Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Buat baik, pun kena kutuk? 🤔

 



Baru2 ni, seorang sahabat cerita kepada saya, cabaran dan kekecewaan terhadap sikap orang dalam respon dan komen orang lain bila kita buat kebaikan. Kita niat ikhlas, nak menyumbang, pun orang boleh kritik macam2. Bukan nak tolong atau berterima kasih.

Saya faham sangat perasaannya. Sambil tersenuym, saya pegang bahu dia dan ckp,

“Bang, inilah sunnatullah... antara cara Allah nak test, kita ni ikhlas atau tidak. Bila kita buat baik, memang orang akan komen dan mengata kita - perli, kecam, kutuk, komen, dan lain2 yang sewaktu dengannya.”
It's okay. Kita teruskan, tabahkan diri untuk cari keredhaan-Nya, atau lembik & putus asa sbb tak tahan.

Demikianlah hakikat manusia. Bila bagi sumbangan, orang kutuk kenapa tak tolong golongan lain yang “lebih memerlukan”. Bila kita nak kongsi ilmu, orang perli “bajet alim”. Bila nak start simpan janggut ikut sunnah Nabi ﷺ, orang kata nampak macam kambing. Bila bawak anak2 ke masjid untuk tarbiyah, ada pakcik kutuk "bapak yang reti ajar" di group wassap. Bila post di media sosial untuk galakkan kebaikan, orang kata kita ni menunjuk, riyak…

.. the list goes on.

Saya kata: Biar lah diorg kutuk. Bagi saya, kalau awak nak kutuk & belanja pahala awak, Alhamdulillah saya terima saja dengan tangan terbuka 🤲🏽. Kalau nak bagi feedback membina pun saya Terima tangan terbuka.
Yang penting, kita teruskan buat kerja. Kita buat utk Allah, bukan utk manusia.

Saya pasti anda semua pernah berhadapan dgn situasi sedemikian.
Lapan poin penting yang saya selalu ingatkan diri saya dalam bab ni:

1.⁠ ⁠Kritik itu mudah. ⁠Biasanya, orang Komen tak pernah merasa. Kadangkala kita respon, ⁠"okay awak pandai, awak buat lah" - tapi kebiasaannya, bila suruh buat, diorg mengelat dengan pelbagai alasan. Jadi, komen2 ni kita anggap sebagai sembang Kedai kopi je la ☕. Talk is cheap. 

Imam Syafiee berkata,
"Sikap diam terhadap seorang yang jahil adalah satu kemuliaan,
Begitu pula diam untuk menjaga kehormatan adalah satu kebaikan,

Tidakkah kau lihat, bahawa seekor singa ditakuti, lantaran dia pendiam?
Sedangkan seekor anjing diolok-olokkan kerana menggonggong?"

Mungkin kata-kata ni bunyi kasar. Tapi poin di sini adalah, kita bukan menuduh orang lain ni macam “anjing”.. sebaliknya, sebagai motivasi untuk menjaga maruah kita daripada terkesan dengan kata-kata kosong ni.

2.⁠ ⁠⁠ ⁠Kadang2, apa2 kita buat pun, kena kutuk jugak -
Ada satu kisah, seorang anak kecil bermusafir dengan atuknya, yang menunggang unta. Orang mengata “apa lah pakcik tu, tak sayang budak. Dia pulak syok naik unta”. Kemudian mereka swap - anak kecil naik unta, pakcik berjalan. Orang kritik: “apa lah budak ni, tak hormat orang tua”. Kemudian, mereka berdua menunggang unta. Orang kritik pula, “kejamnya diorg ni bebankan unta dia.. sakit kot nak angkat”. Last-last, dua-dua jalan kaki sebelah unta.
Akhirnya, orang komen, “amende tak bijak la diorg ni.. ada unta tapi tak nak pakai” 😂 

Pengajaran: apa2 buat pun, akan ada je komen yang tak best. So, buat je apa yang kita nilai sebagai yang terbaik, hadap je komen2 ni, move on.

3.⁠ ⁠Orang soleh paling banyak kena kritik - Inilah pengajaran dalam Al-Qur’an dan sirah para Nabi ﷺ. Merekalah manusia yang paling baik, paling ikhlas, paling tinggi iman mereka, dan paling banyak berbakti kepada masyarakat. DAN mereka jugalah manusia yang paling banyak dicaci, dikecam, dimaki di masyarakat. Lihatlah contoh Rasul kita Muhammad ﷺ - dahulunya seorang yang disayangi masyarakat, dikenali sebagai Al-Amin (yang dipecayai) di kalangan orang Quraysh. Tetapi saat beliau mengajak kepada tauhid, secara tiba2 masyarakat melontarkan macam-macam penghinaan keatasnya - penipu, ahli sihir, tukang tilik nasib.

Saad bin Abi Waqqas bertanya kepada Rasulullah, “Wahai Rasulullah, siapakah di antara manusia yang paling berat ujiannya?” Rasulullah ﷺ menjawab, “Para nabi, kemudian (iman) mereka yang paling serupa dengan mereka, kemudian mereka yang paling serupa dengan mereka. Seorang lelaki diuji mengikut agamanya. Jika agamanya kuat, ujiannya akan menjadi berat, dan jika ada kelemahan dalam agamanya, dia akan diuji mengikut agamanya. Ujian akan terus menimpa seorang hamba sehingga ia dibiarkan berjalan di bumi.” (HR At-Tirmidzi)

Ganjaran besar memerlukan usaha yang besar. Dan Syurga Allah itu bukan murah. Setakat kena perli atau kutuk sikit2 tu, alahai..

4.⁠ ⁠Ujian keikhlasan kita

Saya ingat, waktu saya first simpan janggut dulu, rakan2 Muslim yang lain perli duk cakap saya nak nampak macam kambing la, Abraham Lincoln la, “tak kemas” la. Awal2 tu saya terasa, saya potong. Tapi lama-lama, merenungkan firman Allah dalam surah Al-Ankabut, saya terfikir: Lahh, takkanlah kena perli sikit dah putus asa? Baru je nak start ikut sunnah dah give up? Come on lah, lembik gler weh.

“Apakah manusia itu mengira bahwa mereka dibiarkan (saja) mengatakan, "Kami telah beriman", sedang mereka tidak diuji lagi? Dan sesungguhnya kami telah menguji orang-orang yang sebelum mereka, maka sesungguhnya Allah mengetahui orang-orang yang benar dan sesungguhnya Dia mengetahui orang-orang yang dusta.” (Surah Al-Ankabut 29:2-3)

Nak mengaku beriman itu mudah. Dan Allah takkan biarkan sahaja… Allah akan turunkan ujian untuk kita follow up dakwaan tersebut dan buktikan.

5.⁠ ⁠Human Nature: Majoriti manusia memang akan perangai netizen, manakala minoriti sahaja yang baik - ini bukan masalah bangsa atau politik. Inilah naluri manusia.

Rasulullah ﷺ bersabda, “Berbahagialah orang-orang asing (ghuraba).” Ditanya: Siapakah orang-orang asing itu, wahai Rasulullah? Baginda menjawab: “Orang-orang soleh, di kalangan ramai orang yang melakukan kejahatan. Orang-orang yang menderhakai mereka lebih ramai daripada orang-orang yang mentaati mereka.” (HR Ahmad, At-Tabarani)

6.⁠ ⁠Terima Kasih Belanja pahala

Allah Maha Adil. Setiap kali orang kutuk kita - sedar atau tidak - hakikatnya mereka sebenarnya membelanjakan amal soleh mereka kepada kita.

Rasululah ﷺ bersabda, “tahukah anda siapa yang muflis? Mereka adalah golongan yang datang pada hari kiamat dengan amalan-amalan soleh mereka, tetapi juga datang (dengan amalan-amalan menzalimi orang lain, seperti) menghina orang ini, memfitnah orang itu, memakan harta orang ini, menumpahkan darah orang itu, dan memukul orang ini. Maka, orang ini akan diberikan sebahagian daripada amalannya (kepada orang yang dizalimi). Jika amalannya habis sebelum dia melunaskan hutangnya, sebahagian daripada dosa (golongan yang dizalimi itu) akan diambil dan diletakkan ke atasnya, kemudian dia akan dicampakkan ke dalam Neraka.” (HR Muslim)

Pernah satu ketika, tabiin besar Hasan Al-Basri mendapat khabar berita ada orang yang berkata buruk tentang dirinya di belakangnya. Maka Hasan pun menghantar sebakul kurma manis kepada sang pengumpat itu tadi dan berkata, “aku mendapat khabar berita yang kau telah menghadiahkan amalan pahalamu, jadi aku ingin membalas hadith tersebut. Tetapi maafkan aku, aku takkan dapat membayarnya dengan harga sepenuhnya (kerana pahala mu itu lebih berharga!)” (Ruj: Tanbīh al-Ghāfilīn 1/164)

7. Ambil yang jernih (constructive feedback), buang yang keruh
Macam mana sakit hati kita pun, kadangkala tak dinafikan, antara komen2 brutal tu, komen dan kritikan yang kejam ini, mungkin ada juga beberapa maklum balas membina yang sah yang boleh kita ambil sebagai pengajaran.
Jadi, dalam kes ini, kita perlu jugalah bersikap objektif dan mengambilnya secara profesional, bersabar dalam mendengar, menapis  emas daripada sampah sarap, serta mengambil pengajaran daripadanya.

Anggaplah ia sebagai pil pahit yang perlu kita telan - kebenaran kejam yang tak menyenangkan, yang sebenarnya boleh membantu kita dalam jangka masa panjang.

8.⁠ ⁠Latih diri utk jadi muka tebal -

Pernahkah terfikir, apa yang halang Abu Talib daripada memeluk Islam? Sedangkan beliau dengan kerasnya mempertahankan Islam, dan beliau tahu anak saudaranya, Muhammad ﷺ adalah seorang yang berkata benar, akhlak mulia - mengapa beliau enggan?

Beliau pernah mengarang satu syair yang cukup indah mengenai Rasulullah ﷺ. Pada hujung syair tersebut, beliau berkata,

وَعَرَضتَ ديناً قَد عَلِمتُ بِأَنَّهُ
مِن خَيرِ أَديانِ البَرِيَّةِ دينا
لَولا المَلامَةُ أَو حِذاري سُبَّةً
لَوَجَدتَني سَمحاً بِذاكَ مُبينا
“Engkau memperkenalkan agama yang kuketahui sebagai agama terbaik dari semua agama.
Seandainya bukan karena celaan atau takut akan celaan,
Engkau pasti akan mendapati aku dengan mudah menerimanya dan menjelaskannya.”

Faktor yang menghalang Abu Talib: takut dicela. Dan ternyata, pada saat-saat terakhir beliau sebelum menghembuskan nafas terakhir, berkali-kali Rasulullah ﷺ menganjurkan Abu Talib untuk mengucap kalimat syahadah sebelum menghembuskan nafas terakhir. Malang sekali, “sahabat-sahabatnya” Abu Jahal dan Abdullah bin Abi Umaiya yang ada di sebelahnya, menghasutnya dan berkata, “adakah kau menolak agama (bapamu) Abdul Muttalib?”

Disebabkan rasa “takut dicela” ni, beliau mati dalam kufur, dan diazab dalam neraka selamanya.

Kisah Abu Talib ini mendidik kita, Dalam life ni, kita kena kuatkan diri kita untuk develop “the courage to be disliked”.  Sama ada puji atau perli, jangan sandarkan amalan kita kepada “orang kata apa”.

Kita buat kerja kita. Let them say what they want. It’s okay.

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

​💡 Process Safety Dialogue with Industry Experts in 2025, dialog #1: “Design & Construct: By people, for people”, KL Conventional Center











​In an age where industries increasingly lean into AI and technological advancements, there is a natural tendency to overlook an organization’s most critical resource—and the biggest risk on the ground: the people.


​Alhamdulillah, it was an honor and privilege to be appointed as the facilitator on behalf of Team PETRONAS for this fantastic conversation: “Design & Construct: By people, for people.” The session centered on humanizing design by engaging multiple organizations across the industry—from operators and engineering consultants to vendors and construction firms.

​We shared insights, best practices, and lessons on implementing Human Factors Engineering (HFE): recognizing the holistic nature of human beings, complete with emotions, various physical states, habits, and natural tendencies.


​An Open-Ended Approach:

​For me personally, it was a thrilling experience, marking my first time facilitating an open-ended discussion with no fixed panelists.


​The organizers deliberately chose this format, believing that specific panelists often confine the conversation to a select few. Instead, the goal was to open up the floor so that everyone present had a genuine chance to speak up and join the dialogue.


As a moderator, without planned panelists or pre-planned questions, I was worried if the session would be met with awkward silence.


But, Alhamdulillah, the session turned out to be incredibly lively and engaging!


​This was mainly due to the variety of experienced personnel in the room from various companies, covering fields such as engineering, management, and competency specialization. Their contributions, along with the excellent presentation and sharing by @ Dr. T that enriched the conversation further.


​Audience participation was so robust that our Plan B—the planted audience member—didn't even need to be activated! 😂

​A massive thank you to everyone who contributed to making this dialogue a success. Looking forward to future dialogues! 


​#ProcessSafety #HumanFactorsEngineering #HFE #PETRONAS #IndustrialSafety #DesignForPeople #Engineering

Saturday, November 22, 2025

A fatherhood experience to Remember: Muawiyah, Rumaysa & Abah go to Yunnan 🇨🇳 - November 2025

 



This trip marks the first time 7yo Muawiyah and his younger sister , 3yo Rumaysa, goes overseas, where we take them on a 6-day trip to the cool cities of Kunming, Dali and Lijiang, in the province of Yunnan, China. 


Without their mother. 😱


While Ibu takes care of Baby Ali back home 🇲🇾👶🏻, it's Abah's time to step up 😅


Gulp. Gotta admit, this being my first overseas trip in a long time, there was a huge feeling of anxiety going in, anticipating my parenting and fatherhood skills would be put to the test. So many thoughts before the trip:


🤔 How am I going to prepare the kids on time, with the tight tour schedule and limited sleep? 💤

🤔 What if these little fellas throw tantrums or fight in front of others? 😖 Will I be able to control my emotions, keep my calm and composure in handling them? 

🤔 What if they cannot stand the cold weather, since the cities range anywhere between 5 to 20 degrees? 🥶And even colder in the snowy mountains? 

🤔 What if they dislike the food? 🍜🍛 What if they get hungry? 

🤔 How will I keep them occupied and engaged? At this age, would they appreciate the sightseeing and landscapes? Will I be able to pull it off without resorting to gadgets?  

🤔 Diaper dilemmas 💩🤯

🤔 What about security? 


Going into the trip, I was thinking: This could either turn out to be a traumatic parenting nightmare.. or the greatest & most memorable bonding journey with the kids. 


Alhamdulillah, it turned out to be the latter 😄




Turned out a really fun family trip and the much-needed bonding I needed, after weeks of late nights at the office. 

Super proud of the kids for behaving so well, (mostly) complying to schedule and learning to enjoy each other's company, with minimal tantrums, and - surprise, surprise - I never had to resort to screen time or gadgets. 


Thanks tok and tok mum @zahurinmohamed for bringing us together on the trip, and for all the help handling Abang & Kakak. Super thanks to Ibu @ummmua_wiyah09 also for systematically preparing their clothing by days. 


P/s I can now fully relate to what it's like to crave for "me-time" 🤣

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

10 Public speaking strategies: Speech (Pidato) MTAQ 2025

 



Public speaking was never a natural talent for me. I didn’t grow up doing debates or presentations—it’s a skill I had to learn from scratch, and, in spite of recent years of experience, it's a skill that I’m still continuously learning to refine and improve. 


This year's MTAQ pidato was another opportunity for development. Here, I'd like to share ten public speaking strategies I used for the competition: 


1️⃣ 📝 Concise scripting - with a hard time limit of 7 minutes for introduction + points + conclusion, you have to keep the script sharp, and trim down the fat. Make it precise: No room for fillers or repetitions for emphasis, just nail the points and move on. 


2️⃣ 💚 Express a range of emotions - to keep audience engagement, vary your tones of voice strategically and authentically express your emotions: what comes from the heart goes to the heart. 


3️⃣ ☝🏼Hand gestures - In her book "Captivate", author Venessa Van Edwards emphasizes some interesting findings on the impact of hand gestures: it signals confidence, builds trust and rapport, and if done right, serves as visualization aids that drive your points further. 


4️⃣ ❓Ask questions for reflection - strategically place questions at parts that emphasize interesting points or create a sense of wonder and anticipation. 


5️⃣ ⏸️Pause. Give space - this is a tip I struggle with (especially when getting nervous onstage!), but one that's super important. Don't just hammer your points like a machine gun - give audiences space to reflect, especially after asking thought provoking questions. 


6️⃣ 🫡Give credit to other contestants - since I was #5 and last in sequence  and they didn't have restrictions of listening in other contestants, I decided to give a subtle shout out to them in agreement, as a small nod and gesture of respectful professionalism. 


7️⃣ 🐝Use relatable stories and examples for reflection - aside from the analogy of the bees, to anchor the speech's key message, I picked a relatively unknown but inspiring story of transformation Fudhail bin Iyad - thief turned scholar. The message? 

"You can't be worse than a highway robber, and at the same time, we are all far behind the status of a righteous scholar. Yet if this individual can transform, perhaps so can you and I."


8️⃣ 👀 Strategic Eye contact - this is important for engagement, but sometimes can be tricky, if you accidentally get a frown or a negative facial reaction that can derail your train of thought. So, look at audiences at the back.. you can't really see their faces 😁


9️⃣ ♻️Rehearse: again, and again (and again) - as boring as it sounds, to me, there's no escaping it. Know it so well that you can confidently go on autopilot, so your hands and eyes can do their thing and reinforce your delivery. 


🔟 🤲🏽 Du'aa - I still get very nervous before any speech or presentation. So before speaking, I make it a habit to practice this: the Duaa of Musa. 

When Prophet Moses was about to confront Pharaoh, fearing for his life and needing confidence for the difficult task ahead, Moses made this prayer:


رَبِّ ٱشۡرَحۡ لِي صَدۡرِي وَيَسِّرۡ لِيٓ أَمۡرِي وَٱحۡلُلۡ عُقۡدَةٗ مِّن لِّسَانِي يَفۡقَهُواْ قَوۡلِي 


“My Lord! Uplift my heart for me, and make my task easy, and remove the impediment from my tongue, so people may understand my speech"

[Surah Ṭā-Hā: 25-28]



So that's it! The ten strategies. Any of them that you find useful and can implement? Any other major techniques you suggest? Love to hear it! 👇🏼


Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Pidato (Speech) for PETRONAS MTAQ 2025: “Al-Qur’an Dihayati, Organisasi Diberkati” (English translation)

 


A story for our contemplation: in the 2nd century Hijrah in Khurasan, Iraq, there lived a man infamous for his cruelty — a highway robber who loots caravans and travelers.


One night, he heard a recitation of the Qur’an — a verse from Surah Al-Hadid.

Struck by what he heard, he repented immediately, abandoned his sins, migrated to Makkah, pursued knowledge, & eventually became a great scholar.


His name is Fudhail ibn Iyad.


From a despised robber, he transformed into a renowned scholar & a teacher to great imams, including Imam al-Shafi‘i.


This is the power of the Qur’an when truly internalized.


And thus our theme:

“Al-Qur’an Dihayati, Organisasi Diberkati."


---


1. Integrity


إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تُؤدُّوا ٱلۡأَمَٰنَٰتِ إِلَىٰٓ أَهۡلِهَا

“Indeed, Allah commands you to deliver trusts to those entitled to them.” (An-Nisa 4:58)


Integrity isnt just a slogan, it's the foundation of any organization. Even a company with billions in profit, without it will completely collapse — as we've seen in Enron and Theranos.


2. Teamwork / Cohesiveness


وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ

“Help one another in goodness and piety.” (Al-Maidah 5:2)


A single bee produces only one drop of honey in its lifetime — just one. But thousands working together create abundance for the entire hive and even for humanity.

Likewise, an organization’s strength is never about one “superhero,” but shared teamwork.


3. Professionalism


إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِٱلْعَدْلِ وَٱلۡإِحۡسَـٰنِ

Allah commands justice and excellence.

Not just “meeting requirements,” but giving our best — that is true Professionalism. (An-Nahl 16:90)


4. Ethical Communication


وَقُل لِّعِبَادِي يَقُولُوا ٱلَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنَ يَنزَغُ بَيْنَهُمْ

“Tell My servants to speak in the best manner, for Satan sows discord among them.” (Al-Isra 53)


Many organisations fall not due to lack of expertise, but toxic communication. 

If we spoke only in the best way, imagine the blessing: healthier culture, easier conflict resolution, stronger collaboration.


