly did wonder why was it that particular neighbour always gave me clothes for Baju Melayu and her for Baju Kurung for Hari Raya for some years.... until my better half told them that I bought a 7 year old Mercedes E230 cash (pssst.. by virtue of reaching 50 yers old.. yours truly did have some withdrawal from EPF for that E230).

Another Chinese neighbour (husband and wife) , which are staying to the north have been seen to leave their at 6 a.m for quite sometime now, thank to the good word of that successful neighbour. They operate a motor car workshop somewhere in Puchong. Their workshop is in a rather obscured place not easily accessible and they have been surviving by words of mouth. Words get around that they are doing very much better now as many motorist dropped by at early hours to have their cars repaired. The customers like to come to the workshop as their working hours will be least affected.

I could not figure out why is it that it is easier for some non-Muslim to practice the tradition, hadith of the Prophet, as compared to our Muslim brothers. You can see it in our daily life.. Malay foodstalls selling food for breakfast open up their business very much later than the Mamak and the Indian.

It was the other day that my better half told me a story about her brother’s best friend. This guy was frequently being reminded by his mother not to clip/cut fingernails at night.. cos she said the one who clip/cut fingernails may meet “bloody demise"(mati berdarah). However that guy always brushed off his mother telling her how come you (his mother) are so superstitious, still believe the ancient stories.. I am not sure whether there is any Prophet tradition that forbade us from clipping/cutting fingernails at night.. but the guy coincidently met his demise in a very bad motorcycle accident. Googles only produce documentation that relate this to superstition.. May be it is..

Motocycle accident image from Google

Should any reader of this entry found any hadith on prohibition to clip/cut fingernails at night and prohibition of sleeping after Subuh prayer; you are very welcome to quote it in your comment to this post.. Please!
Many thanks to Yohteh's for his comments which include ...Malay readers are urged share the readings .. on clipping fingernails .. here and on sleeping after subuh ..here

Have a wonderful day..

Iktikaf and Open Air Raya Lunch (updated)

Blimey! I seem to have corrupted some of my CPU.. I have been racking my brain to remember the details I heard some umpteen years ago on things we have to do to achieve the reward of ‘Umrah. I was keen to remember this as I was reminded the other day in a surau nearest to my home to iktikaf after the Fajr prayer until Israk and to perform 2 rakaah of solat sunat Israk.

If I remember it correctly, there was a friend (may be more) of prophet who was lamenting to the Prophet (pbuh) that the Meccan (those who stayed in Mecca) can performed umrah on daily basis, should they wish to do so.. whereas he who was staying in Medina could not do the same..then come this hadith..

According to Ibn Maajah: “Whoever purifies himself in his house, then comes to the Mosque of Quba’ and prays there, he will have the reward of ‘Umrah.” Narrated by Ibn Maajah, 1412.

Mosque of Quba'

The story does not stop there.. The Grace of Allah extend to those who are not in the two holy cities of Islam.. as there is another Prophet’s tradition which meant “ +- Iktikaf in mosque after Fajr prayers until Israk time (7.30 to 8.00 a.m.) and perform 2 rakaah of solat sunat Dhuha, the reward will be equal to 'Umrah”.

Wallahu a’lam.. (Kindly correct me if I quote wrongly).. Some ustaz said that there is a chance that there is NO solat sunat Israk ..

I notices 1 or 2 pensioners stayed at the newly completed Sungai Udang mosque in Kuala Dungun until about 7:45 a.m. most mornings save for the Idilfitri . My Kudos to those who have the time, guidance, patience and will power to make it a point to do the solat fajar iktikaf and the solat sunat Dhuha on daily basis.

I enjoyed a rather light snack before solat idilfitri, hariraya cookies and tapai pulut wrapped in " daun jambu laut". After the solat idilfitri and two voluminous plate of nasi dagang (specially prepared by my other half, the preparation start in the evening before for the “ gulai ikan aya” and at 4 a.m. for the nasi dagang) , my family of four went to Seberang Baroh , Kuala Trengganu and spent the whole day paying respect to my mum, my elder sister’s big clan and visiting relatives. Late Idilfitri evening saw us visiting my sister-in-law in Rhu Bathil, Kuala Abang.

Yours truly and the Nasi Dagang

The second raya was planned to be sort of another big day for us in Dungun, Nasi Beryani Klang has been gazetted (there was no circular , sakela in Trengganuspeak , being distributed to announce the event ) to be the special lunch menu and close relatives as far as Gua Musang has been informed . It was supposed to be sponsored by another sister-in-law and her husband, as you can correctly guessed, came all the way from Klang to arrive in Sungai Udang Dungun in the wee hours of that second day Idilfitri.

Preparation started as early as 4 a.m. although we have to wait for our sponsor (to wake up from their after Subuh sleep) to make that special nasi Beryani Klang . As the wait became a lil bit long for the children, we have to improvise available stools and tables to be the place where the youngster can spend their time to play, or would you prefer, vent their impatience.. outside the busy kitchen area. When the time came for lunch, everybody was so comfortable to be in that space, that we decided to have our lunch there .. The stools, tables and the space were insufficient to place for everybody present at one sitting, but then .. the children said it is going to be fun…

First let the ladies fill the plate with Beryani rice

Now we can not wait to fill in the delicious fried chicken

Now why are the children taking so long to finish their lunch?

Consuming hot Klang beryani in equally hot afternoon has induced the art of "berlengging"

Even the sponsor have to take a back seat!

Please forgive my feeble attempt to hide my lack of time to update the blog.. have a good days ahead..

Kueh Raya Preparation

28th to 31st August 2010 saw my house, especially the kitchen to be a center of kueh raya making activities. 2 younger sister-in-law and their families came over with all the necessary ingredients for the making of Hari raya pastries. As the house owner, we only have to provide the oven and other utensils to make things happen.


MAKING KUEH MAAMOR




ONE RAYA PASTRY ALREADY PACKED




AFTER 4 DAYS PREPARATION WITH LOTS OF PASTRIES ALREADY BEING CONSUMED




Yours truly was blessed to entertain these beautiful and loving nephews and nieces.


Selamat Hari Raya Idilfitri Maaf Zahir Batin in advance..as daylight will see us Gganu bound ..

Kalau ada jarum yang patah

jangan di simpan didalam peti

kalau ada silap dan salah

jangan disimpan di dalam hati

Have a fantastic days ahead wherever you are.. take care.