Begin With The End In Mind..

Salam w.b.t.

Everything that starts will come to an end. So does my holiday. After being free from studies and exams for more than 3 weeks, next week, my summer semester will begin. Alhamdulillah, I've done my winter semester successfully, but I suppose this coming semester should be more challenging, with tougher subjects coming ahead. Everyone, please pray for my success, not only in my studies, but in my life as well.

Studying medicine here is really hard. I have to admit it. Plus, besides study, I also have other responsibilities as a human being, and as a Muslim. As I said in one of my entry, study is important, but it's not everything for me.

Winter almost ends, but it's still snowing here

Well, in our religion, the important thing is to set a goal in whatever thing that we do. Yeah, planning is important. It's important to have an imagination what's going to happen in the end, so that we can work in order to achieve that. I'm not just talking about study. It's general. In whatever we do, we should have a plan, in order to achieve it, in the same time not to overwork.

Let's work in order to see what we believe. That's how our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) trained the companions and also the Muslims. The Prophet taught the companion to believe in something, and the companions work for that something. They do not believe for nothing, but they really had strong believe of what the Prophet had told them, and they really work hard for it.

To believe something that we have never seen is not as easy as to believe something that is already in front of our eye. Only an optimistic person is able to do that. It's not easy, and it's never easy. But that's how out Prophet motivate the companions.

Is it weird to believe something that we have never seen? Well, we've never seen the paradise, but we believe in it. We always work for what we believe to happen. It has been a long time we don't see the victory of Islam, but we believe in it, and we work in order to see what we believe.

The companions of the Prophet knew all the words from the Prophet came from Allah, and they believed that it was true, even though they were still not sure how was it going to be. That was how they were motivated. For example, when the Prophet (pbuh) told them that Islam will one day get control of Constantinople, the companions believed in it, and they worked very hard to see what they believed.

The first ever Constantinople mission was launched by Mu'awiyah. The commander of the mission was his son, Yazid. There were also several other companions who joined the mission. The first mission failed.

The mission under Sulaiaman bin Abdul Malik also failed.

Later, the mission during the leadership of Harun al-Rashid also failed.

The mission under the leadership of General Alparslan also failed.

They had lost neither once, nor twice, but they had lost many times in 800 years!! However, the failures never faded the spirit of the Muslims to conquer Constantinople, because they had a strong belief of the promise of the Prophet, something they had never seen before.

Finally, as I've explained in my previous entry, they gained success under Muhammad al-Fatih, who's also known as 'The Conquerer'. The companions and early people who believed before they saw had already died, but their kins and the later people persist, with the same belief, and with even higher spirit. Even though the ones who finally won the battle were neither Arabs, nor Muhammad's relative, but they were normal human beings with magnificent character. They believed and they fought for something they had never seen!

Istanbul: Proof of Prophet's promise

This is a very good example of how the previous people really worked hard to see what they believe. To have that strong belief is not that easy. Only those who really have strong faith can believe something that has not come yet. And that's how Islam motivates us.

So, let's take lessons from the past. To my colleagues, do pray for me in my studies, and in the rest of the journey in my life. The Prophet had promised us that Islam will again gain power in the world. Let's set a goal in our life.. a goal which benefit us and the ummah. So, LET'S BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND..