ASC4: Aku Anomalis 👩‍🚀🚀

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Allahumma Solli 'Ala Sayyidina Muhammad.

Indeed, Allah's ni'mah is remarkably large to an extent where it cannot be counted,
"And if you count the ni'mah of Allah, never will you be able to count them." [Ibrahim : 34]
Feeling content with life is one of the biggest ni'mah anyone has ever wished for.

All praises due to the al-Karim, The Most Generous, The Most Giving.

The journey of participating Ash-Shaliheen Camp 4 was never a smooth path. As expected, there were ups and downs even way before I was officially registered for the camp, where I nearly withdrew myself.

I may have repeatedly stated this in my previous posts but truly, He is the Best of Planners. He is the greatest director of all lives' journey. No one can say otherwise.

Our 4 days and 3 nights were designed with challenges, sacrifices, love, and ukhuwwah. Now that I have thought about it, it was not because of the activities, the people, and the environment that made me happy, ease, -basically all those positive feelings. I profoundly believe it was because, in those precious days, we were constantly be reminded of Allah, Allah, and Allah.

He allowed me to feel all those ni'mah.

Did He not promise us?
"Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find peace" [Ar-Ra'ad : 28]
I certainly do not want to forget hence why I am writing this. Praise be to Allah for allowing me to gather my strength to write this, never could I possibly have done this without His wills. Alhamdulillah, may this piece of writing benefits to whoever is reading this in shaa Allah.

So, what is ANOMALIS?

The direct translation for anomalis is literally anomalous.

Belia Anomalis or Anomalous youth is someone who is extraordinary, one who thinks. A youth who understands when he does good deeds, they are completely for the sake of Allah. Not because they are passed down from generations or to whatever reasons they had in mind.

The criteria of one should have on Belia Anomalis are, one who is beneficial to others, aims to improve one's self to help the people in their surroundings, tend to feel anxious as he often thinks on how to develop a progressive country, to help the youth and the people who are less capable in reading the Quran, etc.

One of the speakers from the forum we had said, we should never measure our contributions to the society as we can easily be fooled by our deeds. He emphasised that whatever we do, always refresh our niat. Our intentions should be continually for Allah, the Almighty.

Niat is very powerful.

Always make the intentions of wanting to find the ibrah or at least, able to learn something from others.

Be anomalous. Be different from others.

Why do you want to fit in when you are born to stand out?

Some of the highlights from the camp that I hold on to dearly close to my heart are,

- DAY 1 -

We were told to line up according to our chosen group when an unexpected change of emotions was implanted into the committees -everyone was so silent, tensed up. All lights were switched off, no one dared to talk.

It happened after this one particular question was asked,
"Why did you come here? What's your reason to join this camp?"
The room was filled with murmuring voices as the participants took turns to answer the committees (Mostly, we called them sisters).

When it was my turn to be asked by Ka H, I failed to maintain my composure. I was feeling too overwhelmed with my own thoughts and feelings. Ka H hugged me with empathy, agreeing because we both could relate to one another in some ways (turns out she was from PTEM 😢).

She missed it too.

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I wanted to re-find myself.

To my old self, where my love for Rasulullah was one of a kind, a rarity, one could not easily be developed in a short time.

To be surrounded by sisters who often reminded me of Allah, like how things have always been during the past two years. To be able to learn Allah's love in-depth. I was too exhausted in living in this duniyya, too tired with all the challenges being thrown at me, at the same time trying to accept it as the unconditional love expressed by Him. I crave to learn how to get my attention in life only for the akhirah. My goals, despite my long list of flaws and weaknesses, I want to strive for the akhirah in the long run. 

Akhirah, the ultimate end. 

But, I was wrong.

Throughout the camp, I learned that we are both responsible for this duniyya and akhirah. We cannot simply give up with our responsibilities in this duniyya.

As said by Ustazah Hanisah Othman in one of the talks,
"We are encouraged to memorise the first and last 10 verses from Surah Al-Kahfi to seek Allah's refuge from Dajjal because there are already signs of them in these days. One of them is, when we see things, we see it only with one eye"
Two perspectives:
1. Physical eyes (often thinking about duniyya, neglecting their responsibilities for the akhirah)
2. Spiritual eyes (too immersed in worshipping Allah, neglecting their responsibilities in the duniyya)

The talk was indeed something to reflect on.

- DAY 2 -

"Indahnya bersedekah / The beauty in giving charity"

We were assigned to cook chicken and vegetables where each member had different tasks to do. How did it taste? Wallahi, we had absolute faith and tawakkul in Allah, considering we had to cook for the families in need, and also for our lunch were nerve-wracking.

But cooking with all your hearts out, making the right intentions.. in shaa Allah, Allah's help is always near. 

To say the least, alhamdulillah all of them did so well! so proud of you girls. 🥰

Some of us had the opportunity to visit one of the families. Alhamdulillah wa Astaghfirullah for the experience. We faced a lot of thoughtful moments, from having a rainy day without our raincoats to accidentally stepped on a muddy swamp, and we had to walk on our feet to a (very!) steep road leading to the owner's house. We are so blessed to have a shelter at home, a roof that shields you from the rains and, a house made from bricks.

Not everyone owns that.

In this camp, the sisters repeatedly advised us to make the right intentions in everything we do.

A beautiful quote shared by Ka A when we were on our way to go back was,
"When you do it for Allah, you'll get pahala. You do good because it's good for your heart and soul. We need to be grateful for all the privileges we now have as some may have not get the chance to experience it in first-hand" 
---

"How Ansar are you?"

This is one of the eye-opening activities where we were taught to be selfless. It was really a stabbed-to-the-heart kind of activity. Nowadays, we have been so selfish. We tend to think about ourselves when there are others, our brothers and sisters out there trying to survive, fighting for their lives, standing up for Islam.

Whereas us, what have we done to the ummah? Have we been trying to contribute or help the ummah?

If I were to list down the lessons from all the activities we had done, ma shaa Allah.. there were A LOT. Going through all the games together with my group, strengthened our bond even more. The sense of sisterhood I have been longing to feel, it felt surreal. It is true when they said whenever we do things for the sake of Allah, in shaa Allah you will experience a blessed and beautiful journey.

- DAY 3 -

That day was special.

A day where we went out on a short trip to Berakas Beach. While we were on our way to the beach, we recite the Al-Ma'thurat together on the bus. Ma shaa Allah, I thought it was so heartwarming to always be mindful with the remembrance of Allah on everywhere we go. As we arrived, the atmosphere of the beach was filled with serenity as the wind blew lightly against us, -not minding the sand that went into my shoes-, the sound of waves splashing over the shores soothes me.

Ketenangan.

A peacefulness that can only be attained when we are more appreciative towards the beauty of Allah's creations. Allahu Akbar!

One of the lessons that I can gain from the games was in life, you have to stand firmly on your own ground. If anyone tries to wrong you, worry not. Proceed, continue what you were doing and whatever their deal was about, that is between them and Allah. When you fall, get yourself back up. You know how they say, we have to rely fully on Allah? But sometimes (in my opinion lah), we also need a strong support system from our loved ones, someone who we can really trust. Be it our close friends or family. Sometimes, Allah sent these people to us as a form of hidayah from Him.


 


At night, we had a sharing session within our group. That night was mesmerizing, we had sweet potato and marshmallows while the heat from the burning charcoal warmed our cold night and everyone was finally opened up to one another. We shared our passions, hidden skills, stories about ourselves and honestly, a lot more that I cannot appear to remember everything 😂. It just occurred to me that everyone is unique. There is always something in everyone that made them, them. Some of them may have the same age, a huge age gap.. but age does not define who you really are. There was this one sister in my group, she is younger than me but she had joined numerous camps! Imagine all the experiences she had learned, ma shaa Allah. She is absolutely a Belia Anomalis, and so do my other sisters! Subhanallah. they are incredibly inspiring.



- FINAL DAY -

The quote 'Farewells are the hardest" did not lie. But to recall that I have a family at home, a smile on my mom's face when I saw her, my two lovely little siblings ran, hugging me when they saw me- I can never be more grateful.


Ash-Shaliheen Mosque has been my favourite mosque ever since I was 12 (if I am not mistaken). There is just something that brought my heart to this masjid, but I cannot seem to pinpoint what. In fact, there were too many unforgettable memories formed in this masjid long before I joined the camp.

There was this person that I did not expect to meet her in this camp, moreover being in the same group as mine! (because truthfully, I mostly do not know anyone there). We were not as close before but ma shaa Allah, all praises are due to Allah for all the days and nights we spent together -allowing us to be reunited again in this camp, being one of my sleeping partners (my apologies if I snored ya.. keke), exchanged meaningful stories and advice that really warmed my heart (terobat rindu sikit lah, ok whoever knows, knows), to be familiarised with each other in the memorable sharing sessions, and many more. May Allah bless you, always.

---

Wallahi, they taught us so much in those 4 days but I believe if they extend the date, it will be a never-ending learning process because.. ma shaa Allah.

Ilmu is indeed luas.

The sisters often prioritised us to cover up properly, to jaga our aurahs even if the muslimins were far of sight.

A special appreciation goes to all the sisters (the facis/committees) who did so great in looking after each and every one of us 😭 especially to my group's facis; Ka H and Akak Nab hehe. We feel utmost loved and being well taken care of, this appreciation may not reach to all of them but, biar Allah saja yang Maha Mengetahui. 🙊 Jazakumullahu khayr kaka kakas. ♥

To everyone who meant the world to me, especially my sahabah A, who has always been there to support me through my (literally) ups and downs. I can never thank all of you enough, may Allah always bless all of you in so many blessed ways. Aamiin aamiin ya Rabb.

Last but not least, may Allah bless both of my parents with His endless barokah for letting me join this camp, for sending and picking me up from the camp. Truly, they deserve anything more in this world as I, cannot repay what they have done to me ever since I was a child. Like what the religious officer had said during the closing ceremony,

Abu Mas'ud reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said,
"Whoever guides someone to goodness will have a reward like one who did it." [Sahih Muslim 1893]
May all the rewards 'tempias' to you too, ma and bah. aamiin aamiin ya rabbal alaamiin.

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With endless gratitude for Allah,

This is what I have been looking for,

Allah has let me feel a piece from my 'old' self.

Alhamdulillah.


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