The Etiquettes of Learning

اصبر على مر الجفا من معلم *** فإن رسوب العلم في نفراته
Be patient over the teacher’s strictness and harshness
For the stores of knowledge are present in his harshness

ومن لم يذق ذل التعلم ساعة *** تجرع ذل الجهل طول حياته
Whoever does not taste the humility of learning, even for an hour
Will drink the humility of ignorance for the rest of his life

ومن فاته التعليم وقت شبابه *** فكبر عليه أربعا لوفاته
For him who misses out on learning in his youth,
Then announce four takbirs over him for his death is due

حياة الفتى – والله – بالعلم والتقى *** إذا لم يكونا لا اعتبار لذاته
By Allah, the life of a youth is by knowledge and piety
If they are not present, then nothing can express his existence

- Imam al-Syafi'e -

Book: The ABC's of PhD

Title	The ABC's of PhD
Authors	Prof. Hj Kamaruzaman Jusoff, Fareiny Morni
Publisher	University Putra Malaysia Press, 2010
ISBN	967344174X, 9789673441747
Length	79 pages

I bought this book from the author himself when he gave a lecture to Academic Staff at USIM regarding to academic journal. It was very interesting sharing and I learned a lot of things. Since I am the youngest (agaknya lah!), I have no experience on publishing articles in high impact journal and I have to know about all of this staff because it affects the performance of all academicians.

A simple book review:

The author used a very simple language on how to start a journey of PhD students. You can feel like you actually are listening to them not just reading the content of the book. The book comprises of 14 chapters. There are tips and guidelines on how to start writing the PhD proposal, how to select supervisor, how to search funding assistance and also brief description on PhD process.

Although the price is a bit expensive (RM48), the paper used is high quality and there are pictures to avoid readers feel bored while reading. Not forget to list some recommended websites at the references. And I love all quotations in the beginning of each chapter!.

Oh ya, I do have some thought after completed my reading. Why ABC? I'm sure that all PhD holders said that PhD is not as easy as ABC, and they will never do second PhD in their life. From my humble opinion, perhaps, all PhD candidates should think positive before and especially during doctorate moment just like when they learn ABC during kindergarten.

 

Travel in Quest of Knowledge

فوائد الأسفار

The Benefits in Travelling

تغرب عن الأوطان في طلب العلى *** وسافر ففي الأسفار خمس فوائد
Leave your country in search of loftiness
And travel! For in travel there are 5 benefits,

تفرج هم واكتساب معيشة *** وعلم وآداب وصحبة ماجد
Relief of adversity and earning of livelihood
And knowledge and etiquettes and noble companionship

فإن قيل في الأسفار ذل ومحنة *** وقطع الفيافي وارتكاب الشدائد
If it is said that travelling brings humiliation and difficulty
And long journeys across deserts and toil and trouble,

فموت الفتى خير له من قيامه *** بدار هوان بين واش وحاسد
Then death is better for a person than him remaining
In a humiliating land between traitors and enviers

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ما في المقامِ لذي عقلٍ وذي أدبِ مِنْ رَاحَة ٍ فَدعِ الأَوْطَانَ واغْتَرِبِ
There is no rest in residence for an ingenious person of culture. 
Travel and leave where you’re residing!

  سافر تجد عوضاً عمَّن تفارقهُ وَانْصِبْ فَإنَّ لَذِيذَ الْعَيْشِ فِي النَّصَبِ
 Travel! You will find a replacement for what you have left. 
And strive! The sweetness of life is in striving!

إني رأيتُ وقوفَ الماء يفسدهُ إِنْ سَاحَ طَابَ وَإنْ لَمْ يَجْرِ لَمْ يَطِبِ
 I’ve seen that water stagnates if still. 
Becomes pure if it runs, but not if it doesn’t flow

والأسدُ لولا فراقُ الأرض ما افترست والسَّهمُ لولا فراقُ القوسِ لم يُصِبِ
 If the lion doesn’t leave his den he cannot hunt, 
and the arrow will not strike without leaving its bow

والشمس لو وقفت في الفلكِ دائمة ً لَمَلَّهَا النَّاسُ مِنْ عُجْمٍ وَمِنَ عَرَبِ
If the sun stood still in its heavenly course then people, Arab and non-Arab, it would bore

والتَّبْرَ كالتُّرْبَ مُلْقَىً في أَمَاكِنِهِ والعودُ في أرضه نوعً من الحطب
Gold dust is as the earth where commonly found, and in its land, oud is but another wood in store

فإن تغرَّب هذا عزَّ مطلبهُ وإنْ تَغَرَّبَ ذَاكَ عَزَّ كالذَّهَبِ
 If one travels, he becomes sought out If one travels , he is honored like gold.

- Imam al-Syafi'e -

The Power of Du'a

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

Allah (swt) says in the Qur'an: “And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me—indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of every supplicant when he calls upon Me […]” (Qur’an 2:186)

Allah will response to every supplicant.

This is a promise.

It indicates that du'a is the most powerful weapon for every Muslim who believe in Allah more than anything else.

How to make our du'a stronger?

1. To ask Allah by his names and attributes.

So we can say “Ya Allah (Oh Allah), Ya Rahman, Ya Hakeem (Oh merciful one, Oh wise one) and then make our du’a.

We can also see this in our daily lives, if we address someone by his title or role then we will get a better response, for example instead of “Dear Leader, please help us” we could say “Dear Leader, you are the one who is the defender of this nation and its values, please help us”.

2. To ask someone more pious than us.

We can go to a Muslim whom we feel is a good person and closer to Allah than us. For example if someone was a weak Muslim and would do things which were wrong he could ask someone to make du’a for him. In our own daily lives we see that a person in authority would respond to the request of someone they were closer to, than us.

3. To mention your good deeds.

In our du’a we can say things such as “Oh Allah, I pray regularly, please accept my du’a.” or “Oh lord, by my fasting in Ramadan, accept my du’a”. Whether it be praying, fasting, even smiling at someone (which counts as a good deed in Islam), helping an old lady across the road and so on, the mention of a good deed makes our du’a far stronger, as it would do in our daily lives.

Remember the Hadith of the three men in the cave, who made du‘ā’ and mentioned their deeds (preferring parents over rest of family; fearing Allāh and abstaining from zina; giving the labourer his invested wages)?

O Allah, with Your Greatness and Mercy, show me the right path. Help me to begin this journey in my life. Remind me to have a good intention before start this journey.

O Allah, we seek virtue and piety from You on this journey of ours, and the act which pleases You. O Allah, lighten this journey of ours, and roll up for us the distance thereof. O Allah, You are (our) companion during the journey, and guardian of (our) family. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the hardship of this journey, from beholding a miserable sight and of evil chances in my wealth, household and my children.

O Allah, give me success, uprightness, and ease! There is no ease except in that which You have made easy, and You make the difficulty, if You wish, easy.

**I believe that last alphabet in PhD stands for Du'a, not at the end of journey, but for every second in this long journey.