My experiences in Malaysia and remembering Allah

I'm still feeling slightly overwhelmed by all the different experiences that I've gone through since my move to Malaysia. I've had many good experiences and some bad or weird experiences and also some 'wow!' experiences.

I still can't believe for e.g. my journey to work everyday. If I go to work towards Jalan Kuching then, I experience a beautiful journey of staring at the Petronas Twin Towers with the background of the sun-rise. If I go via MRR2 route then, I pass zoo Negara and Batu Caves everyday. It is a beautiful scenery with lots of hills and greenery. When I was little Batu Caves just seemed like another country and we only ever used to pass it on our way to Mimaland Water Park. It is just amazing and it brings back a lot of happy memories for me.

One thing I've learned since returning to Malaysia is that life is fluid and not constant; anything can happy at anytime, any day; some good some bad and you need to constantly remember Allah and be grateful for everything, big and small. For e.g. you could be going to work happily and the next thing you know when you come out of your clinic is that your car has been towed because the owner of the car whom you borrowed from has not paid his loan for this month. As you can imagine, I was panicking. Well, actually I wasn't panicking...I was just staring at the spot where I was sure I parked the car and just making dua that the car will suddenly reappear. But Alhamdulillah I was calm and after everything else that has happened to me...nothing surprises me anymore and nothing truly affects me anymore. All I could do was just pray to God that the car was not stolen because it wasn't my car. So, Alhamdulillah it wasn't stolen but it was the owner's own fault so, I was fine.

Then, my colleagues were simply amazing and so nice. They made calls for me, took me to the train station so, I could get home. They did it as if it was second nature to them. There was no hesitation at all. You can say what you like about Malaysia but you cannot deny the friendliness and generosity of the people. For example, when my hubby went to a course and he took public transport; on the way home he stopped by the mosque and one of the Pak Cik (uncle) there gave him a lift to the train station. SubhanAllah! may Allah reward those who do good. Amin.

The main lesson for me is...you know we always say to ourselves 'inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi Rajiun' and it's not that we don't believe in it but when you live somewhere and when you experience it everyday; that Allah gives you something and then, it is taken away and then He gives you something else and takes it away again and the cycle goes on and on...you start to understand that there is nothing constant or permanent in this life; nothing except Allah. Everything is temporary, wealth, car, house and of course the saddest thing of all, losing family members or people you love...still, God gives and God takes away and that is life.

When I was living in UK, you get this false sense of security or idea that everything is constant and routine. You wake up in the morning and the sun will shine, it will be day time and the day will be followed by the night. You expect your loved ones to be there, your wealth, your house, your car, your work, your life will be the same everyday and as soon as things don't happen the way you expect it to happen, people get stressed, agitated, worried, ungrateful...as if God or the world owes them something. As if they deserve everything to be right in their lives but listen to this, Allah swt says in the Qur'an "Say, 'Tell me! if Allah made night continuous for you till the day of Resurrection, who is the god besides Allah who could bring you light? Will you not then hear?.' Say 'tell me! If Allah made day continuous for you till the Day of Resurrection, who is the God besides Allah who could bring you night for you to rest? Will you not then see? " Al Qasas: 71-72

It means that the consistency of day and night is because Allah made it so and He wills it to be so. The reason why we wake up and we still have our loved ones, our house, our car, our wealth, our life is because Allah has made it so. Now that I'm out of that 'bubble' of The Western way of viewing things... I understand that life is not constant, it is like water in the ocean...sometimes things are calm and you can see where you're going but sometimes you're caught in a storm but whatever the situation is, you know that Allah is always there and He is the One who gives and He is the One who takes away.

Despite all the hardships and troubles that I've gone through since my move here in Malaysia. I definitely feel calmer and happier because I finally understand that I have little control of my life. The only control I have is on my decisions and actions - i.e. the bit that I'm accountable for. I've let go off many things and worry less about things. Of course I still worry about stuff like my kids and what will happen to them, their Iman (faith and Islam), I worry about the situation of the Ummah but I do what I have to do, I say what I have to say, I advice to whom I need to give advice, I talk to my children and I make lots of dua.