5. Gratitude


لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ

“If you are grateful, I will surely increase you.” (Ibrahim 14:7)


Studies show grateful employees are happier, more productive, reduced stressed. Gratitude builds loyalty — and brings collective blessings.



---


We began with the story of Fudhail ibn Iyad — a robber turned scholar by one verse.

If a single verse can transform a life, imagine what blessings await when an entire organisation lives by the Qur’an.


What was that verse that changed Fudhail? Surah al-Hadid, verse 16:


أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوٓا أَن تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ

“Has the time not come for the hearts of the believers to humble themselves to the remembrance of Allah?”


So the question for all of us:

Has the time not come for US — to reflect, to internalize the Qur’an, and to seek its blessings?

Monday, November 17, 2025

Pidato @Murattal MTAQ PETRONAS 2025



"Al-Qur’an Dihayati, Organisasi Diberkati”

Satu kisah untuk renungan: Pada abad ke-2 hijrah di Bandar Khurasan, Iraq, ada seorang lelaki zalim: seorang perompak jalanan yang terkenal. 

Satu hari, beliau terdengar bacaan satu ayat Al-Qur'an. 
Mendengar ayat tersebut, beliau terus insaf, bertaubat meninggalkan dosanya, berhijrah ke Mekah, lalu menuntut ilmu hingga menjadi ulama besar.

Siapakah individu ini?

Nama beliau: Fudhail ibn Iyad. 

Dari seorang perompak hina, Fudhail bin Iyadh menjadi seorang ulama yang masyhur dalam Islam, menjadi guru kepada ulama besar, termasuklah guru kepada Imam Syafi‘i.

Itulah potensi keberkatan al-Qur’an apabila dihayati dengan sewajarnya. 

Dan demikianlah, tema kita: “Al-Qur’an Dihayati, Organisasi Diberkati.”

1. Integriti

Firman Allah (al-Nisa’ 58):
 إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تُؤدُّوا ٱلۡأَمَٰنَٰتِ إِلَىٰٓ أَهۡلِهَا
 “Sesungguhnya Allah memerintahkan kamu menunaikan amanah kepada yang berhak.”


2. Kerja Berpasukan atau Cohesiveness

Firman Allah (al-Ma’idah 2):
 وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ
 “Tolong-menolonglah kamu dalam kebajikan dan takwa.”


3. Professionalism 

Firman Allah (al-Nahl 90):
 إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِٱلْعَدْلِ وَٱلۡإِحۡسَـٰنِ
“Sesungguhnya Allah mengarahkan agar berlaku adil dan berihsan.”

4. Komunikasi Beretika
Firman Allah (al-Isra’ 53):
 وَقُل لِّعِبَادِي يَقُولُوا ٱلَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنَ يَنزَغُ بَيْنَهُمْ
 “Katakanlah kepada hamba-hamba-Ku: hendaklah mereka berkata dengan perkataan yang terbaik. Sesungguhnya syaitan menimbulkan perselisihan di antara mereka.”


5. Kesyukuran
Firman Allah (Ibrahim 7):
 لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ
 “Jika kamu bersyukur, nescaya Aku tambah (nikmatmu).”


PENUTUP;
 Di awal tadi kita mendengar kisah Fudhail ibn Iyad, perompak kerana tersentuh dengan satu ayat

Apakah ayat tersebut?

 Ayat ke-16, surah al-Hadid:

 أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوٓا أَن تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ
 “Belum tibakah masanya bagi orang-orang yang beriman, untuk hati mereka tunduk mengingati Allah?
 
Persoalan kepada diri saya dan anda: bukankah sudah tiba masanya untuk tunduk khusyu, dan menghayati al-Qur’an? 

Sunday, November 16, 2025

Johan: Majlis Tilawah Al-Qur'an PETRONAS 2025 📖


الحمد لله الذي بنعمته تتم الصالحات







Alhamdulillah, dengan izin dan rahmat Allah, rezeki saya tahun ini, dikurniakan Johan bagi Kategori Murattal, dengan pidato tahun ini berlandaskan tema, "Al-Qur'an Dihayati, Organisasi Diberkati" 




Tuesday, October 14, 2025

"From Intention to Action: Walking the Talk" at Huffaz Frontiers National Leadership Camp, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) - October 2025

 













Have you ever had big dreams, huge aspirations, major life goals—but constantly failed to take action?

Had brilliant ideas for a project or change, but they get stuck gathering dust in your notes app?

Set your new year's resolutions and "azam," but you keep procrastinating and never get started?


These questions formed the core theme of my recent talk with participants of the Huffaz Frontiers 2025 National Leadership Camp at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM Gombak). With 48 student participants from five different universities, my session served as the final address after a powerful four-day program, setting the stage for the closing ceremony. The key takeaway was simple: Now that you’ve absorbed all these amazing ideas towards becoming impactful leaders, what’s next? 

What will you focus on? Who will you BE after this experience? What changes are you going to make to the trajectory of your life, from here on?


The focus of my talk was to shed light on the underlying factors that drive us to take action, extracting lessons from the "B=MAP" model introduced by Stanford psychologist BJ Fogg on Behavioral Design. This simple model breaks down action into three key components: Motivation, Ability, and Prompt.


The concept seems relatively simple, but the reality is that human beings are complex, especially in this modern world: Our ambitions are often fickle, our motivations constantly fluctuating, distractions endless, external influences heavy, and our emotional experiences ever-present. The goal of this sharing wasn't to berate ourselves, but to emphasize on understanding how these factors interact, how we can gain better self-awareness, and sharing some practical tools.


To provide a robust, consistent framework for taking action, we turned to the teachings of the Qur’an and the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ . We explored how to step up, be steadfast, and remain consistent, extracting the deep wisdom of Tawakkul: the principle of "tying your camel" (exhausting all efforts within your control) before "putting your trust in Allah" (being optimistic and accepting of the wisdom in any outcome, after you have given it your absolute best).


The leadership camp’s overarching theme was "Charting the Future with Divine Light," aiming to harness the guidance of the Qur’an and Sunnah to shape leaders who are future-ready, ethically grounded, and impactful in their communities.


Alhamdulillah, from a personal and professional perspective, I am very happy that programs like these exist. It is a real blessing for students to have educators with such holistic thinking paving the path to nurture the leaders we need for tomorrow. It was certainly an honor to be a part of it, and to be able to reach out to these bright, young future leaders.


Saturday, September 20, 2025

Project Balearica: 3 Valuable Lessons from (what, to me, is) the Most Challenging Presentation (so far in my career)

Alhamdulillah this week our Feasibility Studies team presented a techno-comm study full-day technical review committee for an international asset. For me personally, it was the most challenging and complex technical presentation, as the main presenter covering multiple engineering disciplines. 


But I’m sure, for many of my front end engineering veterans, it was just another Thursday.


Here are three valuable lessons I got from the experience:


1. Synthesizing input, one cohesive message - The project involved multiple engineering disciplines, with different facilities, some with unique different technicalities. There was a lot of information. When you want to present a proposal to a committee, it’s not about dumping information or flexing our technical knowledge: The real skill - and true value added here - is how well you arrange things in a cohesive narrative, extracting the essence of the message and key intent of our team members findings, and prioritize what do we want to present in that limited window, to condense for the committee and relevant stakeholders for decision-making. 

2. Read the Room - Our portion was one of the last slots of the day-long presentation (our slot only started at 5:45pm). Many people just come in at their turn, but to me, I try to make an effort to come in from the start and listen in to learn from other presenters too, in order to get a feel and a tone of the committee members’ comments, major concerns. The team tweaked some info & data on the fly, and made adjustments to the presentation to best fit - in the end, every bit of last minute adjustment was worth it and was put to good use. 

3. A great team - Perhaps the most valuable experience of this project and presentation was having a great team supporting us. It’s always a nerve-wracking experience to be the front-face of the presentation, knowing you don’t have all the answers. And we’ve all been in situations when committee members dish out some tough queries and the team goes completely silent. But Alhamdulillah.. our team really pulled through throughout, readily swooping in to answer and clarify. It gives a huge boost of confidence, knowing you have brilliant team that’s got your back


And finally, as always, I try to find space to add a bit of levity and appropriate humor. It’s a long day, and it never hurts to crack a few lighthearted remarks to ease the tension a bit and add in some human touch to find opportunities of making connection. 


As a last anecdote, I’d like to emphasize again the importance of presentations. Contrary to what many young engineers (including myself, in my fresh graduate days) may perceive, I have always believed that presentations are an important aspect of our work - so put your best effort into it. If your months of team’s work are condensed in those few minutes (in our case, 90 minutes), then you’d better spend time to understand, arrange, revise, rehearse. 


These precious minutes are like the tip of your spear: Make it count!

Friday, July 25, 2025

Sunnah Melayani Si Kecil - Pendekatan Rasulullah ﷺ melayani dan berinteraksi dengan kanak-kanak

 
















Masha Allah, Sangat kagum bila lihat peribadi Rasulullah dalam cara beliau melayan kanak2. Penuh dengan kasih sayang, kemesraan, dan pada masa yang sama, penuh dengan kehormatan, respect. 

Zaman sekarang, jarang sekali kelihatan dewasa - terutama di kalangan lelaki dan bapak2 - melayan kanak2 mcm yang dituntut oleh baginda ﷺ. 

Terasa lagi sedih bila dibandingkan dengan cara pakcik2 melayan kanak2 masjid.. Tak best 😢. 

Di manakah toleransi dan Rahmah yang diajar oleh Rasul kita? Sudahkah semuanya menjadi sunnah yang diabaikan? 


Bila dilihatkan keperibadian Rasulullah melayan kanak2, ia lebih daripada sekadar happy happy. Sebaliknya, saya memandang pendekatan ini sebagai berwawasan Jauh. Ini lah pendekatan seorang pemimpin, membentuk pemimpin masa hadapan. 


Bayangkan, perasan para sahabat yang muda, dilayan oleh Rasul terakhir, yang juga memegang jawatan sebagai pemimpin negara, mufti besar, dan ketua Perang negara. 


Anak2 yang dibesarkan dengan kasih sayang dan prinsip yang jelas, akan membesar dengan keyakinan dan keamanan dari sudut emosi dan mental.


Let's all play our part, dan hidupkan sunnah Rasulullah ﷺ dalam rumah tangga kita. Jadilah manusia yang di sebut oleh Rasulullah sebagai,

"manusia yang terbaik di kalangan kamu adalah mereka yang terbaik kepada ahli keluarga ya". 

Thursday, July 24, 2025

Holding on to Faith (HOTF) Conference 2025: Tarbiyah Before Trends, with Sheikh Dr. Abdullah As-Sueidi and Ustaz Ismail Bullock - Masjid Wilayah KL, 20 July 2025

 












This was the First time conducting a full day "podcast-style" forum with both speakers simultaneously onstage, upon the suggestion of Sheikh Abdullah, so we can make it more interactive and engaging to address the challenges of raising a family. 


We broke up the conference to three segments and conversations: 

1. Back to Hubbullah (Love of God): the Root of Unity - grounding our families on objective values and principles, taught by the Qur'an and sunnah 

2. Fix what's fading: When the Heart Loses Sight - the importance of Human Connection and how we can better foster connection in our homes

3. Parenting with a Bigger Vision: From Home to Ummah - how we can play our part to raise our families, especially in modern times when we are busy with our jobs and surrounded by so much spiritual trials. 


Alhamdulillah, we received a lot of positive feedback. I think This style of format was a brilliant idea, allowing variety and some back-and-forth banter to keep the conversation flowing and engaging, leveraging the strengths of both speakers simultaneously. 


One of my favorite parts of the event was when we asked audiences to share their key takeaways: what is ONE major important lesson you've learnt from this conference, and what is ONE thing that you will immediately implement, when you walk outside of this hall? 

The idea was for participants to put a more intentional mind, to plant a firm resolve on what to do next, for participants to learn from each other (going along my favorite themes of "by practitioners, for practitioners"), and also as kind of an appreciation gesture for our two speakers to listen to what the participants learned.. It's always so satisfying to know what your students gain from the classes.


Masha Allah we got some really good input and sharing. The highlight was hearing from including a 16 year old participant, sharing what he learnt about the importance of listening. 


Lots of great takeaway points I got from the conversations, and we pray to Allah that it becomes a means of righteous families towards happiness in this life and the next. .


Many thanks to the awesome team at Ahlan Academy for this wonderful opportunity.. Was really satisfying and awesome to be working with such a passionate, dedicated and cohesive team. Am always amazed by the great work they do providing quality educational experience for children, and now for the adults too! Keep up the great work, may Allah grant success in all our efforts in dunya and akhirah 🤲🏽 


Photo credit: Ahlan Academy.